Post 10 : Excessive Digital Consumption
Excessive digital consumption.
We are currently living within a media revolution, as content and consumption have become increasing digital and audiences have become excessive. The balance of power is shifting from the content owners to other platforms; from producer to the consumer. Organisations need to ensure that their online content offerings meet both consumer needs and differentiate from services or products provided by competitors.
Addicted to online shopping?
An online shopping addiction refers to the excessive amounts of time and money that consumers spend interactively purchasing goods, often on items that are unnecessary and even used. The growth in this ‘Have it now culture’ (Debegri Knott, forthcoming) has become the norm within our society and has resulted in the success of multinational brand like EBay and Amazon.
The EBay addiction
This new wave of EBay addicts feel a sense of accomplishment when they discover they are the highest bidder and begin to bid on items that they don’t even need, they just want to experience the rush of winning. But is it a real addiction? There is no such diagnosis as “EBay” addiction, the term has been incorporated into respectable criteria.
Dr Wood, addictions expert commented,
“The label addiction is being over used and incorrectly applied”
(BBC News 2007)
Acceleration of desire
Does EBay usage help consumers frame, stimulate and sustain desire?
I believe consumers are addicted to the excitement that is created through buyer and seller interaction. Let’s face it, we are all aware of the adrenalin rush instigated by gambling, similar highs can be obtained by buying and selling online. I must admit, I do get excited when an item that I am selling climbs incrementally in price – will I make a profit I ask myself.
The creators of EBay have been very clever to help raise the excitement bar for the seller by providing information on how many potential buyers are ‘watching’ the item. By providing this confidential information the buyer’s excitement is elevated as they now have a fair idea that the last minute bidders are lurking in the background and are ready to pounce at any moment.
In terms of exiting desire, on the rare occasion consumers may get bored with their EBay experience and consumption of unnecessary goods. By using my own experience as an example, consumers can often go through phases of excessive consumption but the intensity of desire will inevitably decline after a long period.
After an EBay purchase, consumers may be faced with the feeling of cognitive dissonance (Harvey
Storage of consumer data
I have often noticed when using the interactive shopping facility, that the site has a record of all the products I have ever purchased. As a result, I am often bombarded with future purchase suggestions of similar products. EBay can almost build consumer profiles by recording what particular users regularly buy. Is this an invasion of privacy? Or is EBay simply just trying to help.
Creating your own ‘PR’ on EBay
What’s your EBay reputation? ‘The communication protocols makes it possible for participants to provide ratings about transaction partners to the central authority and obtain scores for each participant, based on received ratings’ (Joseng, et al.2006). The sellers’ trustworthiness is dependent on the EBay feedback score and evaluations. I would only purchase an item from a seller who has at least 80% + positive feedback. Reputation is very important; you don’t want to be messed around when you are making online transactions. You could be stuck with a dodgy seller. 69% of buyers chose to purchase goods from reputable sellers (ISTC-CNR, 2009).
Privacy
The EBay Trust and Safety team claim they are devoted to making EBay a safe and reliable place to trade goods. The site provides consumers with a number of education resources, such as policies and trust-building programmes. These features aim to maintain security and prevent fraud. The organisation states that they are working to develop the technology and skills to fight fraud and empower their online community, helping them to understand and conduct safe practices. EBay’s trading policies are rooted to the original values of the EBay brand:
· - Creating a level playing field.
· - Providing information transparency
· - Providing economic opportunities for community
· - Encourage open / honest / accountable transactions.
According to Altman (2000) there is an optimum level of privacy. Too little would result in audience isolation, however too much privacy could result in crowding. I believe that EBay are currently provided audiences with the desired level of privacy. As a regular user of the service, if I was purchasing an expensive item, I would to view the buyer’s reputational profile before I continue with the transaction.
In summary, excessive digital consumption is a controversial area of discussion, as the industry of which it stands is complex and growing rapidly. Can EBay be categorised as an addiction? Or are we just going through a excessive purchasing phase? Either way E-consumption is a key resource that provides PR practitioners with further fields for examination in terms of reputation and processes of pro-sumption.
Overall it is therefore important for practitioners to analyse both consumer interaction within these processers and wider socio-political concerns that would impact the way in which consumer data is being interpreted.
References
Books
Cohen. A (2003). The Perfect Store: Inside Ebay. London
Weiten.W (2007). Psychology: Themes and Variations. 8th ed. USA : Wadsworth
Websites
Ebay UK
Soteriou.H. (2007). Can you be addicted to eBay?. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6519521.stm. Last accessed 20th April 2011.
