The purpose of this research is to explore the nature of an emerging practice known as ‘prosumption’, and interrogate its potential as a discursive practice which empowers consumers in an online community named Instructables. Prosumers combine the roles of consumers and producers to make their own products. A review of prosumption and closely-related practices (consumer co-creation) alongside discourses of consumer empowerment provides a guide to the research. A netnography-informed approach is used to collect data through a degree of participant observation and online depth interviews. Findings suggest that prosumption in Instructables is multidimensional in nature and benefits to prosumers. It suggests a typology of prosumers (assemblers, modifies, artists and inventors) to make a distinction between prosumer and co-creator roles. Findings also offer evidence of prosumption as a discursive practice of consumer empowerment through self-discipline and collective education in contrast to other exploitive practices such as consumer co-creation. This research finally contributes to the on-going evolution of consumer productivity and how consumers and producers participate as producers of value in market and society.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:715656 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Alhashem, Mohammed Adnan |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/7520/ |
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