Consumer empowerment special issue Free

About the Guest EditorLen Tiu Wright Professor of Marketing and Research Professor at De Montfort University, Leicester and Visiting Professor at the University of Keele. She has held full time appointments at the Universities of Keele, Birmingham and Loughborough and visiting lecturing positions with institutions in the UK, e.g. Cambridge University and overseas. Len Tiu has consultancy and industrial experience and has researched in the Far East, Europe and North America. Her writings have appeared in books, in American and European Academic Journals, and at conferences where some have gained best paper awards. She has performed various Guest Editor's roles for leading marketing journals. She is the Founding Editor of the Qualitative Market Research – An International Journal, an Emerald publication. E-mail: lwright@dmu.ac.uk

Consumer empowerment special issue

What is consumer empowerment? Empowerment is defined by both the Longman Dictionary of the English Language (1985, p. 479) and the Oxford English Reference Dictionary (1996, p. 462) as “authority”, “legal power” or “ability to give power”. Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (2006, p. 787) extends the vocabulary as “make possible” or “commission”. Within marketing and more broadly the social sciences these definitions do not do justice to the myriad of insights generated by writers when studying consumers and their cultural diversity. Empowerment takes different forms from individuals making and taking decisions to groups of people articulating a belief about a product, market,organisational and political system which require, in their opinions, some dramatic change. So my definition of consumer empowerment in marketing is:

It appears that empowerment makes changes in the lives of those who have experienced it so that they become less passive consumers in accepting whatever is offered by suppliers. It appears so judging from the studies collected in this special issue. I hope to get some discussions and feedback from readers that are generated on this issue.

This issue has attracted authors from the Australia, Canada, Italy, Portugal,UK and the USA. Reviewers have been drawn from these countries and Denmark,Ireland and Sweden.

There are two commentary papers in this special issue. Concepts of consumer empowerment and power are discussed in the first one by Wright, Newman and Denis with the emphasis on the need for firms to improve upon a diverse range of offers in order to enhance buying experiences and enjoyment by consumers. The second commentary paper covers different topics and looks to the future to give an assessment of where we are in relation to specific aspects of technologies such as the internet and strategic thinking. In “The internet, consumer empowerment and marketing strategies”, Guilherme Pires, John Stanton and Paulo Rita contend that market knowledge that was once controlled by suppliers is shifting to increasingly to control by consumers. Their commentary on information and communication technologies (ICT) shows how there is a growth in consumer-producer relationships that has put stresses in the marketplace leading to changes. The implications arising from these changes and the shift to a consumer empowerment process are marked by consumer access and enablement within the marketing environment. Since, there is greater availability and sophistication of choices for consumers from ICT technologies and more freedom from control and management by suppliers it is important to learn lessons. The contribution of this paper is in its attempts to stimulate thinking by taking stock of where we are and where we want to be in the future with reference to becoming more technologically and marketing aware or in other words to be more consumer empowered.

Theories about “power” come from a wide variety of intellectual and methodological traditions, so the authors of the first paper constructed a model to illustrate and capture the different thematic contexts which they saw as relevant to “consumer empowerment”. Janice Denegri-Knott, Detlev Zwick and Jonathan Schroeder in the first paper on “Mapping consumer power”give a conceptual overview of consumer power consisting of three dominant theoretical models upon which existing research can be evaluated. The authors build on the traditions which they have been used to form their empirical and conceptual explorations for the development of their conceptual bases of consumer power. This is composed of consumer sovereignty, cultural power and discursive power. By drawing from sociological, philosophical and economic literature they have constructed a theoretical basis for research on consumer empowerment. Where the paper makes its contributions is in clarifying theory and providing a model. This illustrates how the disparate strands of consumer empowerment research can be linked to consumer and marketing research.

The second paper is by Tina Harrison, Kathryn Waite and Gary Hunter. It focuses on consumer access to information which increases power in consumer-supplier relationships. They look at the internet and its accessibility to examine the consumer empowerment phenomenon. Would the internet have the same empowering effect in all purchase situations? In their paper, “The internet, information and empowerment”, the authors examine the assumptions raised about the extent to which consumers are being empowered by online pension information provisions. They show the results from a mixed method study involving focus groups and observational research. Focus groups were used to examine how consumers view empowerment with respect to pension information by content analysis of a sample of 20 pension websites from 1996 to 2004 which was accessed from the internet archive. The findings reveal gaps between consumer needs of such information and the provision of information by suppliers relating to pension websites and the highlighting of features or facilities for consumers. A key concern of government relates to insufficient pension provision. The paper demonstrates how the internet can be used to engage consumers and to encourage them to take greater responsibility for their retirement pensions.

Two papers introduce caution over the notion of consumer empowerment and argue against taking its existence for granted. The third paper by Newholm,Laing and Hogg presents different perspectives in the modern use of the internet while the fourth one by Shankar, Cherrier and Canniford rehearses sociological arguments about less and not more consumer empowerment. The conceptual development of consumer empowerment is employed in both papers. Terry Newholm,Angus Laing and Gillian Hogg in their paper, “Assumed empowerment,consuming professional services in the knowledge economy”, examine the influence of the internet and its efficacy. Aspects of the financial, legal and medical UK service sectors are studied with empowerment discussed as partial and unevenly distributed among consumers. The authors argue that, although there are opportunities provided by the internet, e.g. shifts in power relationships from producers to consumers, not all these changes could be unquestioningly taken for granted as being advantageous to all consumers. Consumer empowerment is discussed as a process of negotiation partially facilitated by information with professionals. Qualitative data exploring consumers' attitudes and experiences across the three sectors are used to show that the concept of consumer empowerment is a complex mix. This reflects inter alia the willingness and capability of consumers to use internet derived resources and the confidence to challenge producers. Avi Shankar, Hélène Cherrier and Robin Canniford examine Michel Foucault's ideas concerning disciplinary power,government and technologies of self. In their paper, “Consumer empowerment: a Foucauldian interpretation”, the authors put forth the view that while people are not able to escape from the practical realities of power,its operation can have the opposite effect of producing consumer paralysis in making choices. Within this context the authors make assumptions that a liberal view of consumer empowerment, i.e. that it benefits consumers to have more choice, needs to be questioned. There are instances of powerlessness in given situations. The authors argue that a Foucault inspired theory of empowerment offers a more sophisticated understanding of the fluidity of power relationships between producers and consumers. Their discussion reflects a particular point of view as the majority of the papers in this issue shows that empowerment exists and where consumers feel powerless, they have taken steps towards gaining empowerment.

The fifth paper is a case in point. Paul Henry and Marylouise Caldwell in their paper on “Self empowerment and consumption” examine consumer causes of frustration with service providers, e.g. when product expectations are not fulfilled. They studied an enclave of socially disadvantaged heavy metal enthusiasts living in Sydney, Australia. From this study they proposed that incidents of disempowerment are short-lived or are easily rectified by using Goffman's stigma to examine how consumers manage prolonged disempowerment. A taxonomy of ten consumer remedies is developed to include resignation,confrontation, withdrawal, engagement, concealment, escapism, hedonism,spiritualism, nostalgia and the creative outlet. These “pathways to empowerment” are given as proposals to manage disempowerment. The authors found consumers who used a blend of these remedies as pathways to becoming self-empowered. There are management lessons for public policy makers such as the need to understand how long-term disempowered consumers cope and to give guidance in developing programmes to increase self-help and self-empowerment.

There are strong arguments in the next two papers for giving consumers more choice. Deidre Shaw Terry Newholm and Roger Dickinson in “An exploration of consumer empowerment consumption as voting” in the sixth paper take a look at the growth of consumers who have joined the ethical bandwagon. Media reports of questionable corporate practices have helped to fuel the ranks of consumers, some of whom have never considered being active participants. Active manifestations of consumer empowerment, such as boycotting and “boycotting”,are aimed at making company directors re-think their strategies and the implications of their activities on the consuming public and the wider environment. There are competing theories about empowerment so the authors use findings from in-depth interviews with ethical consumers to study the existence,nature and impact of consumer empowerment in their decision making. Their findings show inevitable tensions between the different groups. The seventh paper by Robyn Ouschan, Jillian Sweeney and Lester Johnson examines the element of trust in doctor-patient relationships where consumers traditionally adhere to doctor knowledge and information. They show how consumer empowerment is important and where the internet can assign a new role for consumers by giving them choices. With the advent of the internet consumers are able to resort to another channel of information. Therefore, they are able to exploit wider sources and specialisms in contexts of chronic illnesses such as diabetes. The authors' research identifies three perceptual dimensions: doctor's support; the patient's participation in the consultation; and the patient's control. The authors argue that health care policy makers, doctors and patients can gain by improving their empowering communication styles. So there is strong support for increasing patient empowerment in trust and commitment relationships with their doctors.

Bernard Cova and Stefano Pace in the eighth paper about “Brand community of convenience product” concerning the case of “my Nutella the community” proceed to show the immersion of consumers when they are drawn into a web community. A mixed method of informant interviews, netnography and document analysis was applied to a study to show how a virtual brand community can exert influence and power over a brand of a mass-marketed convenience product. A reasonable and strategic implication for the management of the company producing Nutella, Ferrero in Italy, is that the web community cannot be ignored. The power shift in terms of the influence the web community can exert as a collective force cannot be ignored. A key finding is that this is a new form of empowerment that does not altogether rely on interactions between peers. Self-exhibition in front of other consumers through the marks and rituals linked to the brand allow uninhibited personal expressions. The authors indicate that brand managers should be non-intrusive. They should manage the situation so as to balance the excesses of personal expressions of commitment to the brand,while at the same time seeking to reduce consumer control over the brand's meanings or the brand persona that are owned by the company. The paper makes a contribution to the web community and the consumer empowerment literature by showing consumer brand adherence to a mass marketed convenience product, i.e. Nutella and its well-known hazelnut spread. Most discussion within the literature has tended to focus traditionally on niche premium and luxury brands.

The gender element to empowerment is examined by authors from the last two papers. They portray women and their roles by giving examples of progressive stages of self-empowerment and how these worked for them in various ways. Andrea Davies and Richard Elliott in the ninth paper on “The evolution of the empowered consumer” have a personal history of 22 women as told in oral narratives. These women evolved their brand consciousness from 1918 to 1965 in the mass consumer culture of Britain and as a result felt more empowered. Their changing experiences through empowerment are related by the authors using the method of oral testimony as an effective way of showing the complexities in the workings of their minds. By reliving the personal experiences that changed them and the increased choice with the responsibility it brings in its wake, their statements were challenging or confusing, at least initially. The authors discuss how empowerment is a complex or paradoxical process and look to provide empirical support for a growing number of claims that have challenged the assumptions about increased choice arising from classic economic theory. In its place, they outline a model of the paradox of the evolution of the empowered consumer. Through narratives the women in their study located increased choice and responsibility within changing marketing and retailing systems, including their initial encounters of self-service, branding and the media. In a sense this paper about the evolving marketing empowered consumer illustrates a part of our social history that charts the contributions of women to our economic prosperity. In the tenth paper, “Mothers of invention”, Marylyn Carrigan and Isabelle Szmigin examine maternal empowerment and convenience consumption. There are complexities which women experience when dealing with the relationship between consumption and production. These women enact their roles as mothers and try to reconstruct their self-identities through the manifestations in avoidance or usage of convenience products. Mothers perform diverse roles within families from caretaking to control. The authors make use of personal interviews to delve into the private lives of women and to understand better the processes in which mothers negotiate the role of “caretaker”within the family or in taking control of their busy lives through consumption experiences. Drudgery symptomatic of traditional constructions of motherhood and be alleviated through using convenience consumption to empower women in making choices about accepting or rejecting unnecessary convenience products. Guilt in consumption is alleviated when women take the issues of sustainability,nutrition, quality and value of convenience products into account in their deliberations. The authors suggest that their paper has scope for future research cross-culturally across broader socio-economic groups. It might contribute to an improvement in family care by engaging mothers through the empowerment context. Both papers studied women using used different qualitative methods, one of narratives and story telling, the other with individual interviews. To a greater extent these papers give a flavour of how various groups of women have taken to the empowerment concept by a growing realisation that it is achievable and can be managed within their internal family and external social environments.

For this Editorial, I experimented with the idea of getting authors to write a brief critique of their own papers so I could incorporate the critiques and give a short comment on them. From each of seven papers, I chose an author to write such a critique on his or her paper. However, since the results were a re-summary of what was presented in the paper as abstracted rather than actual critiques, what seemed to me like a novel idea at the time was dispensed with. I have learnt that it is indeed hard to critique one's own paper when one is close up and personal to it.

The Book Review section consists of reviews which take a critical look at where and how the concept of empowerment occurs and is dealt with. Both are edited books and have chapter contributors from across the various subject disciplines. So the books yield certain information that is relevant to marketers as well as contributing perspectives on culture and social nuances within the contexts of empowerment. While this special issue deals with consumer empowerment primarily for discussions and contributions to the marketing discipline, the two books reviewed cross the thresholds between different social science disciplines. Thus, they add to insights on empowerment.

Finally, the reviewers are thanked for contributing their time and expertise to the papers submitted for this special issue. A total of 35 papers were submitted to the review process necessitating a bigger number of reviewers. Of these, those papers that were accepted and revised satisfactorily within the reviewing process were chosen for publication in this issue. Clearly the topic of consumer empowerment gave rise to a wide range of titles and studies, the majority of which could not be accommodated. Consumer empowerment opens up a big field for its relevance to marketing, cultural studies and other disciplines. There is not much literature on this topic so the theoretical bases for underpinning research and explaining consumer diversity and responses to empowerment in this issue is intended to add a contribution to the marketing literature and the EJM Journal.

The authors are thanked for their contributions. My thanks go also to the EJMEditors for their encouragement of the special issue and for the inclusion of this empowering topic.

Len Tiu WrightGuest Editor