When I started to write this review, a funny thing happened to me on the way to the keyboard. A brutal storm left me without my virtual life for three days and put me in a mood that swung back and forth from contemplative to uncomfortable. In retrospect, it was a good place to be when writing this submission, because it made concrete the societal changes that have taken place in such a short span of time. Overall, it was urgently hitting me regarding the ramifications of our collective interconnected lifestyles. So, with no access to the web I dwelled on this point as I read and assessed Routledge’s new publication.
As a point of background, I specifically requested to review this book because I wanted a reliable, current reference for both scholarship and pedagogy. I say this and note that I have been disappointed somewhat in the past with similar publications. Specifically I was seeking a collection of treatments that lean more theoretical over that of the practiced. I must admit that I made attributions based upon the editorial team that the volume might make for a good addition to my own personal library. So, upfront, I admit I had high expectations for the book that for the most part were met. I deem the Companion to Digital Consumption a noteworthy effort that collects the work of some of the leading scholars in the discipline.
In organization, the book is made up of seven major parts that each carry theme-related content. Along with topics one would expect like shopping, privacy and sharing, there is a sizeable number of pages devoted to interesting ideas like what exactly digital is and notions of methodology within the domain. To give the reader a specific sense of content, these sections are entitled as follows:
(I) What’s digital?
(II) Representing the self and others.
(III) Researching the digital domain.
(IV) Communicating, interacting and sharing.
(V) Seeking information and shopping.
(VI) Playing, praying, entertaining and educating.
(VII) Issues of concern in society and culture.
I believe it is broad and fairly complete in terms of covered topical areas concerning digital consumption.
While I recommend this volume, that does not mean that I am beyond a few small complaints about its execution. I would like to illuminate those briefly. Primarily in terms of reading the text it can be a bit dense and, at times, reads very much like a conference proceedings. This proceedings-like feel was supported by June Cotte’s (p. 261) admission that the editors had invited her at a recent conference (for what it is worth, Prof. Cotte was magnanimous with her long-form interview results and emergent themes concerning online gambling). So, overall, a reader should go into this realizing what they are in for. With that said, wearing my reviewer hat, I read it in a different fashion than had I simply added it to my library as a source. And while it makes for a labored read, and some of the topics are not in my sphere of interest or expertise, I can say I am better off for reading them. I think that speaks well of the editor’s choice of invited authors.
Speaking of which, the editing is superb. In addition to the well-recruited scholars, there is nary an extra space or a missed comma. It is a clean first edition and well worth the cost for the market. I will say that I have a slight quibble with some authors’ choice to contribute little more than an expanded abstract. While I may have wanted some more results, I take a certain solace in the knowledge that these truncated reports, presented as chapters, are probably readily available now in peer-reviewed journals in their entirety. Herein lies one of the best features of the book – the ability it gives a reader in overview and expanded reference lists (37 in total) to carve out his/her own scholarly path. The book in totality is current, relevant and just might introduce a reader to a literature stream of which she might be somewhat unaware.
In sum, The Routledge Companion to Digital Consumption offers insightful perspectives in a broad field. It met my expectations and I believe it is a wonderful addition to my library. It is scholarly and offers readers state-of-the-art methods and conceptualizations by some of the leading voices in the consumer behavior discipline. It is highly recommended for business library collections. I would also suggest consumer researchers peruse it for their own personal libraries. For students, both graduate and undergraduate, it would probably be off target and not offer the value that it heady price tag commands. However, on the flipside, I can easily see it being a great source for lecture material, so it still has abundant use in the classroom.
