Consumer empowerment: a Foucauldian interpretation

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to question the taken for granted assumptions that underpin a liberal or lay view of consumer empowerment implicit to this special edition.In particular, the idea that it benefits consumers to have more choice is questioned.Design/methodology/approach -The key constructs of Michel Foucaultdisciplinary power, governmentality and technologies of selfare used to argue that people can never escape from the operation of power. Rather it is shown how power operates to produce consumers.Findings -The liberal view of the empowerment of consumers through choice is questioned. Rather we suggest the opposite; that choice is a disciplinary power and that more and more choice can lead to choice paralysis. The contemporary phenomenon known as blogging is described as a Foucauldian technology of self. Managerial implications are discussed.Originality/value -The value of a Foucauldian inspired theory of empowerment is that it represents a more sophisticated understanding of the fluidity of power relationships between producers and consumers than can be captured by a liberal view of power and empowerment.

Purchase power: An examination of consumption as voting

“…Overall, the perspectives reviewed above imply that power can be owned (acquired or lost) by people and/or institutions operating in market economies, which, in turn, inherently implies that power can exist independently of subjectactors (Shankar et al, 2006). However, this is where a relational view of power may offer an alternative, and perhaps accommodating perspective on the consumer voting phenomenon.…”

“…Furthermore, although choice and choosing may be critical to effective voting, too much choice can be detrimental and potentially paralysing (Shankar, Cherrier, & Canniford, 2006), the level of information processing required becomes overwhelming, potentially leading to a state of uncertainty and impasse (Lennard, Mitchell, McGoldrick, & Betts, 2001). Consumers who are more likely to be 'empowered' by choice are usually high-income earners, and less likely to be from the lower social grades (Nelson, 2002).…”

“…In Foucault's view, power-formed subjects (i.e., 'consumers') are socially construed within discourses, and discourses refer not only to written and spoken language, but also to the manner in which knowledge is produced, disseminated and defining of our ways of knowing (Shankar et al, 2006). As put by Shankar et al (2006Shankar et al ( , p.1016, 'these discourses have provided standards of norms and have colonized many aspects of our daily life, glimpses of possible selves to aspire to and emulate through consumption'. In discussing the formation of people's identities as consumers and the possibilities for consumer votes, therefore, it is relevant to examine Foucault's concept of governmentality.…”

“…In his later writings, Foucault investigated the 'progression from external control to control and discipline exercised by individuals upon themselves' (Shankar et al, 2006(Shankar et al, , p.1017. Disciplinary control requires individuals to believe, think, and act in ways aligned to governmental norms, and those who do not comply with the norms encounter social pressures to conform and become 'normal' individuals (Shankar et al, 2006).…”

“…Power is a knowledge-related, omnipresent force field; it is exercised but not owned by either individuals or institutions (Foucault, 1991a), and is that which emerges from socially and historically-situated interactions. As put by Shankar, Cherrier and Canniford (2006), Foucault's view of power challenges many of the assumptions underlying notions of empowered consumer voting in liberal markets, and advances our understanding of power constructs in consumer research and marketing management. Through an exploration of market-based power relations, this paper critically examines the consumption as voting metaphor and contributes to our understanding of consumer resistance and choice by bringing marketbased political action to the fore.…”