Agencing ethical consumers: smartphone apps and the socio-material reconfiguration of everyday life
(2019) In Consumption Markets and Culture 22(2). p.131-156- Abstract
- The aim of this paper is to describe and explain how smartphone apps,
designed to assist consumers in making informed ethical choices and
greening their everyday practices, enable and shape ethical consumption.
Taking a socio-material approach and drawing on an ethnographic study
of three ethical consumption apps – the Green guide, the Fair trade app
and Shopgun – the paper shows that these digital devices are scripted to
hybridize with consumers and facilitate key ethical consumer actions.
When consumers follow the scripts of these apps, using them in everyday
practices, the apps put pressure on consumers to act “ethically” by
problematizing consumption in various ways while also,... (More) - The aim of this paper is to describe and explain how smartphone apps,
designed to assist consumers in making informed ethical choices and
greening their everyday practices, enable and shape ethical consumption.
Taking a socio-material approach and drawing on an ethnographic study
of three ethical consumption apps – the Green guide, the Fair trade app
and Shopgun – the paper shows that these digital devices are scripted to
hybridize with consumers and facilitate key ethical consumer actions.
When consumers follow the scripts of these apps, using them in everyday
practices, the apps put pressure on consumers to act “ethically” by
problematizing consumption in various ways while also, and
simultaneously, endowing them with the agential capacities required to
solve these problems. Consequently, these devices both motivate
consumers and enable ethical consumption, producing, under the right
conditions, capable and self-reflexive ethical consumer hybrids. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3df2a23d-b992-462b-a4e6-1e1a419ef131
- author
- Fuentes, Christian LU and Sörum, Niklas
- organization
- publishing date
- 2019-03-04
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- ethical consumption, digital, sustainability, smartphone, materiality
- in
- Consumption Markets and Culture
- volume
- 22
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 131 - 156
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85046010244
- ISSN
- 1025-3866
- DOI
- 10.1080/10253866.2018.1456428
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 3df2a23d-b992-462b-a4e6-1e1a419ef131
- date added to LUP
- 2018-04-30 11:07:32
- date last changed
- 2022-12-22 19:11:50
@article{3df2a23d-b992-462b-a4e6-1e1a419ef131,
abstract = {{The aim of this paper is to describe and explain how smartphone apps,<br/>designed to assist consumers in making informed ethical choices and<br/>greening their everyday practices, enable and shape ethical consumption.<br/>Taking a socio-material approach and drawing on an ethnographic study<br/>of three ethical consumption apps – the Green guide, the Fair trade app<br/>and Shopgun – the paper shows that these digital devices are scripted to<br/>hybridize with consumers and facilitate key ethical consumer actions.<br/>When consumers follow the scripts of these apps, using them in everyday<br/>practices, the apps put pressure on consumers to act “ethically” by<br/>problematizing consumption in various ways while also, and<br/>simultaneously, endowing them with the agential capacities required to<br/>solve these problems. Consequently, these devices both motivate<br/>consumers and enable ethical consumption, producing, under the right<br/>conditions, capable and self-reflexive ethical consumer hybrids.}},
author = {{Fuentes, Christian and Sörum, Niklas}},
issn = {{1025-3866}},
keywords = {{ethical consumption; digital; sustainability; smartphone; materiality}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{03}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{131--156}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Consumption Markets and Culture}},
title = {{Agencing ethical consumers: smartphone apps and the socio-material reconfiguration of everyday life}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2018.1456428}},
doi = {{10.1080/10253866.2018.1456428}},
volume = {{22}},
year = {{2019}},
}