Social Media and Prosumerism

Literature Review Social networking sites have emerged as a vital information resource used by individuals for product and brand information (Silver, 2009). Through the exchange of infor mation, members of social networking communities work together to achieve better products and services (Silver, 2009) in a manner that puts power in the hands of the consumer who becomes an advocate and voice for a brand (Coulton, 2011). One-half of US consumers surveyed in a national study reported that they had made a purchase based on information that they gathered through about a brand or product via social media. Further, the majority of respondents (> 75%) reported that recommendations from peers are valuable, credible, and likely to influence their purchasing decisions (DEI Worldwide, 2008). As such, people today look to peer community members in order to find out the truth about products and services, opportunity pricing, vendor after sale support, preferred models, as well as the overall customer experience (Silver, 2009). Li and Bernoff (2008) used proprietary data and survey research, finding that prepared organiza tions can reap significant financial benefits in product development, marketing, PR, sales, and customer retention through the use of social media. Additionally, research that has examined be lievability and impact has found that consumers give greater credence to the opinion of peers above almost any other source (Warwick, 2011, Coulton, 2011, Borrud, 2011, Bazaarvoice, 2012) with peer opinions having significantly greater salience than brand generated messages (Coulton, 2011). Marketers are no longer the solitary authors of the brand story, but rather, the formerly passive listener is now an active participant in the storytelling and creation process. Sing and Sonnenberg explain that "brand owners do not tell brand stories alone but co-create brand performances in collaboration with the consumers" (2012, p. 189). As a result, products, and services are now so cial objects that can be examined, discussed, and shared among members of peer networks (Metz, 2011). Alvin Toffler (1980) introduced the concept of the proactive consumer known as the prosumer in his book The Third Wave to describe common consumers who were predicted to become active so as to influence the design and delivery of goods and services. Social media has brought Tof fler's vision to reality by engendering the birth of the social customer, the embodiment of the prosumer, who uses social networking sites as vital information resources for the sharing and consumption of product and brand information (Silver, 2009). As social networking expands prosumption, there a number of implications to the American capitalistic economy (Ritzer, Dean, and Jurgenson, 2012), that Conner (2011) explains tap into "existing predilections for commodi ty-focused forms of self-realization (p. 309). " The July 2011 issue of the Prosumer Report extoled that the growth of social media usage has created the ideal conditions to support the growth and expansion of prosumerism. Noting the evolving nature of prosumers, the report identified five types of prosumers: Utilitarians, Enter tainers, Advocates, Co-Creators, and Competitors (Havas World Wide, 2011). Arvidsson and Colleoni (2012) refer to social media services as "prosumer platforms", explaining that they have the capacity to initiate and sustain affective relations, and value realization through "informational capitalism" (p. 135). This informational capitalism has been measured by Bernoff, Cooperstein, Lussant, and Munchbach (2011), who found that consumers generated more than 500 billion impressions about products and services in annually. The computer maker Dell has embraced the prosumer movement and has been heralded as an ex emplar for the effective use of social media in the support of customer relationship management. Through their IdeaStorm program, Dell has created a social community platform that integrates customer service delivered by actual Dell representatives, queries and input from Dell executives, customer engagement in brainstorming sessions regarding product development and improvement, and rewards for superstar contributors (Israel, 2012). …