Consumer collectives: A history and reflections on their future

TY - JOUR

T1 - Consumer collectives

T2 - A history and reflections on their future

AU - Arnould, Eric J.

AU - Arvidsson, Adam

AU - Eckhardt, Giana M.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Association for Consumer Research. All rights reserved. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/10

Y1 - 2021/10

N2 - This article provides a history of the treatment of consumer collectives in the social sciences literature. It highlights some of the insights derived from recent work in consumer research on consumer collectives which we organize under a heuristic taxonomy distinguishing packs, tribes, and bands. All of this suggests some future directions for consumer collectives and areas for future research. The proliferation and diversification of digital technologies will continue to shape and be shaped by consumer collectivities. Platforms are likely to accelerate and diversify consumers’ collective uses of their affordances. Algorithms seem destined to play a bigger role in the formation and management of collectives. Both geography-free and local collectives are likely to develop further. The article concludes with synopses of the competitive and invited articles in this issue, which richly portray the behaviors and meanings that shape and are shaped by consumer collectives.

AB - This article provides a history of the treatment of consumer collectives in the social sciences literature. It highlights some of the insights derived from recent work in consumer research on consumer collectives which we organize under a heuristic taxonomy distinguishing packs, tribes, and bands. All of this suggests some future directions for consumer collectives and areas for future research. The proliferation and diversification of digital technologies will continue to shape and be shaped by consumer collectivities. Platforms are likely to accelerate and diversify consumers’ collective uses of their affordances. Algorithms seem destined to play a bigger role in the formation and management of collectives. Both geography-free and local collectives are likely to develop further. The article concludes with synopses of the competitive and invited articles in this issue, which richly portray the behaviors and meanings that shape and are shaped by consumer collectives.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114987312&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1086/716513

DO - 10.1086/716513

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85114987312

SN - 2378-1815

VL - 6

SP - 415

EP - 427

JO - Journal of the Association for Consumer Research

JF - Journal of the Association for Consumer Research

IS - 4

ER -