The London School of Economics and Political Science Computational Consumption: Social Media and the construction of Digital Consumers Cristina Alaimo A thesis submitted to the Department of Management of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, July 2014 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 85,609 words (including footnotes but excluding bibliography and appendices). Statement of use of third party for editorial help I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by Jonathan A. Sutcliffe. 2 Abstract The abundance of social data and the constant development of new models of personalized suggestions are rewriting the way in which consumption is experienced. Not only are consumers now immersed in an information mediated context - decoupled from physical and socio-cultural constrains - but they also experience other consumers and themselves differently, embracing the prescriptions of a technological medium made by algorithmic suggestions and software instructions. A single case study of a social shopping platform in its start up phase has served as the empirical object of this thesis. The company investigated represents a typical case in the field of data driven consumption. The case has been conducted following the company’s infrastructure design and implementation for over a year. The analysis of the case has revealed the distinctive computational logic embedded in the platform system. The system uses the data produced by user selection as representation of consumer choice. On this account it structures social and individual consumption patterns and computes personalized suggestion. This study shows that technological information and software systems disassemble traditional practices of consumption and reassemble consumers in new and unseen ways. The research investigates technology’s role as a medium, by exposing and deconstructing the processes through which data aggregation and personalization mechanics reconfigure discovery, selection and experience of fashion. This thesis illustrates how consumption is now produced on the basis of social data structuration and how consumers are constructed out of data assemblages. Consumers select products they are suggested to like or expected to buy reacting to what social media platforms construct, compute, and fed back to them. Personalization allows consumers to see themselves as individual against the background of a computed sociality. Ultimately thus, the study discusses the impact of computational consumption as individuation process, considering its implications for consumer identity articulation and marketing practices. 3 Acknowledgements Big thank you to all my friends for helping me maintain a quasi-normal life during this journey. Manuela deserves an individual thank you. Particular thanks go to Jamie, Flaminia, Licia, Clarissa and Davide. Your random acts of friendship have powered my writing engine. My parents, Cinzia e Giuseppe have all my love and gratitude for their constant encouragement and sustain. To my brother Mauro go special thanks for helping me take some distance from myself. Elisa thank to you too. Luciano, I have been able to accomplish this work because of your loving presence, patience, and constant support. Thank you. I am grateful to have been part of the ISI group at the Department of Management at LSE. I am thankful for their gracious support with the LSE Research Studenship and for the intellectual support I received during these years. Thank you to Antonio Cordella, Carsten Sørensen, Shirin Madon and to my second supervisor Chrisanthi Avgerou. I would like to thank also my colleagues and friends Maha Shaikh and Hono Honarvar and my wonderful comrades of the TIGAIR team José-Carlos Mariátegui, Aleksi Aaltonen, Niccolò Tempini, and Attila Márton for the sharing of ideas and beers. A special thank you goes to Heather Barry Kappes for providing me a space to further my intellectual adventure. I am thankful to all the interviewees that have dedicated time to this project during its pilot phase. To the founders of the company I have investigated for over a year goes all my gratitude. Their affable openness made this study’s fieldwork not only possible but also interesting and engaging. Finally, I am particularly indebted to my supervisor Jannis Kallinikos for his advice, generosity, and trust. It has been a wonderful journey Jannis and I look forward to continue working together. 4 Table of Contents Computational Consumption: Social Media and the construction of Digital Consumers ...................................................................................................................... 1 Abstract ........................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 4 List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................... 7 List of Tables .................................................................................................................. 8 List of Figures ................................................................................................................ 8 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 9 1.1 Research approach ......................................................................................................10 1.2 Research objectives .....................................................................................................12 1.3 Thesis outline................................................................................................................13 2 Social Media .............................................................................................................. 18 Introduction .........................................................................................................................18 2.1 A ‘user-centric’ perspective ......................................................................................20 2.2 A critical perspective ..................................................................................................25 2.3 Social Media as technologies of the social .............................................................28 2.4 Conclusion......................................................................................................................31 3 Consumption ............................................................................................................. 33 Introduction .........................................................................................................................33 3.1 Consumption as a ‘modality of the social’ .............................................................34 3.1.1 A brief history of individuality in fashion consumption ................................................... 40 3.2 Managing meanings, measuring emotions ...........................................................45 3.2.1 Marketing: from classification to self-governing ............................................................... 46 3.2.2 Social Media marketing................................................................................................................. 51 3.3 Conclusion......................................................................................................................52 4 Theory ........................................................................................................................ 55 Introduction .........................................................................................................................55 4.1 A semiotic approach ....................................................................................................56 4.2 Framing Social Media as media ................................................................................62 4.2.1 Databases of every day .................................................................................................................. 63 4.2.2 A computed sociality ....................................................................................................................... 67 4.3 Conclusion......................................................................................................................70 5 Analytical Framework ............................................................................................. 71 Introduction .........................................................................................................................71 5.1 Social Media consumption: an analytical framework ........................................72