Vassilis Charitsis | Self-tracking, datafication and the biopolitical prosumption of life | Charitsis | Self-tracking, Vassilis Self-tracking, datafication and the biopolitical prosumption of life Self-tracking, datafication The aim of the thesis is to explore the extraction and appropriation of value and the from an increasing number of aspects of consumers’ lives. To do this, the thesis focuses on the popular consumption phenomenon of self-tracking, which allows biopolitical prosumption of life consumers to track and quantify diverse facets of their lives. Engaging with biopolitical analyses of contemporary marketing and drawing on qualitative empirical data, the thesis contests and extends previous marketing theorisations that focus primarily on consumers’ skills and knowledge while maintaining that the entirety of human existence becomes a resource for value. The thesis contributes to the critical marketing literature by advancing the Vassilis Charitsis understanding of the biopolitical nature of marketing in extracting value from consumers’ lifestyles and in the creation of consumer subjectivities. It introduces the notion of the “biopolitical prosumption of life”, which refers to the “creation of worlds” that allow and enable the development of market- 2018:10 aligned subjectivities, which can generate value for corporate interests. The notions of the “prosumed self” and the “prosuming self” are introduced to frame and elucidate these subjectivities. The empirical findings indicate that marketing interventions foster the development of marketing environments (“worlds”) that seek to contain consumers while allowing them to act freely, albeit in ways that augment the value that can be extracted and appropriated. ISBN 978-91-7063-839-8 (print) ISBN 978-91-7063-934-0 (pdf) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences ISSN 1403-8099 Business Administration DOCTORAL THESIS | Karlstad University Studies | 2018:10 DOCTORAL THESIS | Karlstad University Studies | 2018:10 Self-tracking, datafication and the biopolitical prosumption of life Vassilis Charitsis DOCTORAL THESIS | Karlstad University Studies | 2018:10 Self-tracking, datafication and the biopolitical prosumption of life Vassilis Charitsis DOCTORAL THESIS Karlstad University Studies | 2018:10 urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-66177 ISSN 1403-8099 ISBN 978-91-7063-839-8 (print) ISBN 978-91-7063-934-0 (pdf) © The author Distribution: Karlstad University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Karlstad Business School SE-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden +46 54 700 10 00 Print: Universitetstryckeriet, Karlstad 2018 WWW.KAU.SE Abstract The marketing literature has both celebrated and critically scrutinised the active engagement of consumers in value-creation processes. These opposing analyses share a focus on the mobilisation of consumers’ social and cognitive abilities for value creation. This thesis contributes to this discussion by exploring how diverse aspects of consumers’ lives become involved in value creation, leading the entirety of life to become a resource. In particular, the thesis focuses on the popular consumption phenomenon of self-tracking, which allows and enables consumers to track, quantify and datafy diverse facets of their lives. Drawing on data from two empirical studies, which were based on interviews and observational netnography, the thesis engages with the notion of biopolitical marketing to analyse the extraction and appropriation of value from consumers’ lives. The thesis contributes to the critical marketing literature by advancing the understanding of the biopolitical nature of marketing in extracting value from consumers’ lifestyles and subjectivities. The theoretical contributions include the notions of the “biopolitical prosumption of life”, the “prosumed self” and the “prosuming self”. The “biopolitical prosumption of life” entails the “creation of worlds” that allow and enable the development of market-aligned subjectivities, which can generate value for corporate interests. The notions of the “prosumed self” and the “prosuming self” are introduced to frame and elucidate these subjectivities. The empirical findings suggest that marketing interventions foster the development of marketing environments (“worlds”) that seek to contain consumers while allowing them to act freely, albeit in ways that augment the value that can be extracted and appropriated. I Acknowledgments A PhD can be a long and, at times, painful process. I would not have been able to reach the finishing line without the generous help and support that I received these past few years. First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my main supervisor, Per Skålén, for his academic guidance, but also for his patience and encouragement throughout my PhD. With his extensive knowledge and experience Per has provided me with invaluable support and advice. I would also like to thank Anna Fyrberg Yngfalk for her significant assistance during the latter and most crucial stages of my PhD. Since joining my supervising committee, Anna has had a very positive impact on my research and has helped me finish my thesis. In addition, I extend my thanks to Bo Edvardsson and Henrietta Huzell for their help, support and advice during different stages of my doctoral studies. Apart from the people that were directly involved in my studies, I would also like to thank all my colleagues at CTF for welcoming me at the department and for creating such a great working environment. A special thanks to Britt Marie Shandrew and Roberta Starosky Jonsson for always helping me with the administrative issues that I encountered. Of course, my thanks extend to all the, past and present, fellow PhD students at CTF for all the laughs that we shared but also the support that we provided to each other. I would also like to thank my advisors and co-authors, Alan Bradshaw at Royal Holloway, University of London and Detlev Zwick at York University. Their work has greatly inspired and influenced my research and it has been a pleasure to discuss and collaborate with them. My thanks also go to Carl Yngfalk who was the opponent at my final seminar. His meticulous reading of my work and his feedback and criticism have helped me to revise and further develop my thesis. This PhD would not have been made possible without the financial support from the Swedish Research School of Management and IT (MIT), for which I am grateful. In addition, the MIT biannual seminars helped me to develop as a researcher and gave me the opportunity to meet some good friends and colleagues. Karlstad, February 2018 Vassilis Charitsis II Table of Contents Abstract........................................................................................................... I Acknowledgements ........................................................................................ II Table of contents ............................................................................................ III List of appended papers ................................................................................ V 1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Academic marketing: From a managerial to a critical perspective ................................................. 1 1.2. Consumers as active participants .............................................................. 4 1.3. Value creation and Web 2.0 .................................................................. 5 1.4. Beyond Web 2.0: Value creation and smart technologies .................... 6 1.5. Datafication of life ................................................................................ 8 1.6. Aim and research questions .................................................................. 9 1.7. Overall thesis outline ............................................................................ 12 2. Theoretical background and positioning ................................................. 14 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 14 2.2 A Marxist perspective on consumer culture .......................................... 15 2.2.1 Critical marketing studies and Marxist theories .............................. 20 2.3 Power and subject in Foucault ............................................................... 23 2.4. The Deleuzian subject: The dividuals ................................................... 27 2.5. The constitution of the consumer subject ............................................. 29 2.6. The biopolitical nature of contemporary capitalism ............................. 34 2.6.1 Biopolitical production .................................................................... 37 2.6.2 Biopolitical marketing ..................................................................... 39 2.6.3 The biopolitical prosumption of life ................................................ 42 2.7. Summary ............................................................................................... 44 3. Literature Review ...................................................................................... 45 3.1. Self-Tracking as a Technology of Biopolitical Marketing ................... 45 3.2. The emergence of modern-day self-tracking practices ......................... 46 3.3. Critical analyses of self-tracking .......................................................... 49 3.4. Power relations and the self-tracking subject ....................................... 52 3.5. Different contexts: Self-tracking