Digitalization
What does the digital transition actually mean for us as humans? How does it affect social behavior and culture? At the Centre for Consumption Research this is an area of great interest.
New technologies such as smartphones, tablets, apps and QR codes are enabling new consumption patterns. Linked to technology are also perceptions of the future and how consumers can be enticed to consume using new technologies. These changes are then followed by new ideas about the people who are expected to use the technology.
Since 2013, digitalisation has been a research theme involving several researchers at Centre for Consumption Research in collaboration with other departments at the University of Gothenburg, the Stockholm School of Economics and the University of Toulouse II, France.
This resarch takes a holistic approach to the intertwining of economic, cultural and technological aspects. Actor-network theories of "market devices" are particularly inspiring. Methodologically, ethnography is the strongest orientation.
The four-year research project "Digcon: the digitisation of consumption culture", which received a framework grant of 19.8 million SEK from the Swedish Research Council, studies the social, cultural and economic consequences of the digitisation of consumption.
In our field of research you find:
- the development of digital market devices
- gender perspectives on digital consumption
- the relationship between digital technologies and ethical consumption
- how 'serendipity', the possibility of being pleasantly surprised, acts both as a driver for consumers and as a way for marketers to attract them.
