Cultures of Consumer Information

This thesis is about the collectives that produce the functionality-related information consumersconsult whenever they are considering what products to buy. I call these collectives cultures ofconsumer information. Cultures of consumer information warrant attention for two reasons. First, asthe popularity of online consumer reviews suggests, consumers crave the ‘facts’ about thefunctionality of products before making a purchase, even if some consumer researchers have arguedthat functionality and facts only play a limited role in purchasing decisions. And second, cultures ofconsumer information call for attention because understanding the cultural patterns in howconsumer information is produced can help us explain why different types of information, such asexpert reviews and online user reviews, often offer contrasting characterizations of products.Uncovering the cultural factors that make different types of reviews diverge can help consumers tomake better decisions, companies to better respond to consumer information, and policymakers tobetter manage the current consumer information environment.

Three articles make up the thesis. The first article develops a theoretical framework for understanding consumer information as a cultural construct. Based on a comparative case study of the user reviews of Amazon.com and the expert reviews of the Danish consumer organization THINK, the article shows how ideology is expressed in and shapes product reviews. The second article explores how a particular culture of consumer information, THINK, has influenced Danish consumer markets through their product review practices. The third article takes up the question of how cultures of consumer information can empower consumers, conceptually discussing the uneasy links between power, information, and choices.

Together, the articles bear implications for how consumers, companies, and policymakers should navigate in the current consumer information environment. Furthermore, the articles establish the cultural study of functionality and consumer information as a promising avenue of research for consumer researchers, suggesting new routes of inquiry into issues such as market ideologies, consumer empowerment, and consumer activism.