Breaking Down ConsumerSpace

Empowerment of COnsumers to Influence Products and the Market

Consumerspace

In the past, consumers typically played a passive role in the marketing landscape, where they received meticulously crafted messages from companies through traditional channels like TV commercials and more relaxed formats like magazine articles. However, a transformative concept known as Consumerspace has come into market prominence, granting consumers significant power in determining how they engage with and influence information pertaining to companies. This empowerment extends to their ability to shape both the content and manner in which it is presented.

This has been proven to be true in the recent relationship development between pop singer Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce. Shortly after the news broke out, it was reported that apparently, “…sales of Kelce’s jersey had increased by nearly 400%. [and he] has added over 300,000 social media followers.” (Burns). While this isn’t necessarily a product/service or company trying to sell something, it does show the power of consumers, and how what they think or say controls what happens for certain entities. Because Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce brought their connection into a public light, it drastically changed the public’s awareness of Travis Kelce. The romantic association between the two public figures had a profound impact, leading to a direct correlation between this connection and significant growth in Travis Kelce’s jersey sales and his social media follower count. This surge in popularity has, in turn, facilitated his ability to engage with a more expansive audience, extending beyond the realm of sports enthusiasts.

Artificial Needs

The concept of Consumerspace is closely linked to the broader discussion about whether marketers fabricate artificial needs. A significant critique of marketing is the assertion that marketers generate demands that consumers wouldn’t have conceived without exposure to their content. However, as previously discussed, it’s evident that today’s consumers have greater influence over the marketplace. We actively influence what companies present to us and how we perceive it, debunking the idea that marketing teams at firms operate as mere puppeteers behind the scenes.

In connection, there’s a concept that as consumers we now buy products more for what they represent and what symbolism they transfer to us once we own it over valuing it’s actual function. Giving more reason as to support the idea that consumers have higher power than that of the company/marketing department when it comes to products and content used to advertise them.  From a study in 2006, it’s seen that, “the consistency between value endorsement and product preference was strongest for individuals in the treatment group who had a predisposition to attend to the symbolic meanings of products or believed that values in general are personally relevant.” (Allen). To put it in simpler terms, when individuals were provided with information that a product had the potential to influence how others perceived them, this led to a higher level of preference for that specific product. Essentially, being supplementary in the argument that consumers have continuously increased their power over the market.

Tying THings Together

We have voiced our opinions enough to make our control clear to companies, and as a result they have shifted their methods to advertise their products with specialized content. And because of this shift, the world of marketing has gone through a digital rebirth that consists of content which pertains specifically to us as consumers. Which is because we now have the ability to regulate and experience said content, in a way that we want.

References

Allen, M. W. (2006, July 31). An investigation of the antecedents and … – Wiley Online Library. Wiley Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb02766.x

Burns, M. J. (2023, September 29). Travis Kelce’s popularity jumps amid Taylor Swift Buzz. Morning Consult Pro. https://pro.morningconsult.com/instant-intel/travis-kelce-popularity-awareness-taylor-swift