Christian Fuentes
Professor
Configuring ethical food consumers: understanding the failures of digital food platforms
Författare
Summary, in English
Digital food platforms are being launched, offering consumers convenient access to ‘ethical’ food. Ensuring the viability of these platforms hinges on attracting and retaining loyal customers. However, recent studies show that despite considerable efforts from market actors, stable platformconsumer relationships are rare in these digitalized food markets. The aim of this paper is to explore and explain why digital food platforms fail to produce stable ethical consumers. The paper draws on an
ethnographically inspired study of the meal box market to explore the socio-material configuring of consumers and the resulting consumer arrangements. The analysis shows that while the market devices of meal box providers worked to produce loyal and ethical food consumers, the consumers in this study were not loyal to any one meal box provider. This instability, the paper argues, was the result of both a restless market and restless households. The multiple, often conflicting, and, in some cases, unspecific consumer configurations intensified the households’ dynamic tendencies, leading to changes in diets and sustainability focus, the breaking of routines, and the continuous chasing of offers. Because of this, the consumer arrangements formed tended to unravel over time, making the production of stable ethical food consumers difficult.
ethnographically inspired study of the meal box market to explore the socio-material configuring of consumers and the resulting consumer arrangements. The analysis shows that while the market devices of meal box providers worked to produce loyal and ethical food consumers, the consumers in this study were not loyal to any one meal box provider. This instability, the paper argues, was the result of both a restless market and restless households. The multiple, often conflicting, and, in some cases, unspecific consumer configurations intensified the households’ dynamic tendencies, leading to changes in diets and sustainability focus, the breaking of routines, and the continuous chasing of offers. Because of this, the consumer arrangements formed tended to unravel over time, making the production of stable ethical food consumers difficult.
Avdelning/ar
- Institutionen för tjänstevetenskap
Publiceringsår
2024-05-14
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
1-20
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Journal of Cultural Economy
Fulltext
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Routledge
Ämne
- Business Administration
- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Aktiv
Epub
Projekt
- Hållbara livsmedelsplattformar: Att möjliggöra hållbara matpraktiker genom socio-tekniska innovationer (PLATEFORMS)
- Service Studies Consumption
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1753-0350