How digital technology transforms consumption: a critical reflection on theoretical lenses and a research agenda Show others and affiliations
2026 (English) In: Journal of Marketing Management, ISSN 0267-257X, E-ISSN 1472-1376, p. 1-44Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]
This conceptual paper reflects upon interpretive consumer and marketing researchers’ efforts to theorise digital technology’s capacity to change consumption. We assess the ability of established (practice and relational material perspectives) and emerging theoretical lenses (affordances, postphenomenology, sociotechnical imaginaries, and techno-animism) to capture how digital technologies transform consumption at micro (individual practices and their meanings), meso (the actors and institutions involved) and macro (market systems) levels. In an era of accelerated technological advancements where change may outpace our ability to understand it, this exercise is timely and necessary. It draws attention to how different theoretical lenses shape the aspects of transformation that research represents, foregrounding specific elements while obscuring others. By inviting researchers to reflect on change through the critical application of these lenses, we offer a research agenda for expanding our understanding of the implications of digital technologies for consumption.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages Taylor & Francis Group, 2026. p. 1-44
Keywords [en]
consumption, digital consumption, digital technology, digitalisation, enabling theory, transformation
National Category
Business Administration Information Systems, Social aspects
Research subject Business and IT
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-36309 DOI: 10.1080/0267257x.2026.2729244 ISI: 001876307900001 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105050700013 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hb-36309 DiVA, id: diva2:2107253
Note Fundings. The work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) [EP/Z003067/1]; ESRC Digital Good Network [ES/X502352/1]
2026-10-022026-10-022026-10-02 Bibliographically approved