Prosumer, say what?

Until reading Ritzer’s (2010) reading, I did not realise that I am both a producer and consumer. So, basically, I’m a ‘Prosumer’. A prosumer, in a professional sense ‘involves both production and consumption rather than focusing on either one (production) or the other (consumption)’ (Ritzer 2010, p.14). after giving this deep thought, I realised that I have been a prosumer more often than I originally thought. There are so many different types of websites and apps that I have used that allowed me to be both a producer and consumer. One example which I suddenly remembered was my love for Converse shoes. I wanted to design my own pair so I used the website every few months to look at new designs and options available. Another website which I have tried before was to personalise your own onesie pyjama. 

You can literally design the onesie however you want, from hoods, to feet, to things like ipod pockets, ears and tails!

 According to Arakji (2007), ‘traditionally, firms design new goods and produce and distribute them. Consumers, on the other hand, are supposed to maximize their utility by buying these products, subject to a budget constraint, without directly taking part in the design, production, or distribution process’ (Arakji 2007, p.196). Since researching and critically thinking about this, I know that this statement is not entirely true. We are involved in the production process more commonly than we think! Come to think of it, a new example came into my head as I was typing. BLOGGING! As students and users of the internet, we are prosumers as bloggers. We write our own blogs, using our own thoughts and ideas, as well as doing research to add depth into our blogs, and similarly, we read other peoples works and learn from their blogs to further assist us with our own blogging skills. So to conclude, we are all prosumers in this world, whether we like it or not! (I personally do not think it is all that bad, but feel free to disagree).

Arakji, R and Lang KR 2007, ‘Digital Consumer Networks and Producer--Consumer Collaboration: Innovation and Product Development in the Video Game Industry’, Journal of Management Information Systems, vol. 24, no.2, retrieved 10 September 2013, http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=6c3aa3f9-d282-41bb-9526-78783936d6dd%40sessionmgr15&vid=2&hid=3

Ritzer, G and Jurgenson N 2010, ‘Production, Consumption, Prosumption:The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital ‘prosumer’’, Journal of Consumer Culture, vol.10, no.1, pp.13-36

http://www.the-all-in-one-company.co.uk/all-in-ones/