(Image: author's own)
Iris and Helly, my in-laws, have a surprisingly thriving
holiday rental apartment beneath their beachside home in their quiet retirement
town of Ulladulla, NSW. They're booked
out weeks, sometimes months in advance. In fact, if we stay there at Christmas,
even before we leave Iris and Helly want to know what our plans are for the following Christmas
as they need to know whether they can offer their flat to paying guests. They are listed on Air BnB, Stayz and other sites, and their reputation capital is high.
Web 2.0 technologies have benefitted them
enormously as happy customers write positive reviews online. Visitors’ online feedback is important and
changes are made in line with suggestions given. Prosumption consists of interrelated
processes or a continuum, as George Ritzer (2013) explains and his notion of
co-creation is at work on the Dolphin View apartment.
Ritzer & Jurgenson (2010, p22) argue that the increase in digital prosumption is changing the nature of capitalism. Traditional Marxist capitalism relies on the market economy to facilitate the exchange of goods and services for money, with profit (surplus value) being the goal. Different types of economies now function that exchange intangibles: the reputation economy, the ideas economy or the economy of the mind (Barlow, cited in Doctorow, 2010).
Schwabel (2011) explains it well: “the
reputation economy is an environment where brands are built based on how they
are perceived online and the promise they deliver offline”.
The intangibles in the online world affect the
real world and perception is the keyword here.
Social media is increasingly influential in shaping reputations (Finkle,
2013) and can make or break a reputation – business or individual. Dolphin View’s online presence is not
sophisticated or professionally managed; however its offline reality surpasses
expectations, and thus their reputation grows.
(Image: author's own)
The notion of reputation value in a business
transaction is not really a new one; ‘good will’ has long been considered part
of the stock in trade of the commercial market. The ascent of the Internet is accompanied
by a growing awareness of the importance of managing your online reputation,
both in the business and personal spheres.
References:
Doctorow, C 2008 Content, Tachyon Publications,
San Francisco, USA
http://craphound.com/content/Cory_Doctorow_-_Content.pdf
accessed 5 August 2013
Finkle, Jim 2013, ‘Virus
targets social networks in new fraud twist’, The Age, 19 August 2013
Ritzer, G 2013, ‘Prosumption:
Evolution, Revolution or Eternal Return of the Same’, video recording, Bowdoin
College, Maine USA, 11 April 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYf8rnMGHpE
retrieved 31 July 2013
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(1), 13-16, 2010
Schwabel, Dan, 2011, ‘The
Reputation Economy is Coming – Are You Prepared?’ www.forbes.com, 28 February 2011, http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2011/02/28/the-reputation-economy/
Hi Mary Anne, again this is a great blog post. You're skills and writing experience shine through in every piece of writing you do and I always enjoy reading your work.
ReplyDeleteGreat discussion about the reputation economy and the role of the internet in this respect. In particular, I liked how you used the example of your in-laws holiday rental and the reviews on the internet which have helped build their excellent reputation. This is something I can definitely relate to. I just returned from 6 months travelling in Europe where I constantly relied on websites such as hostelworld and tripadviser to find accommodation and restaurants. I don't know what I would have done without the help of these sites and other traveller’s comments. I myself also started to post reviews. Therefore, in this way I guess I was a ‘prosumer’, both consuming and producing the reputation of the restaurants, hostels and other accommodation businesses that I came in contact with amidst my travels. Very Interesting post indeed.
Wow, great post Mary-Ann. I enjoyed reading your blog and liked how you used your own personal example which made me connect with your discussion and easily understand your take on the topic. I liked the use of scholarly sources to support your argument which made me know that you're aware of what you are talking about and inline with the week's topic. The internet has made it easy for businesses to advertise themselves, I agree that online reputation plays a big role and its good to know that your in-laws receive positive feedback on their holiday rental apartment.
ReplyDeleteI must admit this is the best blog post I've read so far and you maintained a very good tone through out your post which showed your great writing skills. Looking forward to reading more posts.
Great job, keep it up!
Hi Mary Ann,
ReplyDeleteWell I have to say the title of your blog ‘Dolphins: Dolphin view apartment in the reputation economy intrigued me I mean dolphins! Who can reset. Starting with your personal experience and perspective grabbed my attention instantly as I can relate especially with your reference to Air BnB as I frequent that site quite a bit. Your incorporation of the concept presumption and the Ritzer, 2003 reading was done really well. I also particularly liked the further/added reading of Schnabel, 2011 as I feel it added further depth to your blog.
Hi Mary-Anne!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog post this week. Your example of your in-laws' bed and breakfast really tied well with the idea of the prosumer. The way you structured your argument made it really easy to follow with short yet effective paragraphs, your use of video, and attractive images (which I can see are your own, awesome addition).
Your use of sources is great, and I especially liked Schwabel's quote as I believe like you, that because of the Web 2.0 reputation (particularly online) has become very valuable to businesses. For example, I use an application called UrbanSpoon where people rate and comment on restaurants around Australia. These ratings often make my decision as to whether or not to dine in that restaurant. I also started to post reviews, therefore i am a ‘prosumer’, both consuming and producing the reputation of the restaurants.
Keep up the good work !
HI Mary-Anne, thanks for a great read once again!
ReplyDeleteI too agree that the online exchanges between a business owner and consumer is something that has become a highly influential part of our online sharing and trading world. I particularly enjoyed the point that you made in regards to the management of our reputations in the online sphere, and the importance of matching up online trading with business in the real world. It's nice to know that one can give positive feedback to future consumers through the click of a button. The current online world is available for all to access, which in turn allows business owners and consumers to develop an honest relationship through instant feedback. After all, isn't honesty the best policy?
Hello Mary-Anne,
ReplyDeleteI found your post engaging. I enjoyed how you used personal images throughout your post. Using your family’s business to address the concept of ‘prosumer’ was a great idea. I believe that the online relationship between a business and consumer is of substantial importance. Both myself and family members post and read reviews of particular businesses. These reviews definitely aid in my decision of whether or not I will use that particular business. The old saying ‘word of mouth’ has taken on a whole new meaning. I enjoyed how you used personal images throughout your post. Happy blogging.
Regards
Karina
Thanks Mary for the post.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the above blog post, I do like the ideas that mentioned above. Digital prosumption really changes the nature of capitalism. Certainly, reputation is always something important for a business, as well as for a man. (This has been mentioned at the end of the blog post which I agree with it much) However, in the past, the owners can earn their publicity and reputation by the word of mouth. However, nowadays, reputation of a business could be developed or ruined online overnight by also word of mouth. Technological development results to an information explosion era. Information is spreading worldwide quickly. People can access to different kinds of information via the Internet easily. When we want to buy something, we would not hesitate to go online and check the items out. And people are willing to share comments towards different good and services they bought. Many websites and apps are derived from the presumption culture, like Urbanspoon. For example, there is website for people to share their experiences: http://www.womo.com.au/ . Running a business, the entrepreneurs always have to pay much attention on reputation development. It means further developing opportunity and greater profits. Thus, running a business nowadays seems an even hard job to do. The new mode of economy is really worth studying. Thanks for the sharing. Well done.
Hey Mary-Anne, Interesting blog very well written and presented, it looks very professional. I loved the way you used your own personal experience to make a good example about reputation value in prosumption and the role of the internet got me reading on. Good use of quotes and Links of scholarly sources to back you up and make what you were saying clearer. It really is amazing how blogging and other web sites can make or break companies, businesses or ventures. The you tube clip I was going to take a look at but then I saw it was 51 minutes long and thought no don’t worry about it. So maybe something shorter but other than that great job!!
ReplyDelete