Productive Platformers?: How artisans protect their craft in platform markets - Dr Daiane Scaraboto, University of Melbourne
Event Date: 21 February 2022
Speaker: Daiane Scaraboto, University of Melbourne. The paper was co-written with Eileen Fischer, York University
Location: online. Please contact christina.maclean@strath.ac.uk for zoom details.
Time: 10am
Abstract: While some categories of prosumers, such as influencers, are native to digital platforms, others, such as artisans, have transitioned onto platforms from non-digital domains. The growth of platforms dedicated to the commercialization of handmade goods and the popularisation of arts and crafts content in platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube attest to the relevance of this market. Digital platforms offer new affordances and challenges to users, yet there is little research on how those who have traditionally practised and promoted their craft in non-digital fields adapt to digital platforms. We adopt a practice theory lens to examine the emergent practises of artisans who promote and protect themselves and their interests on digital platforms. We address this question through an inductive analysis of qualitative data about artisans who use one or more digital platforms. Our dataset covers over 15 years of activity on Etsy.com and follows artisans who have used Etsy, and potentially other platforms to sell their offerings. Our findings indicate that to protect and promote their interests, artisans: 1) engage in platformance, that is, they establish and maintain interconnected presences on multiple platforms, and perform multiple market roles (including but not limited to producer and consumer) within a platform market, adjusting their strategy to each platform and role; 2) Connect to and collaborate with similar others to empower themselves in relation to platforms; and 3) Preserve, yet update, the craft logics in face of the pressure to conform to platform logics. These findings extend theoretical conversations about the platformization of consumer culture. We also contribute to an expanding stream of marketing research on practice theory by retracing the emergence of artisans’ digital practices and highlighting the mutually constitutive nature of platform users’ and platform firms’ practices.
Biography: Daiane Scaraboto is Associate Professor in Marketing at the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research challenges taken-for-granted understandings of markets such as the notions of value and exchange by examining how consumers cocreate, instigate market change, and creatively resist marketing practices. Her work is published in the Journal of Marketing and Journal of Consumer Research, among other outlets. In her current projects she is examining sharing economy platforms, consumer resistance to sustainability interventions, and the creative ways in which consumers solve their needs without recurring to the marketplace.
Published: 9 February 2022
