All in One: Digital Influencers as Market Agents of Popular Culture

Abstract

Purpose -Considering the growing relevance of digital influencers in consumer practices and the emergence of Brazil as one of the main popular culture markets in the world, this study aims to understand how Brazilian popular culture digital influencer channels produce paratexts that complement and broaden the consumption experience of media texts. Theoretical framework -Digital influencers operate as consumption mediators through the notions of marketplace ideologies and agencies established by media discourses, grounded by the Foucauldian Theory of Knowledge and the Theory of Paratextuality. Design/methodology/ approach -Using Foucauldian discourse analysis the research analyzes 4,006 video thumbnails posted between January 2017 and July 2019 from the top-five Brazilian YouTube channels specialized in popular culture and the entertainment industry. Findings -The identified discursive formations point to three ideological positions taken by the digital influencer channels: as press, analytically resonating the entertainment industry; as fans, touting popular culture to a captive audience; and as promoters, assuming a marketing role in demand development. Altogether, these discourses evidence an episteme founded in market agency. Practical & social implications of research -The study proposes an important theoretical insight, since digital influencers evidence an overlap of roles performed as market agents (e.g., consumers, producers, mediators), which are often well demarcated by the literature. Specifically, it evokes an ethical reflection on such conduct and reverberates their actions in authoring popular culture, bringing light to both social and practical concerns about it. Furthermore, the study also presents as a practical implication the importance of digital influencers in inducing consumption practices through their discourses. Originality/value -The study addresses the conception of paratextual production as an interdisciplinary theoretical dialogue for the Consumer Culture Theory research tradition.

Cynical fan: telling the truth shamelessly

“…Consequently, Foucauldian analysis explores nuances of coexistence among consumers associated with producing truths, forms of government, and ethical consumer relations (Camargo et al, 2021;Tadajewski, 2011;Thompson et al, 2013). Thus, the following subsections present a brief explanation of the data collection, the systematization of the analytical procedures based on guidelines presented throughout Foucault's work (2001, 2003a, 2006, 2012a, 2012b) and, an illustration with an example of how the collected data were analyzed as an adaption of Souza-Leão, Moura, and Nunes (2022) proposal to Foucauldian analysis for consumer research. Data collection procedures Foucault (2001) explains that his philosophical investigations use historical investigations to access present phenomena.…”

“…The Foucauldian methodology allows access to the conditions that produced contemporary practices and institutionswhether through discourses, conflicts, or exercises of the self (Garland, 2014). It is an approach that, for the study of marketing, allows an understanding of the historicity of a phenomenon and can be carried out by investigations that use data from the present when looking into the entire history of the present itself (Souza-Leão et al, 2022;Tadajewski, 2011). No wonder recent marketing research resorts to Foucauldian methodology to analyze data collected through ethnographic approaches (Camargo et al, 2021;Denegri-Knott et al, 2018).…”

“…Nevertheless, the study is interested in contributing to understanding consumers' subjectivity based on content and knowledge produced by media products associated with the entertainment industry (Addis & Holbrook, 2001;Denegri-Knott et al, 2018;Hackley, 2002;Wood & Ball, 2013). Broadly, it follows the suggestion to expand investigations of Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) (Arnould & Thompson, 2015;Holt, 2017) through Foucauldian contributions, either by accessing its theoretical concepts (Cavalcanti et al, 2021;Thompson, 2017) or by exploring its methodological approach (Brownlie et al, 2009;Souza-Leão et al, 2022;Thompson & Tian, 2008).…”

Fã cínico: falando a verdade descaradamente

“…Assim, as subseções a seguir apresentam uma breve explicação sobre a coleta de dados, a sistematização dos procedimentos analíticos com base nas diretrizes apresentadas ao longo da obra de Foucault (2001de Foucault ( , 2003ade Foucault ( , 2006de Foucault ( , 2012ade Foucault ( , 2012b A metodologia foucaultiana permite o acesso às condições que produziram as práticas e instituições contemporâneas -seja através de discursos, conflitos ou exercícios de si (Garland, 2014). É uma abordagem que, para o estudo do marketing, permite a compreensão da historicidade de um fenômeno e pode ser realizada por investigações que utilizem dados do presente ao olhar para toda a história do próprio presente (Souza-Leão et al, 2022;Tadajewski, 2011). Não é à toa que pesquisas recentes de marketing recorrem à metodologia foucaultiana para analisar dados coletados por meio de abordagens etnográficas (Camargo et al, 2021;Denegri-Knott et al, 2018).…”

“…Hackley, 2002;Wood & Bola, 2013). Em linhas gerais, segue a sugestão de ampliar as investigações da Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) (Arnould & Thompson, 2015;Holt, 2017) por meio de contribuições foucaultianas, seja acessando seus conceitos teóricos (Cavalcanti et al, 2021;Thompson, 2017) ou explorando sua abordagem metodológica (Brownlie et al, 2009;Souza-Leão et al, 2022;Thompson & Tian, 2008).…”