I share, therefore i am? The (re) construction of consumer identity by collaborative con-sumption

Abstract

This article aims to investigate how the practice of collaborative consumption, which privileges the "use" in detriment of "possessions" of goods, influences the construction, reconstruction and deconstruction of consumer identity. The practice of coworking was chosen as a means to conduct the research. The study was theoretically based on the themes: culture and consumption, collaborative consumption, coworking and identity. Using a qualitative, ethnographic methodology, the study focused on people who use coworking to work, and sought to identify and analyze aspects related to their consumption habits and identity traits. The study collected the data through participant observations and in-depth interviews, producing results that enabled the articulation with the CCT - Consumer Culture Theory. It was found that the collaborative consumption is part of the social and cultural universe of this group of consumers to the extent that, in addition to coworking, this is an environment that presupposes collaboration. The fact that they are working in this environment and living with other people in the same situation, makes this climate of collaboration extrapolate the walls of coworking and influence them in order to adopt other attitudes and collaborative habits, which shows a relationship between consumption and identity.

Naive, connected, and counselor tween girl identity groups: Consumption practices and social identity constructions within consumer culture

“…Consumption practices are a means to play social roles and identities (Mansvelt et al, 2017). These practices build and rebuild consumer identity (Andrade et al, 2017), with consumption related to our identity and connected to our emotions (Rössel and Pape, 2016). Therefore, there is already solidified consent regarding consumption’s relevance within the processes of constructing, deconstructing, and shaping identity (see Belk, 1988; Dittmar, 1992).…”

“…Consumption practices are used to express and construct identities (Andrade et al, 2017; Belk, 1988; Mansvelt et al, 2017; Marshall and Rahman, 2014; Papaoikonomou et al, 2016). For tweens, consumption practices are a way of expressing who they are.…”