From liberation to control: understanding the selfie experience
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to serve as an integrative literature review that organizes the burgeoning literature and findings related to possible impacts of the selfie phenomenon on consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper.
Findings
The current empirical scholarly work supports two conflicting perspectives on the impact of selfies: the selfie experience as a source of empowerment and the selfie as embodiment of societal control and expression of existing power-relations. While the two perspectives are seemingly discordant, in fact, they pertain to different levels of analysis – individual and social, respectively.
Originality/value
While the empowerment aspect of the selfie experience has been well-documented in existing literature, the mechanisms of control and disempowerment have remained underconceptualized. This research paper offers a framework which addresses this omission and theorizes ways in which the selfie phenomenon perpetuates societal control and maintains power-relations.
Keywords
Citation
Kedzior, R. and Allen, D.E. (2016), "From liberation to control: understanding the selfie experience", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 50 No. 9/10, pp. 1893-1902. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-07-2015-0512
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited