Autopoiesis and the home‐confined consumer: The role of personal communities

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the consumption of a personal community and its role in the everyday life of the home‐confined consumer.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a Radical Constructivist approach, three cases of home confinement were explored in depth over a period of two years. Ongoing “conversations” captured the consumption experiences with personal communities.

Findings

In relation to the home‐confined context, the ability to attain individuality, empowerment and creativity are all heightened as a result of personal community construction. An underlying concern for home‐confined consumers is their removal from independent living to institutionalized living, and, as a result the need to construct, manage and maintain a personal community is of major concern.

Research limitations/implications

Although the study addresses a home‐confined context, it is nevertheless reflective of concerns that are significant to all consumers, namely the attainment of individuality and independence irrespective of marginalization or not.

Practical implications

The importance of a personal community in terms of both self‐empowerment and self‐identity with respect to marginalized groups and vulnerable individuals should not be underestimated. The supporting role of a personal community provides, in times of uncertainty, a framework to maintain self‐identity and independence.

Originality/value

This paper provides a better understanding of the role of a personal community in the consumption experiences of those consumers marginalized and vulnerable as a consequence of context. Home‐confined consumers are “invisible” in the marketplace and the personal community is a means of redressing this imbalance by empowering such individuals.

Citation

Downey, H. and Catterall, M. (2007), "Autopoiesis and the home‐confined consumer: The role of personal communities", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 27 No. 3/4, pp. 175-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443330710741101