Ercilia García-Álvarez

A contextual theory of accessing music: Consumer behavior and ethical arguments

Previous research into the ethics of accessing information goods using alternative means (the informal economy or social exchanges) has failed to study the moral arguments used by music consumers to justify their behavior or explain actions they considered to be (un)ethical. To fill this gap, we conducted a study from the perspective of music consumers in which we grounded a theory that would explain and predict individual arguments and behavior. Our findings suggest that the morality of accessing culture depends on the social, economic and cultural context in which an individual has been raised. Interestingly, this contextual aspect interacts with economic and cultural resources, affecting the moral arguments used to justify behavior. Lastly, we describe a model that explains variations in the contextual theory in regard to accessing music and that predicts consumer behavior in other countries that can be classified in either of the two contexts delineated in our research.

Accessing recorded music: Interpreting a contemporary social exchange system

Grounded in how individuals access recorded music, we have developed a comprehensive description that classifies social exchanges aimed at accessing cultural resources and that also clarifies the forces that shape individual choices regarding particular social exchanges. We also highlight the exchange properties that socially integrate and classify individuals in a social context. Our analysis integrates, but also demonstrates as misleading, recent interpretations regarding the sharing of cultural resources as a gift or consumer-to-consumer system, suggesting instead a correspondence with generalized exchanges. Finally, we discuss the implications of our interpretation for the dematerialization of cultural resources.

Social leisure in the digital age

The fact that leisure is a social activity is recognized by individuals in this study as well as by researchers both past and present. However, free-time activities differ in their social dimension. Since digital technologies alter the meaning of leisure activities, they may also affect their social properties. In order to examine, within the constructivist/interpretive paradigm, the social properties of digital leisure activities, the authors analyzed the narratives of 30 users of home-based digital technologies for leisure purposes. Their results suggest that digital leisure activities have social properties which differ from those of traditional leisure activities. The social properties of digital technologies transform the meaning of leisure activities, creating interconnected leisure spaces where it is possible to be socially connected and available.

Home-based digital leisure

ABSTRACT The introduction and domestication of the information and communication technologies –ICT, in the home has transformed leisure activities Now, those technologies have an important role on leisure of households’ members and the transformation in leisure activities and experiences is a necessary issue to explore, because we actually know little about these changes and transformations. Leisure at home has a digital aspect we called here as home-based digital leisure. In this article we expose some aspects from a study developed under a constructivist and interpretive perspective, analysing 30 informants narratives that explain leisure activities undertaken during informant’s free time at home, using any kind of digital technologies in different households of Barcelona, Spain. Analysis was conducted under thematic analysis to construct and interpret texts, looking for patterns, creating categories and properties to find themes and elements shared in order to describe and interpret how digital technologies have transformed home-based leisure activities. Main findings show how individuals use available technologies for home-based leisure activities, how traditional leisure activities are changing, how domestic leisure and individual and household maintenance activities overlap, and how the appeal of traditional leisure activities has changed in the home when digital leisure activities are performed. Changes brought about are qualitatively different from those produced by radio and television devices, digital technologies increase the exposure to different experiences and allow people to control them. Technologies consumption for leisure is no longer homogeneous within household members due to the nature of ICT and Internet, narrative led us to report how our informants have greater freedom regarding their choice to do home-based leisure activities with more satisfaction given a decrease in time and money costs. Findings can be used for the design and development of home leisure technologies and services. There is an opportunity to go deeper and find more information about digital leisure in other areas of people’s life, considering social connections and according to the evolution of digital technologies, devices and applications.

Home-based digital leisure: Doing the same leisure activities, but digital

Abstract The introduction of the information and communication technologies in the home has transformed free-time leisure activities. Adopting a constructivist and interpretive perspective, we analysed 30 individual narratives in order to describe how digital technologies have transformed home-based leisure activities. The findings show that the changes brought about are qualitatively different from those produced by previous technological devices. The digital technologies have not only increased exposure to different experiences, they also allow people to control those experiences. The consumption of experiences is no longer homogeneous among household members and individuals now have greater freedom regarding their choice of home-based leisure activities. The findings of this study, suggest that digital leisure has transformed home-based leisure, can be used to understand home-based leisure technologies. Further studies are required to explore home-based digital leisure in other areas of people’s lives as digital technologies, devices and applications evolve.

La experiencia estética inolvidable: La relación entre la originalidad de las obras de arte y la cultura local

En este capitulo exploramos la experiencia estetica de ver obras de arte en los museos. Examinamos, especificamente, el contenido y las condiciones de experiencias esteticas de alta intensidad y comprobamos si estas varian entre los consumidores de las obras. Desde un marco de investigacion interpretativo realizamos 21 entrevistas en profundidad con individuos espanoles, todos ellos visitantes de museos. Las entrevistas se grabaron digitalmente, se transcribieron literalmente y se analizaron con la ayuda de un software para el analisis de datos cualitativos. Los resultados mostraron que los espectadores que reportaron haber vivido una experiencia estetica inolvidable -caracterizada por su elevada intensidad emocional y durabilidad en el tiempo- compartian dos condiciones en sus experiencias con las obras de arte: (1) eran conscientes de la originalidad de la obra de arte que contemplaban y (2) poseian el capital cultural contextual necesario para interpretar el valor social de las obras. La presencia de estas dos condiciones producian una experiencia estetica intensa e inolvidable.

The Opera Experience: Performing a Vibrato with the Audience

Abstract Audience development is a key issue in the cultural sector, so opera house managers and policy makers need to understand how and why opera goers enjoy an opera. Our research, which investigates opera enjoyment, is framed in the social constructivist paradigm and draws on interview data collected from 15 informants. Results suggest that certain pre-conditions are necessary to be able to enjoy an opera, mainly, being cultivated and actively acquiring a liking for the genre. As for strategies to prepare for an upcoming performance, some respondents approached it as a ‘special day’, while others viewed it as a ‘cultural experience’. For all our respondents, the experience was an emotional one. We conclude the article by discussing the implications of the results of our research.

The Social Network Gamer’s Experience of Play A Netnography of Restaurant City on Facebook

We address the subjective experience of social network gamers playing Restaurant City, a game hosted on Facebook. We adopted a netnographic approach to studying the culture of transient Internet communities shaping the player off-line communities. Fieldwork was conducted over the entire life span of the game (3 years). Data were analyzed using a qualitative thematic approach and the software EdEt. The results describe the evolution of the gaming experience through online interaction and its importance in everyday off-line life. Players were observed to play an important role in the production of social meanings associated with gaming and with the gaming community online and off-line. We discuss the implications of our findings regarding how the gaming process is a far more complex scenario than envisaged by a business vision based on acquisition, retention, and monetization.