Rebecca Watkins

The relationship between ownership and possession: Observations from the context of digital virtual goods

ABSTRACT This theoretical article highlights limitations in the current trend towards dichotomising full ownership and access-based consumption by recognising a broader, more complex array of ‘fragmented’ ownership configurations in the context of digital virtual goods (DVGs). In challenging this dichotomy, we recognise that the relationship between ownership and possession becomes particularly significant. We therefore consider how prominent DVG ownership configurations may shape the way in which possession is assembled, potentially reducing consumers’ scope of action relative to DVGs and leaving possession susceptible to disruption. Conversely, we acknowledge ways in which consumers’ continued attempts at possession may impinge upon the agency of ownership mechanisms within the market. Our analysis ultimately builds upon existing understandings of both ownership and possession, theorising their often overlooked relation in consumption.

Attachment to digital virtual possessions in videogames

Purpose – To extend our understanding of consumers’ relationships with their growing collections of digital virtual goods by exploring adult videogamers’ attachments to their digital virtual possessions within videogames. Methodology – Phenomenological interviews with 35 adult videogamers, primarily conducted in participants’ homes and lasting on average two hours. Findings – Our participants were able to possess and form emotional attachments to ‘irreplaceable’ digital virtual goods within videogames despite the goods’ immaterial nature and their own lack of legal ownership. The processes via which these attachments developed mirror our existing understanding of material possession attachment; however, technical and legal restrictions were found to hinder attachment formation. Our participants also expressed concerns, rooted not in the immateriality of the goods, but in their lack of control over the safety of their digital virtual possessions and societal perceptions surrounding such emotional involvement in ‘childish’ videogame play. Originality/value – This study illustrates that consumers desire to, and find ways to, form meaningful attachments to possessions, regardless of their materiality, whilst highlighting the tension between the desire to possess and make meaning from digital virtual goods and recognition of their lack of legal ownership and control, and the goods’ status as frivolous. Research implications – We see potential for future research to look beyond the immaterial nature of digital virtual goods to study the complex networks of forces influencing digital virtual consumption, whilst the ambiguous ownership of in-game possessions presents possibilities for further research into the problematic nature of possessing, but not owning, such goods.

Possession Work on Hosted Digital Consumption Objects as Consumer Ensnarement

This article extends prior critical discussions of digital prosumption by demonstrating that prosumer-reliant online business models represent new ways to valorize consumer labor through the creation of digital consumption objects (DCOs) that are simultaneously enacted as assets by companies, and as possessions by consumers. We argue that this multiplicity means that consumers’ “possession work” no longer serves to separate these objects from the market sphere, as proposed in prior literature. This produces a new form of consumer lock-in as consumers’ efforts to singularize DCOs ensnare them within market relations. We compare consumer ensnarement to other forms of lock-in mechanisms including psychological attachments seen in “brand love,” proprietary tie-ins, and access-based market systems in order to consider the implications of such ensnarement mechanisms. We propose that while, for companies, ensnarement is as an attractive mechanism for ongoing valorization of consumers’ “free labor,” it presents significant consequences for ensnared consumers who may be subject not only to ongoing financial exploitation but also to restricted and unstable interactions with digital possessions that may hold significant personal meaning.

New Corporate Responsibilities in the Digital Economy

Theories that relate to digital technology and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have been dominated by online CSR communication and disclosure practices. Almost entirely absent in such CSR research is a consideration of new areas of responsibility that are emerging from digital technologies and related online communication platforms. We argue that responsibility in the use of digital technologies requires more than just legal compliance. We therefore ask what it means to be a responsible corporation in the digital economy. We then establish an extended agenda for responsibility in the digital economy by identifying potential areas of irresponsibility and highlighting new responsibilities related to, for example, use of consumer data, service continuation, control of digital goods, and the use of artificial intelligence. In doing so, we address a need to theorize responsibilities derived from the use of technologies that have been previously silent in CSR literature or only tangentially discussed within the domain of CSR communication, even as they are a focus in other fields (especially legal compliance, or organizational performance).