Subjectivities in motion: Dichotomies in consumer engagements with self-tracking technologies

Zakariah, A.; Hosany, S.; Cappellini, B.

Abstract

With the rise of self-tracking technologies (STT), self-quantification has become a popular digital consumption phenomenon. Despite recent academic interests, self-tracking practices remain poorly understood, in particular, little is known on how consumers engage with STT and how such behavioural trends produce new subjectivities. This paper adopts a Foucauldian perspective of self-surveillance to explore: how do subjectivities emerge from consumer interactions and engagements with self-tracking technologies? Data were collected from twenty participants using an ethnographic research design over six months consisting of semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The findings reveal two sets of dichotomies in the way consumers engage with STT, categorised as: ‘health and indulgence’ and ‘labour and leisure’. Through these dichotomies of self-surveillance, four subjectivities emerged: ‘redemptive self’, ‘awardee’, ‘loyal’ and ‘innovator’. Our study presents subjectivities as a continual process of (re)configuration of the self, as consumers move from one dichotomy to another. At the practical level, our findings offer novel approaches to segment consumers by reviewing the different contours of consumer behaviour in their interactions with STT.

Citation

Zakariah, A., Hosany, S., & Cappellini, B. (2021). Subjectivities in motion: Dichotomies in consumer engagements with self-tracking technologies. Computers in Human Behavior, 118, Article 106699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106699

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 10, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jan 12, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Deposit Date: Mar 3, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 12, 2022
• Journal: Computers in Human Behavior
• Print ISSN: 0747-5632
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-7692
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 118
• Article Number: 106699
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106699
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1251548