Technology Dualities and Paradoxes in Digital Well-Being
Analysis of Discourses of Digital Well-Being Market Offerings
Additional information
Authors
Type
Journal Article
Year
2025
Language
English
Abstract
As digital technology becomes increasingly omnipresent in virtually every aspect of market and social life, macromarketing's focus on consumer well-being is shifting to encompass the implications of hyper-digitalization in marketing and consumption. This study addresses the emergence of digital well-being as a stand-alone concept and as a market, reflecting the conceptual and practical need to find a balance between technology use and nonuse in consumers’ pursuit of personal well-being in hyperdigital marketplaces. Given the dual nature of digital technology as both a potential threat for consumer well-being and a source of their empowerment, this research examines how digital well-being is articulated within market discourses through the lens of technology dualities and discusses broader implications of such duality for consumer quality of life. Drawing on a critical discourse analysis, the research reveals four modalities through which digital well-being market offerings position themselves between the (potentially) empowering and threatening aspects of technology. By offering a nuanced analysis of digital well-being's relationship with both consumer empowerment and vulnerabilities, this study enriches the critical debate on digital well-being in terms of technology dualities, consumer responsibilization, and the meaning of consumer well-being in the light of growing interconnection between consumer subjectivities and digital technologies.
Journal
Journal of Macromarketing
Volume
45
Number ( Month )
4
Pages (or article number)
550-573
