PATHOLOGICAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR DIGITAL WELLBEING: Consumer Responsibilisation in Health(ism)-Driven

Health-related responsible consumption, often framed as “healthism,” has become a pervasive feature of contemporary consumer culture, shaping identities and encouraging individuals to reorganize their lifestyles around the pursuit of better health. While widely promoted through health-driven marketplaces, this phenomenon raises critical questions about whether—and how—consumer responsibility for health can genuinely be enacted.

This project examines three key dimensions. First, it critically engages with the discourse of consumer responsibilisation in contemporary (healthism)-driven digital markets. Second, it investigates how different—and at times conflicting—discourses, such as medicalisation, de-responsibilisation, and algorithmic delegation of choice, intersect with and reshape notions of responsibility. Third, it explores the potential consequences of these dynamics.

Focusing on the emerging digital wellbeing market, the study highlights its hybrid nature, combining empowerment narratives with medicalisation and technological mediation. Digital technologies are positioned ambivalently: they may entrench users in problematic forms of technological dependence, yet also promise consumer empowerment and improved wellbeing.

Overall, the project aims to deepen understanding of responsibility within a market-based consumption system and to illuminate its broader implications for marketing practices and public policy.