A Review and Prospects of Prosumers in the Digital Economy

Xiang Diandian; Bao Ying; Jiao Guanzhe

doi:doi:10.16538/j.cnki.fem.20211028.102

Summary

Prosumers are those consumers featured with a production function. They not only create value through production activities, but also enjoy the value through consumption activities. The development of the digital economy significantly nurtures this group. However, against the backdrop of the digital economy, limited studies have been synthesized the conception, features, and relevant theme research of prosumers. Thus, this paper firstly defines and illuminates the terminology of prosumers through clarifying the different concepts of other service providers in the digital economy. It defines the digitalised prosumer as the individuals who provide and dominant peer-to-peer service through the digital platform. They utilize personal resource endowment to fulfill the consumption demands of themselves and other peers. Specifically, the relationship between prosumers and firms shows distinctiveness with conventional relationships between employees and firms, and offers great flexibility in their service activities. Further, prosumers input and dominate material and immaterial resources in their service provision process. Against the background of the digital economy, technology empowers prosumers with high autonomy and liquid roles, which could be switched from consumers to prosumers, and vice versa.

Secondly, using exhaustive literature retrieve work and 403 English and Chinese papers, this paper maps the research streamline of prosumers, which includes three stages of research: the discussion of the concept of prosumption, the analysis of the boundaries between production and consumption, the exploration of the empowerment of digital technology. Moreover, to conclude the prosumer research in a service view, this paper summarizes previous research in a framework of service chain (i.e., service preparation, service process, and service outcomes evaluation). In these works, we provide longitudinal and theme maps for reviewing the prosumer research.

Thirdly, using the theoretical foundations of Motivation, Opportunity, and Ability (MOA) model and the social exchange theory, this paper therefore proposes three propositions: service preparation analysis framework for prosumers which indicates prosumers have different “benefits-costs” trade-offs, and these tensions are connected with motivation, opportunity and ability aspects; exchange mechanisms in the service process which mean the exchange between prosumers and consumers featured with both economic and social exchange, and the heterogeneity of prosumers moderates how prosumers exchange with consumers; customer responses to prosumer service which include both transactional and relational responses, and the country factors might play the conditional roles in these effects.

To conclude, this paper contributes to the existing research by building the connection between the two separate areas of digital economy and prosumers, clarifying the concept of prosumers, providing a systematic view of prosumer research streamline, and guiding future theoretical and empirical prosumer research. As such, it provides a critical review for prosumers in a digital economy world, and also offers valuable insights for platform governance practices and policy-making for prosumer well-being.