Prosumers and Their Motivations

Frankfurt.
The next presentation at Prosumer Revisited is by Dirk Dalichau, whose interest is in the motivation of participants in user-led production processes. There are a number of types of participants here - people involved in DIY production, co-creators for example in software development, or informal contributors adding value to commercial processes, for example.

Toffler's prosumers worked outside of business, Dirk suggests, and produced largely for their own use, mainly in the fields of arts and crafts; the new type of prosumer, however, operates in a more business-like context, only indirectly for their own use. These different types of prosumers have different motivations as well - participation, difference, and self-sustainability on the one hand; rational motives driven by user needs, but also the fun in the experience, on the other.

Today, then, participants take part in order to find an alternative to standardised work practices, as well as an alternative to standardised practices of consumption. Their actions are driven by their needs, but also by the satisfying experience of participating. Such experiences are subjectively perceived moments of divergence from the everyday. Additional drivers are the peer recognition and improved qualifications gained by participating,and the ability to act in a role that is different from everyday experience.

Experience and the pursuit of experience are not new, of course, but what is happening here is the increasing utilisation of such experience; experiences are part of the product range, they re-enchant disenchanted areas, they have become as interesting to consumers as products and services, and have become a consumption option in their own right. Those offering experiences are motivated by economic, organisational, and political aims, and by their anticipation of consumer demand.

But what about the motivations of users? For them, activities have become more important, compared to ownership, and participation in such activities can be motivated by intrinsic or extrinsic factors, and take place inside or outside organisational contexts. Participants are aiming to move towards the most desirable combination of these factors, Dirk says - an intrinsic motivation outside conventional organisational contexts -, but it seems that they can operate under the least desirable combination of factors as well: a motivation by extrinsic factors within an organisational context.

However, it may be necessary to compensate for less desirable motivational factors by increasing the experience elements of participation, to make the overall prosumption process more desirable. Providing such additional motivating elements may attract new groups of participants.

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