Transforming digital virtual goods into meaningful possessions

Authors: Denegri-Knott, J., Watkins, R. and Wood, J.

Pages: 76-91

ISBN: 9780415529297

Abstract:

Consumer appetite for digital virtual goods is voracious. Sales of e-books on Amazon are now greater than paperback and hardback books combined (New York Times, 2011), music is preferably consumed ‘light’ in a compressed Mp3 format, and videogame commodities are slavishly customized and gifted to friends and avatars alike (Couldry, 2008; Denegri-Knott and Molesworth, 2010; Gillespie, 2007; Hand, 2008, Lehdonvirta, Wilska, and Johnson, 2009; Magaudda, 2010; Siddiqui and Turley, 2006). Even our most intimate photograph collections are now scattered across clouds, with only 11 percent of consumers choosing to print their digital photos (Mintel, 2009). The impressive rate of adoption of smart phones extends digitized consumables such as apps even further, with all sorts of digitized content now readily available to be accessed and stored. In the UK alone, demand for smart phones has increased by 80 percent year on year (Mediatel, 2010), and the global market for Apple and Android applications is today worth £1.63 billion and expected to grow to £4.8 billion in the next three years (HIS Screen Digest, 2011).

Source: Scopus