ABSTRACT

Consumer research has posited an ambivalent role of choice in consumer empowerment, from liberating and including to disciplining and totalising. This article provides empirical evidence for this ambivalence and nuances how consumers navigate the liminal space between expert authority and consumer autonomy.

We investigate the role of choice in consumer empowerment through an ethnographic study of medicine consumption practices in acute non-life-threatening situations in Denmark, finding these practices to be dominated by consumer choice, not only for over-the-counter but, interestingly, also for prescription-only medicine.

The implications of these findings extend beyond the context of medicine consumption. First, we provide insights on the ambivalent role of choice in consumer empowerment in a complex context of mixed commercial and public agencies. Second, we demonstrate how online information access empowers consumers to resist expert authority and act autonomously. Third, we exemplify the processes by which globalisation and ideologies inform and shape consumer resistance.

摘要

消费者研究假定选择在消费者赋权中扮演着矛盾的角色，从解放和包容到约束和总体化。本文为这种矛盾和细微差别提供了经验证据，即消费者如何在专家权威和消费者自主之间的界限空间中导航。

我们通过对丹麦急性非危及生命情况下的药物消费实践进行民族志研究，调查了选择在消费者赋权中的作用，发现这些实践受消费者选择的支配，不仅是非处方药，而且有趣的是，也适用于处方药。

这些发现的影响超出了药物消费的范围。首先，我们提供了关于在商业和公共机构混合的复杂背景下选择在消费者赋权中的矛盾作用的见解。其次，我们展示了在线信息访问如何使消费者能够抵制专家权威并自主行动。第三，我们举例说明全球化和意识形态影响和塑造消费者抵抗的过程。