Kick-starting discussions at this ASL seminar was the observation that the consumer of today is an increasingly fluid figure that resists interpretation pursuant to paradigms superseded through the radical changes brought about by new technologies, as well as through an economic crisis that has altered individuals’ priorities and given rise to new patterns of consumption. The “new” consumer is a craft consumer, a prosumer (whether in the sense of a producer-consumer, professional consumer or proactive consumer), or any one of a number of other terms and labels that refer to a person who has – thanks to the participation and knowledge facilitated by the internet – attained an increasingly active role in his/her relationship with product and service providers.
It was noted that the old information asymmetry, stemming from top-down corporate-consumer communications, is now being supplanted by a peer-to-peer model which, if managed wisely by carefully listening to one’s stakeholders, can not only foster a beneficial fine-tuning of the customer relationship, but may also lead to the creation of new products or improvements to existing ones. The empowerment – as is the complexity – of the today’s consumer is a reality, encompassing a multifarious identity (and incorporating multiple lifestyles). This identity eludes any attempts at “conventional” segmentation and is shaped around self-chosen indicia based on subjective preferences, and no longer according to the fixed reference points of the past, as were the family (itself the subject of redefinition), religion, school, the state, and nowadays even work – all replaced by the imposition of a flexibility that generates what Beck calls the “do it yourself (DIY) biography”.
This – it was suggested – is Bauman’s “liquid society”, which, in reality, is still inherently capable of being decrypted as long as new models of analysis are adopted. In other words, a series of values can be discerned that can and should of themselves inform the business-consumer relationship, and which stem – through a ripple effect – from the dynamics that drive online interactions. Values such as transparency, authenticity, sustainability and relationality thus become real imperatives that govern the actions of businesses, reinforce their reputation and fuel consumer confidence.
It was felt that in order for communication to be effective, consumers – multi-taskers who eat, sleep and breathe a diet of multimedia – cannot be ignored. Thus it is that forms of expression such as flash mobs, guerrilla advertising, viral videos, branded entertainment, and so on can exist side-by-side with – and at unquestionably lower costs than – traditional television advertising, enriching its message by virtue of forming an integrated communication, such that the consumer is reached even in urban spaces, themselves places of interaction steeped in shared emotions.
Emphasis was laid on the fact that humanity is a social species, homo reciprocus, and is willing to heed and adhere to a brand (and voluntarily share in its mission, as evidenced by several field studies conducted on brand communities) if it is able to ensure that the parameters of relevance, recognition, respect, reciprocity and resonance underpin its strategy and messaging. It was stressed that these are all ingredients for promoting sharing, making the message viral, bearing in mind that the internet can – like any other media, for that matter – be a good or bad thing, depending on the use to which it is put and the ethical underpinnings (or lack thereof) of this use. If judged good, then trust will strengthen the brand, if bad, disenchantment will sink it.
Opinions converged on the extent to which the web and new media have proved game changers: a veritable digital tsunami whose effects on retail have in part been positive, introducing greater democracy in the sector, and in part negative, strengthening the position of certain large oligopolists, such as Amazon for instance. Nevertheless, it was argued that beyond some undoubted asymmetries, which exist as much in the online realm as they do in the increasingly complex and diverse offline world (a case in point being the growing influence of private labels and the need to also instigate a reloading of traditional policies), the web provides a great opportunity for all those small and medium-sized enterprises (otherwise confined to trading in their immediate locality) to transcend their borders and interact with the entire world, overcoming space, time and – not least – financial barriers. This is without taking into account that there are increasingly more startups being established by consumers themselves, to produce goods or supply services which they feel are lacking.
There is a huge transformation underway in retail, epitomized by changes in buying behavior, which sees online and offline activity becoming more and more integrated. Examples cited included: ROPO, or “research online, purchase offline”, which refers to the habit of reading up about a product on the net before purchasing offline; the exact opposite phenomenon, so-called showrooming, which consists of visiting a bricks and mortar store to physically handle a product and then proceeding with the purchase elsewhere (generally online and at a lower price); the growth in the use of apps; the offering of wifi access within stores; and access to geolocalized promotions. The participants highlighted that these developments do not necessarily represent a disadvantage for physical points of sale, provided the latter become more and more customer-centric, that is, increasingly focused on engaging the consumer, serving as a more interactive platform for “shearning“ (shopping + learning), relying also on the online experience. The new retail that is emerging was hence seen as requiring more investment, a greater capacity for generating new ideas, and a more creative approach to employing technology. As a concluding remark, it was submitted that by turning “think globally, act locally” on its head into “think locally, act globally”, Italy genuinely has all the right credentials to become an international market leader on the strength of products made unique by a genius loci recognized and admired throughout the world.