The term prosumer for me was coined after the impact of internet into the society where anyone can make individuals’ desires. Actually, because of the paradigm that gradually changes; from the fact that consumer before became now prosumers in which this prosumers takes up the position of being producer. So, after which those changes, the paradigm changes from consumer to prosumers then producers. In the view of the fact that prosumers acts the same as producer, prosumer now is the source of creation of something, the starter of making up to the minute and modernistic ideas. The idea came following the scheme of World Wide Web where you can do anything what you are wanted to do. Its here where the shifting of the paradigm changes, where less than ten years after going ordinary, the Web returns to its roots as a read/write tool while entering a new, more social and participatory phase as specified in the site publicculture.org with their article entitled From Consumer to Prosumer to Producer: Who Keeps Shifting My Paradigm? (We Do!). Quantified their, that many interactive available features of the Web have merged into a trend many now are calling Web 2.0 – “a new and improved Web”. Because of the changes immense at the present, the consumers as prosumers now do have a prodigious role in business firms. As a consequence of the resulting Web 2.0, many people now are adopting the internet a great deal – from the reasons of communications, updated trends and a lot more. After those circumstances stated, the essence of the death of the consumers is describing the phenomena that consumers are not just merely consumers but becoming producers, too.
The death of the consumer arise because of the innovating changes happened in the society, every now and then; there are changes occurs. That could probably furnish immense impact to the human kind. The ending concept of consumers makes the raising notion of PROSUMERS. First, let as define what prosumers is. Prosumers defined in wordIQ.com as “refers to one of two possible portmanteaus formed by contracting either the word producer or professional with the word consumer. Further, prosumer has taken on conflicting spins: the business sector sees the prosumer as a means of offering a wider range of products and services whereas activists sees the prosumer as having greater independence from the mainstream economy”. This is to employ that prosumer is coined after the idea and characteristics of producers and consumers. The idea of this matter is to make the merging action of consumers in to one. Here, the consumer will have the right to acts the role of producers which is to present the products into the consumers. The consumer itself will be able to give suggestions and request to the business corporate on what kind of products or product they wanted to purchase. They happen now to have the right to dictate the business firms to whatever they wanted to have as long as it goes under the business specialty. Since, the consumer will now have the right to say; it is the task of the producer to level up their services to enable to meet the needs of the consumers. The idea is that the paradigm changes into consumers to prosumers act. In that sense, the prosumers is much demanding, insistence on their demands to the producers.
In my own understanding and perspective, the death of the consumers means taking off of the things that acted by the consumers before. It is the Rise of the prosumers which provides the right to the prosumers to act as a producer. By this matter, the consumers will be discard and redress to be a prosumer one. To give the idea understandable, I have here another description of PROSUMERS. According to www.wisegeek.com, “the concept of a prosumer is a late 20th century idea that combines some of the common characteristics of a professional and a consumer”. So, it means that the idea of prosumers already exist in a couple of years and yet, not seen, notice and recognize by the people. The term prosumers is generally applied to situations where consumers are considered to have reached a level of sophistication that the professional-consumer can effectively dictate the perimeters for the production of goods and services in terms of quality and structure. Prosumers are now common in many fields that were once the sole province of professionals. One of the areas where the prosumer has gained a high degree of visibility is in the home improvement industry.
The wave of the prosumers came from the products of the marketing convergence, the dignam articles imparted a brief actuality why death of the consumer arises at the present time. It dignifies the “three main factors that marketers identify in the rise of the prosumer", (1) being two-way technology, such as SMS and the web, (2) greater brand literacy, and (3) the possibility of mass customization. The first factor which is “being two-way technology” signifies that technology have led the way of innovations to the people. It involves ways technology gives way to meet the needs of the people. Here the technology of internet, smart phones came up, that is why we do have available resources now of transferring money through the used of SMS. It would be easy for the prosumers to make transactions along the world in just a minute time. As well as the continuous merging usage of web which enables people to communicate around the web, also as to make business deals. Like what had shared by our facilitator of the course technoprenuership, it’s a best example that of buying any item available online. Like on what he did, he just viewed the website of a certain venture and then made transactions with the management and then the few days later, BOOM!.. The product is already received. That only proves that web provides a trouble-free lifestyle to the people .The next one “greater brand literacy”, this factor has a definite impact to the moving revolution of technology. As what Guy Kawasaki aforementioned on one of his inspiring videos, he emphasizes that in connection of being with the innovating technology, we must be capable of being revolutionary in which we must be original in any thing we do or will do; everything that we planned to do must do have the brand to compete with others, the same as the quality factor of a thing. And lastly is the “possibility of mass customization”. This tells that the prosumers are provided a aptly of making customizations in anything that possesses the procedure of the available services of any business. It gives conditions of having a free well of a costumer no matter what he wanted to. These presented factors enable increased communication between the consumer and the producers, more to the benefit of the consumers. And to facilitate the cost efficient exchange of information, the mass-production of personalized products and services, and the immediate contribution and improvement in any kind of open source projects.
Made possible by the existing marketing convergence in business, this has leaded the way to make the consumers “active prosumers”. Commencing the idea of the rise of the prosumers, where the great engagement of prosumers came into reality and consumers to give a deep communications between the both parties. Because of the resulting convergence of prosumers, many effects are observed that has attained by the concept of prosumers. Blog entitled MARKETING GEEK observed that brands and their underlying business models are falling into three different categories of dealing and interacting with the “Prosumer” concept:
(1). Brands like Wikipedia or Firefox that can only exist through Prosumers. Their whole business model relies on the contribution of consumers. It is pretty obvious that these kind of businesses available over the internet is made successful because of the immense communication of the consumers or their clients to have a time to engage on a thing. These kinds of businesses are dependent on the awareness of the consumers and the willingness of them to communicate and make a move to have a deal on it. In other words, the businesses in this fashion are just moving because of the existing prosumers.
(2). Brands like Lego, Haagen-Dazs or Addidas who allow the incorporation of Prosumers behavior in two ways: either as contribution to their own product design and creation process. Like of what havaianas had brought to the minds of the consumers, these brands are granted one of the three factors stated above which is to increase the availability of customization on a thing wherein clients wanted to have. Another example is the Haagen Dazs’ ice cream flavor competition, and or as the opportunity to personalize their own version of the brand’s product as such introduced by the Addidas customized shoes, and;
(3.) Brands like Pepsi or Frito-Lay that open up very slightly their brand control to allow consumers to create TV spots or naming rights, all rather on the fringe of their brand experience. This brands are a valuable largest part of the prosumers in which some are argued that these brands don’t really embrace the concept of “Prosumers” but merely pretend to take them serious by allowing them to influence non-core elements of their brand experience.
A prediction over the internet says that the rise of the Prosumer will continue and influence a larger percentage of a company marketing activity. But there will be always a large role for brands which apply strong control and an iron fist in designing its brand experience such as the Apple Co. This kind of business might allow the Prosumer to play in a well limited way but the core of its brand experience will be centrally defined and designed. In general, the idea formulated there is that any marketer needs to find the right long-term path within these three different strategic options of integrating strongly or lightly the Prosumer, all in alignment of what makes a particular brand successful. But no brand can ignore the Prosumer anymore. This only proved that because of the death of the consumers, many business will be affected but not in a negative way but rather in a more definite, strategic and systematic way of managing business.
To emphasize more what is prosumers or the idea of the death of the consumers, I have given here some simple examples and a day to day scenario we have encountered. Me, myself also have been noticed the available services which offers the idea of changing the consumers to the prosumers. In one of the malls located here at Davao, there is one goods seller company who propose the new approach to the people – that is the Havaianas Corporation. They came up to the idea of selling their slippers in accordance to what they customers want. In that way, they gave the right to their clients to customize and create each desired designs. By that, they have given the chance to their clients to become a prosumers which almost like of. The second one is in one of the fast-food sellers in the city – the MCDO fast-food chain. MCDO itself provides an over the counted services via internet to their valued customers. The website takes account of the customers who are surfing over the internet. The valued customers will do have the chance now to demand what ingredients they are wanted to have on their orders. It belongs to the customers itself, whatever things they would like to have. All those stated simple examples above best describe the death of the consumers and the raising of the prosumers.
The paradigm did not do changes only on goods and services offered to the people; even a number of household tasks are affected already by the essence of prosumers. For instance is in the area of cooking. Cooking is another area where unprofessional have become more proficient, the idea of it is merging the thoughts of professional-chef and ordinary cooking style. As a result of it, the prosumers creates the bridge gab between the people who prepare simple meals for the household and persons who are trained as professional chefs. One of the ways on how to make it impossible is by through having culinary education through cable television. In that way, it would be easy for those prosumers who are willing to learn about cooking extraordinary meals which they seen only on restaurants before. The second one is the combination of affordable computer technology and the Internet. By this, it becomes impossible to the prosumers to assume a place in the world of publishing. This is made impossible by those software programs and high quality printing materials and equipment. The prosumer can now produce hard copy, instant copies and electronic magazines on a favorite hobby or interest. The same as the desktop publishing, which allows these highly skilled amateurs to produce high quality greeting cards, promotional brochures, and a wide range of published material. As stated in the sources in the internet, even fledgling, inexperienced and unpracticed writers can be classified as prosumers, simply by using current technology to product an electronic book for distribution.
These examples deal on the involvement of the people to internet services. It’s pretty amazing that the Internet media has reached this many people adopt so rapidly, and no other media has grown this fast. If we look at individual countries, the proportion of consumers and businesses accessing the Internet is startling. This only means that a great number of people are currently engaged in a thing “INTERNET”. The changes that occurs now is not merely a technological development that opens new opportunities, nor is it a new form of connectivity. Rather, what has developed is a specific style of how to interact with customers and with data and also to the producers, a style significantly different from the early stages of the Internet as mass media. It provides bridges to take one step forward to reach the innovative style of living. It signifies that technologies are not only changes as well as the people whom are using it. Another example of providing services to the prosumers is the most famous site of eBay. This site does not sell directly, but, rather, offers its customers a place where they can become sellers and/or buyers. Which best describes the thought of prosumers. The business model of eBay, combined the prosumer behavior with employee activity, allows all participants to feel like they have “skin in the game” or working individually on the business— the lively and passionate discussions in the forums whenever a new policy is introduced bear witness to that. Here, they are freedom in both two parties in whatever they like.
The prosumer can also be associated with a number of other fields as well. Photography, interior decorating, and even the beverage industry have a number of people who qualify as prosumers. As technology continues to evolve, there is no doubt that the prosumer phenomenon will continue to grow. I was pretty so much inspired on what I have read in the internet about the blog “the rise of the prosumers” in which gives first perceptions of prosumers to the students. It was spelled out there that how will students giving the determination to become an efficient prosumers. The students of the society like ours “are all prosumers and each one of us can be a systematic broadcaster or publisher of content. The ink is no longer exclusively controlled by scholarly institutions and publishing houses. That is a good thing! It means that we, students can be active in developing meaning, identity and strategies to deal with their world. It means that we can be connected to internal and external networks to advance our learning and build upon our knowledge base. It means that we can all benefit from an expanding pool of resources to access and analyze. And as long as we taught to critically appraise materials and strive for a wide range of sources to build reference points, authentic learning will continue to thrive.
Certainly, the thought of death of the consumers is not relies on the matter of finishing the race of consumers in the business world but rather to have the society engage in a thing of making the consumers to be a knowledgeable prosumers which are capable of providing ideas to the available business firms around the world. From this matter, it has given the hint of the new generation in which the new concept is born to give changes to the existing trade and as well as to the improving status of the people as PROSUMERS! The future is HERE!
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