“Have It Now!”: Ebay and the Acceleration of Consumer Desire
Drawing on data gathered from in-depth interviews with experienced eBay users living in the South West of England, this paper accounts for how consumers’ interaction with eBay accelerates cycles of desire. It is argued that because eBay never ceases to signal new possibilities in finding desired goods, it sets in motion accelerated cycles of revelation, characterised by unexpected surprises and opportunities where desired goods can be acquired quickly. This however, undermines the possibility of pleasure associated with a state of desire by radically shortening the various stages of the cycle.
Citation:
Janice Denegri-Knott (2011) ,"“Have It Now!”: Ebay and the Acceleration of Consumer Desire", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Alan Bradshaw, Chris Hackley, and Pauline Maclaran, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 373-379.
Authors
Janice Denegri-Knott, Bournemouth University, UK
Volume
E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9 | 2011
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