The paradoxical empowerment of consumer-citizens through advertising

Abstract

As the use of new media and the new uses of traditional media evolve in the contemporary everyday life, appeals to consumer participation in advertising appear to have seized the communication process of brands and organisations, thus evoking an empowering trend and suggesting, at least at the discourse level, a transfer of power from corporations to consumers and citizens. This paper discusses the concept of empowerment through the participations of consumer-citizens in and through advertising, reflects critically on the nature, meaning and impact of this empowerment, arguing that it involves paradoxical processes and results and concludes by suggesting media literacy approaches to promote communicational power balance and sustainability.