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 Consumer-driven prosumption:
The case of Swedish fashion bloggers and the
emergence of new value networks

Christofer Pihl1 and Evelina Wahlqvist2

1
University of Gothenburg; School of Business, Economics and Law; Centre for Con-
sumer Science, 2University of Gothenburg; School of Business, Economics and Law;
Department of Human and Economic Geography.
Point of departure is the prosumer concept which is based on the idea that
the border between consumer and producer is blurring in the post-
industrial era. An extensive literature review illustrates the application of
the concept in research up to date. The paper suggests that the use of the
concept so far can be divided into producer-driven prosumption and con-
sumer-driven amateur prosumption. The empirical contribution is the case
of the market leading fashion blogs in Sweden and how they have given
rise to new value networks comprising a set of different stakeholders in the
borderland between consumer and producer. The paper thereby identifies
a third type of prosumption; consumer-driven professional prosumption.

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. The new prosumer era

The economic theory dominant during the industrial era was based on the fundamen-
tal distinction between producer and consumer. In 1980, Alvin Toffler questions this
sharp division by coining the idea of the prosumer. Toffler describes how the border-
land between producer and consumer has started to blur. Instead of dividing these
two functions, Toffler demonstrates how they have started to overlap each other and
how consumers increasingly produce for their own consumption.
In many ways, Toffler was ahead of his time. He foresaw this development even be-
fore the introduction of Internet into our daily lives and hence before we could see
major effects of digitalisation. Today, 30 years after Toffler laid the foundation for the
idea of the prosumer, one seems be able to spot the phenomenon in many more
ways than Toffler had predicted. Even so, the concept per se is still not commonly
referred to.
During the 30 years that have past, some research has conducted identifying how
the prosumer phenomenon has spread into different activities and sectors of the
economy. Most of the research has emphasised how companies have created oppor-
tunities for consumers to interact and participate in the production process. However,

1
little attention has been focused on how consumers themselves initiate or take con-
trol of production processes.
The major theoretical contribution of this paper is to make a distinction between pro-
ducer-driven prosumption and consumer-driven prosumption. The empirical contribu-
tion in this paper is to present a case of consumer-driven prosumption where ama-
teur prosumer activities have resulted in new business models and value networks.

1.2. The empirical case

Swedish fashion bloggers will constitute the empirical case of this study, hence illus-
trating the new development of consumer-driven prosumption in contrast to the much
studied producer-driven prosumption.
Around 2004, blogs and especially blogs focused on fashion became increasingly
popular. These fashion blogs, which are managed by consumers, quickly increased
in number. Today the fashion blogs are one of the largest segments of the Swedish
blogosphere. The market leading fashion blogs, in terms of number of readers, have
received a large amount of publicity both online and in traditional media. These fash-
ion bloggers are considered to exercise important influence on their readers, since
they market products, services and brands on their blogs in different ways. Because
of the large number of readers generated by these blogs, the bloggers have identified
revenue sources that have lead to a situation where some of the fashion bloggers
more or less regard blogging as their profession.
With point of departure from the market leading fashion bloggers in Sweden, this pa-
per illustrates how the market leading fashion bloggers are organised and how new
stakeholders have emerged in the borderland between consumer and producer as a
result of this development. Furthermore, this paper shows how the studied fashion
bloggers, which started out as consumers, constitutes an example of how consumer-
driven prosumption can create new business models and value networks.

1.3. Delimitations
The scope of the empirical case focuses how market leading fashion bloggers in
Sweden have given rise to new value networks in which different stakeholders have
emerged in the borderland between consumer and producer. Thereby, no attention is
given to actors outside of this borderland, hence not on the actual fashion producer
and consumer. The aim is to concentrate on the value networks, in order to illustrate
how there relations with each other are constituted.

1.4. Outline of the paper

The paper will start out with a theory chapter on how the prosumption phenomenon
has been dealt with in research so far. After the literature review, a chapter on meth-
odology will be presented. Thereafter, the empirical contribution will be presented,
illustrating how market leading fashion bloggers in Sweden have given rise to a new
value network comprising new stakeholders in the borderland between producer and
consumer. The paper will conclude in a final chapter, where the existing theory on

2
prosumption will be evaluated in relation to the presented empirical findings, offering
new insights to the prosumption phenomenon. Lastly, suggestions on further re-
search will be discussed.

2. PROSUMPTION IN THEORY

2.1. The origin of the prosumer concept

The prosumer concept was presented and coined in 1980 by Alvin Toffler. Toffler
argued that the consumers of tomorrow to an increasing extent will be producing for
their own consumption, instead of producing for a market. New as a concept, the first
form of prosumption nevertheless took place during the age of agriculture when peo-
ple only produced for their own consumption. Toffler (1980) terms this era the first
wave. This rapidly changed as we moved into the industrial age and what Toffler la-
bels the second wave. The industrial revolution gave birth to what we now know as
producer and consumer – as well as the harsh split between the two. The word
economy was reserved for production intended for the market. The prosumer, i.e. a
person producing for its own use, was made invisible by economists. Unpaid work as
household work, child-rearing and community organizing were all part of the invisible
economy.
Toffler (1980) detects our entering into a third wave where a fundamental shift in the
relationship between the market-defined economy and the invisible economy. The
border that separates producer from consumer is becoming increasingly blurred. Tof-
fler foresees that prosumer-living will alter our lifestyles in different ways in the future.
Signs of the prosumer era were evident already in 1980 through various things as
e.g. pregnancy test kit and other medical self-care possibilities, the spread of the self-
help movement, the do-it-yourself trend that increases as prices for services increase
(e.g. electronic banking, self-made home-repair, how-to literature), as well as con-
sumers helping designing products causing a de-massification and customisation of
production.

2.2. Prosumption and marketing

The producer‟s relationship with the consumer is hence being altered. Kotler (1986)
picks up on the prosumer concept from a marketing perspective. Since the third wave
is characterised by de-industrialisation, de-massification and de-marketisation there
ought to be consequences for marketing research and practice. Kotler sums up Tof-
fler‟s theory in Table 1 below. The forces that will lead to more prosumption are, ac-
cording to Kotler; the rising cost of labour, structural unemployment, the demand for
higher quality goods and services, the development of new technologies enabling
people to take part in designing customised goods, as well as a general increase in
education and thus the wish for self-actualisation. Kotler however also identifies
counteracting forces that will restrain prosumption. Threatened interest groups, as
specialist professionals, producers of certain goods and services and trade unions,

3
might take protectionist measures to slow down the prosumer development as e.g.
building codes and affecting laws.

Thesis Antithesis Synthesis

First Wave Second Wave Third Wave

Dominant Agriculture Industry (factory) Home

Institution

Mix of prosumers Many prosumers Few prosumers More prosumers (Sector

and consumers (Sector A is large) (Sector A is small) A gets larger)
Few consumers Many consumers Fewer consumers (Sec-
(Sector B is small) (Sector B is large) tor B gets smaller)

Dominant pro- Self-production Industrialization De-industrialization

cesses Marketization De-marketization
De- massification

Norm Survival Efficiency (as pro- Individuation

ducers) Indulgence
(as consumers)

Social nexus Kinship and Contracts and trans- Family and friends;
friendship; tribe actions; workplace neighborhood
Table 1. Chart by Kotler (1986) summarising Toffler‟s main ideas.

Kotler identifies two major types of prosumers: „The Avid Hobbyist‟ who spends most
time producing for exchange but has a few dominant hobbies in which he or she acts
as a prosumer and the „Archprosumer‟ who chooses a lifestyle of voluntary simplicity
where „less is more‟, lives close to nature and grows his or her own fruits and vege-
tables. Hence, to learn more about prosumption, Kotler argues that we need to study
certain groups more carefully. He furthermore suggests that prosumers should be
looked upon as another market segment or segments. It should not be the aim of
marketers to protect the exchange system, Kotler argues. Neither does he believe in
the total demise of the exchange system; individuals will act as prosumers in some
cases while acting as consumers in others. Furthermore, prosumers will need
equipment – something which creates new markets for producers.
In the field of neo-marketing, Moutinho et al (2002) account for how a particular case
of scenario planning suggests increased prosumption in services marketing, as well
as responsiveness to demands for flexibility in all elements of the marketing mix, the
emergence of new channels changing the marketplace, along with a de-
professionalisation. The prosumption concept is also mentioned in the area of rela-
tionship marketing (Tzokas and Saren 2004). Additionally, new forms of prosumer
collaboration are mentioned by Bradshaw and Brown (2008) as one of the new de-
velopments that ought to have impact on marketing and consumer research.

4
2.3. Prosumption in relation to business models and processes
Prosumerism has moreover been discussed from a business process and business
model perspective. A specific area where the prosumption phenomenon is being
mentioned in a business model context is within the agro-food system where a post-
fordist paradigm introduces the new Slow Food consumption model spurred by the
request for transparency in regards to health related, social, ethical and environmen-
tal concerns (Nosi and Zanni, 2004).
Considering business processes, McHugh et al (1995) discuss how the emergence
of prosumers effect the size of the network of the new „holonic enterprise‟, as a sug-
gestion on development beyond Business Process Re-Engineering. A network per-
spective is also being adopted by Ippolito (2009) who is interested in how service
companies can create value through co-operative relationships with network actors,
particularly with customers. Ten Bos (1997) uses the prosumer phenomenon as one
of his arguments for why the idea and practice of Business Process Redesign should
be rejected.
Walters (2004) has briefly touched upon the notion of prosumption in the light of new
business models in the new economy with a particular focus on virtual organizations.
Walters recognises that relationship management in value chain organizations is be-
ing affected by the prosumer relationship between customer and supplier.
Gummesson (2008) also stresses how the line between supplier and customer has
been at least partly erased through the growing do-it-yourself market led by business
models like IKEA‟s where the customer makes transportation and assembly work
herself. Gummesson refers to Toffler‟s concept of prosumption in relation to the mak-
ing of the customer into an integral part of the production system. By that,
Gummesson places the concept in the light of quality, service-dominant logic and
relationship marketing. Walters et al (2002) and Walters and Buchanan (2001) use
the IKEA example to stress that the prosumer concept can be applied not only con-
cerning consumer involvement in product design and manufacture, but also in logis-
tics. Customer relationship management is also being discussed from a prosumer
perspective in the specific case of the relationship between library staff and library
customers by Broady-Preston et al (2006).

2.4. Prosumption and management

Changing habits of customers and the prosumer demand on active part in the pro-
duction process have furthermore been discussed from a management decision per-
spective by Scherpereel (2006) as well as by White and Pearson (2001) who advo-
cate active management involvement in the development of customer service
polices. Management implications have furthermore been discussed from a com-
pletely different perspective; namely how employees that choose to work from home
instead of the workplace, with the help of microelectronics and telecommunications
possibilities, can be considered prosumers whose job situations ought to have con-
sequences both for the individual and the employer (Shamir and Salomon, 1985).

5
2.5. Prosumption and digitalisation
In 1996 the prosumption concept is being further elaborated with by Tapscott in his
book The digital economy. His contribution to the discourse provides the necessary
update of the phenomenon as new conditions for prosumption is offered by the intro-
duction of the Internet into daily life and hence the transition into the digital era. Tap-
scott talks about the transformation into “The Age of Networked Intelligence”. The
economy for the Age of Networked Intelligence is a digital economy where infor-
mation in all forms becomes digital, compared to the physical information flows of the
old economy.
As there was a shift in economic relationships during the transformation from the ag-
ricultural to the industrial age, there are new dynamics and new drivers for business
success to be identified in the shift to the new economy. Tapscott (1996) identifies
twelve themes that characterises and differentiates the new economy from the old.
One of these themes is Prosumption, presented in the company of Knowledge, Digit-
isation, Virtualisation, Molecularisation, Integration/Internetworking, Disintermedia-
tion, Convergence, Innovation, Immediacy, Globalisation and Discordance.
Tapscott‟s (1996) point of departure concerning prosumption is the idea that the gap
between consumers and producers blurs in the new economy. Mass production is
being replaced by mass customisation and producers must thus be able to produce
products that satisfy the tastes and requirements of individual consumers. Consum-
ers hence become involved in the production process. Examples provided to illus-
trate the prosumption phenomenon are vehicle customisation, customised news
broadcast by topic, as well as consumers becoming infotech producers.
The more recent contributions of prosumer considerations in relation to digitalisation
are discussed in more specific circumstances. Bandulet and Morasch (2005) talk
about prosumerist behaviour within e-commerce, problematising issues as asymmet-
ric information and price discrimination. Driscoll (2009) describes the case of the se-
curities industry where paper-based investor disclosure is being replaced by e-
consent and e-delivery in the growing use of the Internet by investors – a develop-
ment which opens up for more personalisation of the services offered.
Taking the development further, to the interactivity and facilitated communication of
Web 2.0, Lee and Shin (2010) touch upon how the growth of UCC (user created con-
tent) has been fuelled by the rise of the prosumer. They talk about the prosumer in
an IPTV setting as does Zeng and Strauss (2008) with a focus on hybrid peer-to-peer
technological solutions. Stock (2007) mentions prosumers in relation to science
communication in a Web 2.0 services context, such as how folksonomies develop.
Ribiere and Tuggle (2010) connect Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 technologies to
knowledge management as they discuss the critical role that can be played by cus-
tomers in the innovation process.
Another result of digitalisation is the area of social computing applications – such as
blogs, podcast, Wikipedia and YouTube. Pascu et al (2008) recognise how the roles
of producers and consumers not only are beginning to blur but also to merge as peo-
ple to a greater extent are both producers and consumers. Within social computing,
the user is a supplier of content. Further, the user supports or even provides the dis-
tribution of content and service. Moreover, the user plays an essential role in finding,
selecting and filtering relevant content and services (through for instance search en-
gine ranking, wikis, tagging, taste-sharing, information sharing as well as feedback

6
and reputation systems). Hence, new ways to be creative and productively engaged
with others are being explored. Active contribution that goes beyond monetary re-
wards is being detected. At the same time, Pascu et al recognise that these new
fields of tacit and codified knowledge sharing innovations also pave way for smarter
markets, suggesting that markets are becoming smarter than most companies. In
perspective of this, Pascu et al concludes that:
“This idea of the prosumer is of course not new, as coined by Alvin Tof-
fler in 1980 [...] What is different however, is that now, the idea is becom-
ing reality.” (Pascu et al 2008; p.39)

2.6. Prosumption as local practice

A completely different way to approach the prosumer phenomenon is accomplished
by the geographer North (2005) as he discusses how alternative economic practices
can occur in a local setting. The economic crisis in Argentina during 2001-2002 illus-
trates a case of where a barter economy rises as a result of the crisis in which people
start acting as prosumers producing both for themselves and for others.

2.7. Prosumption as lifestyle

Prosumerism is furthermore being discussed from a lifestyle perspective. McCole
(2004) describes prosumers as lifestyle-concerned, busy creating brands for them-
selves. The experience-seeking consumers of tomorrow want to co-produce content
for their own consumption. De Chenecey (2005, p. 22) touches upon how traditional
brands are being threatened by “the latest weapon in the prosumer armoury: the ex-
plosion in blog sites”. The already mentioned DIY ability is developing into a FUBU
mentality (for us, by us), de Chenecey claims. Olin-Scheller and Wikström (2010)
provide an example of this mentality as they illustrate the case of fan works (i.e. the
creation of stories, pictures and films by fans, based on already published material,
e.g. the books about Harry Potter). The production of culture, they claim, is hence
today a matter of „user generated content‟ as young people act as prosumers in the
way that they are both producers and consumers of cultural products. This can be
put into contrast of traditional cultural expressions as in for instance the case of
chamber music where the silent audience could be considered to form a prosumer
relationship with the performers, as suggested by Sicca (2000), just through their
shared presence in the room.

2.8. Introducing a new form of prosumption

As the literature review shows, the prosumer and prosumption concept has been ap-
plied in various ways and in different contexts. This paper attempts to describe how
the prosumption phenomenon has been taken one step further. From the corporate
focus and producers recognising the gains of creating active customer involvement,
to the hobbyist prosumers creating for their own experience, one can now detect how
consumers by own initiative take the step towards becoming professional consumers
in a way that earlier research had not yet identified.

7
3. METHOD

This chapter describes how empirical data regarding Swedish fashion bloggers and
key stakeholders, which operate within the blog value network in the borderland be-
tween consumer and producer, has been collected and analysed.

3.1. Identifying key stakeholders in the blog value network

In order to identify categories of key stakeholders and their relation to fashion blog-
gers in Sweden, a review of the 18 largest fashion bloggers1 was conducted during
the period between November 2009 and February 2010. The first sample consisted
of 20 blogs, but due to large amounts of unavailable data in two cases, the sample
was reduced to 18 blogs. The reason for studying the largest fashion blogs was the
assumption that these blogs probably would have attracted a larger attention from
different stakeholders, compared to medium or small size blogs. To identify the larg-
est blogs, the Swedish blog portal „Bloggportalen‟ was used. The portal is the largest
of its kind in Sweden and offers the possibility to list bloggers that specialise in fash-
ion according to size in terms of visits per week.
All posts made on the sampled blogs during the year of 2009 where reviewed, in total
24 708 posts. Based on this review, five categories of key stakeholders that the stud-
ied fashion blogs mentioned and wrote about were identified: (1) other fashion blogs,
(2) blog platforms; (3) blog networks; (4) advertisement companies; and (6) adver-
tisement and PR agencies.
Thus, the reviewed fashion blogs functioned as a point of departure for further data
collection and mapping of the blog value network.

3.2. Blog platforms, blog networks and advertisement companies

In order to identify the number of individual actors in each category, as well as size
and their connection to each other within the blog value network, further data collec-
tion was conducted by studying blog platforms, blog networks, advertisement com-
panies separately. As a starting point, interviews with nine of the individual actors,
that the review of market leading fashion blogs identified, were conducted. Due to
the geographical spread of the individual actors, the interviews were conducted by
telephone. In order to further understand how the identified stakeholders operate and
their relations to each other, the interviewed actors was asked to describe how they
operate, which actors they collaborate with and to name individual actors both within
their own category of key stakeholders and within other categories.
In order to validate data acquired through the conducted interviews and further map
the different groups of key stakeholders, secondary data was used in terms of annual
reports, individual actor‟s websites and articles in specialist press and newspapers.

1
In terms of visits per week during August 2009.

8
The secondary data further identified new actors within the stakeholder groups,
which were not identified by the review of the studied fashion bloggers or the con-
ducted interviews.

3.3. Advertisement and PR agencies

In order to study how advertisement and PR agencies operates within the blog value
network, in terms of creating relations and collaborations with fashion bloggers, this
category of key stakeholders was studied individually by using a survey.
In order to sample relevant agencies, that were or recently have been working with
clients from the fashion industry during the last three years, all members of the Swe-
dish Association of Communication Agencies and the Association of Public Relations
Consultancies in Sweden was reviewed. The review was made based on a total of
314 member‟s websites, where client reference lists in the majority of cases were
published. Based on client reference lists, 65 advertisement agencies and PR agen-
cies were identified. A survey with a total of 19 questions was conducted in June and
July 2010. The survey consisted of both closed and open ended questions on the
agencies‟ relations and co-operations with fashion bloggers. The survey was sent to
the agency directors. In total, 27 agencies answered the survey, which amount to a
respondent rate of 41,5 percent.

4. FINDINGS

The empirical contribution of this paper consists of the case of market leading fashion
bloggers in Sweden – and more importantly; the identification and mapping out of a
new borderland of stakeholders between the actual fashion producer and consumer.
This chapter aims to describe how different stakeholders have emerged and operate
within the blog value network, and how they have identified new commercial possibili-
ties within the value network. The presented findings start with a description of the
identified value network in which the studied fashion bloggers operate. By using the
value network as a point of departure, the different categories of stakeholders, indi-
vidual actors and their relations to each other are thereafter being presented.

4.1. An emerging blog value network

In figure 1, the identified blog value network is presented in which five categories of
stakeholders are identified in the borderland between producer and consumer. Figure
1 also illustrates how the different stakeholders are interconnected with each other
and how the value network is constructed. Closest to the consumer side of the bor-
derland is the fashion bloggers. Behind the fashion bloggers, four groups of stake-
holders have been identified: (1) blog platforms; (2) blog networks; (3) blog adver-
tisement companies and (4) advertisement and PR agencies. The different
stakeholder‟s interconnection with each other and their individual characteristics are
further described below.

9
Figure 1. The identifed blog value network. Authors‟ own elaboration.

10
4.2. Fashion bloggers
The key stakeholder that is the closest connected to the consumer side of the identi-
fied borderland is the studied fashion bloggers. The studied fashion bloggers show
variation in several ways in terms of age; gender; operation time; number of visits per
week; whether they manages their blogs trough registered companies; and are asso-
ciated to blog platforms and blog networks, see table 1.
As table 1 illustrates, the studied fashion bloggers are relatively young and the medi-
an age is 22 years. Only two of the 18 fashion bloggers are male. Furthermore, the
studied fashion bloggers had been running their blogs during at least 22 months by
the 1st of January 2010. This shows that in order to become one of the largest blogs,
in terms of number of readers, operation time seems to be playing an important role.
Eleven of the fashion bloggers manage their own companies where, in nearly all
cases, their blogs function as the main business area. A majority of the bloggers are
managing their blogs by using a technical platform that is provided by companies that
offer user interfaces for blogging and related services – in this paper termed blog
platform. A majority of the bloggers are collaborating with companies that have spe-
cialised in providing blog platforms. Meanwhile, six of the bloggers are operating their
blogs through platforms provided by traditional media companies and two of them are
managing their blogs independently. Furthermore, three of the bloggers are associ-
ated with a blog network that in this case also provides them with a blog platform.

Operation
2
time Visits a Registered Associated to
ID Age Gender (months) week company Associated to blog platform blog network
1 19 Female 60 642182 Yes Yes, specialist platform Yes
2 18 Female 48 641989 Yes Yes, specialist platform No
3 18 Female 36 586629 No Yes, specialist platform No
4 19 Male 22 211256 No Yes, specialist platform No
5 22 Female 36 206263 No Yes, specialist platform No
6 18 Female 24 172307 Yes Yes, specialist platform No
7 27 Female 24 153509 Yes Yes, traditional media platform No
8 15 Female 24 149565 No Yes, specialist platform No
9 31 Female 24 144670 Yes No, independent No
10 30 Female 22 92732 Yes Yes, traditional media platform No
11 36 Female 24 79740 Yes Yes, traditional media platform No
12 25 Female 24 75877 Yes Yes, specialist platform Yes
13 16 Female 48 74262 No Yes, specialist platform No
14 25 Female 60 70761 Yes Yes, traditional media platform No
15 35 Female 24 61211 Yes Yes, traditional media platform No
16 29 Female 60 61045 No Yes, traditional media platform No
17 20 Female 36 58091 Yes Yes, specialist platform Yes
18 27 Female 48 55349 No No, independent No

Table 1. Characteristics of the studied fashion bloggers.

2 st
By the 1 of January 2010.

11
4.3. Blog platforms
During the initial phase of the Swedish blog phenomenon, when more and more con-
sumers started to engage in blogging, a number of companies started to explore
whether commercial possibilities could be created within the borderland between
consumer and producer due to the development. One group of companies early
started to explore how technical platforms with user friendly interfaces for blogging
could be developed and thereafter provided to consumers.
Today, on the Swedish market, a total of 27 active companies that provide blog plat-
forms have been identified. It is possible to distinguish four different types of compa-
nies that are engaged in providing blog platforms to Internet users on the Swedish
market: (1) companies specialised in providing blog platforms (specialist platforms);
(2) traditional media companies that have integrated blog platforms on their websites
in order to increase number of online readers (traditional media platforms); (3) com-
panies in the IT-sector that have explored the possibility to expand their business by
developing blog platforms (explorative platforms); and (4) small businesses run by
committed amateurs that have explored how they can develop their technological
knowledge by developing blog platforms (amateur platforms). The identified blog plat-
forms differ in terms of number of users, sources of revenue, operating time and
turnover – all of which will be further discussed in the following subsections.

4.3.1. Specialist platforms

The first group of blog platform companies consists of three companies that have
specialized in providing blog platforms. They are market leading in terms of the num-
ber of users they have attracted to their blog platforms. In total, they have aggregated
760 000 to 860 000 registered blogs and therefore they have a relatively large market
share of the total Swedish blogosphere. Furthermore, the companies estimate that
around 25 percent of the registered blogs are active on their platforms. The definition
of active blogs varies between the respondents, but its primary meaning is that active
blogs are being regularly updated by the users. Their aggregated turnover amounts
to around SEK 6,5 million 3.
These three companies have been operating since 2005, 2006 and 2007 respective-
ly, i.e. since about the time when the blog phenomenon started to receive a large
amount of attention in Sweden. Furthermore, the companies are owned and man-
aged by persons who have been active within the Swedish IT-sector before the blog
phenomenon started to take form. These companies see themselves as niche spe-
cialists in terms of that their main focus are centred on blogs and the blogosphere.
The companys‟ business ideas are very similar, and one of the companies formulates
its articles of incorporation as: “the objective of the company is to perform publishing
and collection services for blogs on the Internet, consulting services within the field of
activity and to that related business”.

3
Approximately € 690,000 August 2010 exchange rate.

12
Besides the fact that they have aggregated a large amount of active blogs and there-
by created effects related to economies of scale, they have also during the years of
operation on the Swedish blog market changed their revenue model in different
ways. All three have used contracted advertisement companies in terms of traditional
advertisement and affiliation networks in order to facilitate and increase advertise-
ment revenues which functions as the primary revenue source. Today, two of the
studied companies use contracted advertisement companies while one of the com-
panies manages advertisement sales in-house. Furthermore, the identified platforms
also have created ways of generating revenues from their users such as offering blog
accounts free from advertisement, web shops and mobile services.
In terms of the studied Swedish market leading fashion bloggers, seven of them col-
laborate with two of the specialist companies. Furthermore, one of the studied blog-
gers earlier collaborated with one of the specialist companies but is today operating
through a blog network.

4.3.2. Traditional media platforms

The second group of blog platforms is operated by traditional media companies.
These companies, as well as the other three categories of blog platforms, have iden-
tified that blogs can have a significant impact on traffic on sites owned by these com-
panies. Unlike the other three categories of blog platforms, the traditional media
companies have a large amount of experience and knowledge in terms of how to sell
advertisement space. The traditional media companies, that in almost all cases have
websites where they also sell advertisements space, have identified that blogs can
provide increased traffic that in turn leads to synergy effects, and effects related to
economies of scale.
By developing blog platforms that are integrated with the companies‟ websites, an
increased online traffic can be created that in turn leads to larger commercial possi-
bilities regarding the market price for advertisement space. In this context, revenues
generated by the blogs function as a business area that the studied traditional media
companies are exploring.
The identified blog platforms within this category consist of five platforms in total. Of
the studied fashion bloggers, five of them are collaborating with these blog platforms.
Furthermore, in three cases the fashion bloggers‟ collaboration with traditional media
platforms goes beyond the pure technical solution. In contrast to the other market
leading fashion bloggers studied, these three bloggers have in fact been employed
by the traditional media companies and are also engaged in the production of tradi-
tional media content.

4.3.3. Explorative platforms

The third group of companies that provide blog platforms is companies that first and
foremost are engaged in providing different types of products and services within the
Swedish IT-sector. The blog platforms they manage function as a minor part of their
total business activities. When the blog phenomenon received attention in Sweden,
these companies started to explore whether they could identify commercial possibili-
ties by providing blog platforms for internet users. Unlike the companies that special-
ised in providing blog platforms, these companies have not to the same extent been
dependent on how their blog platforms developed. These blog platforms have not

13
seen the same growth rate compared with the specialized blog platforms. Instead,
these companies describe that the blog platforms more or less manage themselves
and that the resources invested in further developing the blog platforms are relatively
limited. Even though this is the case, these companies‟ blog platforms still are seeing
a flow of newly registered blogs.
In total, 15 companies were identified. Furthermore, the estimated revenues that their
blog platforms generate constitute only a fraction of their total revenues generated
from their primary business areas. The revenues are generated through collabora-
tions with advertisement companies, particularly in form of affiliate networks. Some of
the studied blog platforms also provide premium blog accounts that are free from ad-
vertisement and function as an additional revenue source. None of the studied fash-
ion bloggers are collaborating with these blog platforms.

4.3.4. Amateur platforms

The fourth group of blog platforms is owned and managed by smaller companies
compared with the two categories mentioned above. These companies are managed
by persons how are interested in technical solutions and have the technical compe-
tence required to develop a blog platform. Furthermore, they can be described as
start-up projects operated by committed amateurs that have not had the same inter-
est in applying commercial approaches as the other categories demonstrate. Instead,
the blog platforms are considered a way to develop knowledge and experience in IT-
related services. The identified blog platforms within this category in total consist of
four companies. Within this category, the revenue sources consist of affiliation net-
works. Like the exploration platforms, none of the studied fashion bloggers collabo-
rates with the identified amateur platforms.

4.4. Blog networks

Unlike the blog platforms, where any Internet user can start a blog in a couple of
minutes, another stakeholder group closely related to the blog platforms have
emerged; the blog networks. These networks of blogs distinguish themselves in
terms of that they are more selective concerning which bloggers that they allow to
become members of the network. Compared to the blog platforms that allow any
consumer to join, which in turn leads to the creation of a long tail of blogs, the blog
networks instead focus on well established bloggers that have proven to generate a
large amount of traffic. Besides aspects related to selection and an exclusive ap-
proach, they have strong resemblances to the blog platforms in terms of how they
have identified sources of revenue. In total, three blog networks were identified. In
relation to blog platforms, the blog networks are a more recent development in the
Swedish blogosphere.
The market leading blog network started to operate in 2008, and today consists of
around 25 bloggers out of which three of the studied fashion bloggers are included
and operate. Furthermore, one of the market leading fashion bloggers was engaged
in the founding of this blog network.

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4.5. Blog advertisement companies
In close relation to blog platforms and blog networks, the advertisement companies
that operate in the borderland between producer and consumer are first and foremost
specialised in affiliate marketing and provides affiliate networks. Before the blog phe-
nomenon emerged in Sweden, a number of actors were engaged in collecting adver-
tisement space from different Internet websites and selling that advertisement space
to advertisers. However, as a result of the blog phenomenon, both existing and new
actors started to focus attention on how blogs could be integrated as part of their affil-
iation networks.
On the Swedish market, a total of 26 active Swedish advertisement companies that
specialise in online marketing, and especially affiliate marketing, were identified. A
majority of the identified advertisement companies are relatively newly started, and
19 of them were registered from 2005 onward. Even though most of the companies
target all types of web pages that are willing to provide advertisement space, twelve
of them mention and emphasize blogs as one type of websites that they especially
focus on. In total, these companies have a turnover of SEK 63,5 million.
These companies use different approaches in order to integrate blogs into their affili-
ate networks. Nine of them allow anyone with their own blog to join their network and
to start selling advertisement space on their blogs. Meanwhile, three of the compa-
nies have created a number of requirements, in terms of for instance number of
readers and operation time, in order for bloggers to join their affiliate network. Fur-
thermore, in some cases the advertisement companies also provide blogs with tradi-
tional advertisements that are not to the same extent, compared to affiliate market-
ing, connected to the performance of the blogs. Instead, the advertiser pays a fixed
rate to advertise on a specific number of blogs.
Three of the companies distinguish themselves in terms of that they are exploring
new ways of working together with blogs. The largest advertisement company, in
turnover, manages a number of blog platforms where they at the same time offer ad-
vertisement space for advertisers. This can be described as a way to become more
vertically integrated within the borderland between consumer and producer. The se-
cond company that distinguishes itself has chosen to focus merely on blogs, and us-
es this approach as a way to position itself in relation to the other advertisement
companies focusing on blogs. The third company is in fact more engaged in what
could be described as product placement since it offers blogs compensation to write
posts about specific products and services.
As already mentioned, almost all of the identified blog platforms and blog networks
have engaged in collaborations with blog advertisement companies in terms of affili-
ate networks or traditional advertising in order to increase revenues. Furthermore,
affiliate networks are more widespread in comparison with traditional advertisement.
Basically, it seems to be a matter of size since the blog platforms and blog networks
that have become relatively large have greater possibilities to acquire advertisers that
are willing to pay a fixed rate. When a blog platform or blog network reaches a critical
mass of active blogs, it is more profitable to contract an advertisement company in
order to sells traditional advertisements instead of only relaying on affiliate networks.
Meanwhile, the blog platforms and blog networks experience that affiliate networks
still can be useful when the advertisement companies selling traditional advertise-
ments cannot fill all advertisement space with fixed rate advertisements.

15
4.6. Advertisement and PR agencies
The last identified stakeholder that is interconnected with the other stakeholders in
the identified value network is advertisement and PR agencies. In order to identify
how this stakeholder group operates within the value network, a survey was con-
ducted. A total of 27 advertisement and PR agencies answered the survey.
The studied agencies have during the last three years represented 92 clients from
the fashion industry. The survey shows that the respondents offer their clients a wide
range of services that include both traditional marketing tools and new Web 2.0 relat-
ed services. Furthermore, the respondents state that they work with a wide range of
different types of social media.
The surveyed advertisement and PR agencies use and co-operate with fashion blog-
gers in different ways. All but one of the respondents state that they actively monitor
fashion blogs, see figure 2. Figure 2 show that 73 percent of the respondents regular-
ly monitor fashion blogs; daily, weekly or monthly. Furthermore, a majority of the re-
spondents, 65 percent, state that they monitor 1-10 fashion blogs. Of the remaining
respondents, 27 percent monitor 10-25 fashion blogs and 8 percent monitor 25-100
fashion blogs. In terms of strategically mapping fashion blogs; 28 percent of the re-
spondents regularly map fashion blogs daily, weekly or monthly, whereas 40 percent
state that it occurs sporadically, while 32 percent state that they are not engaged in
that activity.

Figure 2. Advertisement and PR agencies‟ monitoring of fashion blogs.

When asked whether the respondents actively monitor fashion blogs during the pro-
cess of designing collaborations with clients in the fashion industry, 52 percent state
that it happens in all or in a majority of cases, 32 percent state that it happens in half
of the cases or occasionally, and 16 percent answer that it never happens.

16
All of the approaches described above can be categorized as passive approaches to
the fashion blogs. In terms of active approaches that include a two way contact with
fashion blogs, the surveyed agencies state that there exists commercial dialogues
and also collaborations between them and fashion bloggers. 25 percent of the re-
spondents state that they have direct contact with fashion bloggers weekly or month-
ly. 26 percent state that they have direct contact sporadically, while the remaining 48
percent do not have direct contact with bloggers. In addition, when asked about
whether they engage in active collaborations with fashion bloggers, a majority state
that they have been or currently are engaged in collaborations with fashion bloggers,
see figure 3.

Figure 3. Advertisement and PR agencies‟ engagement in collaborations with fashion bloggers.

In sum, the surveyed advertisment and PR agencies have to various extent

approched fashion bloggers both in a passive and active way. Thus, there is
obviously a link between fashion bloggers, the agencies and fashion producers that
in different ways wish to collaborate with bloggers by contacting the surveyed
agencies. Furthermore, this shows that not only new stakeholders have emerged as
a result of the Swedish blog phenomenon, but also earlier existing actors, like the
studied advertisment and PR agencies, have been affected by the development and
been integrated in the blog value network in the boderland between producer and
consumer.

17
5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Alvin Tofflers coining of the prosumer concept has proven to be more useful in de-
scribing important characteristics of the new economy than he could probably have
imagined himself in 1980. The phenomenon was obviously not non-existing before
1980, but its impact on the economy was not regarded as important as the explicit
and quantifiable producer-consumer relationships. The main contribution that Toffler
makes is on the one hand shedding light on a neglected part of the economy, on the
other hand identifying the development of a growing phenomenon that has proven to
be closely related to digitalisation.
The prosumption phenomenon has during the last 30 years been discussed from a
number of different viewpoints, especially in terms of markets and sectors of the
economy where the phenomenon has been easily identified. When considering the
literature review of this paper, covering how research has applied the prosumer and
prosumption concepts, one can suspect that the development of this phenomenon
has become more complex then the literature suggests.
Reflecting upon the literature review, one can discern two approaches to the
prosumption phenomenon. The first and major part of the literature could be catego-
rised as describing producer-driven prosumption. This approach takes its point of
departure from the producer perspective and describes how companies can create
benefits by integrating consumers in the production process, hence creating a
stronger and more interactive relationship with their customers. A second but minor
part of the literature instead takes on a consumer-driven perspective on prosumption.
This approach takes its point of departure from consumers instead of focusing on
how producers can interact with their customers. This approach is mainly focused on
consumers as hobbyist producers, acting both individually and collectively, thus de-
scribing a form of consumer-driven amateur prosumption.

Based on empirical contribution of this paper, a third approach to the prosumption

phenomenon can now be introduced. This third approach goes beyond the two ap-
proaches applied in earlier literature. The presented case shows how consumer-
driven prosumption can develop into a professional form of prosumption. Even
thought the studied fashion bloggers once started out as hobbyists, and were en-
gaged in what could be described as amateur production, these bloggers developed
into professionals giving rise to new value networks.
In the value network that has been created as a result of what started as a consumer
initiative, new groups of stakeholders have emerged and hence created a new bor-
derland between consumer and producer. Without consumers that successfully ex-
plored ways of engaging in blogging and attracting large number or readers, the bor-
derland had never developed. In the initial phase of the Swedish blogospheres, the
blog phenomenon could be described as an example of consumer-driven amateur
prosumption. However, as the empirical contribution shows a majority of the studied
fashion bloggers operates their blogs through registered companies and all collabo-
rates with a number of stakeholder groups that in their turn connect them with actual
producers outside the identified borderland. In this context, consumer-driven amateur
prosumption transforms into consumer-driven professional prosumption. The three
identified forms of prosumption and how they have transcended are illustrated in fig-
ure 4.

18
In this case, consumer-driven professional prosumption has emerged in the meeting
between consumers engaged in amateur production and other entrepreneurial ac-
tors, as the latter ones have help the bloggers in identifying the values associated
with their blogs. The main results of this value creation are the following. Firstly, the
amateur consumers have themselves engaged in entrepreneurial activities related to
their blogs. The most obvious evidence of this development is that they have regis-
tered companies from which they own and manage their blogs. Secondly, the studied
bloggers have also through collaborations together with other entrepreneurial actors
played a major part in the creation of value networks in the identified borderland.
Thirdly, existing actors that in this case consists of advertisement and PR agencies
have recognised these bloggers as a way for them to facilitate online marketing re-
lated activities.

Producer-driven Consumer-driven Consumer-driven

prosumption amateur prosumption professional prosumption

Figure 4. The development of the prosumption phenomenon. Authors‟ own.

5.1. Recommendations for future research

This paper has identified the value network that has been created around the activi-
ties of Swedish market leading fashion bloggers. No attention has been addressed to
the actual fashion producer and consumer. One way of further exploring how the
studied stakeholders within the identified borderland operate is to address attention
to the fashion producers, for example how they view bloggers and whether they di-
rectly interact with them.
Another way to further develop an increased understanding for the activities of the
studied fashion bloggers is to give more attention to how they operate in relation to
their readers, and thereby to fashion consumers. Is trust more easily built in relation-
ship between prosumer-consumer compared with producer-consumer? Opposite,
these questions can be further addressed by studying fashion blog readers.
A third suggestion on further research in order to better understand the prosumer
phenomenon is to study the driving forces of the fashion bloggers or other groups of
prosumers that show similar attributes.

19
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Authors:

Christofer Pihl, PhD Candidate.

University of Gothenburg; School of Business, Economics and Law
Gothenburg Research Institute; Centre for Consumer Science
Box 606, SE 405 30 Gothenburg
christofer.pihl@cfk.gu.se
Evelina Wahlqvist, PhD Candidate.
University of Gothenburg; School of Business, Economics and Law
Department of Human and Economic Geography
Box 630, S-405 30 Gothenburg
evelina.wahlqvist@geography.gu.se

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