Emotions and Consumption: Media Representations in the Discourse of Some British and Polish News Websites

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis referring to the dominant ways of portraying consumption on some Polish and British websites during a pandemic—either as a social practice with huge chances to consume less or as a significant factor which affects economic growth. On the one hand, the circumstances surrounding the coronavirus could provide an opportunity to “fast-forward” some of the changes required. On the other hand, journalists recommend a quick return to pre-COVID-19 consumption lives, a stimulation of consumption in order to save the national economy.
 The article uses a framing analysis to examine consumption-related texts from two most-read, opinion-forming Polish and British websites—polityka.pl and bbc.com. The framing analysis focuses on the practices involved in the shaping of public discourse; it responds to the need for research into the social significance of consumption.
 It turns out that the two frames of consumption as 1) overconsumption in terms of the need of change in consumer attitudes and behaviour and 2) a factor that affects economic growth are not the dominant ways of portraying this phenomenon during a pandemic. The everyday consumption frame was found to be used more often than the aforementioned frames.