The Impact of Digital Media on Consumer Culture

Abstract

Changes after the coronavirus pandemic did not only change the way individuals protect their well-being, but also their lifestyles and consumption activities. The relationship between consumption and lifestyle changed; the perspective towards sustainability changed to the detriment of global production changed and the need for mediated communication changed the way in which media is consumed. This, in turn, changed brand narratives too, for individuals favored do-it-yourself activities such as baking, cooking and knitting among many more. In this regard, studying consumer culture alongside varying lifestyles of consumers is important, because it is the only way to fully understand the effects of the changing world and how consumers attach meanings to it. From this perspective, consumer culture must be understood well from the framework of consumer behavior. Despite the growing discussions concerning social media consumption in consumer culture research, there are not many attempts to discover the relationship between consumer culture and social media use. This study aims to identify the role digital media plays in shaping the post-coronavirus consumer culture by reviewing consumer practices, reflecting consumer culture, during the 2020 lockdown in Turkey. A content analysis is carried out with hashtags to illustrate those with the highest engagement rates on Instagram. A critical consumer culture concept is at the center to highlight the elements of a post-coronavirus consumer culture. The study is hoped to contribute to the existing literature by attempting to track the traces of a novel type of consumer culture.