Public lecture explores commercial influence on social media and young consumers

On 22 October Mikko Laamanen, Research Professor in Sociology of Consumption at Oslo Metropolitan University, gave a public lecture "Digitality and (un)sustainable lifestyles: Young people, social media and commercial influence" at the Institute of Social Studies of the University of Tartu.

Lecture slides

Contemporary consumer culture is unsustainable per se whereby the sustainability of lifestyle-based consumption choices becomes a dialectic issue. The relationship between everyday consumption, commercial creation of wants and environmental sustainability is of particular significance given the direct correlation between consumer(ist) lifestyles and increased levels of material consumption.

Digitality appears to enable lifestyles in which access to consumer goods is made easier and cheaper without a deeper reflection of what makes for a “good life”. Based on my recent work on young people as consumer subjects, behavioural targetting of commercial messages, and social media amplified (un)sustainability, this talk illustrates how social media and (un)sustainable consumption are connected. My talk addresses the mechanisms and impacts of commercial influence on social media as well as young consumers’ reactions. Overall, I aim to provide a consolidation of existing knowledge and outline a future research agenda in an interdisciplinary, dynamic context.

Mikko Laamanen is Research Professor in Sociology of Consumption and Head of Research for Technology and Sustainability at Consumer Research Norway, Oslo Metropolitan University. His research focuses on the everyday politics of technology, inclusion, and social change. He is the coordinator of the Research Network for Sociology of Consumption (RN05) of the European Sociological Association.