From Production to Produsage-the evolution of the value chain.
The Industrial Age saw the Value Chain to exist as a liner chain of power. Producers had the most power, they could effectively control the distributors. Consequently the distributor’s actions affected the consumer. At the end of the chain, the consumer, had no power over the other stakeholders within the equation.
The Industrial Production Value Chain
In this industrial age, power structures were very much slanted in favour or producers and distributors. The Consumer was essentially an afterthought. Product development was not aimed towards consumer satisfaction nor were products designed to target consumer needs. Instead, producers and distributors focused product design on production efficiency and profit.
This is where the evolution begins. Consumers became more then just the all-absorbing Yin to mass media’s all-producing Yang.
The gradual shift of power is apparent when referring to the Limited Feedback in the Value Chain Model. Within this model the consumer is considered to have more of a say in regards to the producer’s actions. This is possible through such tools as general market research, specific market research and more recently the e-commerce trends which has allowed producers to discover consumer preferences. In this model, the consumer is more active then the consumer who existed in the industrial age.
Alvin Toffler’s concept of prosumption describes, not the shift of the balance of powers between producers and consumers, but merely the development of even more advanced consumption skills by consumers. This concept further evolves the Value Chain to allow for the perfection of the feedback loop from consumer to producer. This feedback loop gives consumers the power to influence the producers. Although the consumers are now in a position of power more then ever before, there still exists a high degree of segmentation between producers, distributors and consumers. Separation between these parties exists because consumers, though they can now contribute to wealth creation, they are not able to benefit from the profits as the producers and distributors are able to.
As consumers gain more power, there is again a shift in regards to how consumers are viewed. The evolution of consumers to users now occurs. Rather then playing an inactive role, these consumers, turned users, are now able to play a distinct role in shaping, creating, collaborating, and building within the media realm in which they live and participate in.
Produsage, a term coined by Dr Axel Bruns describes the collaborative and continuous building and extending of existing content in pursuit of further development. Produsage significantly transforms the initial production value chain into a cyclical process that is constantly driven by content. No longer do boundaries exist between producers and consumers, instead such parties are one in the same, roles are not specific and thus parties are free to create, collaborate and participate.
The elements of Produsage are vast and can be further examined in Bruns’ book Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From Production to produsage.
Consider the way in which markets are run today. Marketing professionals live by the mantra that products need to target consumer’s needs otherwise there will be no inherent success for whatever product that is to be offered. This ideal is completely contrasting to the ideals held in the industrial age. The power held by the producer during the industrial age has shifted very much towards the consumer.
[...] wonderful product. Consider it being products that are for the people, by the people. With the industrial production chain, the end party was the customer, applied to retail industries this can be considered as customer [...]
Let’s get physical! -Produsage applied to products « Kboscarin’s Blog said this on May 25, 2009 at 2:29 am |
I really understand what you are saying here in your blog. While there is a huge shift in the process of how things work, there are still problems with where the recognition goes to, when it becomes harder and harder to keep track of who is the first to provide information, when everyone seems to be providing it. The real question here then I guess is, how are we meant to monitor this? And if we’re unable to, is it going to become a problem that might ultimately hinder the progress that new media is making? What we have to really think is what can we do personally to help this, because in my opinion produsage is a great thing, it’s just that there are still creases that need to be ironed out before the critics can truly enjoy it.