Marketing with working consumers: The case of a carmaker and its brand community. (September 2015) - Cova, Bernard
Consumers have entered the world of contemporary organizations. They are even being reconsidered as workers. This article contributes to the body of literature on this theme by focusing on collaborative marketing, which is the organization of marketing work conducted jointly by marketing professionals and consumers. This article draws on the ethnographic study of a collaborative marketing programme organized by the carmaker Alfa Romeo that engaged Alfisti, the enthusiastic consumers of the Alfa Romeo brand. Previous research has analysed work carried out by consumers. This article instead analyses the organization of consumer work and what marketing professionals do to integrate consumer work into their marketing work. This article concludes that marketing professionals control working consumers as if they were wage labourers, which most consumers do not appreciate. Conversely, working consumers compel marketers to engage in social and emotional labour, which marketers are not accustomed to and try to limit.