The diffusion of the Internet and social media technologies

The user empowerment phenomenon refers to users/consumers’ ability to take control and assert their power in the marketplace through increased information access, choice, and options to impose market sanctions through voice and exit.

With a key focus on four sources of consumer power;
Demand-based
Information-based
Network-based
Crowd-based

The evolution of consumer empowerment is linked to the diffusion of internet technologies and the infrastructure characteristics that define these technologies, including complex infrastructure characteristics such as infrastructure architecture and interaction designs, and soft infrastructure characteristics, such as social processes built into the platform. The empowerment process by providing different interaction formats (i.e., news streams, chronologies, tagging, fora, hangouts, albums), impacts the overall attractiveness of the network and its capabilities, by providing public acknowledgement of merit through signifiers of popularity.

Demand-based Power
Demand-based power is the influence that consumer behaviours and purchases have on the market, and it has been around even before the rise of the Internet. With the advent of social media, this power has evolved and taken on new forms. Consumers can express their power by purchasing or boycotting products or exiting the market altogether. However, demand-based power typically only signals dissatisfaction and doesn’t provide actionable feedback for marketers to respond to.

Information-based Power
Information-based power has two components that are based on the consumption and production of content.

Content consumption facilitates easier access to information about products and services, which helps to level the playing field by reducing information asymmetry and expediting the diffusion of information in the market, ultimately shortening product lifecycles.

Content production, on the other hand, enables individuals to produce user-generated content and express themselves, which can expand their reach and potentially influence markets. With the advent of Web 2.0 applications, these abilities have been broadened by providing simple code-free interfaces to access and produce content.

Network-based Power
Network-based power is all about leveraging networks to enhance one’s personal reputation and influence markets by distributing, remixing, and improving digital content. This power comes from the ability of others to add value to original content through activities such as sharing, organizing, commenting, and tagging on social networks. By disseminating, completing, or modifying content, users can increase their influence and reputation, and potentially impact markets.