Natives and tourists of prosumer capitalism: On the varied pro-prosumer activities of producers exemplified in the Polish pop culture industry

Abstract

This article pertains to the concept of prosumer capitalism, a term which refers to practices among companies of using consumers’ unpaid work (prosumption refers to the mixing of consumption and production). In the literature, this type of capitalism has been treated generally; how pro-prosumer activities differ among producers has been overlooked. This article illustrates these differences by showing the ways in which Polish pop culture producers approach prosumption. The research was conducted through in-depth interviews with representatives from different Polish popular culture companies and the results show that prosumption orientation is determined by what is being produced – films, games, comics, books, television programmes, or music. Producers of video games and comics are most prosumption-oriented – in other words, they may be called ‘natives’ of prosumption – in contrast to ‘tourists’, such as producers of films, television programmes, and books. This article shows that developing the concept of prosumer capitalism requires that consideration as to the prosumer orientations of producers should be specified on a case-by-case basis.