Buy, boycott or blog: exploring online consumer power to share, discuss and distribute controversial advertising messages

The availability of new media as a universal communication tool has an impact on the power of the general public to comment on a variety of issues. This paper examines this increase in consumer power with respect to bloggers. The research context is controversial advertising, and specifically Touris...

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Main Authors: Kerr, G., Mortimer, K., Dickinson, Sonia, Waller, D.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62520
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author Kerr, G.
Mortimer, K.
Dickinson, Sonia
Waller, D.
author_facet Kerr, G.
Mortimer, K.
Dickinson, Sonia
Waller, D.
author_sort Kerr, G.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The availability of new media as a universal communication tool has an impact on the power of the general public to comment on a variety of issues. This paper examines this increase in consumer power with respect to bloggers. The research context is controversial advertising, and specifically Tourism Australia’s “Where the bloody hell are you?” campaign. By utilising Denegri-Knott’s (2006) four on-line power strategies, a content analysis of weblogs reveals that consumers are distributing information, opinion and even banned advertising material, thereby forming power hubs of like-minded people, with the potential to become online pressure groups. The consequences and implications of this augmented power on regulators, advertisers and bloggers are explored. The findings contribute to the understanding of blogs as a new communication platform and bloggers as a new demographic of activists in the process of advertising.
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format Journal Article
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:22:36Z
publishDate 2012
publisher Emerald Group Publishing Limited
recordtype eprints
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-625202018-02-01T05:24:02Z Buy, boycott or blog: exploring online consumer power to share, discuss and distribute controversial advertising messages Kerr, G. Mortimer, K. Dickinson, Sonia Waller, D. The availability of new media as a universal communication tool has an impact on the power of the general public to comment on a variety of issues. This paper examines this increase in consumer power with respect to bloggers. The research context is controversial advertising, and specifically Tourism Australia’s “Where the bloody hell are you?” campaign. By utilising Denegri-Knott’s (2006) four on-line power strategies, a content analysis of weblogs reveals that consumers are distributing information, opinion and even banned advertising material, thereby forming power hubs of like-minded people, with the potential to become online pressure groups. The consequences and implications of this augmented power on regulators, advertisers and bloggers are explored. The findings contribute to the understanding of blogs as a new communication platform and bloggers as a new demographic of activists in the process of advertising. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62520 Emerald Group Publishing Limited restricted
spellingShingle Kerr, G.
Mortimer, K.
Dickinson, Sonia
Waller, D.
Buy, boycott or blog: exploring online consumer power to share, discuss and distribute controversial advertising messages
title Buy, boycott or blog: exploring online consumer power to share, discuss and distribute controversial advertising messages
title_full Buy, boycott or blog: exploring online consumer power to share, discuss and distribute controversial advertising messages
title_fullStr Buy, boycott or blog: exploring online consumer power to share, discuss and distribute controversial advertising messages
title_full_unstemmed Buy, boycott or blog: exploring online consumer power to share, discuss and distribute controversial advertising messages
title_short Buy, boycott or blog: exploring online consumer power to share, discuss and distribute controversial advertising messages
title_sort buy, boycott or blog: exploring online consumer power to share, discuss and distribute controversial advertising messages
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62520