Bringing the Market to Life: Screen Aesthetics and the Epistemic Consumption Object

Marketing Theory, Forthcoming

34 Pages Posted: 13 Apr 2005

See all articles by Detlev Zwick

Detlev Zwick

York University - Schulich School of Business

Nikhilesh Dholakia

University of Rhode Island

Abstract

This paper argues that the new "visuality" (Schroeder, 2002) of the Internet transforms the stock market into an epistemic consumption object. The aesthetics of the screen turn the market into an interactive and response-present surface representation. On the computer screen, the market becomes an object of constant movement and variation, changing direction and altering appearance at any time. Following Korr Centina (2000, 2002), we argue that the visual logic of the screen opens up the market ontologically. The ontological liquidity of the market-on-screen (Knorr Cetina and Bruegger, 2002) simulates the indefiniteness of other life forms. We suggest that the continuing fascination with online investing is a function of the reflexive looping of the investor, who aspires to discern what the market is lacking, through the market-on-screen that continuously signals to the investor what it still lacks. Implications for existing theories on relationships and involvement are discussed.

Keywords: Aesthetics, visual consumption, epistemic object, stock market, investing, involvement, relationship, internet, computer-mediated consumption

Suggested Citation

Zwick, Detlev and Dholakia, Nikhilesh, Bringing the Market to Life: Screen Aesthetics and the Epistemic Consumption Object. Marketing Theory, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=689781

Detlev Zwick (Contact Author)

York University - Schulich School of Business ( email )

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Nikhilesh Dholakia

University of Rhode Island ( email )

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Kingston, RI 02881
United States