Blog/shop: it is authentic so don't worryˆˆˆ
| Published date | 27 February 2009 |
| Pages | 39-53 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960910938089 |
| Date | 27 February 2009 |
| Author | Gordon Fletcher,Anita Greenhill |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Blog/shop: it is authentic
so don’t worry^^^
Gordon Fletcher
Information Systems, Organisations and Society Research Centre,
University of Salford, Salford, UK, and
Anita Greenhill
Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Abstract
Purpose – The popularity and persistence of Blogshops raises ethical issues regarding the
presentation of the female teenage owners’ “self” to others and the relationship they maintain with
buyers and other owners.
Design/methodology/approach – This ongoing observational study of Singaporean Blogshops
revealsa layered and interrelatedtypology of alternative e-commerce activitiesthat critiquesmany of the
mythsassociatedwith e-commerceparticularlythe extent and mannerin which it can empowerconsumers.
Findings – It is argued that Blogshops represent a new formulation of e-commerce practice that
draws upon a rich assemblage that includes readily available and popular digital technologies and an
efficient urban public transport system.
Research limitations/implications – This study is primarily emic in perspective and requires
complementary ethnographic research among Blogshopowners and buyers – specifically female
teenage Singaporeans.
Originality/value – The present study introduces the phenomenon of Blogshops to a wider
academic and theoried audience througha critical interpretation of observed activities. Indoing this the
study offers insight into the complex intersection of public transport infrastructure, freely available
Web-based technologies and the significant influence that fashion exerts upon contemporary popular
culture.
Keywords Electronic commerce,Networking, Consumer behaviour,Passenger transport, Singapore
Paper type Research paper
New e-commerce?
Very early in 2008 one of the authors was contacted by a postgraduate student from a
London University asking a series of questions about Blogshops. After a rapid series of
searches it became clear that these small scale, generally one person e-commerce
operations raised a number of questions that reached far beyond the pivotal question of
the postgraduate student; “Why are Blogshops not popular in the UK” (and by
implication anywhere other than Singapore). The student was duly furnished with
a response suggesting that cultural differences had shaped different levels of
preparedness for teenagers to “play” or “act” as shopkeepers. However, the assumption
of the postgraduate student that the utilisation of a blog as an online shop was both
obvious and a well-known feature of the digital landscape itself provoked questions
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
The authors thank Donna Duncan for her assistance in identifying and “harvesting” the
Blogshops that were examined in this paper.
Blog/shop
39
Received 30 September 2008
Revised 30 October 2008
Accepted 1 December 2008
Journal of Information,
Communication & Ethics in Society
Vol. 7 No. 1, 2009
pp. 39-53
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/14779960910938089
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