The complexities of consumer empowerment in the modern consumption environment

The modern consumption environment has significantly expanded opportunities for consumer empowerment, yet such empowerment hinges on specific conditions and contexts. We discuss the complexities of consumer empowerment in the modern consumption environment across four domains of empowerment: consumer choice, access to marketplace information, consumer voice, and consumer experience. Through this lens, we examine how and when evolving marketplace offerings (e.g., sharing economy, consumer co-creation), technologies (e.g., product customization, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality), communication platforms (e.g., user-generated content, social media, on-line word of mouth), and consumption trends (e.g., multitasking) may have beneficial or detrimental effects on consumer empowerment.