PhD Dissertation Defense, Isabella Ciampa, Marketing

Congratulations to Dr Isabella CIAMPA, Marketing, who successfully defended her doctoral dissertation at HEC Paris on the 29th of August, 2024.

Specialisation: Marketing

Title: THE PLATFORMISATION OF CONSUMER CREATIVITY AND THE JOURNEY TO CREATIVE PROFESSIONALIZATION

Supervisor: Professor Kristine De Valck, HEC Paris

Jury members: 

Professor Robert V. Kozinets, USC Annenberg, School for Communication and Journalism, USA
Associate Professor Laetitia Mimoun, ESCP Business School, France
Professor Tina Lowrey, HEC Paris, France
Professor Kristine de Valck, HEC Paris, France
Professor Fleura Bardhi, City University of London, Bayes Business School, UK

Abstract:

This dissertation explores the platformisation of consumer creativity and its professionalization. Drawing on theories of marketplace exchange, consumer creativity, and platformisation, I examine how consumers gather on digital platforms to exchange creative content, co-create, and build digitally mediated careers, transitioning into professionals. This investigation is presented in three essays: two empirical and one conceptual, utilizing a qualitative methodology comprised of netnography, narrative interviews, and guided introspections.

In Essay 1, I introduce the concept of co-creative gift systems to explain how consumers and creators gather on digital platforms and co-create a creative digital gift (i.e., a novel). I focus on Wattpad, a platform for hobbyist writers, where interactions among givers and recipients, specifically writers and readers, influence the development of the digital gift through editorial support, narrative co-creation, and independent reviews. 

In Essay 2, I explore the longitudinal experience of 17 consumers aspiring to become professional writers. This study introduces a platform-enabled marketization process of consumer creativity, illustrating how consumers gradually transition from hobbyist writers to professionals. They utilize digital platforms to orient themselves, learn, seek support, and manage their digital brands. I show how this transition aligns with an evolution in their consumer creativity, moving through four phases: instinctive, rookie, constrained, and marketoriented consumer creativity.

Lastly, Essay 3 conceptualizes the platformisation of creativity by examining how creators generate content on digital platforms. It introduces a typology that highlights the democratizing potential of digital platforms and the ways they provide creators with tools to
sustain their professional careers over time.

Keywords: consumer creativity, platformisation, professionalization, consumer research, qualitative research

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