The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Consumption and Consumer Studies

Digital-Mobile Consumption and Marketing

JESSICA CARBINO

University of California–Los Angeles, USA

DOI: 10.1002/9781118989463.wbeccs262

Technological change spans beyond the introduction of new inventions. With the emergence of new technologies, new industries arise, markets change, and individuals adopt new social norms. The birth of the information age occurred in the late 1970s with the development of computers. The rise of the internet in the late 1990s and ultimate adoption of computer technology by individuals brought the information age into full bloom. The information age, now more commonly referred to as the digital age, represents a shift from a more traditional economy to an economy based upon information transmitted via computer.

The primary adopters of the internet were initially white, male, and highly educated. Today 85 percent of Americans have access to the internet. As with all areas of social life, however, social stratification influences digital consumption. Social stratification scholars have long been concerned about a new form of social inequality emerging: a digital divide. The digital divide represents the gap between those individuals who have limited or no access to the internet and internet users. As a result of unequal access, the digital divide may be particularly problematic because certain groups may not be able to consume information or be exposed to certain opportunities.

Scholars also are concerned about the global nature and implications of ...