Social Media and a New Era of Consumer Empowerment
S
ince the days of Adam Smith, we have operated
But since then, the digital revolution has brought about
under the assumption that capitalism and democ-
dramatic changes — and signs abound that a true democrati-
that empowers consumers to vote with their dollars is one
of social media, consumers of goods, services, and ideas have
racy always walk hand-in-hand. After all, a system
that ensures their needs are met. A free market inexorably ties
sellers’ interests to those of their buyers. When customers can
simply take their business across the street, companies either exceed value expectations or cede market share to someone who can.
Until recently, however, capitalism’s reality was more
autocratic. Consider the lone consumer who had a sub-par
buying experience. Ten years ago, there was no way to communicate the resulting dissatisfaction in a manner that would
zation of the free market system is underway. With the advent
been provided a force multiplier that has tilted the balance of
power in their favor. In the Information Age, ordinary consumers are visible, organized, and able to virally affect buying decisions with expansive reach and fiber-optic speed. That
results in marketplace influences that are increasingly of the
people, by the people, and for the people. Simply put, consumers have taken control of the narrative — and they are using it to exercise power as never before.
In just the past six months, we have seen consumers force
truly impact the purveyor of poor service. There was the
embarrassing reversals of Netflix’s decision to split its stream-
of which provided a venue large enough to build real strength
to attach a five dollar monthly fee to debit card usage; and
backyard fence, a dinner party, or the kids’ soccer games; none
democratic is that?
www.customercarenews.com
Spring 2012
in numbers. That meant the little guy had no real voice. How
ing and DVD-by-mail services; Bank of America’s decision Verizon’s decision to charge a two dollar fee for paying a bill
via phone or Internet. We have seen them force Apple® and
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