https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i4.113
The Commodified Self: Consumer Consciousness, Social Media and Self-Presentation in the Digital Age
AUSHIN BABU JOSEPH
Research Scholar
Department of English,
University College, Palayam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Affiliated to University of Kerala
Email ID: aushinbjvjake@gmail.com
Abstract: Digital visibility on social media platforms influences consumer buying decisions and transforms self-presentation into an entrepreneurial practice. Historically, consumer behaviour in literature reveals the intricacies of human desires and societal pressures, shifting the boundary between need and want. By extending Arlie Hochschild’s concept of emotional labour, this paper analyses how brands and influencers perform ‘authenticity’ to convince consumers, blurring the boundary between genuine self-care and commercial persuasion. Shopping for personal satisfaction and purchasing new products by following current trends constitutes consumer behaviour in the digital age. From original texts to digital screens, literature often portrays body image and personality as social fabrications shaped by consumer culture. Through the lens of consumer consciousness, this paper examines the power dynamics of visibility and persona in the digital age, where viewers function as active participants in the consumption process. Contemporary consumers prioritize convenience, interactivity, and instant gratification, a condition intensified by the platform dynamics that algorithmically inserts e-commerce advertisements between influencer narratives, collapsing entertainment into transaction. Through Michel Foucault’s Panopticon and Erving Goffman’s dramaturgy, this paper shows how digital visibility, under neoliberal imperatives, unconsciously influences an individual’s self-presentation. Further drawing on Foucault’s notion of the ‘techniques of the self,’ this paper argues that digital selfpresentation constitutes a neoliberal form of self-governance where each individual voluntarily optimizes their bodies for the market. It is here that consumers internalize market logic as personal growth. Therefore, this paper analyses the intersections of digital visibility, paid promotions, and consumer identity.
Keywords: Consumer Consciousness, Digital Panopticon, Commodification, Self-Presentation, Visibility, Post-Digital Culture
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