“In Case Something Happens”: Digital Security Consumption and the Management of Risk and Emotions

• In Event: Open Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 10: Digital Life, Media, and Algorithms

Abstract

It is well known that people use consumption practices in order to manage risks to themselves and others. However, the social interactional processes underlying this phenomenon, particularly those related to emotions, remain undertheorized. Building on Illouz’s (2009) insight that emotions are a key yet often undervalued ‘analytical category’ for sociological study of consumption, this research contributes to expanding theoretical insight into how emotions, socially constructed within their cultural context, contribute to consumption decisions related to risk. I do so based on the analysis of two key findings from interview with twelve emerging adult users of location-sharing apps. First, I find that the use of location-sharing apps is, in part, a form of emotion regulation consumption, aimed at bringing about feelings of comfort rooted in a sense of one’s own – and intimate others’ – security. In analyzing this finding, I make the theoretical contribution of demonstrating the utility of the emotion regulation consumption framework beyond hedonistic consumption.
Second, I examine what is and is not considered risky and a source of unpleasant emotions by participants, finding that while risks to their own and their loved ones’ safety is a concern, high levels of self-disclosure to their close relations is not. Thus, cultural beliefs about risks and contemporary cultural norms surrounding intimate relationships affect what is considered a risk and a worry for individuals, whatever the level of the actual risk factors involved. My analysis of this finding yields the theoretical insight that the culturally-shaped ‘framing rules’ that guide emotions play a key role in risk-related consumption decisions, and thus are a key theoretical link among culture, emotions, and consumption.

Author

• Dakota Dougherty, North Carolina State University