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1.4 How Technology Has Transformed the Way We Live

Consumers Have More Power Than Ever Before

In our connected society, we have many
opportunities and ways to voice our
approval or disapproval of something.
We can vote for our favorite entertain-
ers on television shows such as Danc-
ing With the Stars and The Voice, post
positive and negative reviews of prod-
ucts and services we use, and share
our complaints and compliments on
the web through social media and by
posting videos.

One example of consumers’ power
comes from 2008, when United Air- Christin Gilbert/age fotostock/SuperStock
The Internet and social media allow individuals to
lines baggage handlers damaged Dave
state how they feel about certain products, compa-
Carroll’s $3,500 guitar. After trying
nies, or policies, which gives them more power to
several times to make a claim for the
hold corporations accountable for their actions.
damages through the airline’s stan-
dard channels and getting no results,
Carroll, a professional singer and songwriter from Canada, wrote a song titled “United Breaks
Guitars” and posted it on YouTube. To date, the song has been viewed more than 15 million
times and prompted United Airlines to contact Carroll, promise to do better, and ask if it could
use the video in its company training program (Cosh, 2015).

Thanks to the Internet and social media, the inner workings of corporations are more trans-
parent than ever. Stakeholders are therefore able to keep a closer eye on company practices
and policies. If consumers discover something they don’t like or believe is ethically question-
able, they can simply choose to spend their money elsewhere. In this way consumers can
influence what types of products companies offer and how they conduct business. These are
just a couple of examples of how social media has given consumers unprecedented power to
hold corporations accountable for their actions.

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