What is a prosumer?

Every day, often more than once we get involved in a certain type of activity that requires our time and money, but no so frequently our thoughts and reflection.

Yes, we’re talking about buying and consumption. How much thinking did you invest the last time you purchased something?

From Sustainability 2.0, the book:

Over the course of the 1990s, in line with the growth of the participative media and the responsible consumer and free trade movements, a new type of customer began to emerge, the most distinctive trait of whom was an awareness of the impact of his/her actions on the environment and society.

A minority within the world population began to gather at the front doors of companies and say, “Enough! Down with pollution, down with destruction, down with slave labor, child exploitation, pauper’s wages, unfair rules and productive models that are non-sustainable in the long term.”

Satellites, camcorders, blogs, Web 2.0 and cell phones all served to facilitate communications among these different groups and to the chagrined surprise of companies, different forms of interaction came into play and consumers grabbed control like never before, organizing themselves into a variety of movements.

This is the new consumer, the prosumer.

To further this topic, we suggest reading this article on consumers choosing to buy green.