Consumo e autenticidade: uma análise interpretativa sobre o consumo de rock clássico em grupos do Facebook

Abstract

The notion of authenticity is an important characteristic of contemporary consumption. On the one hand consumer exposure to a wide range of goods and services helps him or her to build an identity, but that exposure intensifies their need to be convinced that the symbolic resources associated with their identity are unique and true. A form used by the consumer to create meanings of authenticity concerns the redefinition of objects related to the past in the present time through consumption unlinking the objects of their original contexts and meanings attributed by the market. As examples of products related to the past we can point the songs, goods and experiences associated with the classic rock, which is related to the 1960’s and 1970’s. The popularization of the Internet and online social networks enabled the classic rock fans to find and to share information on music, bands and shows that were successful at that time. Online social networks allow not only the sharing of information and experiences of consumption, but also the formation of virtual communities of consumption around brands, products, images, TV series and music styles. Thus, classic rock fans, for example, can interact through online social networks to recreate stories about events, goods and past experiences to idealize them as authentic. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate how classic rock fans build and express meanings of authenticity through participation in Facebook groups on classic rock. To achieve this purpose, a 12 months netnography was conducted with two Facebook groups on classic. Additionally, 11 in-depth interviews were conducted with users of these groups. The main results of the study suggest that the classic rock fans participants of Facebook groups analyzed share a strong sense of community as a way of facing the idea of individualism and loss of purpose, in order to create, preserve and disseminate an idealized vision of the 60’s and 70’s, regarded as if they were authentic. In addition, we identified different uses of the notion of authenticity: the first notion of authenticity is related to the authentication process of the subject as a community member; the second notion relates to the use of the word "classic" as a cultural principle in assessing the authenticity of goods, music and experiences associated with the rock; finally, the third notion relates to the creation of an "ideal of authenticity" by young rock fans through the utopian consumption of music, goods and experiences associated with the classic rock.