Mapping collective consciousness to consumer research: In-person to virtual social presence

Shteynberg's (Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2024) work on collective consciousness offers unique and meaningful insights into consumer behavior by emphasizing a “we-representation” that is comprised not of a self-aware “I” and an external “you” but rather complete immersion as a unified “we”. In this commentary, we situate collective consciousness within existing social presence research in consumer behavior and discuss its potential to expand the scope of social presence research. Specifically, we utilize a social presence framework that highlights the type of co-presence (in-person vs. virtual) and the extent of interactivity (interactive vs. passive) discussing the psychological mechanisms and linkage to collective consciousness. In addition to discussing shared consumption and shared decision-making, we assess the implications of collective consciousness for consumer contexts facilitated by virtual technologies: fake news, live streaming, virtual reality, cryptocurrencies, and crowdfunding. We conclude by highlighting future avenues for integrating collective consciousness into consumer psychology research.