Consumer sovereignty in the digital society

Do uses of digital technologies in the framework of early 21st century capitalism promote or reduce the expression of consumer sovereignty ? This paper addresses this question through the lens of John Kenneth Galbraith’s theory of consumption. First, I recall the main stakes of his theory. Second, I highlight the main differences between traditional advertising and online behavioral advertising. Third, I explain how online behavioral advertising strengthens the “dependence effect†and “revised sequence†depicted by Galbraith within the context of the industrial society. Fourth, I discuss some normative challenges raised by digital platform corporations to individual sovereignty. Lastly, I argue that platform capitalism appear as a mature form of the “new industrial state†, one important difference being that digital platform corporations, rather than traditional industrial corporations, largely preside over the allocation of resources in the economy.