An ethnography of Electronic Shelf Labels: The resisted digitalization of prices in contemporary supermarkets

Bastien Soutjis (), Franck Cochoy () and J. Hagberg
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Bastien Soutjis: LISST - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Solidarités, Sociétés, Territoires - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - UT2J - Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès - UT - Université de Toulouse - ENSFEA - École Nationale Supérieure de Formation de l'Enseignement Agricole de Toulouse-Auzeville - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INP - PURPAN - Ecole d'Ingénieurs de Purpan - Toulouse INP - Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) - UT - Université de Toulouse
Franck Cochoy: LISST - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Solidarités, Sociétés, Territoires - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - UT2J - Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès - UT - Université de Toulouse - ENSFEA - École Nationale Supérieure de Formation de l'Enseignement Agricole de Toulouse-Auzeville - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INP - PURPAN - Ecole d'Ingénieurs de Purpan - Toulouse INP - Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) - UT - Université de Toulouse
J. Hagberg: GU - Göteborgs Universitet = University of Gothenburg

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Abstract: Contemporary retail markets have experienced and are experiencing an important digitalization shift in the form of computers and associated technologies. Among a large array of digital innovations, Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs) deserve particular attention. ESLs, despite their long history and many benefits, have not become ubiquitous. The purpose of this paper is to account for this "resisted evolution" of digitalized prices. It draws theoretically upon science and technology studies, infrastructure studies, market studies, and previous literature on price representations in retailing. It draws empirically on a combination of ethnographic and historical methods. The paper shows that ESLs do not replace paper prices, but, rather, work together with them: on one hand, they compete to represent prices with their respective features, and on the other, they co-operate in order to reinforce the visibility and attractiveness of products and promotions.

Keywords: Market studies; Price representation; Visibility; Retailing; Electronic shelf labels (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-11
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published in Journal of retailing and consumer services, 2017, 39, pp.296-304. ⟨10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.08.009⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01708416

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.08.009

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