Abstract

Intuitively, given the tangible presence of consumer goods, we have come to think of consumption as a predominantly material and physical activity that sees us moving around shopping spaces, touching, buying and using goods in physically involved ways. However, we have also come to accept material consumption as a resource for the imagination to the point that much of the magic of goods hinges on pleasurable daydreams about their transformative power (Belk 2001; Belk et al. 2003; Campbell 1987; McCracken 1988). In this chapter we consider digital virtual consumption (DVC) as a location that combines aspects of both materiality and the imagination allowing for new experiences and with them transformations in consumers and their practices (Denegri-Knott and Molesworth 2012).