Internet users’ neutralization of the morality of advertisement blocking

Bryn Alexander Coles

doi:10.1515/text-2018-0019

Article

Internet users’ neutralization of the morality of advertisement blocking

Bryn Alexander Coles
Bryn Alexander Coles completed his BSC (Hons), MSC and PhD in Psychology, all at Lancaster University. He joined Newman University as Lecturer in Psychology in 2013. His interests center upon the philosophy of science, and the construction of meaning in interactions, and particularly in the construction of meaning in online contexts at present.

Published/Copyright: October 30, 2018

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From the journal Text & Talk Volume 38 Issue 6

Abstract

Internet revenue is currently threatened by an increase in the use of advertisement blocking software. This presents a moral problem for Internet users, as by blocking advertisements, they deprive content creators of income for their work.

Four hundred and thirty-six comments taken from three naturally occurring online discussions were analyzed from a discursive psychological perspective to explore how posters engage with online debates concerning the morality of blocking advertisements.

Posters were found to orientate to a moral dimension against blocking online advertisements. They sought to manage this moral dimension by drawing upon the neutralization techniques of denial of responsibility, denial of injury, condemnation of the condemners, and appeals to higher loyalty. Two aspects of neutralization discourse have also been shown to be used in a novel manner. Rather than denying the victim, Internet users adopt the subject position of “victim” for themselves. Rather than denying injury, they present themselves as injured by online advertising.

Posters here present blocking online advertisements as being in their own best interests. In order to change this behavior, then, advertisers must reposition themselves with consumers, to orientate to the presence of advertising online as mutually beneficial, rather than parasitic.

Keywords: consumer morality; discursive psychology; Internet forum; neutralization; online behavior; social construction

About the author

Bryn Alexander Coles

Bryn Alexander Coles completed his BSC (Hons), MSC and PhD in Psychology, all at Lancaster University. He joined Newman University as Lecturer in Psychology in 2013. His interests center upon the philosophy of science, and the construction of meaning in interactions, and particularly in the construction of meaning in online contexts at present.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks are due to Dr Genovefa Kefalidou of the Department of Informatics, University of Leicester, for her invaluable comments during the drafting of this paper.

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Published Online: 2018-10-30

Published in Print: 2018-11-27

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https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2018-0019

Keywords for this article

consumer morality; discursive psychology; Internet forum; neutralization; online behavior; social construction