Journal of Marketing Behavior > Vol 4 > Issue 1

Be Careful What You Wish For: Unintended Consequences of Increasing Reliance on Technology

Noah Castelo, Columbia University, nc2609@columbia.edu , Donald R. Lehmann, Columbia University, drl2@columbia.edu
 
Suggested Citation
Noah Castelo and Donald R. Lehmann (2019), "Be Careful What You Wish For: Unintended Consequences of Increasing Reliance on Technology", Journal of Marketing Behavior: Vol. 4: No. 1, pp 31-42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/107.00000059

Publication Date: 26 Mar 2019
© 2019 N. Castelo and D. R. Lehmann
 
Subjects
 

Share

Login to download a free copy
In this article:
Unintended Consequences of Already Ubiquitous Technology 
Countering Negative Consequences 
Technology and Humanness 
Weighing the Costs and Benefits 
References 

Abstract

Belk describes many important risks that increased reliance on technology poses for our society and economy. In this commentary, we focus on the concrete risks that such reliance may pose to individual consumers on a daily basis. Such risks include technology addiction, decreased willingness to struggle, impaired childhood development, decreased connection to nature, diminished sense of competence and free will, and degradation of automated skills. We also discuss potential approaches for alleviating some of these risks, including mindfulness training and humane technology design. We conclude with a broader discussion of the distinction between human and machine and balancing the costs and benefits of technologies which blur that distinction.

DOI:10.1561/107.00000059