Self-tracking, consumption and markets: analysing current research and setting a new research agenda
Abstract
Self-tracking (ST) refers to consumer practices of monitoring and recording, typically via technological devices. Its rising popularity has attracted research across disciplines such as health and social sciences, primarily examining implications for individual consumers. Nevertheless, ST’s connected, metric-driven nature raises questions about consumption and marketing phenomena, such as market creation, market transformation and consumer responsibilisation. How can past ST research inform future marketing and consumer studies on the self, society and markets? We address this through a systematic review of 132 papers, which we categorised into three clusters: consumer–object relations, responsibilisation and markets. We propose a research agenda focusing on paradoxes, knowledge and values, which explores topics such as bodies, affects, artificial intelligence and bias.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Digital Marketing and Social Media
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
Consumer Retail Behavior Studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Journal of Marketing Management
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 9-10
- Pages
- 1173–1209
- Publication date
- 11 February 2026
- Language
- EN