In a late 1990s definition, Shapiro, Shapiro, and Varian (1998, p.148) point out that digital goods are products that can be electronically distributed over the internet, such as softwares, images, and news. Adding to this definition, Castells (2010, p.59) teaches that the term refers to non-material goods that exist only in digital format; in other words, they are intangible goods that exist in the form of digital data or information and are characterized by being digitally distributed, accessed, and replicated – common formats of goods in this category today include digital music, e-books, video games, movies, and even the aforementioned digital variant cards in the Marvel Snap game.
In this context, it is crucial to emphasize that digital goods can be stored on electronic devices and replicated infinitely without a loss of quality (CASTELLS, 2010, p.59). Starting from this principle, the Marvel Snap game cards fall under the definition of the digital goods we are discussing here. The process of creating such a good within the game involves an illustration created by an artist; this drawing is adapted to be added to the game's virtual store as a "variant" and can be acquired by a player using in-game gold bars (the game's currency). The card file is created once and can potentially be distributed to an unlimited number of smartphones and computers with the game installed, without loss of quality.
A legitimate question regarding the purchase of a digital good – in this case, a virtual card – is whether the Marvel Snap player is acquiring a product. To answer this question, we turn to Sassatelli (2010, p.193) for our discussion; this author highlights that the consumption dynamics prevalent in contemporary society generate a multitude of consumers who buy, use, store, maintain, manage, and fantasize about goods, even though one may question to what extent they truly conceive of themselves as consumers while performing these various activities in their daily lives. In this sense, we consume products, but we also consume content, ideas, symbolism, and, in the case of our subject of study, digital goods.
In other words, consumption is understood here as something much larger than the act of acquiring a physical good. It is a process that triggers social belonging and inserts individuals into specific social circles filled with multiple meanings. Consumption is a process of identity definition in different cultures. When acquiring a variant card, even if it is entirely digital, the player is engaging in a process of belonging and building an identity within the community formed by others interested in the game – after all, all consumption is cultural and involves meaning, sensations, and social experiences.
References:
CASTELLS, Manuel. The rise of the network society: the information age - economy, society, and culture. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009
SASSATELLI, Roberta. Consumer culture: history, theory and politics. London: Sage, 2010.
SHAPIRO, Carl; SHAPIRO, Carol; VARIAN, Hal. Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1998.
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