Consumers are fighting back against big corporations thanks to broadband internet, it has been suggested.
Consumers have been empowered by the growth of broadband technology, according to Vonage.
The broadband telephony firm, which specialises in Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) claims that developments in internet technology have caused nothing less than a seismic shift in the relationship between people and retailers, restoring the consumer power that had been progressively lost over the course of the twentieth century.
Managing director at Vonage, Vincent Potier, said that the "exploitative" nature of big corporations was being checked by web developments such as online price comparison websites.
"I believe that the internet, because it is a network and a medium at the same time, has given back that level of autonomy and that level of decision-making power to the consumers," he said. "I think the past century has been quite interesting because it has seen the rise of corporations, and it has witnessed how exploitative they have been of people, using mass media and advertising in order to convince them that the choice they really didn’t want to take was the right choice for them."
He added: "I believe the internet has really contributed to changing all of that."
Mr Potier's comments follow the release of a study from Verdict Research, which showed that online shopping grew by 35 per cent in the UK over the last year. Britain is also in a position to allow over 99 per cent of its population to take advantage of broadband technology - a higher proportion than that found in France and Japan.
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