Are We All Amazon Primed? Consumers and the Politics of Platform Power

Culpepper, Thelen · Comparative Political Studies · 2020 · comparative-political-economy · 10.1177/0010414019852687 · record culpepper2020-are-we-all-amazon-primed-consumers
tag layer · index · concepts · authors · עברית
Where this record's text came from. faceted 2026-08 by reading the locally held text (pdftext); every evidence string verified as an exact substring of that text before merging. This paper is in the corpus under 'priming' but the sense is identity priming in political behaviour ('Priming citizen identity can lead to more sociotropic preferences, while priming consumer identity can lead to a narrower focus on individual self-interest'), not cognitive/semantic priming; 'Amazon Primed' in the title is a pun. method is recorded as conceptual-analysis because none of the suggested method labels fits: the paper states its enterprise is 'primarily conceptual' and uses illustrative cases (GDPR/Snowden, Facebook/Cambridge Analytica, Uber in the US vs Denmark, Free Basics in India, Airbnb) rather than a designed empirical study. The paper explicitly rejects instrumental- and structural-power accounts, but that rejection is aimed at a literature rather than at one named prior work relating to itself, so it is not recorded as a contradicts relation under the naming rule. 2026-08-15 and 2026-08-17 schema-0.3 passes: every quote verified as an exact substring of the staged text and anchored at merge time; concept terms verified present; every edge endpoint an existing node.
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Every tag the record carries, each linking to every other paper in the corpus that carries it. A tag appears here whether or not its words occur in the article — the spans below are only the ones a sentence in this paper licenses. Of the 3 concept tags on this paper, all 3 are grounded in a quoted sentence.
platform power structural power quiet politics Consumer appreciation verging on dependence on platform convenience translates market power into political clout, because politicians anticipate the backlash from depriving constituents of that convenience Which of a person's identities is made salient shifts their regulatory preferences: priming the citizen identity produces sociotropic preferences, priming the consumer identity produces a narrow focus on self-interest Platform power operates automatically in politicians' minds as anticipated political fallout, not as fear of disinvestment or job loss A TERM IS COINED IN ONE SENTENCE AND GIVEN A STRUCTURAL DEFINITION IN THE NEXT: Quotation withheld The coinage is announced as the article's contribution, so the word arrives already carrying the claim it was invented to make AND THE DEFINITION IS A STRUCTURAL POSITION RATHER THAN A PROPERTY OF THE FIRM: Quotation withheld What the term denotes is a place in a structure - who controls the terms of access - not a size, a sector, or a behaviour THE TERM IS THEN DEFINED BY WHAT IT IS NOT, RULING OUT THE FIELD'S TWO STANDARD MECHANISMS BY NAME: Quotation withheld The new construct is positioned by excluding the two things political economy already had words for THE THRESHOLD FOR THE TERM IS SET DELIBERATELY BELOW THE LEGAL ONE, IN A PARENTHETICAL: platform firms that achieve A CERTAIN ECONOMIC SCALE - WHICH NEED NOT REACH MONOPOLY PROPORTIONS - benefit from the direct relationship they enjoy to a large number of consumers WHO RELY ON THE PLATFORM AS IT BECOMES INTEGRATED INTO THE FABRIC OF THEIR DAILY LIVES. The concept is built to apply where antitrust does not reach, and the gap is stated rather than left to be noticed A PRIOR DISTINCTION IS ATTRIBUTED TO THE SCHOOL THAT BUILT IT, AS SCAFFOLDING: MARXIST SCHOLARS BUILT SOME OF THE SCAFFOLDING FOR THESE MODERN DEBATES BY DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THE INSTRUMENTAL AND STRUCTURAL POWER OF BUSINESS. The two inherited terms are named, dated and credited before the paper argues that neither covers its case AND THE INHERITED VOCABULARY IS DECLARED INSUFFICIENT RATHER THAN WRONG: Quotation withheld The older term is left standing and denied primacy, which is a different move from refuting it AN ASSUMPTION IS ATTRIBUTED TO THREE RIVAL APPROACHES AT ONCE, AND IT IS THE ASSUMPTION THE PAPER DENIES: Quotation withheld One premise is extracted from three literatures and named as the thing they share `BY DEFINITION` IS USED TO CONCEDE A GENERAL TRUTH AND THEN SET IT ASIDE: CONSUMERS ARE BY DEFINITION IMPORTANT TO ANY CAPITALIST ENTERPRISE, but the relationship to today's dominant platforms GOES BEYOND FAMILIAR MODELS OF CONSUMER LOYALTY OR COST-BASED CHOICE. The phrase marks what does not need arguing so that the contrast can carry the argument AND THE PAPER REPLACES ONE OF ITS OWN WORDS MID-ARGUMENT, SAYING WHICH ONE IT MEANS: Quotation withheld Two candidate terms for one relationship, and the substitution is performed in the open rather than by drifting usage DEPENDENCE IS OPERATIONALISED BY A BEHAVIOURAL CONTRAST CONCRETE ENOUGH TO CHECK: CONSUMERS LOVE LEGO BUT THEY ARE NOT DEPENDENT ON THE COMPANY IN THE SAME WAY that they are dependent on Amazon, WHICH ACTUALLY ALLOWS THEM TO ORDER THEIR LEGOS WITHOUT HAVING TO CHANGE OUT OF THEIR PAJAMAS. Affection and dependence are separated by what the firm lets you avoid doing, and the test is a scene rather than a measure THE DIFFERENCE FROM EARLIER DOMINANT FIRMS IS LOCATED IN THE CONNECTION, NOT THE SIZE: UNLIKE PREVIOUS GENERATIONS OF LARGE COMPANIES ON WHICH THE BROADER ECONOMY CAME TO DEPEND, such as railways or utility companies, today's largest platforms enjoy A TIGHT, EVEN INTIMATE, CONNECTION TO THEIR USERS. The comparison class is named - railways, utilities - so the novelty claim can be checked against it permissive consensus consumer confidence political effectiveness conceptual-analysis

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content tagcontent_tagsa finding, definition, quantity, statistic or variable named in the paper
limitationlimitationswhat the paper says its evidence cannot support
mechanismmechanismshow the reported effect is said to come about
methodmethodhow the paper produced its evidence
phenomenonphenomenonthe effect or regularity under study
sensesensesa distinct use of a term, quoted where the paper fixes it
transfertransfersa method or concept carried in from another field

The paper

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claim_relations 2 · claim_type 1 · concept_edges 1 · concepts 3 · content_tags 20 · limitations 3 · mechanisms 14 · method 1 · phenomenon 1 · senses 2 · transfers 2

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facettagfieldconf.whose words
claim_typemechanism
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claim_typethe paper's words
phenomenonplatform power
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phenomenonthe paper's words
methodconceptual-analysis
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methodthe paper's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[2]the tagger's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[3]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[4]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[5]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[6]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[8]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[9]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[10]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[11]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[12]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[13]0.95the tagger's words
limitationsThe phenomenon is too recent for systematic testing of the paper's propositions.
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limitations[0]the tagger's words
limitationsThe survey evidence on preferring company self-regulation is American only; the authors lack comparable data elsewhere.
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limitations[1]the tagger's words
limitationsThe assumed consumer preference against regulation is a simplification the authors concede.
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limitations[2]the tagger's words
transfersThe concept of priming - that individuals hold multiple identities whose salience can be cued, thereby shifting their political preferences - is imported to explain when consumers defend or abandon platform firms.
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transfers[0]the tagger's words
transfersThe permissive-consensus model of EU public opinion is borrowed as the analogy for how consumer support licenses platform firms until salient issues break it.
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transfers[1]the tagger's words
conceptsplatform power
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concepts[0]0.95the paper's words
conceptsstructural power
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concepts[1]0.9the paper's words
conceptsquiet politics
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concepts[2]0.9the paper's words
sensesplatform power - NOT A THING ANYONE DOES: it is 'LARGELY AUTOMATIC - it happens in the minds of politicians', an anticipated reaction rather than an act of lobbying, disinvestment or campaign spending. A power exercised by nobody, which is what makes it hard to observe and easy to deny
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senses[0]0.95the tagger's words
sensesthe resource that carries the power - CONSUMERS, NOT MONEY OR JOBS: firms 'benefit from the tacit allegiance of consumers, who can prove a formidable source of opposition to regulations that threaten these platforms'. The asset is an alliance the firm does not have to organise and cannot fully control
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senses[1]0.95the tagger's words
claim_relationsbuilds-on → Hooghe and Marks (2009), permissive consensus
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claim_relations[0]the tagger's words
claim_relationsbuilds-on → Naoi and Kume (2015) on priming consumer identity and trade preferences
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claim_relations[1]the tagger's words
concept_edgesplatform power —distinct-from→ structural power
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differs in: WHAT THE THREATENED LOSS IS. Both work the same way - 'In common with Lindblom's (1982) punishing recoil mechanism, platform power is largely automatic - it happens in the minds of politicians.' The difference is the content of the anticipated punishment: 'in the case of platform power, Quotation withheld.' Two powers with one mechanism and different currencies, which is why a measure built for disinvestment threat would score platform firms at zero · strength of the relation: 0.9 Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its full span and kept, but endpoint by anaphora: 'The difference' is between platform power and the structural power of the previous sentences.
concept_edges[0]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagsPlatform firms' deference from policymakers does not come mainly from lobbying, campaign contributions or the threat of disinvestment.
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content_tags.findings[0]the tagger's words
content_tagsMarket power alone does not produce platform power: economic dominance is necessary but must be combined with a direct consumer relationship.
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content_tags.findings[1]the tagger's words
content_tagsPlatform companies are more likely than other companies to run broad-based political campaigns, pitting their popularity against their opponents'.
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content_tags.findings[2]the tagger's words
content_tagsThe Snowden revelations drove a wedge between platforms and consumers by revealing a hidden cost of reliance on them, and the public outrage helped strengthen the GDPR.
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content_tags.findings[3]the tagger's words
content_tagsDanish unions defeated Uber by reframing it as a tax and welfare-state question, appealing to people as taxpaying citizens instead of convenience-seeking consumers.
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content_tags.findings[4]the tagger's words
content_tagsPoliticians bend more to platforms whose users are their own voters, which helps explain why cities regulate Airbnb more than Uber.
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content_tags.findings[5]the tagger's words
content_tagsWhere consumer and platform interests coincide, as with the harsh labour practices behind fast cheap Amazon delivery, no political mobilisation follows because consumers are themselves implicated in the practice.
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content_tags.findings[6]the tagger's words
content_tagsThe paper predicts that a platform losing consumer confidence will lose regulatory battles even when its share price and market share are untouched.
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content_tags.findings[7]the tagger's words
content_tagsCourts and competition authorities may pose the biggest threat to platform power, because they are relatively insulated from consumer pressure.
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content_tags.findings[8]the tagger's words
content_tagsplatform power
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content_tags.definitions[0]the tagger's words
content_tagspermissive consensus
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content_tags.definitions[2]the tagger's words
content_tagsconsumer confidence
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content_tags.variables[1]the tagger's words
content_tagspolitical effectiveness
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content_tags.variables[2]the tagger's words
content_tags74 percent — Share of respondents in the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer trusting the technology sector to do what is right, the highest of any industry
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content_tags.quantities[0]the tagger's words
content_tags39 vs. 56 percent — Americans wanting the US government to restrict false information online versus wanting tech companies to do it
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content_tags.quantities[1]the tagger's words
content_tags$13 million — Amazon's 2017 US lobbying spending, up from $2.5 million five years earlier
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content_tags.quantities[2]the tagger's words
content_tags56 percent — Americans naming Facebook as the least trusted tech company just after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, against 5 percent for Google
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content_tags.quantities[3]the tagger's words
content_tags2.4 million views — Reach of the Danish union's anti-Uber video campaign, in a country of 5.7 million people
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content_tags.quantities[4]the tagger's words
content_tagsfive of the top six — Places held by platform companies in YouGov's 2018 global brand health rankings
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content_tags.quantities[5]the tagger's words
content_tags$45 million — Cost of Facebook's publicity campaign for Free Basics in India
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content_tags.quantities[6]the tagger's words

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