Understanding citizens' attitudes towards digital markets

Digital markets create many opportunities for states,economies, and societies. Yet, like other markets, they donot always produce the most efficient and morallydesirable outcomes. Besides raising questions of privacyand data protection, digital markets have generatedcompetition concerns about abuse of dominance, marketentry, and consumer choice. Legislators and regulatorsworldwide are seeking regulatory policies to address theseissues. Yet, whilst policymakers can - in the process ofdeveloping 'pro-competition regulation' - rely on growinginformation on the economic aspects of the problems, theyhave limited knowledge of the competition-relatedconcerns and preferences of citizens (economic and moral).More generally, whilst the study of citizens' policypreferences is burgeoning, scholars have largely neglectedpreferences in digital markets. The proposed PhD project analyses UK citizens' attitudestowards digital markets, focusing on competition-relatedaspects. It asks five inter-related research questions: (i) What (if any) concerns citizens have regarding thecurrent functioning of digital markets and 'big tech'companies? (e.g., in terms of consumer choice). (ii) What do they want digital markets to look like, andwhy? (e.g., what market conduct do they want to see, andwhat (limits to) consumer choice do they prefer?)(iii) What type of regime do they prefer for any regulationof the markets, and why? (e.g., to what extent do theyprefer self- and government regulation? What sort of rulesdo they prefer?)(iv) How do their attitudes toward digital markets varyacross parts of the population? (e.g., are there differencesbetween generations, the four UK nations, socio-economicgroups, and people with different levels of digital marketexperience?) (v) Does the clarity of citizens' attitudes vary on differentissues and, if so, what drives this diversity?These questions are addressed by using both a representative, nation-wide survey and focus groups. Thesurvey's focus is on general patterns in citizens' attitudesand preferences. The focus groups - to be held in the fournations - explore the motivations behind the broaderpatterns, including the role of citizens' experience withdigital markets. In this way, the project interrogates the legitimacy of thedigital market regulation being developed. Legitimacyrefers here to the compatibility of regulation with societalnorms and principles. Such 'output legitimacy' is importantin its own right in democracies, but also enhances thesuccess of policies as it facilitates regulatory enforcementand makes business compliance more likely. Moreover, byhelping policymakers take citizens into account, the designof regulation is less likely to be disproportionally influencedby business interests. Finally, by exploring the clarity ofcitizens' attitudes, the project contributes to a betterunderstanding of the feasibility and appropriateness ofcitizen engagement by regulators.