e. Intent to prosume
The literature surrounding prosumption makes an implicit assumption that becoming a prosumer requires an active decision on the part of the consumer: a decision to transcend the passive state of consumerism and become a prosumer. Definitions including language such as ‘active participation in the market’ and ‘active customers’ are examples of this assumption.(1) For example: Bremdal (n 45) 71 However, this is not necessarily the case. Ford, Stephenson and Whitaker distinguish between active and passive prosumers.(2) Ford, Stephenson and Whitaker (n 14) 6. Active prosumers invest in the necessary prosumer infrastructure, inspired by environmental or economical motives. Passive prosumers are persons who become a prosumer ‘by accident’, for example by moving into a house with solar panels on the roof, where the presence of these solar panels was not a core part of their decisions to move into this particular house. Accordingly, there is no requirement of ‘intent’ to be considered a prosumer.