Corporatarianism

Dear Impossible Readers,

Before today, corporatarianism was not a word.

Corporatarianism (noun) describes a system where corporations quietly utilise technology, data, and behavioural influence, hold disproportionate power over individuals and governments, shaping choices, policies, and society in ways that restrict personal autonomy.

And no, I do not mean corporatism, corporatocracy, or corpocracy. Corporatism organises society into groups such as labour or industry. Corporatocracy refers to a system of rule by corporations, without capturing the subtle behavioural control. Corpocracy is a general term for corporate influence.

On the contrary, corporatarianism emphasises the modern, technology-driven ways corporations subtly engineer personal decisions and societal structures.

As much as I like to challenge the status quo of present-day technology, it is equally important to challenge its consequences. By now, many are aware of technology-related data privacy concerns in smart devices or social media accounts. This awareness has led to a kind of brain compartmentalisation, where we sell our souls to the devil by consciously consenting to the constant tracking, profiling, and selling of our behaviour online. Surpassing lobbying and governmental influences, corporatarianism is a two-faced serpent where technology subtly shapes our choices, beliefs, and even desires, often without our conscious awareness.

Someone once told me that they prefer to pay cash to avoid leaving a digital footprint. In truth, the bank’s only concern is to cash in. It has no interest in what you eat or wear, but that loyalty program and its app already planned out what you have for dinner tonight long before the algorithms raced through the fibre optic cables.

Consider vouchers, discounts, and bundle offers. Buy two and get one free, buy this milk and get 20% cashback, or order 4 items and receive a 5% discount. And when you thought that holiday was your own idea, I hope it was not actually a flight discount, a cruise deal, or a hotel offer.

The power of quiet corporatarianism does not always need algorithms to track your behaviour, because it is already embedded in the choices you think are yours. The system leverages psychology, incentives, and carefully structured options to shape society.

Quietly, intimately, and pervasively.

To loyalty programs,
Yours Possibly

Further Reading

Chatterjee, S. and Price, A., 2009. Healthy living with persuasive technologies: framework, issues, and challenges. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 16(2), pp.171-178.
Chen, X., Hedman, A., Distler, V. and Koenig, V., 2023. Do persuasive designs make smartphones more addictive?-A mixed-methods study on Chinese university students. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 10, p.100299.
Collier, D., 2018. Trajectory of a concept:“Corporatism” in the study of Latin American politics. In Latin America in comparative perspective (pp. 135-162). Routledge.
Guan, X., Atlas, S.A. and Vadiveloo, M., 2018. Targeted retail coupons influence category-level food purchases over 2-years. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 15(1), p.111.
Kaluža, J., 2022. Habitual generation of filter bubbles: why is algorithmic personalisation problematic for the democratic public sphere?. Javnost-The Public, 29(3), pp.267-283.
Molina, O. and Rhodes, M., 2002. Corporatism: The past, present, and future of a concept. Annual review of political science, 5(1), pp.305-331.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (n.d.) Corporatism: Definition, history & examples. Britannica. [Accessed: 15 October 2025].
Villacé-Molinero, T., Reinares-Lara, P. and Reinares-Lara, E., 2016. Multi-vendor loyalty programs: influencing customer behavioral loyalty?. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, p.204.
Wenker, K., 2022. A systematic literature review on persuasive technology at the workplace. Patterns, 3(8).
Zuboff, S., 2019, January. Surveillance capitalism and the challenge of collective action. In New labor forum (Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 10-29). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.