Marketplace as a media environment: scientific and analytical research

This paper examines marketplaces as a phenomenon of modern virtual communication. The aim of the study is to analyse the role and place of marketplaces in the architecture of the modern media system in the context of digitalisation. The research hypothesis is that marketplaces are transforming into independent media environments as a result of the dynamics of media systems and their elements on a global and national scale. Close attention is paid to how marketplaces participate in the formation of new models of communication between market participants, how they affect the public space, and how the ways of exchanging information on the Internet are changing in this context. The study helps to rethink the concept of a ‘marketplace’ in order to be able to evaluate it not only as a digital platform, but also as a communication platform, taking into account cultural and social components. The methodological basis is provided by general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, and the dialectical method. The study applies the cultural-historical method and intertextual analysis. The work compares existing definitions of the word ‘marketplace’ in domestic and foreign lexicons, as well as in scientific and journalistic texts. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that, for the first time in scientific thought, it substantiates the existence of a new media environment in the media space, such as a ‘marketplace,’ based on the analysis conducted. The conclusion is substantiated by the results of a study of communications between large electronic trading platforms (such as Ozon, Wildberries, Yandex Market) and their suppliers who sell their goods on these platforms. The paper concludes that marketplaces form a special environment for communication between buyers, suppliers, and other participants in the digital environment, which has its own characteristics that differ from other media environments. The paper considers the advisability of enshrining the concept of ‘marketplace’ in Russian legislation in order to more effectively regulate public relations within the framework of electronic trading platforms.