A Macromarketing Prescription for Covid-19: Solidarity and Care Ethics

Abstract

Contextualized in the current pandemic, this essay discusses social marketing and public policy efforts from a ‘social solidarity and care ethics’ perspective. It presents a prototypical inclusivity-based approach for managing pandemics, with adaptive and maladaptive examples to show how the ‘social solidarity and care ethics nexus’ can and should ‘travel’ within and between societal strata. It positions this perspective as a form of phronetic polysemic marketing, and thus considers the complexity of pandemic sociopsychology and stresses the need for practical wisdom.

Consumer research during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review

“…Ethical behaviors toward others included tipping (Majid et al , 2021), donating (Van Esch et al , 2021; Srinivasan and Sarial-Abi, 2021) and sharing (Al-Omoush et al , 2021). Ethical behavior is, also known as prosocial behavior or moral behavior (Hea and Harris, 2020; Shabbir et al , 2021) results in social cohesiveness, happiness and a sense of life’s meaningfulness (Zhang et al , 2021) and reflects a higher level of consumer solidarity with other members of society (Shabbir et al , 2021).…”

“…The results suggest that peripheral and central factors triggered ethical behaviors toward businesses. Peripherally, the corporate social responsibility program (Hea and Harris, 2020), supportive public policy (Shabbir et al , 2021) and proper communication, such as message framing (Van Esch et al , 2021) and clear in-store communication (i.e. limits to in-store density, curbside pickup policy and shopping time regulation) (Anderson and Anderson, 2020), motivated consumers to support businesses.…”

The Ethics and Politics of Academic Knowledge Production: Thoughts on the Future of Business Ethics

“…Initially, the ethics- and behaviour-related literature suggests these non-exhaustive conceptual foci for an empirical study or argument-centred analysis on the ethicality of disseminating misinformation: A modern version of Glaucon’s challenge: “If I can get away with it and profit by it, why worry about whether it is ethical?” (Hyman et al, 1990a , b , p. 15) Caring about others (e.g. level 5 leadership; care ethics) (Shabbir et al, 2021 ) Caveat emptor versus altruism as the fundamental organising principle (relationship marketing and assuming repeated exchanges are more amenable to an altruistic orientation; a transactional model and assuming single exchanges are more amenable to caveat emptor.) Stage 5 Conduct an empirical study or argument-centred analysis.…”

Post-COVID-19 Consumers’ Cautious and Virtuous Mindsets: New Marketing Opportunities for Positive Social Change

“…In an essay on COVID-19-responsive macromarketing, Shabbir, Hyman and Kostyk (2021) focused on the vulnerable segment of society and advocated “care ethics” in protecting and nurturing this segment. Likewise, Kotler, Roberto and Leisner (2006) highlight the poverty-entrenched segments among our populations and emphasize the need to find macromarketing solutions so as to improve, as they put it, “long-term welfare of individuals, nations, and the global community” ( Kotler, Roberto and Leisner 2006 , p. 233).…”

“…The present essay extends these perspectives by focusing on the more macro and worldview-level changes in people’s intentionality regarding their future lives and, correspondingly, the more macro and big-impact innovation opportunities for businesses. Within the macromarketing literature, the essay contributes to a small but significant body of COVID-19-related research published in this journal (e.g., Kotler, Roberto and Leisner 2006 ; Shabbir, Hyman and Kostyk 2021 ), advancing responsive marketing innovations by strategy-driving actors in marketing systems.…”