Character analysis and racism in marketing theory and practice

Abstract

This paper discusses how early marketing scholars and practitioners drew upon the insights offered by physiognomy and phrenology. These ancient ways of understanding 'character' and personality types were used as tools to encourage practitioners to be more analytic and systematic in their dealings with customers. And these variants of psychological thought, it is argued, provided interesting but racially charged ways of thinking about and reflecting on consumer behaviour. While this literature is not unproblematic, given the racism that can be discerned in the output of certain scholars, those working in the intellectual domain that was known as 'character analysis' were quick to enunciate their racial pluralism. Racism, it is suggested, remains an issue that marketing scholars and practitioners still need to confront and critique.

Subjective social inclusion: A conceptual critique for socially inclusive marketing

“…Excluding consumers from the target market through under-or mis-representation in marketing communications can damage the reputation of the represented groups, transmit prejudicial and non-inclusionary messages (Bennett, Hill, & Oleksiuk, 2013;Tadajewski, 2012) and affect individual self-perceptions, self-esteem and social status (Bennett, Hill, & Daddario, 2015;Johnson & Grier, 2012). This, in turn, can motivate consumers to revolt against and be frustrated about the brand that poses the exclusionary threat (Kipnis et al, 2012), and cause loss in consumer buying power and market share (Bennett et al, 2013).…”

Critical reflections on the marketing concept and consumer sovereignty

“…No matter what time period we consult, it is not difficult to find racist ideas and imagery infecting theory and practice. This is true from the turn of the twentieth century and the work of Katherine Blackford (Tadajewski, 2012), through to the discrimination faced in the ghettos of the 1960s, along with the demarketing literature of the 1970s (Kotler & Levy, 1971). When we delve into all this material, the inescapable conclusion is that race has been a divisive factor in provisioning.…”

Impact factors, journal rankings, interdisciplinary research and ‘the state of the art’ in marketing theory and practice

“…Our following account deals with a topic that casts a shadow over our discipline and many others within the university, namely race and racism (Tadajewski, 2012). It is by far and away the best review of this body of literature that is available at present.…”