New Perspectives on Critical Marketing and Consumer Society: A Collection of Essay’s

Following from our books ‘New Perspectives in Critical Marketing and Consumer Society’, published in 2021 (Ritch and McColl, 2021), and ‘Pioneering New Perspectives in the Fashion Industry: Disruption, Diversity and Sustainable Innovation’, published in 2023 (Ritch, Canning and McColl, 2023), this book addresses some of these previous concepts in a practical setting. This new book follows from those titles with intersectional and unique themes as interpreted by young marketers; rather than emerging from traditional research, each essay looks to marketing and societal discourse for examples of how marketing management can design content that acknowledges a more ideologically progressive cohort of consumers. As such, this book represents new perspectives and critically evaluating marketing discourses, all of which are supported by examples from the marketplace to illustrate marketing in action.
This book adopts a unique perspective in critically evaluating new perspectives of marketing that fall within ideologically progressive constructs, including EDI (equality, diversity and inclusivity), gendered constructs and implications and sustainability (people and planet), all of which are intersectional and embedded within consumer culture. Marketing is often criticised as being commercially focused – profit over people. This book suggests that marketers could and should include consideration for authenticity and ethical implications by providing examples of how this can be conceptualised within current markets. In support of evolving consumer values, the chapters include insights from consumer society that capture co-created social discourse. This is especially true of the fashion industry, which has a history of alleged exploitation of garment workers, and more recently of the environment. The chapters include discussions on social media where consumers have expressed their disappointment with brands marketing activities and business operations, when claims are considered as tokenistic and inauthentic. As such, the topics in the book support Kotler, Hermawan, and Setiawan’s (2021) Marketing 5.0: Technology for humanity, and other research that focuses on brand values, brand integrity, and brand authenticity. There is much here to learn for marketing management, and we postulate that theory can be supported by observing marketplace interactions and societal discourse.
This book is structured into three sections, covering fashion marketing, gendered implications in marketing and consumer culture, to reflect upon the way in which societal ideologies and discourse are evolving. Each chapter has one theme, set within four intersecting contexts covering ethics, sustainability, globalisation, gender, technology, and consumer culture, where theory is critically reflected and discussed with marketing examples to deepen our understanding. The chapter themes reflect the authors interest and are all unique. These topics are of interest to marketing management due to the contemporary content that reflects current marketing and societal discourse. The aim of the book is to critically evaluate topical discourse with implications for marketing management, and we anticipate that the book will be relevant for higher and further education students, as well as marketing professionals who seek insight into societal reflections of marketing activities. This book examines theoretical frameworks and marketing literature alongside examples from marketing and social media, demonstrating the blurring between marketing and social discourse that is supported by technology enabling co-created discourse.
We anticipate that the topicality of the book will draw in students and academics, by providing a new contemporary lens through which marketing can be understood within consumer society. It can help school pupils, higher educations, undergraduate and postgraduate students who may be interested in working in the marketing industry understand more about the role marketing plays in commercial markets and within society. This is especially relevant as consumer values become elevated within consumption – and perhaps anti-consumption – practice. We also envisage the book as supporting UG and PG students understanding of the ethical implications of marketing. It can support students with assessments, particularly in scoping out topics for their dissertations or thesis. The chapters provide concepts for further investigation, theories relevant to marketing and demonstrate how topical marketing mediums can be investigated and positioned. The book can also support academics with marketing examples for developing the curriculum, lecture content, and assessment design. The book will also be of interest to marketers/practitioners who want to engage with topical marketing discourse. This insight into new perspectives captured and evaluated with academic literature and theory provides an illuminating way to engage with the marketing curriculum. The book provides an up-to-date account of marketing within current consumer society. Finally, the book will be of interest to the media as it provides insight into cultural and societal expectations. The book provides a glimpse into the future of markets and marketing