International Marketing Conference in IIM, Kozhikode

The Annual IIMK International Marketing Conference on Marketing and The Society on April 8-10, 2007 at IIM Kozhikode organized by Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode







Introduction

Theintrusiveness of organised marketing is so all-pervasive that itemerges as the most potent social force that shapes human behaviour. Anindividual is exposed at a very early age to the intensive persuasionof marketers through advertising, sales promotion, merchandising andpublicity so that significant part of the adult socialization isoccupied with learning to be a consumer- consumer who is morematerialistic and prone to conspicuous consumption.Consumers arepersuaded to buy more and use more – more than what is often rationallyjustified. They are persuaded to define their identity in terms oftheir possessions and to modify their social image by the consumptionof products. On a more profound level, this is done in order to inducepeople to keep being productive in order to keep consuming more so thatthe economic wheels of progress keep moving forward.

John Kenneth Galbraith, the celebrated economist offered the following argument.



'Inthe absence of massive and artful persuasion that accompanies themanagement of demand, increasing abundance might well have reduced theinterest of the people in acquiring more goods. Consumers not beingpressed by the need to consume more, they might need less income andmight work less reliably. This consequence is undesirable for theindustrial system.'

Maintainingthe propensity to consume is accomplished by channeling psychologicalneeds and aspirations into consumption behaviors. The intent ofmarketing and more specifically advertising could be to preoccupy thesociety with material concerns and positioning commercially availablegoods or services as the paths to happiness and solutions to allpossible problems and needs. Many consumer researchers feel thatmarketing-lead commercial persuasion appears to programme not only theshopping and product use behavior, but also the larger domains ofsocial roles, language, goals, values and the source of meaning in theculture. Contrary to Gauthama Budha’s tenet; 'Desire is the cause ofall sorrows’ marketing suggest that desire is the fountain head of lifeand consumption is the path to find meaning in life.

Thoughmarketing academics and practioners may not share the impliedpessimism, it remains a fact that the forces of marketing plays anextremely powerful role in shaping the modern society and some of itsimpact is socially undesirable. Trends like increasing consumermaterialism, conspicous consumption, obsessive consumption, compulsiveconsumption, consumption of drugs, addiction to pornography, alcoholeand tobacco abuse etc. are on the rise. Also over exposure to marketingcommunication from a very young age could result in the youth having adistorted perception of life and its values, development of emulativeanxieties and insecurities, poor self evaluation and self-deprecationresulting from upward comparisons with idealised media images etc.There is an increasing attention among the academic community in thewestern hemisphere on these aspects and many reserach studies are beingreported in the reputed journals on similar themes. In fact Associationfor Consumer Research came out with a task force report on researchagendas in transformative consumer research. The term transformativeresearch was defined as “investigations that are framed by afundamental problem or opportunity, and that strive to respect ,uphold, and improve life in relation to the myriad conditions, demands,potentialities, and effects of consumption.' However in the orient,especially in India, the research has been sporadic on such topics.

Itis time the marketing community must concern itself on this importantaspect – the intended and unintended consequence of marketing on thesociety. Therefore the theme for the seminar is chosen as Marketing and the Society.

IIMK - The Annual IIMK International Marketing Conference on Marketing and The Society