Critical Marketing Concept - Essay Example

?Critical Marketing Any thought provoking idea or even a simple concept, formulated by experts or thinkers in any field, will be viewed from various perspectives particularly from critical perspective by others. After which only, that idea could be accepted as a valid one or would be put for more discussions. This need for critical perspective is crucial in any field, and marketing is no exception, with critical marketing being existent from mid 20th century. That is, according to Moufahim and Mitussis (2009) “Critical marketing is a well-established field within marketing, with its own research agenda and community of scholars. Several monographs and edited volumes on critical marketing have been published”. The first use of the term ‘critical marketing’ in relation to the critical cultural as well as social theories is in the work of Hansen (1981). (Moufahim and Mitussis 2009). Critical marketing in general sense implies that any marketing idea has to be discussed threadbare focusing on its positive attributes as well as its faults, thereby coming up with necessary modifications and corrections. This point was put by forward by Friat and Tadajewski (2009, p.127) who stated that critical marketing involves “any position that judgmentally evaluates a body of discourse (including marketing) with the intention to find any faults or problems to be challenged and modified or corrected.” However, the key fact that has to be considered when viewing ideas critically is the time-bound factor. That is, what is/was viewed critically could change with time and context. Certain critical perspectives about an idea that gets formed during earlier periods of history could change now with contribution by other experts and thinkers. Thus, the crucial point is, critical perspectives will be mostly dynamic with the change of time, situation, contexts, etc. This is particularly relevant to the critical marketing idea of cultural stereotyping. As Hackley (2008, p. 154) with the aid of Tadajewski and Brownlie (2008) point out Marketing is a field of social and cultural studies as well as a set of social practices. That is, while launching marketing campaigns targeting a particular customer base, organizations will focus on that customer base’s various attributes including cultural attributes. The most common cultural attributes will be congregated and viewed stereotypically by the marketing team, to come up with effective and at the same time relevant marketing campaigns. However, at the same time, these stereotypes may not be accurate all the time, and as Hackley (2009, p.155) states there are micro-level criticisms regarding the “promotion of stereotypes of race, gender and body type” through advertising campaigns. Cultural stereotype is the term given to a commonly held view about people belonging to a culture by the public, particularly the ‘outsiders’, which can include the other cultures as well as business organizations. Basically, different cultures and other entities will have different stereotypes of their own cultures and importantly about other cultures. For example, “The Germans think the French are resourceful; the British think they are humorless and short-tempered. The Dutch think the French are not very serious; the Spanish think they are cold and distant. The Americans think they are pleasant and intelligent, yet pretentious.” (de Mooij 2005, p.41). Thus, cultural stereotyping includes certain abstract familiarities as well as key commonalities that could be seen among the individuals belonging to a particular cultural group. In a way, cultural stereotyping is a standardized and at the same time a kind of simplified view about particular sections of the people, based on commonly visible attributes or assumptions. However, those assumptions could be mainly generalizations in sizable cases, and so could be inaccurate at certain times. Bennett (1990, p.17) defines cultural stereotype as a social or mental grouping among individuals based on common, exaggerated and even inaccurate generalizations. This can be used by ‘external’ parties to ‘describe’ all members of a particular culture, and importantly to target them for marketing campaigns. This form of stereotyping based on culture happens ‘naturally’, when outsiders’ or organizations have a particular and distinct ‘experience’ with a specific group of individuals or target customer base. Experience in the sense, the target customer base could have exhibited certain attributes or responses to product launches or organizations’ other initiatives, and when those responses are focused, it could provide the organization an idea about them, thereby leading to the formation of cultural stereotypes. (Belk 2006) Apart from this naturally evolving process, stereotypes also gets formed, when organizations forms assumptions and thereby stereotypes from second-hand sources, without any direct contact or experience with the target customer base. That is, as stated by Ren and Wang (2006) cultural stereotypes can be formulated based on second-hand information and opinions, output from the mass media, and general habits of thinking; without having any direct experience. Whatever be the ‘origination’ of various cultural stereotypes, organizations particularly their marketing team could use the stereotypes relating to their target customer base, to come up with relevant marketing campaigns. That is, when the marketers arrange the varied prospective customers into particular groups based on certain attributes, it will be easy for them to formulate relevant campaigns. This perspective was validated by Bhargava (2011) who stated that “certain types of customer stereotypes might be ideal ways to group your customers into specific profiles that could help you better understand them and give them exactly what they want”. In addition, stereotyping enables them to design a short, direct and at the same time effective campaign, without the need to delve deeply. That is, as stated by Gerber and Du Plessis (2009) marketing messages are always short, and so the marketer cannot describe the various aspects of the campaign including the characters in-depth. Thus, if they use stereotypes, the audience can immediately understand it and also grasp what they are implying through those characters. However, when one focuses on the practical dimensions of this cultural stereotyping during marketing campaigns, it could give rise to various problems, ‘grey’ areas, etc. Both types of stereotypes (the naturally evolved ones and the ones collected from second-hand sources), could be helpful during marketing campaigns, however, they may not be accurate all the time, leading to failed campaigns and also criticisms. The basis for sizable number of cultural stereotypes in many cultures could be shallow, and so it will be not correct to view the people by using few simple identities. (Eunson 2008). When there are no strong bases for these stereotypes, it will be unwise for the marketing team to depend on them. Majority of the target customers may not be able to relate to those weak stereotypes, thus restricting the marketing campaign to fulfill the objective. In addition, holding on to weak stereotypes could ‘cloud’ the marketing team’s ability to effectively understand the customers’ actual mindset and behavior, leading to ineffective campaigns. “Stereotypes keep us from digging deep enough to truly understand people (e.g., your customers). We see one or two traits and assume several others must also be true. Very dangerous.” (Buchanan 2008). Although, collective stereotyping could enable organizations to come up with wholesome campaigns, it could overlook individual preferences and the differences that might exist between individual customers. In that case, the marketing campaigns will be mainly one-dimensional based on the certain cultural stereotypes of the target group, missing specific-ness and flexibility. “The term stereotype refers to some inflexible statements about a category of people, and these stereotypical statements are applied to all members of the group without regard for individual differences.” (Ren and Wang 2006). Although majority of the target customers in a particular geographical area or market will follow similar culture and could exhibit certain common stereotypes, some inherent differences could exist among them. That is, these target customers, in spite of exhibiting similar stereotypes, will be like the five fingers in one’s hand, different from each other emotionally and having different practical needs. (Schroeder and Salzer-Morling 2006). Thus, uni-dimensional campaigns without individual-centric focus may not entice all the prospective customers, thus making it a futile campaign. In that direction, the marketers should avoid ‘conglomerating’ all the individual prospective customers into mass target groups on the basis of stereotypes. “For example, do not assume that all retirees are interested in gardening, all women are interested in buying shoes, or all men are sports-crazy.” (Wolfe). Because, there will be individuals among these groups who will have different interests and preferences. So, instead of focusing on their specific preferences, the act of ‘bombarding’ them with mass campaigns based on certain stereotypes is not a right strategy. In addition, these mass campaigns could focus on certain age or social groups in a more prominent manner, even while ignoring other prospective groups, who could also provide good opportunities. For example, organizations dealing with non-PC video games and their marketing team stereotypically and thereby mistakenly view that kids and young people are the only users of their products. This is a mistaken view because, as pointed out by Wolfe, “nearly a quarter of all video games are purchased by consumers aged 40 and older, and 38% of all video game sales are made by women.” Thus, it is clear that coming up with mass marketing campaigns based on certain stereotypes of the target customers, without focusing on individual preferences, may not satisfy and entice all the prospective customers, thus making the campaign an ineffective one. This being the case, it is significant on the part of the organizations and the marketers to come up with campaigns that should be dynamic. (Tadajewski 2010) Although, strong and longstanding stereotypes can be used, shallow stereotypes should be avoided, with the marketers studying the customer behavior in an optimal and in-depth manner, to come up with better marketing campaigns. The organizations can develop their own assumptions or stereotypes by studying the customers’ behavior first-hand for a sizable time, instead of depending on the second-hand sources. In a way, understanding customers’ behavior is a continuous and at the same time dynamic process, as each response of the target customer will give rise to newer and different perspectives about them as well as the existing stereotypes. (Brownlie 1999). Thus, it is important on the part of the marketers to keep their minds open to all the responses or information from the customers, so they can validate the existing stereotypes, or reorient the failing stereotypes, coming with campaigns accordingly. “The idea is to separate our genuine knowledge about particular groups from those inflexible notions that have become lodged in our brains because of past experiences, rumor, or media influences” (Ren and Wang 2006). This perspective was validated by Hackley (2009, p.50) who stated that critical Marketing studies discipline including stereotypes is one “which releases intellectual creativity and opens up space for new ideas, then, cannot simply be imposed by decree”. This necessity to incorporate dynamicity while forming assumptions or stereotypes, for their use in the marketing campaigns can provide effective results. In addition, focusing on individual needs is another way of including dynamism, and can be effective. Because of this reason only, organizations are investing sizable financial resources to study the customer behaviors. As stated by Wolfe, instead of grouping customer segments like cattle, major corporations are still continuing to invest so heavily into studying consumer habits and demographics. When more information about the target segment particularly from individual perspective is gleaned, it can lead to better understanding of them because acquiring more information will surely weaken stereotypical thinking. (Baskerville 2003). In addition, as stated by Carr better understanding of the customers’ behavior can also help the marketing practitioners in their “training or instructional techniques for their buying and selling agents.” Although, utilizing cultural stereotypes for marketing campaigns are an unavoidable aspect, the marketers as part of critical marketing perspective can minimize those stereotypes (even while depending on strong and longstanding stereotypes) and make the study of customer behaviors a dynamic process. This way, the marketers will be able to understand the target customers in a more in-depth manner, and can come up with relevant, optimal and better marketing campaigns. 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