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Consumers are at the focal point of marketers' attention. However, while extensive research is devoted to understanding consumers' motivations, attitudes and behaviour, surprisingly little attention is given to the consumers' views of marketing itself. This paper explores consumers' attitudes towards marketing and their perceptions of it, reflecting critically upon their views. Since much criticism of marketing focuses on its role in promoting consumption, we also consider perceptions of current levels of consumption and the extent to which marketing is held responsible for them. Based on 29 in-depth interviews we find evidence suggesting the prevalence of negative attitudes towards marketing, especially associated with deceptive or dishonest campaigns, although marketing's informative role is acknowledged. Importantly, findings reveal a limited understanding of the discipline, suggesting a gap between the concept of marketing and consumers' perceptions of it. This paper sends marketers important messages from consumers and offers grounds for further debate.

This paper addresses consumers' attitudes towards consumption, the extent to which excessive consumption is perceived as an environmental problem and what consumers perceive as their personal responsibility vs. that of marketing for this consumption. Findings from a focus group and a survey administered to lecturers of a university in Portugal are reported. A critical reflection upon the findings reveals that participants view consumption as excessive and mostly due to marketing, but do not associate high levels of consumption with environmental damage. The consumers surveyed did not accept personal responsibility for excessive consumption, and many of them do not perceive their actions to have a significant impact on the environment. The high educational level of our sample makes these findings of particular concern. This paper feeds the debate on sustainable marketing and expresses the need to address consumers', as well as marketing's, place in sustainability. Implications of this study are drawn and directions for future research are suggested.

This paper explores how the centrality of narrative to people's understandings of the world, and the power of stories of enchantment in particular, colour consumer culture.Specifically, it analyses the ways in which fantastic themes of magic and heroism are used in the discourses of marketing scholars and practitioners, as well as consumers to shape views of consumption and marketing. It further illuminates the role that marketers and consumers each have in imbuing consumption with a sense of enchantment and situates this phenomenon within the dominant neoliberal ideology. Finally, it discusses implications for marketing theory and for practices aimed at reducing excessive consumption related to such enchantment. KeywordsConsumer culture; critical marketing; magic; sustainability; consumer experience Summary Statement of ContributionThis manuscript illuminates the power of stories, especially those of enchantment, to shape views of consumption and marketing. It uncovers the purposes to which fantastic narratives are used by marketing scholars, practitioners and consumers. It further elucidates how consumers' and marketing's narratives combine to enchant consumption, challenging polarized views of consumers' and marketers' roles in this enchantment. Finally, it offers implications for discussions of marketing enchantment and ways of addressing excessive consumption related thereto. Once upon a time there was a consumer…'Once upon a time the primary agents of socialization were institutions like the family, school, church etc., but now consumption is a prime socialization agent whereby people are taught how and learn to be consumers. ' (Shankar, Whittaker & Fitchett, 2006, p. 492).The principal aim of this paper is to explore how views of consumption and marketing are coloured by the human tendency to understand the world in terms of narratives (Tversky & Kahneman, 1983;Fisher, 1989), and by the power of fairy-tale and mythic stories (Zipes, 1994; in particular. Drawing on a critical marketing perspective, we analyse the roles that fantastic themes of magic and heroism play in the discourses of marketing scholars and practitioners, as well as consumers, and explore how such themes are used to construct stories of consumption and marketing. In particular, we consider how narratives provided by marketing combine with those of consumers to imbue consumption with a sense of enchantment within the constraints of neoliberalism.We then draw implications and provide suggestions for future study and practice.

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