Marketplace Activism

Abstract

A distinct and significant African American elite market segment began its growth prior to the U.S. Civil War, flourished as a result of two world wars, and has continued to expand and diversify. Today, the segment comprises three subsegments including a conventional upper middle-class, the traditional elite, and the nouveau riche. This market segment is distinct both from other African American groups and from the white elite in terms of products and services consumed. This distinction results from this group's isolation and lack of opportunities through the civil rights era and the importance placed on such factors as ancestry and affiliation within this group. This paper presents a four-phase periodization model of the development of the African American elite market segment, linking its development to key events and historical eras. This segment has practiced a unique form of economic consumer activism in the marketplace-referred to as ''marketplace activism''-in the quest for respect and equal treatment in American society.

A Macromarketing Call to Action—Because Black Lives Matter!

“…Hence there is a need for historical (including critical) analyses that explicitly situate racism, markets, and marketing in these historical and broader contexts. As shown in a historical analysis of the market segment of African American elites, for example, historical context is central to a contemporary understanding of it (Branchik and Davis 2009). International trade and modern markets, along with their operations, practices, and norms in the Americans and Europe, owe an untold economic debt to the brutality wrought by the twin institutions of colonization and slavery.…”