The governmentality of marketing discourse

Skålén, Per; Fellesson, Markus; Fougère, Martin

doi:10.1016/j.scaman.2006.07.001

Cited by 65 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…consumption pattern formation and transformation)' (Dholakia et al, 1983, p. 27; see also Belk, 1987;Belk 28 With the growing interest in the work of De Certeau (1988) and his discussion of the consumer sphinx, along with Foucault's various archaeological, genealogical, and ethical studies, these are topics that will continue to receive widespread attention (e.g. Denegri-Knott et al, 2006;Giesler, 2008;Schroeder, 2002;Skålén, 2009;Skålén, Fellesson, & Fougère, 2006;Skålén et al, 2008). There is also a history of studying power relations in marketing, although this does not invoke critical social theory.…”

Section: Central Topics In Critical Marketingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a history of critical marketing studies

Tadajewski

2010

Journal of Marketing Management

138

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Section: Central Topics In Critical Marketingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a history of critical marketing studies

Tadajewski

2010

Journal of Marketing Management

138

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“…The first concerns control-related intermediary business objectives; the latter links confusion to financial goals. The anticipated loss of consumers' control and empowerment through confusion may be linked with providers' gains in control which have been theorised by critical marketing scholars such as Hackley (2002), Zwick and Dholakia (2004) and Skålén et al (2006). Though not explicitly linking control to matters of confusion, the above mentioned scholars empirically explore and theorise providers' (companies') control, its nature and ingredients, the role it plays, and its consequences during service interactions (Skålén, 2011) as part of an understanding of control in marketing which has been described by Skålén et al (2006) as incomplete.…”

Section: What Motivates Businesses To Engage In Confusion?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The anticipated loss of consumers' control and empowerment through confusion may be linked with providers' gains in control which have been theorised by critical marketing scholars such as Hackley (2002), Zwick and Dholakia (2004) and Skålén et al (2006). Though not explicitly linking control to matters of confusion, the above mentioned scholars empirically explore and theorise providers' (companies') control, its nature and ingredients, the role it plays, and its consequences during service interactions (Skålén, 2011) as part of an understanding of control in marketing which has been described by Skålén et al (2006) as incomplete. Of interest to researchers of confusion may be the conclusions drawn in Hackley's (2002), Zwick and Dholakia's (2004) and Skålén et al's (2006) analyses regarding the extent and types of control commonly exercised by companies, with consumers expected to adhere to 3 Car insurance is highly complex nowadays, with a call-centre quotation taking on average 20-30 minutes to complete.…”

Section: What Motivates Businesses To Engage In Confusion?mentioning

confidence: 99%

What we know, don’t know, and should know about confusion marketing

Kasabov

2015

European Journal of Marketing

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Purpose -The purpose of the paper is to bring to the attention of academics the innovations which have rapidly been developed to sell goods and services across sectors using what the authors describe as "confusion marketing". Design/methodology/approach -This is a conceptual, integrative, critical assessment of a number of marketing disciplines addressing aspects of confusion marketing. Confusion practices are evolving rapidly, with little theoretical explanation of why many of them are successful. This paper seeks to answer such questions by examining a wide range of sectors and confusion practices. Findings -Patterns are identified across sectors, companies and business practices, providing the basis for this holistic assessment of marketing research on confusion since its inception and the design of a systemic framework of confusion.Research limitations/implications -The study attempts to bring all marketing schools and traditions of confusion together and presents a synthesis of scholarly accomplishments in the area by matching them, where possible, to current practices. It advances extant literature by designing a systemic framework which has, so far, been absent in marketing and by identifying avenues for future research maturation. Practical implications -This discussion challenges assumptions regarding the ethicality, sustainability and profitability of confusion practices. Businesses practicing confusion are successful, suggesting that such practices may be economically sustainable. Contrary to expectations in marketing, confusion seems to benefit some consumers; confusion practices are not necessarily unethical or detrimental. Originality/value -Confusion is a controversial area in marketing. Although the literature on confusion has grown, extant research continues to concentrate on consumers' perceptions of confusion and tends to assume that confusion practices are undesirable, unethical and unsustainable. This paper provides a first integrative critical analysis of marketing thinking and challenges the aforementioned literature assumptions, demonstrating that past research has not sufficiently explained the nature, consequences and success of confusion marketing.

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“…Consumer sovereignty is the belief that consumers are a better judge than producers about what products satisfy their needs and preferences, hence goods and services ought to be 'distributed according to the overall preferences of consumers' within the conditions of competitive markets (Korczynski & Ott 2004: 582). Managerial discourse took from this notion the implication that, in order to attract customers and remain competitive, firms must understand their customers' needs and preferences and tailor their service offerings accordinglythat is, they must adopt a customer focus (Fellesson, 2011;Skålén, Fellesson, & Fougère, 2006).…”

Section: New Public Management and The Critique Of Bureaucratic Adminmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following its emergence in the 1970s, service management discourse, and thus the model of customer focus that it promotes, became a dominate influence on managerial thinking both within the service sector and beyond it in traditional production industries as well (Skålén et al, 2006). Its popularity and influence throughout the private sector occurred at precisely the time that proponents of NPM were turning to private enterprise for inspiration on how to 'reinvent government '.…”

Section: New Public Management and The Critique Of Bureaucratic Adminmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing customers? Integrating customer focus and compliance in the urban governance context

Clarke¹

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The drive to instil 'customer focus' in government services has always been controversial. However, it is particularly controversial when adopted in services that have compliance functions, such as regulatory bodies, the police and some welfare agencies. The reason for this is that, whereas customer focus discourse prescribes that public services tailor their offerings to the preferences of individual service users, compliance-oriented services produce public goods (order, safety, etc.) by compelling individuals to do/stop doing certain things regardless of their preferences. There is, therefore, a prima facie tension between customer focus discourse and the objectives and practices of compliance, and this raises important questions about why and how customer focus is adopted in compliance-oriented services, and what the consequences of this are.This thesis addresses these questions by investigating the adoption of customer focus policies in the compliance branch of an Australian city council. It is informed by a conceptual framework derived from the governmentality studies literature, where numerous theoretical resources exist for examining how styles of thinking, such as customer focus, shape, and are shaped by, practices for governing the conduct of political subjects. In particular, I draw on the theoretical and methodological insights of a number of recent governmentality studies that examine governing at the level of situated practices as well as, or instead of, at the level of widespread discourses or political rationalities. The rationale for attending to situated practices is to grasp how discourses like customer focus are mobilised by situated actors to address problems emerging in particular governmental contexts, such as urban governance.It is also to facilitate analysis of how heterogeneous discourses and practices, such as customer focus and compliance, are assembled together and how tensions between them are managed on the ground.The thesis presents data collected through ethnographic fieldwork that I conducted with the compliance branch of the city council mentioned above. An ethnographic approach was adopted because it best aligned with my theoretical orientation to study governing at the level of situated practices. Adopting an ethnographic approach allowed me to observe firsthand how customer focus discourse is integrated with compliance practices in the day-to-day operations of urban governance.It also allowed me to overcome some of the limitations associated with the reliance on textual analysis of archival materials in governmentality studies, such as the tendency to infer the operation and effects of governing practices from how they are represented in programmatic texts.Previous research has foregrounded the tensions that arise when customer focus is adopted in compliance-oriented public services and has warned that these tensions risk undermining the public interest outcomes that compliance services produce. The findings presented in this thesis contributes to this literature by...

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The governmentality of marketing discourse

Cited by 65 publications

References 27 publications

Towards a history of critical marketing studies

Towards a history of critical marketing studies

What we know, don’t know, and should know about confusion marketing

Governing customers? Integrating customer focus and compliance in the urban governance context

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