The scalar politics of difference: Researching consumption and marketing outside the west

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between knowledge hierarchies and sociospatial ordering of the world and, in doing so, to problematize the ways we study and understand consumption and marketing outside the West. By sociospatial ordering of the world, I refer to scalar divisions that organize and mobilize hierarchical perceptions of the world. Adopting a view of scale as a way of knowing and apprehending the world, I trace the origins, uses and effects of three scales – Third World, non-Western and emerging markets – that organize and inform research about marketing and consumption outside the West. Each of these scales indicates an imagined distance from an assumed central point and mobilizes visions that order and organize not only places, but knowledge produced in and about these places. I show that these scalar configurations are neither neutral nor transparent designations, but politically charged, sociospatial constructions that privilege certain representations, meanings and identifications over others. In the process, they shape knowledge production, permitting particular forms of difference – absence, plurality and excess – to take shape, circulate and gain legitimacy. I conclude by discussing the possibility of a notion of difference that does not rest on a negative comparison between two entities but is generative, affirmative and non-hierarchical.

Epistemic in/justice: Towards ‘Other’ ways of knowing

“…Olberding (2015) and more recently Sandikci (2021) argue that the current lack of knowledge of non-Western philosophies in social science and in marketing theory is due to their lines of argumentation that make them challenging and indeed ‘beyond comprehension’. Sandikci (2021) makes the case of an epistemology of scaling in which novel marketing theoretical approaches and contributions originated in non-Western contexts, are seen as anchored to such contexts, and thus positioned as exceptional. The inclusion of such approaches and contributions is dependent on a scaling system of grading differences from the centre (here understood as Western context) and thus conceptualised in terms of lacking.…”

Understanding sustainable consumption experiences among the new middle class in an emerging market: A social cognitive approach

“…Furthermore, the increased consumer incomes and improved job opportunities available following market liberalisation in the emerging markets have contributed to the creation of a group of young, urban consumers often called the "new middle class" (NMC) (Cavusgil et al, 2018;Lange & Meier, 2009;Kravets & Sandikci, 2014). These consumers are known to be pursuing more material consumption and increasingly consumerist lifestyles (Brosius, 2010;Chandrasekara, Wijetunga, & Jayakody, 2023;Chikweche, Lappeman, & Egan, 2021, 2022Lange & Meier, 2009;Pinches, 1999). Consumers are buying more cars, home appliances, improving climate control in their homes through air-conditioning, and have a growing interest in overseas sightseeing (de Koning et al, 2015;de Koning, Ta, Crul, Wever, & Brezet, 2016;Hansen, 2017aHansen, , 2017bLange & Meier, 2009;Never & Albert, 2021;Suyanto, Sugihartati, Hidayat, & Subiakto, 2019).…”

“…or "third world" (Kynge & Wheatley, 2015;IFC, 1999). In contrast with these terms, "emerging markets" signals that the places associated with the phrase contain promise and potential for investment (Sandikci, 2022). Kaur (2018) notes this regional rebranding process contains condescension and disparity, arguing that the same "third world" places, previously labelled as poor and peripheral, have suddenly shifted to be full of promise just because of their profit potential for external parties.…”

“…There are notable variations in country contexts considered to be EMs that distinguish them from DMs and make the contexts different for conducting research (Cavusgil et al, 2018;Sandikci, 2022;Sheth, 2011). Burgess and Steenkamp (2006) highlight that the differences between DMs and EMs exist on several different levels, including the socioeconomic, cultural, and regulatory, pointing to challenges related to socioeconomic diversity, the balancing of traditional and modern culture, and concerns related to corruption in governance.…”

“…Furthermore, Sheth (2011) argues that marketers must be open to rethinking how their theories and strategies apply to EMs, especially because of the markets' economic and cultural heterogeneity, the varying power of the social institutions within them that affect consumer behaviour, and the operational challenges within the markets related to physical infrastructure and resource limitations. However, while these differences between DMs and EMs are acknowledged, authors indicate that marketers continue to apply unaltered DM marketing theories to EM knowledge production (Sandikci, 2022).…”