ABSTRACT

Marketing is among the most powerful cultural forces at work in the contemporary world, affecting not merely consumer behaviour, but almost every aspect of human behaviour. While the potential for marketing both to promote and threaten societal well-being has been a perennial focus of inquiry, the current global intellectual and political climate has lent this topic extra gravitas.

Through original research and scholarship from the influential Mendoza School of Business, this book looks at marketing’s ramifications far beyond simple economic exchange. It addresses four major topic areas: societal aspects of marketing and consumption; the social and ethical thought; sustainability; and public policy issues, in order to explore the wider relationship of marketing within the ethical and moral economy and its implications for the common good.

By bringing together the wide-ranging and interdisciplinary contributions, it provides a uniquely comprehensive and challenging exploration of some of the most pressing themes for business and society today.

part I|40 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|10 pages

The Common Good

The enduring effort to re-center marketing

chapter 2|28 pages

A Larger View of Marketing

Marketing's contributions to society

part II|61 pages

Societal aspects of marketing and consumption

chapter 3|18 pages

Slouching Toward Utopia

When marketing is society

chapter 4|20 pages

The Case for Clarity

chapter 5|12 pages

How Marketing Serves the Common Good

A long-term consumer perspective

part III|22 pages

Catholic Social Thought issues in marketing

chapter 7|14 pages

Caritas in Veritate

Updating Catholic Social Teaching for responsible marketing strategy 1

part IV|64 pages

Sustainability issues in marketing

chapter 9|26 pages

Consumption in the Un-Commons

The economic case for reclaiming the commons as unique markets

chapter 11|14 pages

Creative Destruction and Destructive Creations

Environmental ethics and planned obsolescence

part V|61 pages

Public policy issues in marketing

chapter 12|21 pages

Should Marketers be Persuading Our Children?

A controversial question

chapter 13|19 pages

Firearms and the Common Good

A meaningful discussion about solutions

part VI|55 pages

Ethical issues in marketing

chapter 15|14 pages

From Twins to Strangers

Considerations of paired kidney donation across gift and market economies

chapter 16|14 pages

Ethics in Selling

A case-oriented, stakeholder-focused approach

part VII|12 pages

Conclusion

chapter 18|7 pages

Can We get There from Here?

Charting the contours of the common good

chapter 19|3 pages

Afterword

A blast from the past