ABSTRACT
This chapter considers a number of instances in non-marketing and marketing scholarship where marketing or consumption have been identified with magic or sorcery. This chapter argues that scholars working outside the marketing academy have often used the accusation of magical practice against marketing as a way of damning it, or publicly shaming it and the capitalist system that they argue utilises it to spread a glamour in front of the reality of the production and consumption process. As a counter to this, the chapter also examines the consumer culture theory literature that seeks to uncover the magical thinking behind consumption experiences. It argues that, as insightful as it is, this strand of marketing scholarship turns away from any real engagement with the magical nature of marketing itself, rhetorically positioning the consumer as the only agent in the creation of consumption magic. While it, therefore, recognises the continuing importance of magic in the modern market, it only tells half of the story. Instead, if we examine the relationship between magic, rhetoric, and marketing, we can fully appreciate the position of the marketer as both magician and rhetor.
