ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that ideology and marketing have a complex palette of relationships. It explores the ideology-marketing nexus. The chapter looks at the mainstream marketing view that holds – along with mainstream business disciplines in general – an instrumental view of marketing: that the discipline simply provides a toolkit, which is ideologically neutral, and employable in the service of any ideological position that is of interest at a particular point in time. It provides a detailed look at the range of nuanced views that acknowledge the innately ideological character of marketing concepts and practices, including a far-reaching position that characterizes marketing as the prevailing ideology of the Zeitgeist. The chapter examines some of the important writings in marketing, and draws upon some of the seminal works on ideology in critical theory. It examines the political economy underpinning the contemporary neoliberal marketplace, exemplified in areas of marketing involved in the production of culture.
