ABSTRACT
: Chapter 3 delves into the impact of antirealism upon leading marketing approaches. It addresses the shortcomings deriving to those approaches from their shared allegiance to various antirealist theses. Postmodernism encourages the investigation of experiences, interpretations, and narratives; but, at the same time, it discourages an appreciation of whatever may underpin communication, experience, and interpretation. The chapter shows how that attitude obfuscates the ability of postmodernist marketing research and practice to appreciate crucial aspects of the phenomena to be investigated in various fields. The chapter introduces the concept of ‘ontophobia’, as a typical feature of postmodern culture and scholarship. It analyses the main features and forms of ontophobia and observes its most relevant consequences, only few of which are intuitive. It shows that even some of the most advanced postmodernist approaches to marketing have fallen prey to some form of ontophobia, and that their contribution is weakened by such attitude, even by their own standards, in some cases. Amongst the most relevant schools and tendencies, the chapter dedicates detailed analyses to various forms of Experiential Marketing (EM), Consumer Culture Theory (CCT), Relationship Marketing (RM), and Service Dominant Logic (SDL).
