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311
Postmodernism,
marketing
and the consumer
A. Fuat Frat u, John F. Sherry,Jr. b
and Alladi Venkatesh"
o
Arizona State lJniuersity West,Phoenix,AZ 55069-/100, USA
b Northwestern
{Jniuersity,Euanston,n AOZOI,USA
'IJniuersity of
Califurnia-Iruine, Iruine, CA 62717,USA
3H
The timing of these two specialissueson
Postmodernism,
Marketing and the Consumer
(Vol. 10,No. 3 and Vol. 11,No. 4) is, indeed,
curious.On the one hand, postmodernismis
just becominga recognizeddiscoursewithin
businessdisciplines,and these specialissues
represent the first concerted effort within
the consumerresearchand marketing disciplines to treat the subject. On the other
hand, postmodernism,as a term and concept, is alreadybeginningto encountereither
oppositionor indifferencebecausecriticsfeel
that it representstoo much, thus losing the
ability to have a clear message,
or that it has
takenon the characterof a faddish,overused,
over-abusedsignifier.Thus, they feel it can
no longer exciteor provoke meaningfuland
insightful discourse regarding the human
condition. Clearly, debates and discussions
regarding postmodernism,postmodern culture, and postmodernityhave created some
of the most prolific, heatedand excitingpublications and productionsin, especially,the
last decade.This is true for practically all
humanitiesand social sciencedisciplines.A
simplecount of bookspublishedon the topic
will providesufficientevidenceof the fact, as
Correspondence ro.' A. Fuat Frrat, Business Programs, Arizona
State University West, 4701 W. Thunberbird Road, P.O. Box
37100, Phoenix, AZ 85069-7100, USA.
Intern. J. of Researchin Marketing11 (1994)311-316
North-Holland
will the proportion of articles published in
journals.
The successof the subject,and the many
meaningswith which it has been freighted,
has produced a paradoxical result: critics
proclaim postmodernisma non-subject.The
term postmodern is so polyvalent that it is
non-distinctand non-descript.The very wide
ranging interest in the phenomenonand its
incredible popularity contributes to its
demise,sinceit is no longer "distinguished"
to talk about it. Consequently,we have a
growing number of people talking, writing,
performing,inquiring about it and studyingit
without mentioning"that word." Then come
thesetwo specialissues!
We feel that thesespecialissuesare, nevertheless,timely becausepostmodernismis a
phenomenonthat can no longer be escaped,
even if almosteveryonewants to avoid it. As
postmodernists
inform us that paradoxis omnipresent,postmodernism,itself, presentsus
with one of the major paradoxesof our time.
Despiteall thesedrawbacksand the self-consciousness,
which all the anti-postmodernist
forcesmay induce amongthosewho wish to
studythis pervasivephenomenon,it is important to continuethe effort because,by whatever name you call it, it is here. As the
articles in these two special issuesdemonstrate,studyingthe phenomenonmay be especially important for the lives of the consumersand for marketing practice - which
may be, in itself, the epitome of postmodernity.
Postmodernism,recognizingthat all contemporary social human conditions are hyperreal or constructedon the basesof powerful simulationsthat are alluring and, thus,
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A. Fuat Ftrat / Postmodernbm, marketing and the consumer
upon others, or that have characteristics
marketable,allows for different simulations,
which do impose indirectly (for example,a
different "regimes of truth," and the conway of life that heavilypollutes the Earth's
struction and living of different myths.
popularity
environment)should be addressed,beyond
may havebeendue to
Modernity's
the call for vigilancein identiffing the alterits promotion of the idea that human beings
native mythsawaitingdiscovery.
have (had) control over their own fates, and
In the end, there may arise two clearly
to its promiseof emancipation.The modern
project promiseda future where,indeed,the
different, maybe even opposed,orientations
to life. One may haveno concernsof control
human beings would be emancipatedfrom
over or participation in the conditions one
the impositions of a fate designedby any
lives - that is, issuessuch as freedom or
being other than the human being, but also
huself-determinationmay be non-issues- and
from impositionsof nature or by other
the other may highly value freedom and
man beings.For this future to be realized,
self-determination.For those to whom fairmodern societyrequired commitmentto the
project from its members,as well as to an
ness,freedom, equality,and self-determination are important componentsof leading a
achievement.
allow
its
order that would
meaningful(dignified,happy) life, the quesMaybe ironically, postmodernismalso asks
tion remains:What kind of societywill profor additional emancipation:emancipation
mote suchlife and how can it be created?To
from commitment to projects of emancipapostmodmany who have this desire,thanks much to
since
tion. This is understandable
modern ideologies,this, in fact, is the priernistsdisplayan extremeskepticismof any
mary issue and quest. Modern ideologies
grand scheme,project or narrative.A postprovided answersfor this quest, in capitalmodern political stance,if this is possible,is
ism, communism,etc.,yet eachclearlylacked
myths
or
stories
their
own
to allow all to live
(narratives)insteadof otherwiseenforcedor
much, since the quest remains still greatly
unachieved,maybe even further aggravated
imposedones. In that sense,even the modand frustrated.After all. do not the seemernist myths are acceptablefor the postmodingly unsolvableregional, ethnic and other
myths
other
tolerate
long
as
they
ernist as
of somemedstrifes,and, despitethe success
and do not try to imposethemselvesas uni"truths."
ical breakthroughs,the many miserableconThis scenariois not free of
versal
ditions in contemporarytimesbeginto tell us
paradox.The postmodernstancedoes,after
that our modernist projects have taken us
or
agreed
accepted
all, call for a universally
upon principle; that of tolerance,acceptance into deeper dead-endsthan ever before?
Have we not createdenmities,seeminglyunof difference as difference without interbreakablehatreds and conflicts of interests
paradigmvaluationsof superiority/inferiorand dreams,with greater forces of destrucideas,
in
of
marketplace
ity. The irony of a
proliferation
tion availableto all? How is all this to be
of
an era of globalizationand
resolved?Is expectinga resolution,in itself,
particlemarkets,is the pluralizationof myths.
a dream doomedto failure?
The personal narratives or multiphrenic
Modernism was the effort to make sure
within
or
across
may
not
cohere
may
or
selves
profailure
did not happen.Towardsthis end it
groups.
This ambiguity
individuals or
designedthe grand projects.Postmodernism
duces conditions that may liberate thinkers
is the recognitionthat these projects,themto identifu new problems,as attackold problems with fresh approaches.Postmodernism selves,are failures.Consequently,it callsfor
an end to commitment to such grand(iose)
does not offer a single proposal as to how
those myths that wish to imposethemselves designsand for turning our sightsunto the
I
)
I
a
A. Fuat Frat / Postmodernism, marketing and the consumer
present rather than the future. Modernism
insisted that the modern project equipped
with reason could accomplishthe future it
promised.Yet, at the sametime that modern
discourseinsisted on the necessityof using
reason,modern practiceskept trying to circumventreasonby creatingmeansof reaching and affecting emotions directly to influence human behavior.Each time education
providedthe means(tools) of reading(making senseof) communicativemedia, modern
technologiesproducednew mediaand means
to transmit unreadablebfi deeply/e/r signals
(messages).
Modernists may blame the postmodern
trendsof noncommitmentand fragmentation
as the culprits for many regional and national wars, crime, and other ills that worry
many of us today. They will and do argue
that the break-downof the authority of all
ideas,valuesand reasonwhich provideorder
and common goals can only lead to chaos
While postmodernistsmay
and lawlessness.
blame the long repressionof social groups
and alternativeimaginariesby modern metanarratives for the current ailments. modernists will be adamant in arguing for the
necessityof commonideals,valuesand reason for the existenceof an orderly society.
Is there anythingthat marketingand consumer researchdisciplinescan contribute to
such debatesand questions?Where in the
frame of current debates,discourseand developmentsare our disciplinespositioned?
This secondspecialissueon Postmodernism,
Marketing and the Consumer is a continuation of the presentationof perspectivesthat
may guide us in finding our bearingsin this
respect.It also continuesthe tradition of the
first specialissue in including contributions
other than papers.
In this issue there is an essayon New
York by Morris Holbrook, a professor at
Columbia University in New York. In this
essay,he exploresthe paradoxicalemotions
and thoughtsto be experiencedin living in
3r3
New York. Clearly,it is a love-hate relationship for Holbrook. There is a pictorial essay
by Richard Mead, a British scholarand artist
living in Thailand.He exploresthe paradoxical aspectsof consumerculture in Thailand,
especiallywhen looked at from a westerner's
point of view, in his written essayas well as
paintings.There are exin his accompanying
cerpts from a poem by George Zinkhan, a
marketing professor at the University of
Georgia, exploring the paradoxicalfeelings
one has in "returning to nature" on hiking
trails and camping grounds, as well as the
paradoxicalconditions one observesothers
and oneselfliving during such excursions.It
exploresthe commodificationof the natwe/
culture dialectic. The theme seems to be
paradox when one explores the conditions
one is immersedin rather than when one is
making detached,academicobservationson
researched
topics.
The body of this second special issue is
constitutedof six articles.In the first article,
Fischerand Bristor provide insightsinto the
fact that marketers' perspectivesregarding
the consumer-marketer relationships are
largelyconstructedby the languagethat the
marketing profession,including the marketing academy,uses.Using a poststructuralist
feminist reading of this language,they deconstructsomeof the underlyingideological
themes in marketing literature, specifically,
how the notionsof partriarchyand seduction
are integral to frameworksof exchange.
The article by Joy and Venkateshexplores
the various discourseson the body, and by
taking a feminist perspectiveinformed by
postmodernism,
examinesthe productionand
consumptionof gender significations.This
article by Joy and Venkatesh demonstrates
that especiallythe female body becomesa
medium through which cultural rituals and
meaningsattached to production and consumption are played out in contemporary
society.
Pefraloza'sarticle examines the border
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A. Fuat Frat / Postmodernism, marketing and the consumer
crossingsacross gender boundaries which
seemto be accelerating.Such border crossings tend to violate and dissolvegenderpositions establishedin modern society.On the
other hand, as Pefralozaindicates,modern
gendersignificationsare sustainedin marketing and consumerresearch.This results in
masculinebisasesas well as an increasing
loss of touch with consumers'experiencesin
suchresearch.
The analysisof the conceptof authenticity
in advertisingin the articleby Stern is, again,
informed by postmoderntheory.Such a perspectiveenablesthe articulationof the paradoxes that are present in the construction
and representationof the advertiser'spersona.Stern investigatesthe interestingquestions raised by these paradoxesabout authenticity in advertisingas well as about the
waysthat consumerscopewith suchparadox.
This second special issue ends with trwo
articleswhich provide philosophicalperspectives on recent postmodern developments.
The Bouchet article presents perspectives
into understandingsomeof the major differencesbetweenmodernityand postmodernity.
Bouchet agreeswith most of the insightsof
postmodernistobserversregardingthe conditions of postmodernity,and providesfurther
insightsto identify that which is postmodern.
Yet, he is not happy with these conditions,
sincehe seesthem as departuresfrom critical, responsibleand sociallyconsciousways
of being. He calls for the recognitionof the
liberatingaspectsof postmodernculture,but
alsofor a more critical and sociallyresponsible orientation. Bouchet is presentinga critique of postmodernityfrom, as he writes,
"within the modernistpoint of view."
On the other hand, in Siierdem'sarticle
we encountera thoroughlypostmodernistinterpretation of consumersociety.He is unwilling to subscribeto any singleperspective
on critique or responsibility.He is relentless
in his perspectiveof seeingthe consumeras
a player in the systemof symbolsand the
symbolic.He will not acceptany attempt of
differentiatingthe abilities of individualsin
"reading" and "interpreting"
the signs, in
"weaving their own stories."
Power is no
longer, only seductionexists,and seduction
is an affair betweenthe object and the one
who interactswith it; together they "write"
their own storiesand play their own myths.
It is important for us in marketing and
consumerresearchfields to exposeourselves
to this impassionedand, at times, poetic
postmodernistperspective.Even for thoseof
us to whom the interpretationdoes not ring
very "true," it may provide a most valid
insight into the vision of the postmodern
consumer. The discrepancybetween this
thoroughly celebratory postmodernistposition and the critical, skepticalor ambivalent
positionstoward postmodernismmay well be
due to the transitionalcharacterof our time,
wheremodernideologiesandwaysstill linger,
and in some casesprevail, while constantly
losing ground to the postmodern culture.
Under the circumstances,
while certain baspower
tions of
still seemto operate and all
membersof societyfeel their weight, it may
be difficult to come to terms with the idea
that power has (or alwayswas) dissipated
into the handsof individual consumerswho
construct their own myths with the objects
they interact. Even when one may agree,in
principle, that such bastionsof power exist
only in and throughthe mythsallowedby the
membersof society,our contemporarycultural experiencesmay be indicating to us
that the constructionof myths may not be
completelyindependentbut interdependent,
that for any current myth to have its own
sovereigntyit may haveto possess
a "market"
allure.
This may be how the fact that we are in a
transitionalera has its greatestimpact. The
market is left as,practically,the sole arbitrator and the sole locusof legitimationin society as all other forms of attendingto society's
affairs, such as, politics and socialrelations,
A. Fuat Ftrat / Postmodernbm, marketing and the consumer
have waned - at least partially due to the
successof postmodernist discourse.However,the market still seemsto operatebased
on the logic of modern capitalism;it has not
yet been "postmodernized." That is, the
workingcriteria of the market are still largely
economicand its performanceis still judged
on the basisof economicefficiency.The market has not yet adoptedthe multiplicity and
the multidimensionaltolerance advisedand
found in postmoderndiscourse.As modern
ideologiesand systemsbreak down due to
the popular disenchantmentwith their performance and to the successof postmodernism, the void created is filled by yet another, still modern institution: the market.
The discoveryof how the plurality of the
logic of the market is to be achievedmay be
one of the most important tasks that await
us.
acrossthe two
In this vein, the discussions
need to study
we
issues
suggest
that
special
postmodernismfor different reasons:
1. To understand the constitution of the
"consumer" in the present and in the
future,
2. To have an inkling of what challenges
marketingmay facein the future and what
immediatechallengesit encountersnow,
3. To understandthe philosophical,social,
cultural trends and issues we can encounternow and in the future,
4. To recognizethe way(s)that signification
and representationprocesseswork or are
constructed.if we havean interestin consciouscontribution to the conditionsfor
humanity, in taking positions,in participating in the creation of (a) realit(y)ies
that are attractive.
But, then, when sensitivityto a postmodern orientationdevelops,one cannot help
ask the questions:
1. Is an emphasison understanding,exploring, finding otfi (knowing) still very much
a modernistquest?Shouldwe, to the contrary, concentrateon communicating,in
315
order to acknowledgeour preferencesfor
life stylesand/or waysof being?
2. Do we, should we take positions, have
projects or future goals anymore? Is it
worthwhile?Is it possible?
3. Should anyone care about projects,betterment of the human condition (however
this is defined),or is this just anothercall
to conformity?
4. In whose interest is it to have projects,
and whoseinterestis it not to have any?
5. Do distinctions,of class,interest groups,
etc., make senseanymore?Are there new
distinctionsdevelopingthat were not discovered(constructed)before?
These questionsare, on the other hand,
extremelyparadoxical,since if we do have
hyperreality,anythingis possible- any social
Conserealitycan potentiallybe constructed.
quently,what type of life or orientationis
worthwhile,is solelya matter of choice.Again,
paradoxically, power
ability to make
choices,to control circumstances- becomes
centrally meaningful.After all, it is nice to
proclaim "Let's bring an end to conformity;
let's allow choice." Yet, who will be able to
afford (financially,intellectually,etc.) it?
Marketing institutions are the grounds
where conscioussignificationand representation processestake place, and given the
postmodernconsciousness,
it is these processesthat constructthe realit(y)ieswe live.
Consequently,a sociallyresponsible,critical
postmodernposition is to make these processesavailableand accessibleto all members of society.Our discoursesmay be pragmatic in the sensethat they may aid in liberating marketing from being the domain of
only certain groups or organizations and
make it the domain of all consumers;put
marketingunder the control and in the service of all. In that sense,postmodernitymay
be conceptualizedas the phasewhen everyone becomesa marketer. This is, indeed, a
paradoxicalblessing,for it requiresa continuous vigilanceon everyone'spafi:. a contin-
316
A. Fuat Frrat / Postmodernism, marketing and the consumer
ual need to be on one's toes,to be strategic,
continuouslyplanning, etc. No time to just
let go - unlessletting go is strategicallypositioned and signified as a marketable,alluring, seductivequality.
Togetherthesetwo specialissuesserveto
highlight the egocentric nature of inquiry
into marketing. Scholarswho typically present their ideas in conventionalprose in the
ritual mode of preferenceof management
journals - the academic "article" - have
employedmore humanisticformats in these
pages. Differences in language use, both
stylistic and strategic, are apparent even
among the North American and European
contributors who have employed the article
format. An appreciation of the evocative
power of languagein animating an under-
standing of marketers' and consumers'behaviors is long overdue in our field. The
wisdom of re-integratingthe humanitiesand
businessdisciplinesin our questfor interdisciplinary knowledge seems apparent. We
hope that thesespecialissueswill contribute
to the ongoingblurring of genresthat is the
postmodernenterprise.
Finally, we wish to repeat our thanks to
the editorial group of IIRM, to our reviewers, and to the publishing staff at Elsevier/
North-Holland. Mostly, we thank all of our
contributingauthors,without whosecommitment to this project it could not have been
completed.We hopethat the readersof these
two issues will find as much meaning and
excitementin them aswe did in helpingtheir
birth.