By David M. Boje, Feb 1, 2007
Chapter 10: How Does Story Consulting Relate To Marketing?
This chapter is dedicated to Bing
Answer: It relates to the transition in marketing from traditional micro consumption to what Russell Belk and others call macro consumption.
Consumption occupies a growing place in people’s lives (Belk, Dholakia, & Vankatesh, 1996: 1).
Consumption behavior research is an interdisciplinary field involving work on story from fields such as anthropology, history, communication, and sociology. Marketing is the main discipline shaping micro and macro consumption in the 21st century.
Commodity space is being impacted by storytelling produced by the market system, a geographic space known as the ‘market economy.’ Despite the importance of story (& narrative) to the marketing system, commodity space, and market economy, there has been few attempts to bring the fields of story and marketing together.
The most progress has been made in the ‘interpretation approach’ to marketing. Interpretative approach looks for example, at ways story affects commodity space.
Story is applicable to both micro and macro consumer behavior approaches to marketing.
MICRO STORY CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Micro stories of consumer behavior have been constructed to be about how stories can best influence and manipulate individual consumer brand choice. Micro consumptions up to the 1970s dealt with what McDonald’s called ‘Plan to Win’. It includes the 5 P’s (people, product, place, price, & promotion) [2005 Annual Report, pp. 9-11]. The balanced focus on all 5 P’s is said to be a “holistic approach.” It is the essentials of the ‘plot’ of a strategy story (see chapter 8). Micro consumer story strategy often relies upon marketing research, using focus group methods to inform market strategy formation, to mold the plot in all 5 P’s to influence individual consumers to make brand choices.
Micro consumer research is focused on determinants of the purchase act. What story can be the difference between brand preferences, when told in an ad, or depicted in an storyboard in some poster.
MACRO STORY CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Macro consumption research is more concerned with the total consumption space. This includes overconsumption, wast of disposition (i.e. post-exchange behavior). In the 1970s consumer behavior researchers began to adopt more macro perspectives. One was to use the interpretative approach (a qualitative methodology) that uses ethnographic field observation, and ethnographic interviews (sometimes even more phenomenological interviews & life history interviews). The much-neglected role of story in marketing was being discovered. Soon other approaches, particularly from anthropology and history (more accurately genealogy) began to be used in marketing, primarily by postmodern marketing researchers such as Vankatesh, Belk, Dholakia, Firat, and their colleagues). They also attended the 2000 Standing Conference for Management and Organization Inquiry (sc’MOI) conference last time it was in Las Vegas (http://scmoi.org). A special issue of M@n@ging Journal did a special issue I edited in 2001.
What is the macro story of consumer behavior? It is a struggle between global convergence of nation-cultures into one set of marketed stories and symbols versus that more critical postmodern escape from alternative hyperrealities (Belk, 1995; Boje, 2001a; Ritzer & Stillman, 2001; Firat, 2001; Carr, 2001; Gephart, 2001; Linstead, 2001; Magala, 2001) and includes commodification of the human body (Sardy, 2001; Boje, 2001b).
The study of macro consumption story processes is beginning to get a foothold in the marketing discipline. Macro consumption story research looks at the impact of corporate storytellers (including brand spokespersons, such as überathlete heroes & movie personalities) on culture convergence (globally) upon the well being of people and the sustainability of nature on the plant.
Whereas micro consumer research informs strategy makers, more macro consumer research has shifted to how people can live in greater harmony with each other and the planet. Marketing is therefore studying simplicity, sustainability, and even natured spirituality movements because they change entrenched consumption patterns.
The more critical postmodern marketing theory (Firat, Dholakia, Vankatesh, etc.) is looking at the effects of repeated cosmetic surgery (Barbie Doll Effect). Sarah Burge has spent £180,000 on cosmetic surgery, earning her the dubious title of ‘The Human Barbie.’ She takes the title away from Cindy Jackson:
As of 2003, Cindy has spent $100,000, undergone three “mini” face lifts, one full face lift, three separate eyelid surgeries, an upper lip lift, liposuction to her jaw line, waist, knees, abdomen and thighs; two nose operations, cheek implants, bottom lip implant, chin reduction, hair transplantation to cover up face lift scars, breast augmentation, breast implant removal, two dermabrasions, two chemical peels, two laser resurfacings, mole removal, vein removal, and permanent make-up procedures to her eyebrows, eyes and lips.
It is not only Mattel that markets Barbie-figure, it is magazines like Playboy, and the whole male gaze-obsessed with life size Barbie breasts spectacle of Las Vegas show girls and strippers (Boje, 2001b).
Critical postmodern theory is also looking at the health effects of macro consumer behavior, such as McDonald’s claims that fast food is healthy, nutritious, and part of the image of a fitness lifestyle. As we explored in chapter 8, the new strategy story plot is Eat Smart. Be Active. This Global Business Strategy is written in one sentence: “To be the leading restaurant promoting healthy, happy, and active lifestyles everywhere we do business” (Kapica, 2004: slide #17). It is backed up my mottos, founding story slant, mission 5 P’s, and vision, complete with testimonials from Bob Greene, Oprah Winfrey’s fitness coach. On the other side, is just about every health nutritionist in the world!
Critical postmodern marketing looks at unhealthy materialism, at how McDonald’s is the role model of McDonaldization (Ritzer & Stillman, 2001). Macro consumer research is related to the trend in story research to look at broader consumer spaces (global) and time (history/genealogy) approaches. For example, changes in place and over time in how human well being is being storied is an alternative to traditional micro consumer marketing that looks at the success or failure of a ‘I’m lovin’ it’ motto, or a new more fit-looking Ronald McDonald clown as corporate spokesperson.
McDonaldization is not just about consumption of fast food. It has spread as a marketing model to real estate, tax services, banking, and every franchise operation you can name. Consumers are hailed in advertisements, in photo poses, depicting a good parent, or a hip-youngster, who eats this or that fast food, wears this or that logo, etc. A hail is a “hey you” image, that puts you as consumer inside the story, by recognizing yourself as the one being hailed (Boje, 2007 chapter on stylistics). We are talking here about a consumption pathology known as overconsumption, status buying, and logo envy.
Macro consumer behavior research into story is also interested on the effects of strategy story success upon the gap of haves and has nots, deforestation, gender inequities (Barbie Doll cosmetic surgery binging), homelessness, and massive growing, escalating world poverty.
Story interpretation research in marketing looks at the social construction of meaning in acts of consumption. This includes “lateral cycling and recycling of used goods, conspicuous consumption, and nonconsumption, goods as status markers, and in general, the relationship of consumption to the entire sphere of human life” Belk & Dholakia, 1996: 5).
My own work has been focused upon voluntary simplicity movement. Rudman and Kilbourne (1996) in marketing, challenge the self-story of voluntary simplicity, saying its not all that virtuous and not achieving nonmaterialism. They are misguided. Even if only a few break way from the storied identity of Barbie-doll figures, Fast Food is healthy, more is good, --- then it is possible that simplicity movements can in the long run gather more adherents.
Story has traditionally, in macro marketing (before critical postmodern challenges to globalism) been all about the utility of creating, promoting, sustaining, and even recontemporalizing brands (e.g. succession of mottos, new clown body shapes, etc.) to sustain or expand position in the marketplace. It has considered story as a toll, one with utility to achieve bottom line performance.
Creating brands is how founding stories of brands can influence micro consumers to make purchase choices, to be like the hero.
Tool stories depict famous uberathletes wearing a favored logo. At the
Change the style of the clown’s body is a way to recontemporalizing a brand associated with fatness, to one associated with fitness.
Feb 1 2007 Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=422270&in_page_id=1879
See http://www.cosmeticsurgeryinsider.net/