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The reflexive consumer

The reflexive consumer
The reflexive consumer
Drawing on a detailed reading of the work of Peppers and Rogers (1993, 1997, 2004, 2005), this paper argues that their work offers an emblematic problematization of traditional mass marketing, which articulates a new mentality of marketing — collaborative marketing. Collaborative marketing, implemented through the practices of CRM, reframes the role and identity of the individual consumer within producer—consumer relationships, transforming them from sovereign chooser to active collaborator, or as they are termed here, reflexive consumers. Using Foucault's concept of governmentality the paper articulates the achievement of this transformation and the central role of reflexivity in this transformation of the consumer. We conclude that in redefining the nature of marketing, RM and CRM form new relays of power linking producer and consumer and that these relays re-interpret the antagonism between freedom and subjugation that lie at the heart of producer—consumer relationships.
1470-5931
299-317
Beckett, Antony
e76ab3ff-6604-4f66-bae9-5f1f3197cbe7
Nayak, Ajit
215d7e25-0bc4-44ff-a015-5daf887604df
Beckett, Antony
e76ab3ff-6604-4f66-bae9-5f1f3197cbe7
Nayak, Ajit
215d7e25-0bc4-44ff-a015-5daf887604df

Beckett, Antony and Nayak, Ajit (2008) The reflexive consumer. Marketing Theory, 8 (3), 299-317. (doi:10.1177/1470593108093558).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Drawing on a detailed reading of the work of Peppers and Rogers (1993, 1997, 2004, 2005), this paper argues that their work offers an emblematic problematization of traditional mass marketing, which articulates a new mentality of marketing — collaborative marketing. Collaborative marketing, implemented through the practices of CRM, reframes the role and identity of the individual consumer within producer—consumer relationships, transforming them from sovereign chooser to active collaborator, or as they are termed here, reflexive consumers. Using Foucault's concept of governmentality the paper articulates the achievement of this transformation and the central role of reflexivity in this transformation of the consumer. We conclude that in redefining the nature of marketing, RM and CRM form new relays of power linking producer and consumer and that these relays re-interpret the antagonism between freedom and subjugation that lie at the heart of producer—consumer relationships.

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More information

Published date: 1 September 2008

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 428296
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/428296
ISSN: 1470-5931
PURE UUID: cd05e31d-9461-454c-afe2-886ba33a40bc
ORCID for Ajit Nayak: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3253-7120

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Date deposited: 20 Feb 2019 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:39

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Contributors

Author: Antony Beckett
Author: Ajit Nayak ORCID iD

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