The Consumer Error: Branding and the Professional Culture of Marketers

Abstract

This article outlines the development of the marketing profession, its professional culture, and the sociogenesis of The Consumer Error, a currently widespread tendency to view people as isolated individuals whose primary focus is to look for, purchase and use products and services. This tendency was absorbed into the conceptual repertoire of marketers, initially as a consequence of status competitive pressures within and between large corporations from the 1950s. The Consumer was part of the scientization of marketing that gained in pace and scope during the 1960s and 1970s when marketing departments became interdependent with other emerging specialist organizations, together forming the Branding Regime. The Branding Regime cultivated and disseminated The Consumer Error, which became established as a cultural convention in western societies and increasingly those further afield. In the final section, the author suggests some ways in which a relational, sociological perspective can expose the ideological foundation of The Consumer Error, standing as a correction to marketers’ understanding of their customers, brands and branding.