Marketing in a postmodern world

Abstract

Begins with the premiss that we are living through an epochal change from the modern to the postmodern era and that marketing organizations have to reconsider their conceptions of the market, the consumer and marketing practice accordingly. Following a brief discussion of the themes of postmodernity, explores some of the key assumptions of modern marketing that are challenged by the transformation to postmodernity. Finally, presents the implications of postmodern culture for marketing, arguing that consumers are not driven by needs but have needs which are driven by external forces, that consumers have become customizers, that marketing organizations′ offerings will increasingly become processes rather than finished products, and that consumers who will increasingly become integrated into the production systems will have to be conceptualized as producers. Concludes by re‐emphasizing that marketing and post‐modernity are greatly intertwined, arguing that consumers are not driven by needs but have needs which are driven by external forces.