Marketing Myths and Marketing Realities: A Commentary on the Consumer as Voter,Judge and Jury

Abstract

Offering a counterpoint to ‘‘The Consumer as Voter, Judge and Jury,’’ this commentary compares the ‘‘modern origins’’ of the ‘‘marketing myths’’ in the article with an alternative view; contrasts the ‘‘new agora’’ analogy with the old Agora; and assesses the apocalyptic vision in the article with an analogous ‘‘triptych.’’ Further, this commentary evaluates the article’s ‘‘political legitimacy’’ argument for marketing practice versus the economic efficiency argument, and it considers the long-term survival and growth of socialist versus market economies. Finally, the commentary questions whether the analogies between ‘‘citizen and consumer voting’’ and between ‘‘citizen and consumer sovereignty’’ are marketing myths or realities.