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The depiction of marketing and marketers in the news media

Cluley, Robert

Authors

Robert Cluley



Abstract

Purpose – In an effort to explain the high level of scepticism and distrust towards marketing and marketers, paper explores how marketing practice and practitioners are depicted in the mass media.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses 6,877 news reports that discuss “marketing” across two one-year time periods from three UK newspapers. A systematic content analysis is presented through N-Grams and K-Grams, close readings of individual cases and manual coding.
Findings – The paper finds that the news media cultivates an image of marketing and marketing practitioners whereby marketing is portrayed in the news as a cost to businesses and something that businesses do to consumers. The study finds that marketers are also presented through a narrow viewpoint. Marketers are depicted as male and tend to be viewed a source of authority only when speaking on behalf of their organizations in response problems and crises.
Research limitations/implications – The cultivation effect of mass media is widely accepted among communications scholar, yet its use within marketing research is limited. The paper represents an empirical application of this approach.
Practical implications – Organizations including the Chartered Institute of Marketing and American Marketing Association have attempted to counteract marketing’s image problem by redefining what marketing means. The results of this study suggest that such attempts are unlikely to work as the practice of marketing, in particular PR, cultivates a negative image in the media.
Originality/value – The paper demonstrates the utility of cultivation theory and systematic content analyses of media texts. It develops a methodology to examine how professional practice is depicted in mass media.

Citation

Cluley, R. (2016). The depiction of marketing and marketers in the news media. European Journal of Marketing, 50(5/6), https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-02-2015-0076

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 23, 2015
Publication Date May 30, 2016
Deposit Date Oct 13, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal European Journal of Marketing
Print ISSN 0309-0566
Electronic ISSN 0309-0566
Publisher Emerald
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 50
Issue 5/6
DOI https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-02-2015-0076
Keywords Marketing, Culture (sociology), Media, Professions
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/787939
Publisher URL http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/EJM-02-2015-0076

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