Given the apparent interpenetration of marketing and postmodernism, this chapter will seek to explore the nature of the relationship between the two. It commences with an overview of (he postmodern condition, turns to an analysis of postmodern marketing practices, continues with a discussion of postmodern marketing concepts, culminates in a deconstruction of the celebrated ‘realism versus relativism’ debate, and concludes with an attempt to answer the simple but all-important question: is postmodernism the end of marketing?
As marketing, in many respects, reflects developments in the social, economic and cultural spheres generally, it is only to be expected that the characteristic features of postmodernism are apparent – and deeply inscribed – in today’s marketing environment. Indeed, if it were not such a blatantly modernist approach to the subject, it would be possible to imagine a matrix with the distinguishing features of postmodernism along one axis and the elements of the marketing mix along the other. Such an exercise, of course, is doomed to inevitable failure, as it is totally contrary to the cavalier, insouciant and genre-busting spirit of postmodernism. Nonetheless, it is undeniable that all of the distinguishing features of postmodernism are discernible on the current marketing scene and discernible, moreover, across every facet of marketing from pricing to promotions.