Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

PhD in Business

First Advisor

Dr. Rajendra Sisodia

Second Advisor

Dr. Nada Nasr Bechwati

Third Advisor

Dr. Leyland Pitt

Abstract

Conscious capitalism is a business philosophy that, through its four foundational principles – higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership, and conscious culture and management – reflects a move to elevating marketing to a higher level. Combining the axioms of service-dominant (S-D) logic with the tenets of conscious capitalism, the construct “conscious marketing” is developed. Conscious marketing is the manifestation of conscious capitalism in a marketing context, seen through the lens of S-D logic and influenced by a stakeholder orientation to marketing.

This research defines and delves into the meaning of the conscious marketing construct informed by extant literature, and develops a model of the determinants, consequences, and dichotomies of conscious marketing based on qualitative field research with senior executives of conscious capitalism companies. Using a theoretical sampling and theories-in-use approach, this research contributes new theory that both reflects marketing practice in firms, and informs the continuing evolution of that practice. xi The overarching question to be answered by this research is ‘How do marketing managers practice conscious marketing?’ The first essay contains a thorough review of the S-D logic and conscious capitalism literature from which the conscious marketing construct is developed. The conscious marketing construct is defined and explained: it is a firm’s capability to assume responsibility for, direct activity towards, and effectively communicate the long term value-in-use of its offerings and contributions to the well-being of its entire network of stakeholders. The second essay addresses how “conscious” marketers view and treat customers and other stakeholders. Qualitative interview data and a theory-in-use approach are used to construct a conscious marketing model, consisting of determinants and consequences of a conscious approach to marketing. This research also resulted in the discovery of tensions or dichotomies resulting from a firm’s application of conscious capitalism principles to marketing. The third essay develops measurement items for the key factors that determine the degree of conscious marketing within firms. It lays the foundation for the construction of a Conscious Marketing Index, presenting the results of a pretest and item purification process and the resulting multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) model.

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