Cycles of inequality in the marketplace: insights from macro, marketer, and consumer perspectives

Seeking inequality via differentiation is a fundamental theme in the marketing literature: consumers derive utility from products that convey socially valued attributes, and marketers target consumers by giving them opportunities to differentiate on socially valued attributes. However, as a large body of evidence shows, inequality can reduce consumer well-being and limit economic growth. In this paper, we take a systemic view of marketplace inequality, examining the interdependence among consumers, marketers, and macro forces in shaping inequality in markets for goods and services. Our broad review of the marketing literature across ten marketing journals and a variety of subdomains within the field (e.g., macromarketing, consumer behavior, marketing strategy, quantitative marketing) suggests that macro forces, marketers, and consumers are all part of a dynamic system in which each contributes to creating, perpetuating, and disrupting cycles of marketplace inequality. By highlighting the process by which inequality can be created, perpetuated, and reduced, we hope to give marketing researchers and practitioners insight into interventions that have the potential to increase consumer well-being and marketer profitability.