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The increased attention being directed toward nonquantitative (so‐called relativistic) research designs within marketing has encouraged marketing's use of methods that were developed in the “softer” social sciences. Representative of such trends is Sidney Levy's use of mental‐structuralist mythological theory within the context of consumer behavior. This paper demonstrates how another school of mythology (Jungian analysis) can be used to deal with consumer behavior and the way consumers respond to certain advertisements. Although serious methodological problems exist in Jungian analysis, techniques that explore the impact of universal innate human thought upon consumer behavior can be useful. As a specific example, the “archetype” of the athlete and its relation to consumer behavior and product promotion will be discussed.

Structural analysis is designed to deal with patterns which exist in the human mind and, thereby, impact the ways in which people act and respond to circumstances. As such, structural analysis has value in situations involving consumer choice and preference. Historically, structural analysis, in both literary criticism and consumer research, has tended to be static in nature. Marketing managers, however, are interested in cultural dynamics and what influences consumer preferences and buying patterns as they evolve through time. Here a structural interpretation which is linked to a socio/economic deterministic model, will be used to analyze two popular television series (The Fugitive and Mission Impossible) which were originally aired in the 1960s and were remade into blockbuster feature films in the 1990s. This example will explore the value of a dynamic structural model within marketing management.

Increasingly, product managers and promotional strategists weigh the impacts of homogeneous products and uniform promotion coupled with the unique character of specific market segments. This is especially crucial in an era when many products are advertised in identical ways and consumed in analogous manners over diverse cultural areas. In order to explore the influence of cultural variations on marketing, discusses the conflicting ways in which an international advertising icon, “the Marlboro man”, is interpreted in three different cultural settings. The resulting analysis has both theoretical and practical value.

As the interconnectedness of various nations and regions becomes more and more significant, international business people must devote increased attention to fostering long‐term co‐operation with their trading partners. This is not new, although it has been emphasised to varying degrees over the past generations. In this article various orientations of international business from the 18th century to the present will be examined. In general, the cult of progress has been profoundly influential since the Victorian era although such concepts have inhibited the ability to view other (especially developing) countries in broad non‐ethnocentric ways. In order to supplement such perspectives, a sampling of Third World intellectuals will be consulted, case studies of development will be mentioned, and anthropologists will be discussed.

Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is a type of mandated research which is typically implemented during the planning stages of development projects. Unfortunately, such data are often merely used to evaluate the viability of projects, and are seldom consulted as secondary sources of information once they have served their primary role. Such tendencies, unfortunately, relegate potential sources of data to file cabinets. Provides an overview of what SIA is, and how it can be adapted to serve the needs of strategic planners in the private sector to facilitate the use of this source of secondary data. Also presents the results of a questionnaire on SIA sent to a sample of international marketing managers.

The novel The Ugly American published in the late 1950s depicts the blunderings which can take place when decision makers are overly ethnocentric. Happily, in interpersonal dealings, executives are becoming more accepting of the ways of other people. Anthropologists such as Edward T. Hall have developed a wealth of material which explores the habits and customs of other people and how to interact in situations with such people. Thus, overt ethnocentrism is largely on the wane. Ironically, as Westerners have become more worldly in their interpersonal dealings with other people, they have also embraced a strong “global marketing” orientation. This global paradigm contains a “covert ethnocentrism” since it presupposes that the whole world is being transformed in the same way by technology. Although in the long flow of history this might be true, global theories are not usually relevant to short‐term analysis on strategic planning. In an era when we have largely purged our thinking of overt ethnocentrism, we must resist this new “covert” ethnocentrism.

Refines and operationalizes the globalization of markets theory. Although cultural evolution tends to be homogenizing many of the world′s tastes and wants, such trends are far from universal. Realizing that the globalization of markets theory, as it now stands, is over‐simplified, enhances this by embracing the theories of anthropologists, who emphasize the impact of technology upon cultural evolution and change.

A close reading of the Gospels of The New Testament reveal that the various authors were clearly aware of certain key principles of marketing and advertising which we have rediscovered in the twentieth century. Specifically, the pros and cons of “global” vs. “local” marketing and copywriting were understood and the authors made conscious choices to cater to various target markets. In addition, the basic techniques of public relations and lobbying were clearly understood and consciously applied. The examples presented are not isolated analogies quoted out of context; the various authors clearly comprehended the basic principles of marketing and overtly orchestrated them in thoughtful and coherent ways. A study of The New Testament, therefore, reveals the significant degree to which ancient people were aware of advertising and marketing techniques. How marketing, as a discipline, can help other scholars interpret the events they study is described.

Literary art is often embraced by a people because it provides answers to life’s questions and showcases idealized heroes who function as respected role models. By analyzing the popularity of universally loved literary masterpieces, it becomes possible to gain a greater understanding of how a specific people respond in uniform fashion to symbolic communications. In order to examine this phenomenon, parallels between Virgil’s The Aeneid (which was addressed to ancient Romans just as the Empire was being established) and Owen Wister’s The Virginian (which provided a symbolic hero for the USA at exactly the time when that country was emerging as an industrialized world power) will be compared. Significantly, in many cases, almost all members of a culture react to stimuli in parallel, universal, or identical ways. This tendency is important for marketers who seek to influence a wide and diverse market in similar ways. The implications of this analysis are of value to strategic planners who want to understand how consumers respond to symbolically charged products.

Pressing sustainability issues face the 21st century, as identified by the Millennium Development Goals and its post initiatives, and ethical principles related to fairness, equity, and justice are increasingly important to address climate change and resource scarcities. Yet, such ethical dimensions remain surprisingly little addressed in the tourism literature. Ecofeminist critique offers insights into this gap, identifying historical antecedents in patriarchal, Enlightenment-driven discourses of science where positivistic approaches facilitate the control and use of nature and women. This chapter draws from this critique to propose a preliminary, justice-oriented framework to resituate sustainable tourism within an embodied paradigm that covers intangibles such as emotions, feelings, and an ethic of care.