Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Spring 1-1-2008 On the Use and Abuse of Nietzsche for Marketing Communication: Examining Consumer Suspicion toward Advertising Daniel Ulf Assmus Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Assmus, D. (2008). On the Use and Abuse of Nietzsche for Marketing Communication: Examining Consumer Suspicion toward Advertising (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/15 This Worldwide Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF NIETZSCHE FOR MARKETING COMMUNICATION: EXAMINING CONSUMER SUSPICION TOWARD ADVERTISING A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Daniel Ulf Assmus March 2008 Copyright by Daniel Ulf Assmus 2008 ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF NIETZSCHE FOR MARKETING COMMUNICATION: EXAMINING CONSUMER SUSPICION TOWARD ADVERTISING By Daniel Ulf Assmus March 12, 2008 APPROVED ____________________________________________________ Dr. Pat Arneson, Dissertation Director Associate Professor Department of Communication & Rhetorical Studies APPROVED ____________________________________________________ Dr. Calvin L. Troup, First Reader Associate Professor Department of Communication & Rhetorical Studies APPROVED ____________________________________________________ Dr. Ronald C. Arnett, Second Reader Professor Department of Communication & Rhetorical Studies APPROVED ____________________________________________________ Dr. Ronald C. Arnett, Chair Department of Communication & Rhetorical Studies APPROVED ____________________________________________________ Dr. Albert Labriola, Acting Dean McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts iii ABSTRACT ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF NIETZSCHE FOR MARKETING COMMUNICATION: EXAMINING CONSUMER SUSPICION TOWARD ADVERTISING By Daniel Ulf Assmus March 2008 Dissertation Supervised by Dr. Pat Arneson This study examines increasing consumer suspicion in light of contemporary marketing praxis. Immanuel Kant‘s concept of ―self-inflicted intellectual immaturity‖ is traced throughout 20th century marketing literature. A review of the public relations practices of Edward Bernays reveals a close similarity to recent concepts of integrated marketing communication (Schultz). This project contrasts marketing communication approaches grounded in mass psychology with the rational choice model of consumer behavior. These dualistic viewpoints are often regarded as mutually exclusive; however, this author proposes an ―integrated dualism‖ of marketing communication to provide consumers with ways to redeem rhetorical ―tokens‖ (Mayhew) that constitute the managerial rhetoric (Sproule) of advertising. ―Integrated dualism‖ constitutes an economic as well as ethical response to the multiplicity of the postmodern marketplace. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all I would like to thank Dr. Pat Arneson. Her invaluable advice as dissertation director kept me focused on the clarity of my arguments and on track with my project. Thanks also to Dr. Calvin L. Troup and Dr. Ronald C. Arnett who challenged my ideas with their unique subject knowledge which strengthened my dissertation. I appreciate the faculty of the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Duquesne University as well as my peers for supporting my struggle with the rhetoric of the marketplace and for enduring my sometimes very German viewpoints. Especially Jeanne M. Persuit was a great friend whose feedback facilitated this dissertation project. This project would not have been possible without the generous funding I received from the Center for International Regulatory Assistance. The continuous financial and moral support my parents and sister have given me over the years was truly exceptional. Most importantly, I wish to thank my best friend and soul mate Andrea who showed incredible patience during my four-year absence. Her pragmatism always challenges my philosophical ideas in the most refreshing way. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgement .............................................................................................................. v List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: The Need for Alternatives in Marketing Communication ................................ 1 Consumer Suspicion toward Advertising ............................................................... 6 Limitations of a Quantitative Understanding of Consumer Reactions to Advertising .............................................................................................................. 9 The Strive for Social Acceptance of Advertising ................................................. 14 Decrease in Effectiveness of Advertising Messages ............................................ 17 Constructive Hermeneutics and Postmodern Interpretation ................................. 19 Chapter 2: A History of Public Disinterestedness ............................................................ 24 Immanuel Kant‘s Concept of Self-Inflicted Intellectual Immaturity .................... 25 Friedrich Nietzsche on the Struggle for Autonomous Self-Determination .......... 30 The Issue of a Passive Public According to Walter Lippmann ............................ 41 Jürgen Habermas‘s ―Understanding‖ as Civic Duty ............................................. 45 Gerard Hauser‘s Postmodern Attention to Vernacular Voices ............................. 48 Marketplace Implications...................................................................................... 52 Chapter 3: Modern Traditions in the Marketplace ............................................................ 54 Edward Bernays and the Herd Metaphor .............................................................. 56 Edward Bernays‘s Integrated Approach to Marketing Communication Versus a ―Magic Bullet‖ Theory of Message Transmission................................................ 62 vi Audience Responsibility in Walter Fisher‘s Narrative Paradigm and Integrated Marketing Communication as the New ―Magic Bullet‖ ....................................... 66 Managerial Rhetoric and Leon Mayhew‘s Concept of Rhetorical Tokens ........... 75 On the Use and Abuse of Nietzsche‘s Ideology for Marketing Communication . 79 Chapter 4: Integrated Dualism .......................................................................................... 85 The Cartesian Mind-Body Dichotomy in Modern Marketing Communication ... 89 Integrating Concepts of Dualism .......................................................................... 92 ―Integrated Dualism‖ in Marketing Communication ............................................ 98 The ―Ideal Marketer‖ Based on Friedrich Nietzsche‘s Zarathustra .................... 105 Chapter 5: A Postmodern Praxis of Marketing Communication .................................... 110 The Current Condition of Marketing Communication ....................................... 110 A Dualistic View of Intellectual Maturity in the Marketplace ........................... 113 Krombacher‘s Rainforest Campaign................................................................... 121 Moral Coercion—Legal and Ethical Objections to Cause Marketing ................ 124 Dualism in Light of the Krombacher Campaign................................................. 127 Conclusions and Implications ............................................................................. 130 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 136 vii LIST OF ACRONYMS For in-text citations, this project utilizes the following, commonly accepted abbreviations for the works by Friedrich Nietzsche. Common English translations of these titles are also listed. AC ―Der Antichrist‖ The Antichrist GD ―Götzen-Dämmerung‖ Twilight of the Idols GT ―Die Geburt der Tragödie‖ The Birth of Tragedy JGB ―Jenseits von Gut und Böse‖ Beyond Good and Evil MAM Menschliches, Allzumenschliches Human, All Too Human UBHL ―Vom Nutzen und Nachteil On the Use and Abuse of History for Life der Historie für das Leben‖ WL ―Ueber Wahrheit und Lüge On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense im aussermoralischen Sinne‖ Z Also Sprach Zarathustra Thus Spoke Zarathustra viii Chapter 1: The Need for Alternatives in Marketing Communication ―When the word is present and the action rings hollow, we open the door to routine cynicism and to a distrust of language.‖ (Arnett and Arneson 18) This dissertation responds to a contemporary problem in marketing communication. Customer wants and needs have diversified in step with the growing competition of media channels and product and service offerings. Market transparency has reached an unparalleled high with the help of information technology. Consequently, market forces have first shifted from manufacturers to retailers and subsequently to consumers. Frequent disappointment in the claims of advertising