Our Planet Consumption and Well Being: A Responsible Encountering of Marketing, Self and Nature

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

About The Book

Today humanity is driven by sparkles, features, gadgets, and fast products and this has become the mantra of living. During the pursuit of material acquisition, man has developed an emptiness something humanity is blissfully unaware of. Organizations are in the race for production and pushing products in the market which results in aggressive advertising, and it tends to create a need that is not there. In the altar of profit and aggressive marketing, the ecological cycle and intrinsic value of nature are overlooked. A false sense of need which in turn is morphed into desire is created and this is an endless cycle. The book has taken a deep dive in consumerism phenomenology and considered diverse aspects like ecology, sustainability, biodiversity, phenomenology, human consumption, and perspectives from eastern philosophy and modern science to delve into consumption, planet, and wellbeing.

About the Author

DR. SUMIT ROY has over thirty years of experience in Industry and Training, having worked with Dunlop India Ltd, Murugappa Group, Pegasus HRD Pvt Ltd, Seed Infotech Ltd. A Clinical Psychologist by passion his specializations include Eastern and Western philosophy, Cognitive science, Leadership Development, Consciousness Studies, Environmental philosophy, Upanishads, Design Thinking, and Entrepreneurship. He has Five Masters in Humanities, and his Doctoral thesis was in Applied Ethics. He has published several papers and is the author of the book titled "Biosphere ethics". Certified as an Entrepreneurship Educator jointly from Stanford Technology Venture, USA and IIM Bangalore, Certified in Psychometrics for Competency assessment, Certified in Case Method of Teaching from IIM Indore, he is also a practicing psychometrician. He is an active researcher in Environmental Philosophy, Sustainability, Cognitive Neurosciences, experiential learnings, consciousness, Indian Scriptures, and indigenous knowledge.

Preface

This book is the journey of my travels and the insights I have gained while I have worked in the rural pockets of India. My journey began in the year 1992 and continued till 2010 and thereafter it was research and my inquiry in the area of environmental ethics. In the period of my professional work I was engaged with the tyre and plastic industry and at the same time dealt with the farmers, sarpanchs and dealers mostly in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. I was always thrilled by the rustic scenes of nature. The profession I was into initially was a paradox where the products of my organisation were an antithesis to nature and at the same time, I had to maintain my job to survive and feed my family. It was then I dwelled in existential angst by two opposing thoughts and remained perplexed. A time came when it became intolerable to continue my profession as I was getting more sensitive to nature. So to give vent to my angst, I delved into avid reading and eventually made a career in research and consulting.

My observation moved around people's excessive consumption. Man's pursuit of living life to the fullest has become synonymous with consumption, with many of the negative consequences we see today. It is well known that sustainable consumption encompasses the sustainable management of resources. Considerations for the natural environment and having the right perspective of referring to the interplay between people, consumption, and nature is a matter of concern now.

Foreword

When I was shown this book there was an immediate positive response in that the key elements correspond precisely with research that I and a group of historians, Vedic astrologers and fellow philosophers have been working on for more than 30 years. Dr Roy's assumption that we are mired in an age of consumption, glitter, and product promotion can also be expressed as living in a materialistic oriented society where spiritual values are compromised. What added to my perspective is the way he relates the state of humanity as being driven by gadgets, gizmos, and glamour which has become the mantra of living. In the midst of living gainfully through material profit, man has developed a vacuum something which humanity needs to acknowledge. Reading Dr Roy's book will help bring clarity to this first stage- acknowledging the problem and then it also offers guidance on the journey going forward. What follows is a brief outline of the scenario he presents.

Society today is dominated by economics which in turn is highly reliant on the success of business. This creates a highly competitive atmosphere in business, one where organisations are in the race of production and pushing products in the market, resulting in aggressive advertising which tends to create a need that is not actually there. A false sense of need which in turn is morphed into increasing the number of desires inevitably leads to excess. What gets disregarded is the true needs of society and the environment at large.

Introduction

It is the age of feasting, shimmer, and promotion, man is awed by outer projection and gets stuck in the realm of products and their features. Today humanity is driven by sparkles, features and fast foods and this has become the mantra of living. In the midst of pursuit of material acquisition, man has developed an emptiness something humanity is blissfully unaware of. Organisations are in the race of production and pushing products in the market which results in aggressive advertising and which tends to create a need that is not actually there. A false sense of need which in turn is morphed into desire is created and this is an endless cycle. More the production, more the need to liquidate the produced goods and this leads to manipulating people to consume. What gets disregarded is society and the environment at large. Marketing ethics is a multidimensional phenomenon and also an opportunity for companies to invest in and gain insights to invoke positive brand image and consumer perception in the context of the environment. While there is an important body of academic literature on business ethics there is limited research on the relationship between marketing ethics and ecology. Current research remains inconclusive about how strongly ethical considerations feature in the consumer's purchase decisions and the link between consumer behaviour and ecology requires further investigation. This study hopes to shed light on this particular research gap.

The Rationale of the Book

This is a book of marketing ethics, consumption taking on environment, sustainability and well-being as a point of reference. Marketing as a discipline is pervasive in contemporary times. Our present culture is a product of development in the industry and the range of products and services that the industry offers. The dominant dimensions which make industries to become successful are production and marketing. As seen in the present generation, people are consumption-centric and always desire to have more. On investigating, what has made people desire more products and services, it can be seen that marketing fuels consumers to consume more. What marketing disregards is the impact that it is creating on the natural resources and its long-term effects in the larger community and now it is altering the very habits and lifestyle of the common man. Despite knowing the impact of marketing on a larger societal, environmental, and cultural context a brief conceptual study is done from the perspective of the phenomena of the earth and applied ethics. The study draws and weaves multiple disciplines like marketing and philosophy and analyses various issues in the context of environmental sustainability. The approach adopted here is an interdisciplinary one. As the scope of the study is broad it makes sense to keep the investigation focused on the issues of marketing ethics, green marketing, consumption, and eco phenomenology. The central tenet however is the environment and marketing, criticisms and arguments are presented in the context of sustaining our natural resources.