Intersubjectivity In Gabriel Marcel’s Ontology, A Philosophical Basis For Marketing Communicationwork

ABSTRACT

This study amplifies the argument of the thesis that the practice of dehumanizing, alienating and disconnecting man in the course of marketing communication can be addressed through the adoption of Gabriel Marcel's philosophy of intersubjectivity. Man's dehumanization, alienation and disconnection throw up fundamental obstructions and misconceptions in the present-day understanding and practice of marketing communication, making it imperative for philosophy to clear the impediments and chart a new and compelling path.

Contemporary marketing communication is confronted by three basic problems. The first problem is dehumanization - the treatment of man as an object or a number and subsequent replacement by product in terms of importance, positioning and relevance through the method of communication in marketing. The second is alienation - the stripping and transferring of the inherent attributes of man to product through perennial misuse of communication in marketing. The third is separatism - the lack of synergy among the various elements of marketing communication in theory, pedagogy and practice. These problems, without doubt, have caused human disaffection and unfettered suspicion within the enterprise of marketing communication, and exposed the far-reaching inability of the enterprise to appreciate the nature of man.