Consumers

Markets, Globalization & Development Review Volume 6 Number 4 Article 2 2021 Consumers' Perceptions of the Role of the Marketing System in Subjective Well-being Valcir Farias Faculdade Ciências Da Vida, Minas Gerais, Brazil Ramon Silva Leite Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Brazil Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/mgdr Part of the Anthropology Commons, Development Studies Commons, Economics Commons, Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, Marketing Commons, Other Business Commons, and the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Farias, Valcir and Leite, Ramon Silva (2021) "Consumers' Perceptions of the Role of the Marketing System in Subjective Well-being," Markets, Globalization & Development Review: Vol. 6: No. 4, Article 2. DOI: 10.23860/MGDR-2021-06-04-02 Available at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/mgdr/vol6/iss4/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Markets, Globalization & Development Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact . Consumers' Perceptions of the Role of the Marketing System in Subjective Wellbeing This article is available in Markets, Globalization & Development Review: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/mgdr/vol6/ iss4/2 Farias and Leite: Marketing System and Subjective Well-being Consumers’ Perceptions of the Role of the Marketing System in Subjective Well–Being Introduction Happiness is a colloquially used term which refers to subjective well– being (Kuykendall, Tay and NG 2015); therefore, in this article, these two terms shall be used interchangeably. Subjective well–being refers to a myriad of positive results in areas such as better social relationships, healthcare, and success at work (Diener and Chan 2011; Lyubomirsky, King and Diener 2005). It is, therefore, an important indicator of social progress (Diener and Seligman 2004). Indeed, it must be considered that the report issued by United Nations Organization (UNO) about the levels of happiness in society throughout 2018 (Rojas 2018), shows that in Latin America, including in Brazil, the level of happiness is high, despite poverty, insecurity, corruption and poor income distribution. When it comes to income, the level of inequality in Brazil is substantial. According to data from the World Bank (2020), among 164 countries, Brazil ranks in the 9th worst position in terms of inequality. Due to its size, Brazil also presents inequalities within its regions, having the South with the lowest level of inequality and the Northeast with the highest. Between 2014 and 2019, the income of the poorest 10% of the population dropped by 17%, whereas the income of the richest 1% grew by 10%. Among the poorest ones, 77% are black and brown–skinned, and among the richest ones over 70% are white– skinned (IBGE 2019). Regarding education, Brazil faces a complex situation, with almost 12 million illiterates: over half of adults aged between 25 and 64 dropped out before finishing high school. There are about two million children and teenagers aged, between 4 and 17, out of school. In terms of educational PISA scores, the country ranks 54th out of the 65 countries assessed (OECD 2018). When it comes to corruption, Brazil ranked 106 th in 2019 out of the 180 countries assessed, with a truly negative perception of the issue. Brazil features prominently in terms of corruption, with 35 points in transparency, according to Corruptions Perceptions Index, highlighting it as "one of the greatest obstacles to the country’s economic and social development" (Transparency International 2020). Facing this complex scenario, Brazil proves to be a relevant realm for research into the role of marketing systems in subjective well–being. Based on Rojas’ (2018) studies, it can be noted that whenever marketing systems had their performance compromised because of various issues – such as lack of credit to the consumer, Published by DigitalCommons@URI, 2021 1 Markets, Globalization & Development Review, Vol. 6 [2021], No. 4, Art. 2 income loss, soaring inflation, fewer public and private investments – it led to shrinkage of levels of happiness, showing that marketing systems do affect individuals and society’s subjective well–being. Rojas (2018) showed that the index of happiness in Brazil has decreased whenever the population’s access to consumption reduced; and, whenever marketing systems played a role to increase consumption, the levels of happiness also grew. Such perceptions have been corroborated by the data gathered from IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) in 2018 regarding family budget in Brazil, as well as data from other Latin American countries (Rojas 2018). Most studies about the influence of marketing systems upon subjective well–being focus on mature economies. More recently, studies on developing economies such as Turkey have been presented, (see Ekici and Peterson 2009; Peterson and Ekici 2007; Peterson, Ekici and Hunt 2010; Yurdakul, Atik and Dholakia 2017). There is a lack of research about this issue in Latin American markets, perhaps due to historical reasons. These cultures must deal with important oft–contradictory issues to generate high levels of happiness: on the one hand corruption, violence and high crime rates, economic difficulties, low per capita income; and, on the other hand, there is a reasonable availability of public goods and an average provision of health and education services. Therefore, this theoretical gap provides a justification for this research. The aim of this study is to describe the influence of the marketing system upon the subjective well–being of Brazilian consumers. In order to do so, 15 semi–structured interviews in the mid area of the state of Minas Gerais have been conducted and the collected data were analyzed through content analysis. The article offers four distinctive sections after the introduction: a theoretical review regarding marketing systems, subjective well–being and consumption; methodology; results; and conclusions. Theoretical Review Marketing system Voluntary economic exchanges of one or more goods, services, and ideas are crucial to the conceptualization of any marketing system. This system is an interdependent set of integrated and complex parts, parts that perform different tasks that can intersect with other systems and materialize in the actions of their agents who interact, communicate and exchange information (Layton 2011). Such a system has been found everywhere, from primitive societies to advanced and complex economies, and it can occur in different ways, from simple exchanges among small groups or even within themselves, to complex networks of https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/mgdr/vol6/iss4/2 DOI: 10.23860/MGDR-2021-06-04-02 2 Farias and Leite: Marketing System and Subjective Well-being companies of different sizes, which are linked (...truncated)