Tribal Marketing After Covid: Consuming Together in an Age of Social Distance

Jack Coffin, Department of Materials, University of Manchester, UK

Bernard Cova, KEDGE Business School, Marseille, France

Avi Shankar, Centre of Business, Organisations and Society, University of Bath, UK

“It is only now, when I have to avoid many of those who are close to me, that I fully
experience their presence, their importance to me” (Žižek, 2020, p.3).

Against the atomism of mainstream marketing theory, neo-tribal theorisations argue

that consumers value products and services that can create and sustain connections (Cova,
1997). These ‘postmodern’ connections can constellate into ephemeral ensembles of
societal recomposition known as consumer tribes (Cova and Cova, 2002), whose convivality
and creativity can be used to explain how markets emerge and evolve in late capitalism
(Cova, Kozinets, and Shankar, 2007; Mamali, Nuttall, and Shankar, 2018). Consumer tribes
are now a mainstay of marketing theory (Goulding, Shankar, and Canniford, 2013;
Woermann, 2017). However, ‘liquid’ perspectives have countered that the tribal desire to
connect is dissolving under the precarious pressures and pleasures of late modernity, which
engender individualistic consumers who value instrumentality more highly (Bardhi and
Eckhardt, 2017). At the same time, the polarising events of Brexit and the election of Donald
Trump have been associated with the emergence of political tribes (Chua, 2018). In present-
day discourse the term ‘tribalism’ is increasingly associated with passion and kinship but
also self-segregation, structural apathy, and the stigmatisation of out-group Others.

Although it seems that the era of postmodern marketing is drawing to a close (Cova,
Maclaran, and Bradshaw, 2013), the emergence of Covid-19 has demonstrated an enduring
desire for meaningful connections and embodied experiences. As we are all implored to
remain ‘socially distant’, an interpersonal link can become more valuable than ever. Then
again, social links now carry with them the very real fear of pathogens, potentially creating
anti-tribal paranoias that may counter desires to connect. Indeed, viable vaccines now come
into contact with a growing ‘anti-vax’ movement, highlighting how scientific and social
discourses are infused with ideological considerations. The election of Joe Biden and the
ejection of leading ‘Brexiteers’ from Boris Johnson’s cabinet also provide the possibility for a
different kind of politics to emerge. However, after years of polarised debates it remains to
be seen whether political tribes can be reconciled, especially at a time when a global
pandemic continues to disrupt everyday life.

Tribal thinking is ‘troubled’ by these recent events, in the Butlerian (1990) sense that
taken-for-granted assumptions become the object of direct and detailed consideration. As
such, there is a need for papers taking a critical tribal perspective, papers that are willing to
deconstruct the postmodern trope of tribalism in order to reconstruct neo-tribal theory for
the post-postmodern zeitgeist of radical realism (Cova et al. 2013). Papers that pay
attention to the role of markets and marketing are particularly important at a time when
face-to-face service industries are facing an existential crisis (e.g. airlines and hospitality)
while other companies see their stocks soar (e.g. Amazon). Covid-19 also creates novel
relationships between markets, as demonstrated when the Pfizer-BioNTech press releases
caused the value of Zoom to plummet (Monica, 2020), but it also disentangles long-
established synergies, as shown by the declining fortunes of city-centre food providers as
office employees work from home (Ford, 2020). As ever, the changing character of tribal
tendencies are intimately entwined into broader market structures, requiring papers that
consider the first-hand phenomenological experience of Covid-19 but also the broader
‘context of contexts’ that shape market societies during a pandemic (Askegaard and Linnet,
2011). For instance, governments have responded to the pandemic with unprecedented
state interventions that challenge the neoliberal status quo and highlight how free-markets
are a choice rather than an irrefutable fact of life (Žižek, 2020). As a consequence, Covid-19
elucidates the ideological contours of the market and opens up spaces for more critical
research to take place (Fitchett et al. 2014).

Marketing Theory has long been the home of critical tribal studies, publishing
papers that challenge scholars to keep tribal thinking fresh rather than succumb to the
ossification of orthodoxy (e.g. Cova, 2005; O’Reilly, 2012; Jones, 2020), as well as papers
that explore the shadowy sides of tribal phenomena (e.g. Cova and Dalli, 2009; Cova, Dalli,
and Zwick, 2011; Sinclair and Dolan, 2015; Wickstrom, Denny, and Hietanen, 2020). At this
critical juncture and in this critical outlet we call for papers that address how tribal thinking
may need to be transformed to respond to markets in the era of Covid-19 and after. Papers
may be conceptual or empirical, with the guest editors open to a wide variety of
methodological approaches and theoretical traditions. Submissions are encouraged that
address the social, ideological, political, or material implications of Covid-19's interaction
with marketing phenomena:

 The invigoration of linking value under quarantine, perhaps in relation to other

concepts like Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)
 The emergence of de-linking value as interpersonal contact becomes dangerous and,
in some cases, even deadly
 The re-evaluation of virtual interactions in relation to face-to-face contact: from
embodied brand tribes to electronic brand publics, and back and forth again?
 The impact of Covid-19 on the shared passion of ageing tribe members - such as
bikers, hoggers and other jeepers – who are considered more vulnerable to the virus
 Escaping Quarantine: the powers and problems of public places
 At a market level, the consequences of Covid-19 on entire industries like hospitality
which are predicated on the tribal desire to gather together
 The dark side of tribalism, such as conspiracy theories abound in an era of electronic
echo-chambers and self-isolation, and how these effects might be mitigated
 The changing face of tribalism in the post-postmodern zeitgeist of political realism,
such as politicised consumer movements (with or without face coverings)
 What becomes of Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) with the potential demise of
tribalism and marketplace cultures?
 How might critical marketing perspectives contribute to these debates? Particularly
welcome are those that critically consider how Covid-19 brings into focus the
ideological contours of consumer culture (Fitchett et al. 2014) and the possibility (or
necessity) of a post-capitalist future (Žižek, 2020).

The above list is not exhaustive, but rather suggestive of the possible topics that
contributions might explore. The deadline for submission is Friday the 17th of December
2021. Papers accepted are expected to be online by 2022 with the final hard copy
publication out in 2023. Authors are encouraged to refer to the Marketing Theory website
for instructions on submitting a paper and for more information about the journal.
Manuscripts should be submitted, as normal, through the ScholarOne Manuscripts portal
https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/mtq. Expressions of interest and questions about
expectations, requirements, etc. should be directed to the guest authors.

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