Expert: Paradigm shift in marketing needed to go beyond mere profit-seeking

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Marketing science expert and Professor at President University, Prof Jhanghiz Syahrivar, stated that a paradigm shift in marketing science is necessary, moving from merely seeking business profits to being more oriented towards justice and social responsibility.

In his statement in Jakarta on Friday, Prof Jhanghiz views marketing as a force that helps shape how society understands responsibility and gains social recognition through consumption.

“Through market mechanisms, moral burdens are distributed, social meanings are produced, and power relations are institutionalised in forms that often appear reasonable,” he said.

Therefore, he encourages academics to begin developing research that is genuinely oriented towards consumer empowerment and the ethical responsibility of business entities.

Furthermore, he emphasised the need to shift fundamental questions in marketing practice from merely seeking what benefits the company to what is fair, appropriate, and responsible.

According to Jhanghiz, marketing must be understood comprehensively as part of a social system that is always closely linked to structures, institutions, and power dynamics in society.

Marketing is seen as having a significant public responsibility not only to serve the interests of a handful of corporations in the market but also the broader interests of society.

“If marketing is taught and practised without moral courage, it will become an efficient but empty discipline. However, if built on social responsibility and ethics, marketing can become one of the most influential forces in shaping the nation’s future,” he said.