Is marketing's wellbeing agenda doing more harm than good?

There is no doubt that a lot of people in the marketing industry are having a hard time.

Andrew Tenzer and I have surveyed our industry on a range of wellbeing metrics. It makes stark reading: despite their privileged economic and social status, marketers, and particularly young marketers, are more likely than the general population to feel anxious and depressed and feel that their health limits their daily activities.

What is going on? One intriguing possibility is that the marketing worldview itself is making marketers ill…and our industry's wellbeing agenda may be doing more harm than good.

A fascinating study published in the British Journal of Social psychology offers a useful new perspective on the wellbeing crisis facing marketers. The research broadens the debate about neoliberalism beyond tribal politics to focus on how it makes people feel.

And it shows that holding, or merely being exposed to, neoliberal values and beliefs increases feelings of social disconnection, competition and loneliness which leads to a lower sense of overall wellbeing.

The implications for marketers are profound. The foundational values of our industry worldview (e.g. individual achievement, self-actualisation, the primacy of the market) are directly linked to a reduction peoples’ mental health.

My new artcile for The Drum considers the consequences of standing too close to the neoliberal flame..

Read more on The Drum here