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Poverty Porn as a Sign of a Postcolonial Wall Between “Us” and “Them”

Kaskure, Nadezda LU and Krivorotko, Jana LU (2014) BUSN39 20141
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
One of the problems that people were trying to overcome for years is poverty. Almost half of the
population lives on $2.50 a day. However, it appears that poverty could also be seen as the symbolic
resource rather than a financial state. So called “poverty porn” is being widely used by NGOs for
marketing purposes as a tool for fundraising. This research presents the analysis of poverty porn
through postcolonial lens, narrative theory and own reflection upon colonialism imprints in
marketing of poverty. The aim of this research is to uncover the problems of social marketing such
as a stereotyped representation of poverty that is being widely used by NGOs for fundraising
purposes. The research question addresses two issues:... (More)
One of the problems that people were trying to overcome for years is poverty. Almost half of the
population lives on $2.50 a day. However, it appears that poverty could also be seen as the symbolic
resource rather than a financial state. So called “poverty porn” is being widely used by NGOs for
marketing purposes as a tool for fundraising. This research presents the analysis of poverty porn
through postcolonial lens, narrative theory and own reflection upon colonialism imprints in
marketing of poverty. The aim of this research is to uncover the problems of social marketing such
as a stereotyped representation of poverty that is being widely used by NGOs for fundraising
purposes. The research question addresses two issues: firstly, it highlights necessity to analyze how
poverty is being used for marketing purposes and, secondly, it addresses a need to define consumer
attitudes and responses towards it. By examining these two aspects we aim to address poverty
marketing from a reflexive perspective since we perform analysis from both researchers’ and
consumers’ perspective. Consequently it enables us to perform a qualitative research which
contributes to optimization of marketing practices so it could stand in line with objectives of social
marketing.
The issue of poverty marketing and poverty porn was addressed in this qualitative study by
critically analyzing three cases and eight interviews through applying narrative and postcolonialism
theory. As a result we have identified various positions towards poverty marketing such as sadness,
happiness, mistrust, neutrality, shock, savior, empowerment, survivor, disguise and many more. The
research shows that poverty porn practice appears to be reinforcing the distinction between the West
and the non-West since the advertisements are directed towards the representation of “the inferior
other” and is more likely to provoke financial donations rather than social involvement. In other
words, poverty porn plays a major role in positioning the West as more superior and empowered as
they are the ones who can “save the other”. The roles of the superior West are basically being
exaggerated in the advertisements. Thus one could say that such poverty marketing does not stand
in line with social marketing and its intention to transform society for a common good.
The outcome of the study is that there are definite pros and cons of a current marketing of poverty;
however, it has to be adjusted to make sure it reaches original objectives of social marketing. The
contribution of the research can be presented in four points since (1) this is a critical reflexive study,
(2) which addresses notion of “poverty porn”, and (3) is analyzed from a postcolonial perspective
by (4) the use of a qualitative research method. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Kaskure, Nadezda LU and Krivorotko, Jana LU
supervisor
organization
course
BUSN39 20141
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
poverty porn, postcolonial theory, poverty, NGO, marketing, advertisement, critical study
language
English
id
4460603
date added to LUP
2014-06-26 11:39:43
date last changed
2014-06-26 11:39:43
@misc{4460603,
  abstract     = {{One of the problems that people were trying to overcome for years is poverty. Almost half of the 
population lives on $2.50 a day. However, it appears that poverty could also be seen as the symbolic 
resource rather than a financial state. So called “poverty porn” is being widely used by NGOs for 
marketing purposes as a tool for fundraising. This research presents the analysis of poverty porn 
through postcolonial lens, narrative theory and own reflection upon colonialism imprints in 
marketing of poverty. The aim of this research is to uncover the problems of social marketing such 
as a stereotyped representation of poverty that is being widely used by NGOs for fundraising 
purposes. The research question addresses two issues: firstly, it highlights necessity to analyze how 
poverty is being used for marketing purposes and, secondly, it addresses a need to define consumer 
attitudes and responses towards it. By examining these two aspects we aim to address poverty 
marketing from a reflexive perspective since we perform analysis from both researchers’ and 
consumers’ perspective. Consequently it enables us to perform a qualitative research which 
contributes to optimization of marketing practices so it could stand in line with objectives of social 
marketing. 
The issue of poverty marketing and poverty porn was addressed in this qualitative study by 
critically analyzing three cases and eight interviews through applying narrative and postcolonialism 
theory. As a result we have identified various positions towards poverty marketing such as sadness, 
happiness, mistrust, neutrality, shock, savior, empowerment, survivor, disguise and many more. The 
research shows that poverty porn practice appears to be reinforcing the distinction between the West 
and the non-West since the advertisements are directed towards the representation of “the inferior 
other” and is more likely to provoke financial donations rather than social involvement. In other 
words, poverty porn plays a major role in positioning the West as more superior and empowered as 
they are the ones who can “save the other”. The roles of the superior West are basically being 
exaggerated in the advertisements. Thus one could say that such poverty marketing does not stand 
in line with social marketing and its intention to transform society for a common good. 
The outcome of the study is that there are definite pros and cons of a current marketing of poverty; 
however, it has to be adjusted to make sure it reaches original objectives of social marketing. The 
contribution of the research can be presented in four points since (1) this is a critical reflexive study, 
(2) which addresses notion of “poverty porn”, and (3) is analyzed from a postcolonial perspective 
by (4) the use of a qualitative research method.}},
  author       = {{Kaskure, Nadezda and Krivorotko, Jana}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Poverty Porn as a Sign of a Postcolonial Wall Between “Us” and “Them”}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}