Volume 14, No. 1, June 2015

Deconstructing Financial Services Advertising in the Run Up to

the Great Recession: The Case of the Live Richly Campaign


Noel Murray
Argyros School of Business & Economics, Chapman University , U.S.A.
Ajay Manrai
Department of Business Administration, University of Delaware , U.S.A.
Lalita Manrai
Department of Business Administration, University of Delaware , U.S.A.


Abstract


The paper uses critical theory to analyze the impact of financial services advertising on consumer behavior in the run up to the Great Recession. One influential advertising campaign, the Citibank Live Richly campaign, is examined as an important situational variable, setting the context for poor consumer decision-making regarding financial services and consumer debt-related products. Critical realism is offered up as a promising methodology to examine the broader institutional and regulatory framework surrounding financial services advertising.



Key words : d econstruction ; financial services advertising ; g reat r ecession ;
critical realism ; BAPCPA ; Citibank
JEL classification : M31 ; M37 ; M38

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