Example marketing strategies dissertation topic 2:

The remarketing of personal debt as acceptable: A post 1980s phenomenon?

Personal debt and levels of insolvency are at an all-time high. Inspired by cheaper lending rates in the mid 1990s it can be argued that the true start of this period of increased consumption lay with the liberalisation of the markets under Thatcher. Today, the acceptance of living on ‘the never-never’ is far more acceptable socially than was the case in the immediate post-war generation. That debt is acceptable and that purchasing on higher credit is the way to ‘have now that which one cannot afford’ has been a marketing success story epitomised by slogans such as ‘pay nothing for a year and then take four years interest free credit’. This dissertation charts the rise of such marketing ploys and contextualises and assesses their impact upon issues of wealth creation and materialism over the last 25 years.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Braunsberger, K., Lucas, L.A. and Roach, D. (2004) ‘The effectiveness of credit-card regulation for vulnerable consumers’, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 18(5), pp.358-370.
• Dellande, S. and Saporoschenko, A. (2004) ‘Factors in gaining compliance toward an acceptable level of personal unsecured debt’, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 22(4), pp.279-290.