探討非正當性交換活動—通往理解黑暗行銷之道

Abstract

一直以來，黑市中繁多的經濟變動與相關支援活動，都被排除在一般界定的行銷範疇之外。行銷文獻對於黑色行銷的緘默是不尋常的，畢竟這些活動在全球的普遍性、總值、以及對於消費者偏好與選擇的影響，與檯面上合法的市場相似。緣此，本論文旨在透過兩篇研究探討黑色行銷的面向。第一篇研究脈絡化黑色行銷在傳統行銷範疇關係之活動，另一篇則是基於一個特殊、常見於黑色行銷卻鮮少被研究的現象，發展出概念化的流程模式。 第一篇研究始於行銷文獻的回顧，揭露出鮮少被探究、且不在傳統行銷詮釋範圍內的非法交易。一直以來，行銷幾乎都專注在創造正向知覺價值（對交易雙方）的合法交易上。本研究將界定並解釋許多造成行銷學界缺乏檢視這些現象的主要障礙。接著，本研究將介紹由各種不同類型交易活動所構成的概念性架構，包含非法交易。該架構係基於行銷與其他相關文獻的延伸回顧，基於三個軸面來區分交易活動：價值、合法性、以及自由意志。研究結果呈現出一個可被分割為16大區塊的概念性行銷領域。本論文對於行銷文獻的貢獻，在於界定、敘述、與脈絡化許多一直到最近才被免於排除於行銷活動之外的非合法交易活動。本研究亦克服文獻回顧中所界定的大多困難。其架構提供未來相關議題研究的導引，同時也意味著許多既存行銷理論/模型是需要被重新檢視的，以釐清過去被忽略的黑色行銷活動可能帶來的影響。本研究最後也探討研究架構的限制及意涵。 第二篇研究則針對上一篇概念架構所提之黑色行銷活動，針對其中一種特定且不常被討論的活動進行檢視：騙局。構成騙局的多樣化交易活動，都享有非合法性、單向或負面價值傳遞、與詐欺等特徵。由於騙局遍及於全球市場以及消費者的日常生活，因此這是一項重要的研究探索。再者，騙局直接且間接影響其所仿效的合法行銷物件之行銷與知覺。儘管該議題重要，既有行銷觀點的研究卻相當有限且分歧。本實證研究旨在填補這樣的知識缺口。本研究的資料蒐集自多重來源，包含警局與政府網站、網路上的自我陳述、媒體文章、以及面對面受害者的深入訪談。後續分析則採取社會文化認知觀點並應用質化研究方法，發展受害者接受騙局的過程模型。受害流程始於處理真實性時的思考錯誤，並因欠缺意識與非意識層次的處理而持續。根據此模型，受害者將騙局處理為真實的文化資訊（CI），但事實上CI是被仿製的。本研究亦界定並分類經常被仿製的CI，以強調出騙局所利用的常見思考錯誤。該模型也呈現出，輔助的注意力分散與混淆的CI如何迫使受害者自願移轉價值給詐騙者。本篇論文最後透過討論模型對於一般行銷與社會行銷的意涵而歸論總結，並且提出數個可在未來研究中進一步驗證的命題。同樣地，本研究亦討論研究架構的限制。

The many economic exchanges and supporting activities found in black markets have long remained outside marketing academia’s generally recognized scope. Marketing literature’s silence towards black marketing is unusual considering these activities’ global prevalence, aggregate value, and the many influences they have on consumer preferences and choices in underground and legitimate markets alike. This thesis explores aspects of black marketing in two essays. One essay contextualizes black marketing activities in relation to the scope of conventional marketing. The other develops a conceptual process model based on an empirical examination of a specific group of seldom studied but frequently encountered black marketing phenomena. The first essay begins with a review of the marketing literature, which reveals illegitimate exchanges have seldom been investigated because they do not fall within conventional interpretations of marketing. Instead marketing has focused almost exclusively on legitimate exchanges that create positive perceived value (to both parties). Several main obstacles that have contributed to marketing academia’s lack of interest in these phenomena are also identified and explained. Next a conceptual framework is introduced that underlies all different types of exchange activities including illegitimate ones. This framework, which is grounded on an extensive review of marketing and other relevant literatures, classifies exchange activities along three dimensions: value, legal legitimacy, and free will. The result is a conceptual marketing universe that can be divided into 16 sectors. This essay contributes to the marketing literature by identifying, describing, and contextualizing the many illegitimate exchange activities have been mostly excluded until now. It also overcomes most of the obstacles identified in the literature review. This framework provides a guide for future research that wishes to explore relevant topics. It also implies that many existing marketing theories/models can be reexamined to identify the possible influences of black marketing activities that initially went unnoticed. The limitations and implications of this framework are also discussed. The second essay investigates one specific and infrequently discussed black marketing activity that was identified in the previously proposed conceptual framework—scams. The diverse exchange activities that make up this group share the characteristics of illegitimacy, one-way or negative-value transfer, and the use of deception. This is an important research inquiry because scams pervade global markets and consumers’ everyday lives. Furthermore scams directly and indirectly affect the marketing and perception of the legitimate marketing objects they imitate. Despite this topic’s importance, existing research from a marketing perspective is extremely limited and disparate. This empirical study helps fill this knowledge gap. Data for this study was gathered from multiple sources including police and governmental websites, online self-reports, media articles, and face-to-face in-depth victim interviews. The subsequent analysis took a sociocultural-cognitive perspective and utilized a qualitative research methodology, which led to the development of the process model of victim acceptance of scams. The process of victimization begins with thinking errors during authenticity processing and continues with default processes at both conscious and nonconscious levels. According to this model victims process scams as authentic cultural information (CI) when in fact the CI is mimicked. Frequently mimicked types of CI are also identified and classified, which helps highlight the common thinking errors that scams take advantage of. The model also shows how supplementary distracting and confounding CI helps compel victims to voluntarily transfer value to the scammer. The essay concludes with a discussion of the implications of this model to both marketing in general and social marketing in particular. Several propositions are also introduced that can be tested in future research. Limitations of the current framework are likewise discussed.