In this first ever episode of the Slow Reckoning Podcast, I speak with Tejvir Sekhon, a Professor of Marketing at West Washington University, about using marketing’s powerful tools for social good.
We discuss Tejvir’s research focus on consumer wellbeing, moral decision making, and sustainable consumption, and discusses his work on “conspicuous anti-consumption,” including how brands like Patagonia can make reduced consumption socially legible.
We also unpack status signaling beyond wealth, the role of choice architecture in everyday decisions, and how marketing and money shape preferences in markets and politics.
In the second half, we review some of Tejvir’s poetic reflections on consumer dilemmas and parenting pressures, that he has been posting on social media—from Halloween candy and kids’ devices to competitive parenting, Costco waste, and longevity marketing.
00:00 Welcome and Introductions
01:00 Marketing for Social Good
04:11 Conspicuous Anti Consumption
08:29 Patagonia and Profit Logic
12:30 Poetic Consumer Dilemmas
16:42 Choice Sets and Blame
19:17 Ads Politics and Preferences
23:00 Parenting in a Yes World
27:44 Costco Bulk and Waste
29:25 Longevity Market Solutions
33:30 Scaling Sustainable Marketing
38:31 Hope in Future Marketers
40:11 Closing Thanks and Wrap
