EXPRESS: Confronting Cultural Appropriation: Toward the Ethical Marketing of Cultural Difference

Abstract

Brands that engage in cultural difference marketing—the use of elements from another culture to create novelty, distinction, and value—face increasing public scrutiny over the issue of potential cultural appropriation. Yet the question of how brands can ethically address this issue while continuing to pursue the benefits of cultural difference marketing remains undertheorized, leaving many brands to respond reactively. Drawing on foundational social theory and an extended qualitative study of the Korean pop (K-pop) industry, this work synthesizes key ethical concerns about cultural appropriation. It identifies three distinct facets of cultural appropriation harm that brands may inflict when ..