The Dark Side of Market Practices: A Concerned View of Dieselgate in the Automotive Market System

Abstract

The paper examines Dieselgate by focusing on the role of actors in performing in and shaping the market, as a macromarketing issue. The focus on the automotive market system is due to the need to “make space for concern” and to become reflexive about the emergent dark side of its practices. To account for the practices of actors, a discourse analysis is used for the examination of the linguistic elements associated with the construction of social phenomena. This paper addresses the dark side of market practices. Market practices that are performed through mistakes and misconduct exert adverse effects on actors in their value co-creation processes. This investigation of Dieselgate in the automotive market system offers three main contributions: (1) a set of adverse constructs; (2) an understanding of the roles that such adverse factors and controversies play in market practices and (3) a multiplicity of viewpoints, concerns and controversies.