Herbert Jack Rotfeld
essays, notes and observations

Published in a variety of
academic journals, newspapers, magazines, professional newsletters and
internet commentary lines, the essays selected below examine the
conventional wisdom of business education, discuss common marketing
practices, comment on the role of advertising and marketing in modern
society, and critically assess the nature of higher education
activities.
Of special interest
→ When Class Materials Collide, a note to students for when they feel two courses give them contradictory information
→ "The
Textbook Effect: Conventional Wisdom, Myth, and Error in Marketing,"
Journal of Marketing, 64 (April 2000): 122-6
→ A tale of "Test Time in Verse"
→ PowerPoint
Crimes, a storyboard of Presentation Guidance from a
Charisma-Challenged Geriatric Professor
→ PowerPoint Crimes essay describing violations of the basic three rules for mass communications
→ The
Suicide of Ad-Supported Television, a MediaNewsDaily commentary of
MediaPost.com
→
For marketing elective courses, standard
syllabi language for textbooks selection, learning goals &
trigger warnings
→ A University
Pandemic Teaching Guide for managing teaching & students during
COVID-19 infection dangers
→ Analysis of the inherent limits
to the power of business (& advertising) self-regulation, Journal
of Public Policy & Marketing, 11 (Spring 1992): 87-95
→ "Fear
Appeals and Persuasion: Assumptions and Errors in Advertising Research,"
Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 11 (#1,
1988): 21-40
→ "The
Advertising Regulation & Self-Regulation Issues Ripped from the
Headlines with (Sometimes Missed) Opportunities for Disciplined
Multidisciplinary Research," Journal of Advertising, 38 (Winter
2009): 5-14 [with C.R. Taylor]
Teaching, higher
education and other campus illusions
"
Please
Waste Your Money On Me,"
The Irascible Professor (January
11, 2005)
"
Classes
for the Sake of Research,"
AMS Quarterly, 6 (January 2004):
12
"
Endowed
Faculty Chairs are a Waste of Money (Except Mine),"
Journal of
Consumer Marketing, 21 (#2, 2004): 94-6
"
School
for the Sake of Football,"
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (October
14, 2001): F3
"
Evaluating
the Point of Grades,"
AMS Quarterly, 4 (June 2000): 7
"
Lights!!
Cameras!! PowerPoint!! Now. . . Lecture!!"
AMS Quarterly, 3
(February 2000): 7
"
More
Eclectic Stories I Didn't Want to Hear,"
AMS Quarterly, 3
(November 1999): 8
"
The Life of Homo Academicus,"
Marketing
Educator, 18 (Summer 1999): 4
"
Directives
for Quality Control of Faculty Activity,"
AMS Quarterly, 3
(Spring 1999): 5
"
Marketing
Wisdom of Dagwood, Hagar or Charlie Brown,"
AMS Quarterly, 2
(December 1998): 5
"
Hello, Bird, I'm Learning Ornithology,"
Marketing
Educator, 17 (Fall 1998): 4, 6
"
Libraries,
Learning and Dirty Sandals,"
Marketing Educator, 17 (Summer
1998): 1, 8
"
Grades, Grief
and Gratuitous Genial Graduations,"
Marketing Educator, 17
(Spring 1998): 8, 10
"
Are These
Lists Really Necessary?"
Marketing Educator, 17 (Winter
1998): 6
"
Schola
Gratia Doctrinae [school for the sake of education],"
Marketing
Educator, 16 (Summer 1997): 2
"
Students Need
More From Professors Than Facts,"
Mobile Register (November
17, 1996): 1D, 4D
"
Excuse Me, I
Thought You Had a Ph.D."
Marketing Educator, 15 (Summer
1996): 7
"
Phantom
Disabilities,"
Mobile Register (May 12, 1996): 1C, 4C
"
Are You a
Comedian?"
Marketing Educator, 15 (Spring 1996): 3
"
Noticing the
Students' Notes Not Written,"
Marketing Educator, 14 (Fall
1995): 8, 11
"
Why
Students Should Study Marketing,"
Marketing News, 29 (July
17, 1995): 8
"
How Students
Choose a Marketing Major,"
Marketing Educator, 14 (Spring
1995): 1,3
"
Marketing
Degrees and the Illusion of Job Training,"
Marketing Educator,
14 (Winter 1995): 3
"
Chris: A
Professor's Memory,"
Marketing Educator, 13 (Fall 1994): 4
"
Confusions
& Assumptions of Marketing Scholarship,"
Marketing Educator,
13 (Winter 1994): 2, 8
"
What Should
Marketing Students Learn?"
Marketing Educator, 12 (Spring
1993): 1,6
"
Instead
of Job Training,"
Journal of Advertising, 18 (#1, 1989): 3
"
Marketing
Educators Must Become More Scholarly,"
Marketing News, 19
(July 19, 1985): 35-6
Business practices
against the consumers' interest
"
The
Suicide of Ad-Supported Television," a MediaNewsDaily commentary of
MediaPost.com
"
A
Pessimist's Simplistic Historical Perspective on the Fourth Wave of
Consumer Protection,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44
(Summer 2010): 423-9
"
Function
and Problems of Brand Name Pharmaceuticals,"
Journal of Product
& Brand Management, 18 (#4, 2009): 240-1 & 18 (#6, 2009):
392-3
"
Mistaking
Demographic Segments for People: Another Source of Customer Abuse,"
Journal of Consumer Marketing, 24 (#6, 2007): 332-3
"
Movie
Theaters' Suicide-by-Advertising With Income from Abusing Customers,"
Journal of Consumer Marketing, 23 (#7, 2006): 480-2
"
Depending
on the Kindness of Strangers,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs,
40 (Winter 2006): 407-9
"
It's
Just Business,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 40 (Summer
2006): 196-9
"
For the
Drugs We Need,"
Journal of Consumer Marketing, 22 (#7,
2005): 365-8
"
Consumers,
People and Kim,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 38 (Winter
2004): 355-8
"
The
Consumer as Serf,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 38 (Summer
2004): 188-191
"
Information
You Can't Use,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 36 (Winter
2002): 299-302
"
'Mine is
the Blue One on the Left': Function and Dysfunction of
Pharmaceutical Brand Names,"
Journal of Consumer Marketing, 19
(#5, 2002): 377-9
"
Slapping
Down Dangerous Information,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 36
(Summer 2002): 127-30
"
Wham!
Spam! And Direct Misplaced Marketing,"
Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 16 (#1, 1999): 7-8
"
Model
Numbers Meant to Confuse Shoppers,"
Marketing News, 31
(December 8, 1997): 11
Marketing abused:
serving the "wrong" consumer benefits
"
The
Largest Segments That Should Not Be Served: Higher Education
Marketing Serving the Growing Slacker Segment,"
Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 25 (#6, 2008): 378-80.
"
Mistaking
a Marketing Perspective for Ethical Analysis: When Consumers Can't
Know What They Should Want,"
Journal of Consumer Marketing, 24
(#7, 2007): 383-4
"
And a
Comedian Shall Show Journalists the Way,"
Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 22 (#3, 2005): 119-20
"
The
Cynical Use of Marketing to the Unwitting Consumer,"
Journal of
Consumer Marketing, 22 (#2, 2005): 60-1
"
'It
Hurts. Fix It.' The Patients' Lament and Unhealthy Medical Care
Marketing,"
Journal of Consumer Marketing, 20 (#1, 2003):
7-9
"
Marketing's
Potential Harm to Education,"
AMS Quarterly, 4 (May 2001):
14
"
When
Marketing Misplaces the Benefits of Education,"
Journal of
Consumer Marketing, 16 (#5, 1999): 415-7
"
Are We
Teachers or Job Trainers,"
AMS Quarterly, 2 (August 1998): 2
"
Gratuitous
Graduations,"
Mobile Register (March 22, 1998): 1D, 4D
"
What Do
Students Want?"
Marketing Educator, 13 (Spring 1994): 1, 4
Marketing myths and
common misunderstandings
"
The
Pragmatic Importance of Theory for Marketing Practice,"
Journal
of Consumer Marketing, 31 (#4, 2014): 322-27
"
The
Public as the Problem for Public Health,"
Journal of Consumer
Affairs, 45 (Spring 2011): 165-8
"
The
Marketing Myths and Consumers' Fear of Marketing,"
Journal of
Consumer Marketing, 26 (#5, 2009): 309-10
"
Imitation
as the Sincerest Form of Ignorance,"
Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 25 (#4, 2008): 254-5
"
Financial
Aliteracy,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 42 (Summer 2008):
306-9
"
The
Stealth Influence of Covert Marketing and Much Ado About What May Be
Nothing,"
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 27 (Spring
2008): 63-8
"
A
Snapshot or a Painting? Metaphors, Myths, Misuses and
Misunderstandings of Marketing Research Information by Journalists and
Other People Who Should Know Better,"
Journal of Consumer Marketing,
22 (#1, 2005): 4-5
"
Political
Polls, Samples and Research Misinformation,"
AMS Quarterly,
6 (November 2004): 10
"
Misuse
and Misdirection of Sex in Advertising,"
Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 20 (#3, 2003): 189-91
"
Who
Do You Hire When the Advertising Audience Isn't You?"
Journal of
Consumer Marketing, 20 (#2, 2003): 87-9
"
The Social
Harm of Public Service Advertising,"
Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 19 (#6, 2002): 465-7
"
The
Real Reason for the Real Bad Advertising,"
Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 19 (#4, 2002): 299-301
"
Imagine the Television Commercial: 'No Stems, No
Seeds That You Don't Need, Baja Gold's a Real Smooth Weed',"
Journal
of Consumer Marketing, 18 (#5, 2001): 389-91
"
The
Textbook Effect: Conventional Wisdom, Myth, and Error in Marketing,"
Journal of Marketing, 64 (April 2000): 122-6
"
Social
Marketing and Myths of Appeals to Fear,"
Journal of
Consumer Marketing, 16 (#2, 1999): 119-21
"
Fear
of Audience Segmentation,"
Journal of Marketing, 63 (January
1999): 121-3
"
Condom
Companies Face Unfair Marketing Limitations,"
Marketing News,
32 (May 11, 1998): 14
"
Public
Broadcasting Should Not Seek the Largest Audience,"
Marketing
News, 32 (February 16, 1998): 15
"
Fear Appeals and Persuasion: Assumptions
and Errors in Advertising Research,"
Current Issues &
Research in Advertising, 11 (#1, 1988): 21-40
Marketing regulation
& self-regulation
"
The
Advertising Regulation & Self-Regulation Issues Ripped from the
Headlines with (Sometimes Missed) Opportunities for Disciplined
Multidisciplinary Research,
Journal of Advertising, 38 (Winter
2009): 5-14 (co-author Charles R. Taylor)
"
Privacy
Crimes, Annoyances and Self-Defeating Business Practices,"
Journal
of Consumer Affairs, 43 (Fall 2009): 538-42
"
Health
Information Consumers Can't or Don't Want to Use,"
Journal of
Consumer Affairs, 43 (Summer 2009): 373-7
"
The
Stealth Influence of Covert Marketing and Much Ado About What May Be
Nothing,"
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 27 (Spring
2008): 63-8
"
Toward a Pragmatic Understanding of
the Advertising & Public Policy Literature,"
Journal of
Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 29 (Spring 2007): 67-80
(co-author Marla Royne)
"
Do-Not-Call
as the U.S. Government's Improvement to Telemarketing Efficiency,"
Journal
of Consumer Marketing, 21 (#4, 2004): 242-4
"
Desires
Versus the Reality of Self-Regulation,"
Journal of Consumer
Affairs, 37 (Winter 2003): 424-7
"
The Boob
Tube: U.S. Networks Avoid Bare-Breasted Commercials,"
Marketing
News, 32 (April 13, 1998): 7
"
Media
Managers Mustn't Allow Ads That Mislead Consumers,"
Marketing
News, 32 (March 16, 1998): 14
"
'Ban on
Liquor Ads Not What It Seems,"
Marketing News, 31 (May 26,
1997): 12
"
Power
& Limitations of Media Clearance Practices and Advertising
Self-Regulation,"
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing,
11 (Spring 1992): 87-95
"
Radio Station Standards for Acceptable Advertising,"
Journal of Business Research, 24 (June 1992): 361-375
"
The Compatibility of
Advertising Regulation and the First Amendment--Another View,"
Journal
of Marketing & Public Policy, 1 (1982): 139-47
Doing & publishing
research: authors, editors and reviewers
"
Parting
Perspectives from an Aging Editor (& thanks for all the fish),"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 45 (Fall 2011): 539-46

"
Researchers,
Scholars and Ivan,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 45 (Summer
2011): 358-64
"
Editors
Talking,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44 (Fall 2010): 615-9
"
Adventures
in Misplaced Mentoring,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44
(Spring 2010): 265-70
"
The
Advertising Regulation & Self-Regulation Issues Ripped from the
Headlines with (Sometimes Missed) Opportunities for Disciplined
Multidisciplinary Research,
Journal of Advertising, 38 (Winter
2009): 5-14 (co-author Charles R. Taylor)
"
Disciplined
Conduct of Interdisciplinary Research,"
Journal of Consumer
Affairs, 43 (Spring 2009): 181-3
"
Looking
Forward by Looking Back,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 43
(Spring 2009): 1-3
"
Can
You Really Say That?"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 42 (Fall
2008): 484-7
"
How
Do You Know That?"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 42 (Spring
2008): 123-6
"
Theory,
Data, Interpretations and More Theory,"
Journal of Consumer
Affairs, 41 (Winter 2007): 376-9
"
Mistaking
Precision for Reality,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 41
(Summer 2007): 187-91
"
Impact,
Influence and Fame,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 39 (Winter
2005): 414-7
"
Alliterates'
Scholarship,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 39 (Summer 2005):
229-32
"
Endowed
Faculty Chairs are a Waste of Money (Except Mine),"
Journal of
Consumer Marketing, 21 (#2, 2004): 94-6
"
Convenient
Abusive Research,"
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 37 (Summer
2003): 191-4
"
Pusillanimous
Paranoia in Pedagogical Publishing,"
AMS Quarterly, 6 (April
2003): 12
"
So Now I Are
One,"
AMS Quarterly, 5 (October 2001): 12
"
It Gets in
the Way,"
AMS Quarterly, 4 (September 2000): 7
"
The I.C.O.M.
Offense,"
Marketing Educator, 18 (Winter 1999): 6
"
Short
Stories We Shouldn't Hear,"
Marketing Educator, 18 (Spring
1999): 3
"
We
Unequivocally Do Not Thank the @#$*& Anonymous Reviewers,"
Marketing
Educator, 16 (Fall 1997): 6
"
Contribution
Calculating & Credit Counting,"
Marketing Educator, 16
(Spring 1997): 2
"
Research
Sense? Or Nonsense?"
Marketing Educator, 13 (Summer 1994):
1, 3
"
I'm
Sorry You Dislike My Research, But Thanks for the Brochure,"
Marketing
Educator, 13 (Winter 1994): 8
"
What If They
Published a Journal That Was Never Printed?"
Marketing Educator,
12 (Winter 1993): 1,3
Comments
on presumptions of journal quality, via book review in
Journal
of Advertising, 14 (#2, 1985): 62-3
Comments
on narrow definitions of marketing scholarship, via book review in
Journal
of Advertising, 10 (#2, 1981): 44-5
Conference
"discussants" & other bystanders
Businesses' too-common
production orientation
"
Brand
Image of Company Names Matters in Ways That Can't Be Ignored,"
Journal
of Product & Brand Management, 17 (#2, 2008): 121-2
"
Is
There a Strategy Behind Buying Advertising Time and Space?"
Journal
of Consumer Marketing, 24 (#3, 2007): 131-2
"
Understanding
Advertising Clutter,"
Journal of Consumer Marketing, 23 (#4,
2006): 180-1
"
Mismanagement
of Misfocused Trade Association Leaders,"
Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 20 (#4, 2003): 291-3
"
The
Real Reason for the Real Bad Advertising,"
Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 19 (#4, 2002): 299-301
"
Training
Book for the New Store Clerk: 'Go and Be Charming!'"
Journal of
Consumer Marketing, 19 (#3, 2002): 185-7
"
A Service
Economy Whose Employees say: 'Customer Service Is Not My Job!'"
Journal
of Consumer Marketing, 18 (#2, 2001): 99-101
"
Meanwhile,
At the Service Desk: 'Hello! Is Anyone Here?'"
Journal of
Consumer Marketing, 17 (#7, 2000): 573-4
"
'Dumbth'
Adventures in Retailing,"
Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17
(#5, 2000): 384-5
"
Misplaced
Marketing of Product 'Life' After the Sale,"
Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 16 (#4, 1999): 312-3
"
Misplaced
Marketing -- When Consumers or Society Are Not Satisfied,"
Journal
of Consumer Marketing, 15 (#6, 1998): 523-4
Also of interest
A tale of "Test Time in Verse"
Copyright 1990-2025 Herbert Jack Rotfeld