Hawks Blog

I’ve read dozens of pages of fellow students’ “goodbye blogs” and listened to countless stories of people reliving their glorious college days. At the end of every story, you’ll find little tidbits of advice and takeaways for those who still have time left in their college journey – some practical, some fun – and maybe even hear some college regrets. I’ve laughed with these seniors and empathized with them as they mourned the loss of their college experience. However, I realized that my “goodbye blog” sounds starkly different than everyone else’s before me. Currently a junior at UNCW, I’m not bidding goodbyes to this wonderful university quite yet. Instead, I’m saying goodbye to my traditional college experience. Moreover, no advice from any alumni could prepare me for this departure.

Nearing the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, my college experience has taken a drastic turn in the span of four weeks. I packed up my dorm and turned in my key – no inspection needed – in one hour on a Saturday morning. The move-out weather was much more bearable in March than it typically is in May. No sweat, no fuss, no smiles. As I drove off campus with my car stacked high with boxes and bins, I made sure to take in every building, every crosswalk, every pesky speedbump. As I passed Leutze Hall, I audibly said a goodbye and turned to my boyfriend to express my petty sadness that I wouldn’t get to carry out my end-of-year tradition – one large mocha shake from Port City Java. He swiftly took a right to the closest PCJ in a resound understanding that college just wouldn’t feel like college for the next few months – and there was nothing petty about those feelings that accompanied that fact after all. With a mocha shake in my hand and car heavy with uncertainty, I departed Wilmington and UNCW with no real assurance of when I would return.

It’s been two weeks since that day, and the uncertainty remains heavy in the air. As the university transitioned to online classes for the remainder of the semester, I’ve found this new college life to be one that is much more difficult to manage, despite the convenience of attending class in my pajamas. The work is relatively the same, yet I’ve lost a real connection to the meaning behind it. Day in and day out, I reach a consensus that my enthusiasm and drive behind my work is directly related to the passion in the voices of my professors. Though I get to hear them via Zoom and other mediums, it’s simply not the same without the added jokes, pop-culture talk and Dr. Pullum asking me every Monday if I got married over the weekend. Maybe it’s not their passion alone after all that keeps me inspired, but rather these professors’ constant acknowledgment that the little things really are the biggest. They are the heart of the Department of Communication Studies and they hold us up well – and more than ever, I think they’re right about those little things.

My UNCW experience is entirely made up of a litany of little things. Beyond lectures, homework and exams, it’s walking in a torrential downpour to class, seeing the spring flowers bloom, airdropping funny pictures to random people in the library, having that extra shot of espresso and getting your whole class to beg Dr. Weber to give you those extra exam points via email at 2:00am (it worked). It’s the laughs, the cries, the stress and the joy – all with each other. I have to say goodbye to all of that for the foreseeable future. It’s a tight gripped, don’t-want-to-let-you-go goodbye, but with a hopeful “I’ll see you soon” on the other end.

Keeley Brown, UNCW COM Class of 2021

Goodbye Friends Photo by Jan Tinneberg on Unsplash

In recent years many companies have made strides in increasing social inclusion in marketing. While these efforts are appreciated it begs the question: how is social inclusion defined when practicing inclusive marketing? Social inclusion has various definitions each an iteration of words such as improved opportunity and acceptance. 

In the 2018 article “Subjective Social Inclusion: A Conceptual Critique for Socially Inclusive Marketing” authors Licsandru and Chi Cui chronicled what the full extent of social inclusion entails. The article focuses on the example of ethnic marketing which can be split into two categories: mono and multi-ethnic. Mono-ethnic marketing communication utilizes “cultural representations from one ethnic background to reach a narrowly defined ethnic audience.” In contrast, multi-ethnic marketing communication represents multiple ethnic backgrounds to reach an ethnically diverse target audience. The present lack of social inclusion within ethnic marketing demonstrates its importance as an increasingly relevant subject considering “the ethnic minority population are projected to be the numerical majority by 2044.” This estimate indicates that companies and organizations will very soon need to gain a better understanding of how to properly market to a more diverse audience. 

To effectively market to multi-ethnic consumers, companies must first recognize the meaning of social inclusion. Licsandru and Chi Cui evaluated and expanded on extant literature concerning perspectives of inclusion on mental health, disability, sociology, poverty, feminism, and education. These areas of analysis aided in developing an all-encompassing definition of subjective social inclusion(SSI). The authors define SSI as an “individual’s feelings of belongingness to a host society in which he/she feels accepted, empowered, respected and fully recognized as an equal member.” The definition was developed through extensive research on the terms above and evolved from understanding the definitions of the following words: 

Empowerment – increasing personal and interpersonal power that allows people to take action to improve their life situations  

Social Acceptance- other people signal that they wish to include you in their groups and relationships 

 Equality– concerning fairness, justice, balance, and sameness being equal before the law and having equal opportunities to having equal social relationships with a non-vulnerable individual 

Respect– something to which we should presume every human being has a claim, namely in full recognition as a person with the same basic moral worth as any other 

The understanding of these individual words coupled together in relation to SSI helps craft the newly developed definition. Now that the meaning of SSI is clear, there is a more accurate picture of how social inclusion should be marketed. There is no denying that a semblance of inclusivity has been integrated into marketing in recent years however, it appears in a fairly broad context. In terms of ethnic marketing, broad inclusion disregards variety. The danger of mono-ethnic marketing communication is that it often mistakes stereotyping for inclusion. While any presence of attempted inclusion is valued, the intention of such is counterproductive. Being inclusive of only one ethnic background leads others to feel misrepresented within their community. Social exclusion has a multitude of negative effects on an individual’s behaviors. The desire to withdraw from the cause of social exclusion is just one example of its effect. Therefore, companies that exclude individuals can lose their association almost entirely. The exclusion of individuals in target markets can affect their “self-perception, self-esteem and social status.” The lack of portrayal results in a loss of buying power from those individuals. Not only does this exclusion negatively impact those left out but it can depict companies and their represented target market as “prejudicial and non-inclusionary.” This calls for an overhaul of mono-ethnic marketing in favor of utilizing the benefits of multi-ethnic marketing.  

While SSI may not be a core value in the practice of marketing for companies at present, in the coming years its importance will become increasingly significant. By employing subjective social inclusion in marketing, companies can expand their consumer base. When consumers feel represented in marketing efforts their loyalty to the brand increases. Beyond being what’s right, the inclusion of multi-ethnic consumers in marketing will be necessary due to the projection of the ethnic minority consumer base becoming the majority by 2044. Inclusion is a subjective word but understanding its meaning completely will allow companies to acknowledge where their efforts of inclusion are lacking and how to adjust to incorporate this newfound definition. 

Kaitlyn Schissler is a senior at UNCW majoring in Communication Studies with a concentration in IMC and is working toward her business minor. She hopes to utilize her knowledge of IMC to guide clientele into furthering their reach beyond what is expected by focusing on inclusivity within branding. 

 References:

Licsandru, T. C., & Cui, C. C. (2018). Subjective social inclusion: A conceptual critique for 

socially inclusive marketing. Journal of Business Research, 82, 330–339. doi: 

10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.08.036