24: Moral Peacocking and the Tragedy of Social Media

The Marketing Lab (at Deakin)

Whether you use it to stay connected or as part of your marketing strategy, social media is integral for communication. But what happens when everything goes horribly wrong, like it did for Justine Sacco when sent her one-hundred-and-seventy twitter followers the following tweet: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” By the time she landed in Africa, Twitter users around the world had blasted Justine’s tweet as racist, callous and uncaring. Critics demanded that she be fired from her job and some even called for her death.
In this episode of The Marketing Lab at Deakin, I talk to Jeff Rottman and Gini Weber, two of my colleagues in the marketing department at Deakin University about their research into public condemnation, or what they have neatly called, "moral peacocking". On the way, we explore virtue signalling, morals violations and subjective sensitivities.
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The Marketing Lab is recorded and produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.