What makes marketing a tricky discipline is that well executed it sometimes create injustice.
One of the facts of life that marketing plays on is that people like to go where people who are like them are.
But that simple fact has a lot of results. For instance, people who aspire to be like the people an idea or concept appeals to, will also conglomerate towards that idea.
For instance, people who want to portray a rebellious look will buy a motorbike, a leather jacket, get some tattoos and everything needed to get that image. I am generalizing of course but how many people around you do know try to fit an image that they are not?
The controversial aspect of marketing is that appealing to a specific target market, one of the most powerful marketing ideas automatically semi-discriminates against the rest.
Restaurants that cater to the elite tend to pull off some practices that tend to be discriminatory towards a specific class, race or religion.
From a business context, it makes sense but on a human sense, it’s downright wrong and in my opinion punishable by the law.
There’s nothing that makes me madder that when I see restaurants refuse access to a certain individual that does not fit its image. While it’s against the law in many countries, it’s not well enforced so it’s still happening.
Looking at the situation from a neutral view, what should restaurateurs who target a specific clientèle do to maintain their image?
