‘The house is burning, and we are looking elsewhere:’ the urgency of researching consumption injustices

This provocation piece calls for a fundamental shift in marketing and consumer research, arguing that the discipline must address the urgent and systemic injustices embedded within global consumption practices. Building on discussions from the 2023 CCT Conference, we urge scholars to redirect attention from mainstream consumer narratives to the peripheries where injustices are often rendered invisible. Through collective reflection, we identify three intersecting realms where injustices proliferate: underprivileged beings, peripheral places, and non-hegemonic epistemologies. By embracing reflexivity and acknowledging the field’s entanglement in sustaining these injustices, we invite scholars to approach consumption critically and advocate for impactful research that disrupts oppressive structures. This work aims to move consumption injustices from the periphery to the core of consumer research, fostering scholarly discourse that prioritises ethical urgency and societal relevance over traditional academic hierarchies.