Poetic Reflections

Alongside his academic research and teaching, Professor of Marketing Tejvir Singh Sekhon has recently found himself experimenting with a new creative endeavor: short poetic reflections on everyday consumer dilemmas.

These vignettes, posted to LinkedIn and Instagram, draw from his scholarly work on consumer behavior, consumer culture, psychology, and behavioral economics, yet remain free of jargon and academic trappings. Instead, he’s turning the ideas that occupy his mind into quippy commentary on the ordinary moments that shape modern life.

One example currently pinned on Sekhon’s LinkedIn page laments the very relatable impact of a decision to save money by buying groceries in bulk.

“I don’t want them to be abstract, academic things,” he says. “I want them to resonate with people. Even if it helps just one person make one better decision, I am okay with that.” 

The reflections stem from the places where Sekhon’s professional identity and personal struggles as a consumer, parent, and participant in modern culture overlap.

While these short reflections may resemble poetry, Sekhon doesn’t think of himself as a poet, though he is inspired by poetry’s ability to explore ideas on multiple levels and invite varied interpretations. 

When crafting his reflections, Sekhon intentionally sets aside his academic mindset to ensure that each is practical, accessible and digestible, and follows a few rules that he’s set for himself. 

Most importantly, they should never sound accusatory or condescending. He prefers using “we” or “I” instead of “they” or “people,” always implicating himself as much, or more, than anyone else. 

“My goal is to point out an irony or a systemic failure which somehow leads to bad consequences for all of us — not to point fingers,” Sekhon says. 

Another rule: always include at least one concrete moment from daily life, never allowing the pieces to drift too far into abstraction.

He also tries to end each piece with a note of humor or irony, to maintain lightness even as he explores serious topics, making each one feel like a mic drop moment.

Initially, Sekhon planned to focus solely on consumption, but the domain has expanded to include parenting, branding, and artificial intelligence (AI), all of which, in his eyes, are forms of consumption. 

One of his favorites captures a familiar parental struggle: saying no.

“Halloween comes around, and kids suddenly have access to so much candy. As a parent, you have to keep on saying no,” Sekhon says. “Then all their friends get into video games, and you have to say no to that, too. The whole system is designed to get a yes from the parent, and the parent has to be the bad guy saying no.” 

For Sekhon, this project has become an exercise in translating his academic research for people who are already overwhelmed. 

“I felt like nobody was reading my papers,” Sekhon admits. “But there are some insights here that I want to make more visible, more widespread, and everything I know about marketing tells me that people will not read long-winded posts.” 

“With the help of AI, content generation is going to be easier than ever,” he says. “I think we’ll see an uptick in long-winded posts, and our attention spans will become even shorter.” 

So, Sekhon went in the opposite direction, attempting to say a lot in as few words as possible.

“This project came out of a lot of personal self-reflection about how I want to create change, even in a small way,” Sekhon says.

“When I began my journey as an academic, I thought I’d solve big problems,” he says. “Consumption might seem mundane, but it’s linked to a lot of big problems we face in our personal lives as well as for our society, and the planet. This project allows me to compress complex ideas about consumption systems and the problems they create into something you can read in five seconds and think about all day.”

Follow along with Sekhon’s short poetic reflections on consumer culture on LinkedIn or Instagram. Learn more about the Marketing and MBA programs in the College of Business and Economics where Sekhon teaches marketing strategy, branding, sustainable consumption, and more.