Selling Exoticized Wellness Orientalism and the Marketing of Yoga in the United States of America

Abstract

Using an analysis of the content of ads from several well-known yoga businesses, this dissertation, "Selling Exoticized Wellness: Orientalism and the Upsurge of Yoga," investigates the marketing tactics used in the international yoga industry. The study reveals how yoga is commonly purged of its Indian and Hindu cultural foundations in order to produce a marketable, Westernised product that is suited to customer preferences. It is anchored in Edward Said's concept of Orientalism. In addition to universalisation and decontextualisation, which recast yoga as a secular wellness and fitness practice with no historical meaning, the study indicates an ongoing trend of cultural appropriation, where spiritual linguistics and semiotics are employed decoratively. Furthermore, the cultural creators of yoga are further marginalised by the near-complete lack of South Asian presence and the sporadic use of stereotyped depictions. Yoga has been commercialised by being marketed as an exclusive way of life that is frequently associated with expensive goods and current pop culture fads. Although the marginalisation of South Asian voices continues, temporal alterations in marketing strategies show a transition from exoticized images to popular fitness and health narratives. The conversation focusses on how these methods mirror Orientalist power dynamics, in which Western businesses erase the cultural context of Eastern traditions while profiting from them. In order to promote more culturally sensitive depictions, it is suggested that future study look at customer views, magnify South Asian viewpoints, and compare international marketing strategies. This study supports inclusive representations of yoga that honour its historic and religious roots, as well as ethical marketing that respects the practice's Indian and Hindu background.