If we were starting from zero marketing, then some amount of marketing—say, a Sears catalog so I can tell what goods are actually being sold—is indisputably positive sum. It matches consumers with what they want to buy. But certainly there reaches a point where the competition becomes zero/negative-sum and you get the tragedy-of-the-commons you describe.
Much the same can be said of status competition—there’s beneficial social skills “How to mediate a dispute” “how to accurately convey emotional information,” “how to make small talk,” but you continue to get selfish benefits after you pass well into zero/negative sum territory.
If we were starting from zero marketing, then some amount of marketing—say, a Sears catalog so I can tell what goods are actually being sold—is indisputably positive sum. It matches consumers with what they want to buy. But certainly there reaches a point where the competition becomes zero/negative-sum and you get the tragedy-of-the-commons you describe.
Much the same can be said of status competition—there’s beneficial social skills “How to mediate a dispute” “how to accurately convey emotional information,” “how to make small talk,” but you continue to get selfish benefits after you pass well into zero/negative sum territory.