“No pain no Gain”: understanding and applications of pain in marketing scholarship and practice

We challenge the hedonic principle in its traditional form by exploring pain’s paradoxical role as a catalyst for consumer engagement, transformation, and value creation. Building on existing research that highlights pain’s symbiotic relationship with pleasure across physical and psychological dimensions, ten empirical papers apply these concepts to diverse contexts, including financial distress in medical expenditures, BNPL (buy now pay later) schemes, experiential suffering in tourism and sports, relational grief in brand communities, and vicarious pain in violent entertainment. Findings reveal pain as transformed, invested, or sacrificial, often leading to positive outcomes like personal growth and loyalty. The issue advances theory by integrating into pain literature established frameworks such as paradox, self-determination, and conservation of resources theories, while offering managerial insights for ethical pain-pleasure marketing strategies. Future marketing directions emphasize cultural, longitudinal, and interdisciplinary research approaches to pain.