Reviewing the marketing theory adoption journey for studies using QCA as a methodological approach: Insights, gaps and agenda for future research

Abstract

This study identifies how complex real-world marketing phenomena have been reported since the introduction of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as a methodology and set of data analysis and theory development tools in 1987. We provide insights into the idea adoption journey as reflected by marketing researchers’ published studies in 216 marketing-related articles across A- and A*-ranked marketing journals from 1988-2018. We find that QCA as a methodology and a set of tools is not yet firmly established in academic marketing literature. The paper identifies gaps, not covered in the extant literature, in the adoption stages of QCA as a research methodology. The paper suggests some research areas that need to be addressed to help inform improvements in marketing research practice. The paper extends both methodology and marketing research by reconciling insights from a fragmented emerging literature, and highlights the dynamics and interrelationships in the extant literature.