The Journal of Marketing: The First Ten Years

Abstract

HE JOURNAL OF MARKETING made its bow in July 1936, replacing The American 7ournal and The National Review. This union of two journals into one was the first result of the decision to merge the American Society and the National Association of Teachers into the American Association effective January I, 1937. The first issue of THE JOURNAL OF MARKETING began with the following four departments: (i) Articles, (2) Progress in Research, (3) Reviews, and (4) Notes. In the fourth issue of Volume I, the department heading Current was changed to Notes, the subject matter remaining the same. Beginning with Volume II, Book was expanded in heading and in contents to Reviews of Books and Digests of Leading Articles in Marketing. The first issue of Volume V introduced the department Notes and Communications to provide (a) an outlet for brief articles, (b) a forum for comment on articles in preceding issues, and (c) a place for matters of general interest which were not A.M.A. notes. With the third issue of Volume VI, the digests of leading articles in marketing were separated from the book reviews and combined with the notes on marketing research in progress under a new department heading, Marketing Research Completed and in Progress. Basically, the major departments of the JOURNAL have not undergone any fundamental changes during the first ten years of publication. The changes enumerated above are essentially minor modifications and refinements. A statistical summary of the proportionate space devoted to the different departments of the JOURNAL is given in Table I. Articles and Notes and Communications combined take up more than two-thirds of the total space. It should be pointed out that on January I, 1937, the American Association had a total membership of 584; that growth in membership continued steadily; and that by February i, 1946, there were approximately i,9oo members in the Association. (Present membership is approximately 2,3oo00.) During this period (from July I936 to April I946) the size of the JOURNAL, in terms of number of pages, has fluctuated considerably, although it has not manifested any definite upward trend. Volumes IV, V, and VI show a marked increase in number of pages. In the case of Volumes IV and VI, this is accounted for by the publication of supplementary Proceedings issues; similarly, the fourth issue of Volume V is a proceedings issue of nearly 200 pages. During the recent war years the editors had a difficult task in securing an adequate supply of qualitatively satisfactory articles for the JOURNAL to maintain its size. However, the few issues which have thus far appeared since the termination of the war (up to and including the second