Toward a General Theory of Marketing: Resource-Advantage Theory as an Extension of Alderson’s Theory of Market Processes

Abstract

Wroe Alderson influenced considerably the development of marketing theory and practice. This article explicates how Alderson’s differential advantage theory of competition grounds his theory of market processes. It then shows how resource-advantage (R-A) theory incorporates and extends Alderson’s key concepts and generalizations. Consequently, we argue, R-A theory is toward a general theory of marketing.