General Theory Of Marketing Research Articles

A general theory of marketing: Conceivable, elusive, or illusive

A general theory of marketing: Conceivable, elusive, or illusive

Reinforcing purchase behaviors through CSR and ethical practices

PurposeThe study examines the relationship between consumers’ ethical sensitivity, corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and impulse behaviors. Ethical behavior has been a subject of increasing research interest. However, there is an imperious need to inspect ethical decision-making through holistic attention to impulse purchasing.Design/methodology/approachThe study develops a set of hypotheses to understand the relationships. The online survey method was used to collect data, and 420 valid questionnaires, in total, were retrieved. In a two-step process, first, reliability and validity were initially measured. Second, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe analyses support the social marketing theory (SMT) and the general theory of marketing (GTM) ethics related to business strategy. Moreover, the study examines the mediating role of organizational trust, organizational identification and eco-branding in these relationships. The ethical and CSR practices for stakeholders positively affect organizational identification and trust that mediate the relationship between impulse buying and ethical attempts. Furthermore, from an ethical and climate change perspective, eco-branding positively mediates the relationship between impulse buying and environmental advertising. The moderating role of trust is significant in the relationship between impulse buying behavior (IBB) and repurchase behavior.Originality/valueA critical factor explaining individuals’ behaviors has never been investigated using a holistic approach to IBB with ethical and CSR practices. The study profoundly contributes to knowledge about consumer ethics, with potential effects for ethical public relations, while also offering new research avenues for future exploration.

Marketing Schools of Thought and Their Present Day Relevance

The present article is the compendium of the 12 schools of thought (namely, ‘commodity’, ‘functional’, ‘regional’, ‘institutional’, ‘functionalist’, ‘managerial’, ‘buyer behaviour’, ‘activist’, ‘macro-marketing’, ‘organizational dynamics’, ‘systems’ and ‘social exchange’) in the marketing discipline since its inception in the early 1900s. These 12 schools of thought belong to the four quadrants on the two dimensions, namely ‘Interactive/Non-interactive’ perspective and ‘Economic/Non-economic’ perspective. The similarities, dissimilarities and focal points of these schools of thought have been briefly discussed. The article highlights, how the focal points across the schools of marketing thought have been continuously changing. The major contributions under these schools have also been discussed. Further, the article provided a general overview and criticism of these schools of the marketing discipline. The article further discusses the five controversies around the history of marketing, which are about the dominant perspective in marketing, the relationship between marketing and society, homogeneity of the internal subdivisions of marketing, the debate about marketing as science or arts and the creation of the general theory of marketing. The article also discusses the important issue of plugging the gap between the academic and managerial perspectives of the marketing theories.

Foundations of a Relativity Marketing Theory

This research aims to open the way to review of the philosophical postulates and ideological pathways that govern the contributions in marketing theory, to reflect the scientific marketing truth. We do not mean by this to trace the history of marketing thought, but rather, a re-investigation of the logic of its existence and being. It is an attempt to re-explore and depart from the axioms that ruled marketing thought. Marketing theory emerged from being a scientific theory that can be true or false, to be an "ideology” defended by its supporters. From this point; this research set the foundation for developing a new general marketing theory based on the relativity concept, has the ability and adaptation to exceed the boundaries of “product, technology, time, place, context and customer”, acquires its being and existence from the verification of the current philosophy of marketing science, and considering the marketing experience

The relationship between exchanged resources and loyalty intentions

ABSTRACT This research aims to revive the applicability of the exchange concept in the marketing domain. The authors draw on current exchange theories to show how members of an aquatic center receive relational, social support, and restorative resources from other center members and employees. They then empirically demonstrate that members’ loyalty to the center is fueled by the resources they receive from others in the center and that their experience in the center mediates the relationship between exchanged resources and member loyalty. This research reveals that service organizations may foster person-place bonds by providing customers with resources over and above goods and services. Customers appreciate resources that transform their well-being, such as social support and natural, restorative resources, and they demonstrate loyalty to places where they can obtain therapeutic resources. From a theoretical standpoint, this work shows support for the notion that the exchange concept is a foundational aspect of a general theory of marketing and explains how the exchange and value concepts in marketing are linked together.

Rents: How Marketing Causes Inequality (Chapter 1)

This working paper contains the introduction and first chapter of a forthcoming book on the relationship between marketing and inequality. I argue that the dramatic rise of income inequality since 1970 has largely been caused by advances in marketing. Marketers have become better at creating and exploiting market distortions in legal ways. The legal system, in principle, prevents the deliberate creation of market failures, but it has not evolved at the same speed. Business schools have outsmarted law schools. This chapter offers an introduction to a new, general theory of marketing. Although marketing is meant to improve markets by bringing products to the right customers, it often does the opposite—creating “value” to businesses by making prices less transparent, splitting informed and uninformed consumers, making products incomparable, locking in consumers, exploiting psychological biases, creating network externality effects, or preventing price wars. Over the time span 1970–2015, the impact of marketing on the economy has steadily increased. Few markets have not been turned into less competitive ones by marketers, trained at modern business schools. This has significantly increased the amount of artificial profits (“rents”) in the economy.

Theory of Paradox Within Service-Dominant Logic

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the foundational premises of service-dominant (S-D) logic through systemic and paradoxical thinking. Systemic thinking seeks to understand phenomena holistically and elementarily, while paradoxical thinking is an ontological perspective that appreciates the plurality of phenomena and accepts the notion that underlying explanations require a “both” rather than an “and/or” commitment of understanding. S-D logic is evolving as a theoretical framework in explaining how actors conduct recursive exchanges of resources in the form of value-hosting service. As with any complex system, the holistic viewing of S-D logic reveals that the complexity of service systems is, at times, inherently paradoxical. This composition highlights how systemic and paradoxical thinking, instantiated through soft systems methodology, can advance the theoretical framework of S-D logic. The proclamation is made that the identification of paradoxes within S-D logic will aid its evolution toward a general theory of marketing.

Three systems underpinning marketing behavior

The new marketing systems paradigm proposed by El-Ansary, Shaw, and Lazer in their thoughtful AMS Review Article is taken to heart herein by reframing disparate pieces of scholarship and emerging research in the field through a systems lens. Three systems are proposed to undergird marketing theories, thought, and behavior: (1) a purposive-driven, goal-directed behavior systems point of view that the actors contemplating, entering, engaging, and resolving marketing exchanges undergo, (2) biological systems (neuroscience, endocrinological, and genetic) grounding marketing exchanges, and (3) cooperative and competitive systems in which goal-directed behavior and biological systems are realized in an integrative way. It is straining, however, to characterize the state of the field as constituting an identity crisis in my opinion, because the majority of marketing scholars, practitioners, and students do not appear to be concerned with or even aware of such a crisis in that the history of marketing thought does not interest them. Perhaps once the field moves from descriptive frameworks to testable theories, and experiences an integration of ideas potentially building towards more comprehensive theories in marketing, we will see hope for a general theory of marketing.

Why broadened marketing has enriched marketing

The marketing discipline, which emerged in the early 1900s, spent its first 70 years focused on describing and evaluating how for-profit organizations conduct their commercial operations with products and services. Starting in the 1970s, marketing scholars – Philip Kotler, Sidney Levy, Gerald Zaltman, and Richard Bagozzi – wrote a series of articles showing that marketing activities go on in the non-profit sector as well. They proposed that the marketing discipline would be enriched by working with the “marketing” problems of non-profit and public organizations--not just the marketing problems of commercial organizations. This subsequently came to be known as the “broadening of marketing.” A few years later, some marketers challenged the broadening idea as not belonging in the discipline of marketing. The broadening scholars suggested carrying out a referendum with marketing professors. The subsequent vote proved to be overwhelmingly in favor of the broadening movement. More recently, Adel El-Ansary and co-authors (El-Ansary et al. AMS Review, 2018) raised the question of whether the broadening work is part of a larger paradigm that might lead to a general theory of marketing.

Are current research approaches in marketing leading us astray?

This article is about methodology in research in marketing. It questions the mainstream choice of approaches and suggests alternative directions with qualitative rather than quantitative inquiry in focus. It deals with my personal journey through Methodologyland; the establishment of a Hall of Fame of my favorite research approaches supplemented with a Chamber of Horrors; and a brief commentary on some pivotal concepts in science. It concludes that the absence of the development of general marketing theory is partly due to the preoccupation with erroneously chosen methodology and claims that scholarly research boils down to four basic strategies: curiosity, courage, reflection, and dialogue; the rest is technical support. Key words: action research; case study research; grounded theory; interactive research; narrative research; research methodology; theory generation

Marketing’s identity crisis: insights from the history of marketing thought

For almost half a century the broadening and generic concepts of marketing have been the dominant paradigm in the marketing discipline. However, ambiguities in that paradigm have hindered development of a general theory of marketing. This research takes a fresh look at these concepts that some academics regard as causing an identity crisis in marketing. Historical analysis reveals many practical applications, which arise from the broadening/generic paradigm, result in unresolvable theoretical anomalies. Consequently, a new paradigm is proposed. Marketing systems, we argue, provides a logically coherent foundation for building a general theory of marketing.

Managing meaning in complex business networks

In examining Van de Ven and Poole's (2005) typology of different approaches for studying organizational change, this article focuses on underlying methodological premises and concludes that an ontological, and consequently also an epistemological, perspective seems to be lacking, if the aim is to fully understand change and a firm's networking ability. Arguing for increased sensemaking, an extended version of Van de Ven and Poole's (2005) typology is proposed, which aims to guide and improve future research in understanding the interplay between cognition, action and outcomes in business networks. First, the developed methodological matrix adds an alternative view of change as a theoretical foundation. Second, the proposed model represents a useful structure for analyzing different ways to further marketing theory. Third, the results also indicate that if the aim is to find a general theory of marketing, capable of integrating seemingly contrasting stances, the outlook on change has to be altered.

The Adaptability of Marketing Systems to Interventions in Developing Countries: Evidence from the Pineapple System in Benin

In general marketing theory, marketing systems are assumed to adapt to facilitate further economic development. However, such adaptability may be less obvious in the context of developing countries due to features in the social matrix of these countries. The present study explores adaptation in the Beninese pineapple marketing system in the first ten years after the introduction of the pasteurization process as a development intervention. Qualitative and quantitative insights across a broad spectrum of actors in the pineapple system reveal that adaptability to the intervention has been very slow and virtually absent at an aggregate level. These findings suggest that to make optimal use of the economic development effects of interventions, effects must be considered beyond the primary actor on which they are targeted. This may require complementary marketing interventions at different actors in the system. The marketing systems approach this study adopts seems useful to identify these key actors for complementary interventions.

The Marketing Institution by Ralph F. Breyer (1934)

Purpose – The purpose of this review is to examine an early marketing textbook for its insights into concepts and theory that may have relevance today. Design/methodology/approach – To examine the book in light of the commentary provided by numerous scholars over the decades since its publication. Findings – The latter half of the book, about the marketing implications of the “New Deal” response to the “Great Recession” of the 1930s, is out of date; however, the first half offers an insightful analysis of the marketing system and the rudiments of a general theory of marketing. Research limitations/implications – Providing a rationale for marketing systems and core concepts for building a general theory of marketing, the book therefore has much to recommend it to students of marketing thought and theory. Originality/value – This book was first reviewed some 80 years ago. With a longer time horizon, and the additional comments by numerous scholars in the historical literature, a more meaningful appraisal of the influence of this work can now be made.

The theoretical foundations of value-informed pricing in the service-dominant logic of marketing

Purpose– In the mainstream normative pricing literature, value assessment is virtually non-existent. Although the resource-based literature recognizes that pricing is a competence, value-informed pricing practices are still weakly grounded in theory. The purpose of this paper is to strengthen the theoretical grounds of such pricing practices.Design/methodology/approach– The paper applies the emerging service-dominant logic of marketing to pricing. More specifically, it apples the ten foundational premises of service-dominant logic to pricing and it places pricing in the frameworks of one of the major building blocks of service-dominant logic, namely the resource-advantage theory of competition.Findings– From a service-dominant perspective, price is the reward for the application of specialized knowledge and skills. Pricing is an operant resource, or competence, that assesses customer value, applies it in multi-dimensional price propositions, and implements it in processes of co-creating prices with customers. Value-informed pricing is the central pricing practice within such competences.Practical implications– Prices vary among others between “good” and “bad”, firms generate competitive advantage not only through value creation, but also through pricing. Learning is key to develop pricing competences.Originality/value– This paper is the first to ground value-informed pricing at high levels of abstraction in general marketing theory.

A general theory of business marketing: R-A theory, Alderson, the ISBM framework, and the IMP theoretical structure

This article focuses on business marketing to extend the arguments in Hunt (2010) that R-A theory provides the foundations for a general theory of marketing. The article extends the arguments by showing (1) how Alderson's theory of market processes, on which R-A theory draws, clearly accommodates both B2B and B2C marketing, (2) that ISBM's normative, Value Delivery Framework assumes that the process of competition within which business marketers compete is actually the process of competition described by the premises and structure of R-A theory, and (3) that not only does R-A theory and the IMP theoretical structure have numerous commonalities, but also, that R-A theory, by means of its concept of “relational resource,” provides a foundation for key aspects of the IMP theoretical structure, with its commitment to the importance of relationships. Therefore, the article concludes that R-A theory is toward a general theory of marketing, both B2B and B2C.

Theory map of business marketing: Relationships and networks perspectives

Business marketing is a complex, multilayered, and dynamic social phenomenon that has been examined using a variety of theories from disciplines as diverse as economics and psychology. This theoretical evolution has led to a fragmented knowledge base. This article examines relationship marketing and business networks perspectives in business marketing. Based on an extensive metatheoretical review, the study shows that these approaches are based on incompatible theoretical assumptions and cannot be integrated into a general relationship marketing theory. By constructing an articulated theory map, the paper provides a positioning space and analysis of five approaches to business marketing: CRM, behaviorally driven relationship marketing, channel relationships, market as networks and actor relationships, and focal networks and strategic nets. The paper then suggests pursuing the development of two middle-range theories: “market-based business marketing” and “network-based business marketing.” These developments are used to offer an articulated research agenda for advancing business marketing theory and a discussion on the possibility of a general theory of marketing.

Political Marketing and Lobbying: A Neglected Perspective and Research Agenda

This article proposes that political marketing and lobbying have much to learn from each other. Both are essentially persuasive forms of communication; both have some basis in more general marketing theory; both involve exchanges, networks, and relationships. However, while much lobbying practice is underpinned or informed by (political) marketing theories, this connection is only rarely made explicit in the literature of either field. Most political marketing writing relates marketing solely to the arena of party political electoral competition, ignoring how it could be developed further into the area of interest groups generally and, more specifically, into an examination of how organizations attempt to influence public policy. This paper looks briefly at lobbying activities, such as grassroots lobbying and lobbying coalitions, and suggests how political marketing can extend its research focus to a wider range of lobbying practices. It seeks to identify the conceptual basis for the beginnings of a marketing perspective on lobbying. Lobbyists can learn from it how to put marketing principles to practice, and academics will gain an understanding of how this analysis can be applied and further developed.

A Dimensão Mítica da Formação do Profissional de Marketing: 90% de Inspiração e 10% de Transpiração?

Neste artigo, procura-se contribuir para a análise dos principais requisitos que devem ser levados em consideração na formação do profissional de marketing. A forma proposta para tanto é a elaboração de uma discussão teórica sobre tal formação, lançando luz aos diversos pontosdevista defendidos pelos acadêmicos e propondo um plano de ação para o enriquecimento da formação deste profissional. Temas pertinentes à disciplina, tais como, sua caracterização como ciência ou arte, a definição de suas escolas de pensamento, a elaboração de teorias gerais e o seu escopo, foram revisitados, sob a perspectiva de sua importância na constituição da crítica necessária ao profissional de marketing no desempenho de seus múltiplos potenciais de atuação. São, ainda, apontadas algumas diretrizes para que se consiga criar barreiras sólidas ao processo, vazio, de espetacularização da profissão. Além destes pontos, ressalta-se que o artigo pretende constituir uma abertura para que outros estudos sobre o tema possam ser desenvolvidos.

Wroe Alderson: father of modern marketing

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show that Wroe Alderson's contributions to marketing thought earn him recognition as the “Father of Modern Marketing.”Design/methodology/approachAn extensive review of writings by and about Alderson, a thorough examination of the history of marketing thought literature, and the personal remembrances of one of the authors, are drawn upon to organize Alderson's numerous contributions to the marketing literature into a small number of categories. Such an organization is expected to provide a big picture overview of Alderson's significant impact on marketing thought.FindingsAlderson's contributions to the marketing discipline can be organized into three broad categories, which collectively produced a tectonic shift in academic thinking about marketing: from distribution (macro) to marketing management (micro); from economics to the behavioral sciences; and from description and classification to explanation and theory building. These epic transformations have become so embedded in the marketing literature that they are now taken for granted, but they are so significant they represent a paradigm shift in marketing thought. Because of this legacy, the authors argue Wroe Alderson has earned the honorific title: “Father of Modern Marketing.”Practical implicationsThis work provides an historical context to understand the origins of modern marketing thought by recognizing the most dynamic marketing thinker of the last half‐century.Originality/valueThis paper organizes the many and varied contributions of Wroe Alderson into broad categories in a context that is useful for researchers studying the history of marketing thought. The organization of Alderson's contributions also provides an historical foundation for scholars working on a general theory of marketing.