Eric H. Shaw

A history of schools of marketing thought

Marketing has been practiced since ancient times and has been thought about almost as long. Yet, it is only during the 20th century that marketing ideas evolved into an academic discipline in its own right. Most concepts, issues and problems of marketing thought have coalesced into one of several schools or approaches to understanding marketing. In this article we trace the evolution of 10 schools of marketing thought. At the turn of the 20th century, early in the discipline’s history, the study of functions, commodities, and institutions emerged as complementary modes of thinking about subject matter and became known collectively as the ‘traditional approaches’ to studying marketing; shortly thereafter the interregional trade approach emerged. About mid-century, there was a ‘paradigm shift’ in marketing thought eclipsing the traditional approaches as a number of newer schools developed: marketing management, marketing systems, consumer behavior, macromarketing, exchange, and marketing history. During the mid 1970s, three of the modern schools - marketing management, consumer behavior, and exchange - underwent a ‘paradigm broadening’. The broadened paradigm has bifurcated marketing thought from the conventional domain of business behavior to the much broader domain of all human social behavior. Thus, at the beginning of the 21st century marketing thought is at a crossroads.

The First Dialogue on Macromarketing

The earliest analysis of the socioeconomic foundations of the marketing system is found in a dialogue written 24 centuries ago by Plato. Describing the basis of society in terms of human needs, Plato addresses the most efficient means of satisfying these needs. A chain of reasoning is created linking division of labor to comparative advantage to efficiency in production to a rationale for market exchange. Plato further links the efficiency of market exchange to opportunity costs to a rationale for marketing middlemen. Platos framework is extended to explain the nature and types of exchange, particularly commercial exchange, and their economic consequences and social significance. The framework is further expanded to analyze market transactions as a building block for constructing the aggregate marketing system. Finally in the enlarged framework, the market transaction as an expression of free choice is viewed as a social exchange strategy. Thus, Plato clarifies the institutional mechanism by which the marketing system links the economy to society and thereby provides a systematic framework for developing modern macromarketing thought.

Marketing strategy: From the origin of the concept to the development of a conceptual framework

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to organize the semantics jungle of marketing strategy approaches, terms and concepts into a logically coherent framework using the history of marketing thought to inform current marketing research and practice. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of an intensive literature review tracing the three streams of marketing strategy terms and concepts from their roots in the literatures of early marketing management, managerial economics and corporate management to the present. Findings – Along with marketing ideas, strategy concepts from managerial economics and from corporate management were absorbed directly into the corpus of strategic marketing thought. These three streams of research have converged into the current state of marketing strategy – an eclectic mixture of both complementary and conflicting strategic approaches, terms and concepts. By systematically following the evolutionary development of major contributions to strategic marketing thought and by redefining terms and refining concepts the various approaches to strategy can be integrated into a comprehensive conceptual framework for organizing and choosing among individual marketing strategies. Originality/value – The framework offers conceptual and practical value. It provides a researcher with a consistent set of terms and concepts to build upon. The framework also provides a strategic toolkit for the marketing manager, based upon organizational and environmental conditions, to choose from among the feasible alternatives the most effective marketing strategy to achieve managements goal(s).

Historical Research in the Journal of Macromarketing, 1981–2005

This article examines the development of historical research in the Journal of Macromarketing during the first twenty-five years of the journals publication. Historical research has been an important part of the journal, especially since 1994, and the journal has been instrumental in nurturing historical research in marketing. Seventy-five historical publications were reviewed. The nature and scope of that historical research in the journal is described as it has changed over time.

Global Marketing Management: At the Dawn of the New Millennium

Dramatic global economic changes are under way at the dawn of the new millennium, such as the new Euro currency, Asian economic downturn, instantaneous flows of capital, new global conglomerates, and the growth of the Internet. These changes will have a profound impact on global marketing management, including increasing risk and uncertainty, real-time information management, and rapid response to global developments. Cross-impact analysis will become a more important tool for dealing with uncertain interactions among complex forces. The managerial mindset will have to grasp the big picture, think outside the box, discount the present to create the future, and move far beyond benchmarking. This will lead to changes in decision-making orientations, including a shift from relatively stable environments and mechanistic management approaches to more turbulent environments and systemic management approaches and a shift from hard facts for solving problems to virtual facts for problem prevention.

A general theory of systems performance criteria

Based on general systems thinking of the past half century and the efficiency literature of the last 100 years, this research develops a theoretical model of systems performance criteria that provides a means to evaluate how well any living system, whether individual, organisational or societal, performs task-related activities in the pursuit of goals. The model is used as a foundation for organising the various concepts of performance that have evolved over the past century: efficiency, costs, productivity, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. These performance concepts, derived from the theoretical model, are formalised into axioms that are used to deduce theorems and derivative laws in constructing a formal general theory of systems performance criteria.

Wroe Alderson: father of modern marketing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that Wroe Aldersons contributions to marketing thought earn him recognition as the “Father of Modern Marketing.”Design/methodology/approach – An 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 Aldersons numerous contributions to the marketing literature into a small number of categories. Such an organization is expected to provide a big picture overview of Aldersons significant impact on marketing thought.Findings – Aldersons 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 bec...

A review of empirical studies of aggregate marketing costs and productivity in the United States

This article reviews empirical studies of aggregate marketing cost and aggregate marketing productivity in the United States. A methodological comparison is made of five cost studies for 1929 and seven productivity studies covering a period from 1869 to 1968. The cost studies do not clarify—one way or the other—if marketing costs too much or too little. The productivity studies, on the other hand, despite a variety of methodologies, reveal a rising secular trend over the past century. Thus, it may be concluded that irrespective of changes in cost, marketing is becoming more productive.

The quest for a general theory of the marketing system

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether there is significant agreement on what constitutes the essential elements for building a general theory of the marketing system. Design/methodology/approach – The method is an historical review of the various concepts, elements, sub-theories, axioms, components, explananda and ingredients proposed by marketing scholars over the past half century who contributed to the development of a general theory of the marketing system. Findings – The main finding is that despite the diversity of terms and concepts found in the marketing literature, there is considerable agreement on the essential elements necessary to build a general theory. Originality/value – The value of this work is in assembling and organizing the various concepts, elements, sub-theories, axioms, components, explananda and ingredients of a general theory. Scholars are encouraged to examine the pieces and re-join the quest to construct and empirically test a general theory of the marketin...

Marketing Myths and Marketing Realities: A Commentary on the Consumer as Voter, Judge and Jury

Offering a counterpoint to ‘‘The Consumer as Voter, Judge and Jury,’’ this commentary compares the ‘‘modern origins’’ of the ‘‘marketing myths’’ in the article with an alternative view; contrasts the ‘‘new agora’’ analogy with the old Agora; and assesses the apocalyptic vision in the article with an analogous ‘‘triptych.’’ Further, this commentary evaluates the article’s ‘‘political legitimacy’’ argument for marketing practice versus the economic efficiency argument, and it considers the long-term survival and growth of socialist versus market economies. Finally, the commentary questions whether the analogies between ‘‘citizen and consumer voting’’ and between ‘‘citizen and consumer sovereignty’’ are marketing myths or realities.