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Marketing concepts can have a life of their own: Representation and pluralism in marketing concept analysis
Abstract
The expansion and fragmentation of marketing theory has led to the introduction of a plethora of concepts, definitions and theoretical constructs over the last few decades. Subsequently, marketing scholars have been developing sophisticated concept analysis tools to alleviate the field’s terminological confusion and facilitate the process of theory development. Drawing inspiration from Tähtinen and Havila’s recent contribution in the area of marketing concept analysis, this think piece aims to critically explore the methodological and philosophical assumptions of systematic concept review methods, seeking to broaden the discussion around the politics and context of marketing theory development. I suggest that apart from the meticulous examination of the conceptual marketing language, marketing theorists can elaborate on how social processes, ideological viewpoints and institutional forces shape the development of marketing concepts. Finally, I provide recommendations on how the theoretical development of marketing language can embrace a fresh awareness towards cultural contexts, consumers and marketing practices that remain under-explored or marginalized in the literature.
... It is important to note that while the study does encompass a wide variety of measures, the intention was not to conduct an exhaustive review of all items available but to capture as wide a variety of relevant items as possible (Ashmore, Deaux, & McLaughlin-Volpe, 2004). Therefore, the approach taken was a systematic concept analysis, which offers "a panoramic breadth of definitions while highlighting the embedded linguistic complexity of the literature" (Patsiaouras, 2019). The researchers followed the outline suggested by Nuopponen (2010); the different steps are described in more detail below. ...
... The influence of cultural pluralism on marketing concepts cannot be underplayed as it has power to shape their very development (Patsiaouras, 2019) She exploits her talent for taking good photographs, sharing them with other actors in her ecosystem, namely her friends and family, to improve her marketing content. In asking her customers for post feedback, she is beginning to establish her commercial identity. ...
... Transformación, entendida como la Dirección (ADr), donde se evalúan las decisiones respecto a los recursos humanos y las acciones que conducen a una visión del futuro, con la implementación de objetivos y su revisión constante (Grünig & Kühn, 2015); Finanzas (AFn), donde se considera el conocimiento de la situación de los estados financieros de la empresa, contabilidad, costos y su conocimiento de dichos indicadores (Rachapaettayakom et al., 2020); Gestión de ventas (AGV), que pondera las acciones de la empresa para colocar sus productos en el mercado, las relaciones con los clientes y consumidores (Weitz & Bradford, 1999); Innovación (AIn), donde se consideran las acciones e inversiones para crear o modificar un producto o servicio, cambiando procesos y sus desarrollos a través de pensamientos de manufactura esbelta (Cucchiara et al., 2011); Mercadotecnia (AMr), que delimita las acciones para crear, comunicar, entregar y generar valor para los consumidores (Patsiaouras, 2019); Producción-operación (APO), contempla las acciones operativas de la organización (Abideen et al., 2021). ...
The objective of the research is to evaluate the differences in micro and small enterprise management between entrepreneurs that direct family business and non-family business. The originality of the research is based on the development and testing of a model through systemic analysis where the input, transformation and output processes are measured through an instrument composed of 123 items with a Likert-type scale, the findings show that there are differences in their management forms. The research method a quantitative, cross-sectional, non-experimental study was carried out in four countries, with a total sample of 40 267 cases, the main result is that in both types of companies the satisfaction of the entrepreneur is the variable that has the most impact on productivity and although the results contribute to knowledge by the breadth of variables used, the limiting one is the lack of segmentation.
... Experts in brand theory note that there is no such definition of a brand that is approved by all [65]. Some literature sources see positives in this phenomenon, such as the fact that while the concept of a brand has been in existence for many years, it is still a dynamic and fast-growing area of research [66]. Ultimately, in the case of the development of regional brands, it must be remembered that in this case, the action of the authorities is key, as is that of local people and organizations, which is extremely important in the case of FUAs [67]. ...
As people’s mobility increases, the places they inhabit are also changing, resulting, among other things, in the creation of commuter zones. The existence of such areas has contributed to the development of the concept of functional urban areas (FUAs). Such units quickly began to gain relevance on a global scale, triggering the issue of differentiating themselves from other such areas in pursuit of residents, tourists, and investors. This issue is intertwined with branding and, since FUAs are territorial units, the issue of place branding. The aim of this study was to identify the degree of involvement of Polish FUAs in marketing and place-branding activities. In this way, the following research problem has been formulated: what is FUAs’ approach to territorial marketing and place branding? A qualitative method was chosen to achieve the stated objective. Given that the adaptation of the concept of place branding in relation to FUAs is at an early stage, the exploratory nature of qualitative research was utilized in the form of in-depth interviews. The interviews were conducted between April and June 2021 among employees representing 15 FUAs in Poland. The results suggest that there is a diverse understanding of the issue of place branding but also a noticeable need to conduct extensive marketing activities. All areas pointed to the basic principle of introducing a place branding policy that is applicable in their areas, namely, responding and reacting efficiently to emerging social and economic challenges.
... De igual manera Coffie (2018), señala que existe una gran sinergia entre el concepto de posicionamiento y el branding. Lo anterior, claramente precedido de lo que respecta de la acepción de marketing (Patsiaouras, 2019). ...
El fútbol es uno de los deportes más populares del mundo, genera al año ganancias millonarias a través de sus equipos profesionales, además de crear empleos, cambios sociales e inclusive como generadores de paz. En nuestros días, la marca de lugares y más específicamente de ciudades, ha ganado un impulso extraordinario entre los funcionarios de la ciudad. A diferencia de los mega eventos deportivos como los mundiales de futbol y los juegos olímpicos, los equipos profesionales de balompié han aplicado escasamente la práctica y la investigación las estrategias de city branding o marca ciudad. El propósito de la investigación es identificar la relación entre los equipos profesionales de futbol y la estrategia para transformar y promocionar la imagen de una ciudad a través de una revisión de literatura. Los resultados de la revisión de la literatura permiten visualizar el estatus teórico, evolución y rol de los equipos profesionales de futbol en el desarrollo de una marca ciudad. Los resultados de la revisión literaria dejan ver que los clubes de balompié profesionales influyen en la marca de una ciudad y en varios de sus stakeholders, como turistas, inversores y residentes.
... Marketing is a context-dependent discipline that is influenced by sociopolitical forces, technological development, cultural, ideological and philosophical traditions, institutional changes and business megatrends [9]. Marketing activity in Russia, on the one hand, is influenced by external factors for the country, on the other hand, it has objectively determined features. ...
The article considers the issues of the Russian Federation positioning in the economy of digital globalization in the socio-cultural, geographical, economic and information technology aspects. The thesis is put forward that the crisis of the neoliberal model of globalization actualizes the role of holistic marketing as a concept for the development of business and social activity of a wide range of stakeholders - consumers, employees, business partners and society as a whole - not only in countries with a developed market economy, but also in the Russian Federation. The features of holistic marketing, as well as the problems and prospects of marketing in the Russian Federation in a global perspective are considered. The role of holistic marketing in the development of digital markets based on the information technology infrastructure of the digital economy is noted.
... In this status quo, different theorists develop their own understandings of the brand concept (Schultz and Schultz, 2004) and finding an agreed upon definition for the term "brand" is considered an impossible task (Brodie and de Chernatony, 2009). Some have argued that this is merely a sign of a dynamic area of study (Patsiaouras, 2019). However, given the importance of conceptual definitions (Alexander, 1937;Bartels, 1951;MacKenzie, 2003;Summers, 2001), we argue that this status quo must be questioned. ...
Purpose
This paper aims to critically evaluate the definition of the brand concept, support the critique with an empirical study and provide a definition to resolve the problems that have been identified.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper combines a conceptual critique with empirical research using a sample of 730 journal papers to analyse the scope and number of brand-related concepts in extant literature.
Findings
The brand concept has evolved to become problematic with no clarity of definition. There has been an explosion in the number of brand-related concepts that make the brand concept opaque and unwieldy. Based upon the findings, the authors argue that it is necessary to return to a “label and associations model” of the brand concept to ameliorate these issues.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical research presented examines only 730 papers from a much wider body of brand literature. Nonetheless, it illustrates the fact that researchers and theorists are not talking about the same concept when using the term “brand”.
Practical implications
Practitioners are not being served by academic branding literature because no two researchers appear to be studying the same entity. This prevents a body of research from being built to guide practitioners.
Originality/value
This paper makes an original contribution by combining a conceptual critique and empirical study to examine the problems arising from the absence of an agreed definition of the brand concept and uses this as a foundation for creating a resolution to the problems.
... It is important to note that while the study does encompass a wide variety of measures, the intention was not to conduct an exhaustive review of all items available but to capture as wide a variety of relevant items as possible . Therefore, the approach taken was a systematic concept analysis, which offers "a panoramic breadth of definitions while highlighting the embedded linguistic complexity of the literature" (Patsiaouras, 2019). The researchers followed the outline suggested by Nuopponen (2010); the different steps are described in more detail below. ...
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how place identity can be expressed in residents’ place image descriptions, addressing differences and similarities in place identity expressions between residents’ descriptions of the image of their place and the image of the place as described to others.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth interviews were conducted with residents of a Swedish city. Place image descriptions were analyzed through thematic analysis.
Findings
Different types of identity perspectives manifest in the place image descriptions of residents. Respondents’ associations reflect place, person and social group identity perspectives, including their own perspective as residents, but also as visitors, or a combination of both. Priming is needed when gathering place image perceptions, to establish which underlying identity perspective is expressed.
Research limitations/implications
This study offers a Nordic perspective on the organic communication of place image. The scope and qualitative nature of this study is a limitation to its generalizability but also suggests a rich ground for future cross-cultural studies on the topic.
Practical implications
Results point to the importance of accurately formulating questions to catch stakeholders’ place image. Insights are offered into how stakeholders communicate Nordic place image perceptions when engaging in communication about a place and into the effects of identity on organic place brand communication.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to explore how key stakeholders’ lenses to interpret a place brand are activated in the communication of place image, and how this influences their descriptions of the place.
... Exceções incluem Ajzental, (2008), Bacellar e Ikeda (2007;2011), Falcão (2014, Oliveira, Lourenço e Castro (2015), Boschi, Barros e Sauerbronn (2017), Salvador e Ikeda (2019), entre poucos outros. Tal fato é problemático não apenas por encobrir o papel ideológico da disciplina, como bem aponta Patsiaouras (2019), mas também por permitir que conceitos criados e ensinados em um contexto de até um século atrás continuem a ser ensinados exatamente da mesma maneira (FERRELL et al., 2015), como se fossem ahistóricos e universais. Essa é uma constatação que parece se estender para os cursos de Administração, que além de não considerarem a realidade brasileira (OLIVEIRA; LOURENÇO;CASTRO, 2015;VASCONCELOS;CARVALHO, 2016), não acompanham as mudanças e promovem "[...]uma reprodução técnica e instrumental desassociada da formação de pensadores críticos e criativos" (BOAVENTURA et al., 2018, p.1). Justen e Gurgel (2015, p. 867) adicionam que "[...]há um problema na base da formação em Administração, o qual desconsidera elementos históricos da constituição do Estado e do setor privado no Brasil e no mundo". ...
O objetivo desta pesquisa é investigar sobre quão plural é o ensino de marketing em cursos de graduação em Administração, considerando três escolas de pensamento em Marketing: a gerencial, a de macromarketing e a de marketing crítico. Para atingir tal objetivo, foram entrevistados professores de marketing em diferentes cursos de graduação em Administração no Rio de Janeiro. Os resultados apresentados nas três categorias analíticas produzidas apontam para: a) O reconhecimento de que o conteúdo programático baseado no marketing gerencial é insuficiente para atender aos desafios que cercam a prática de marketing; b) A preocupação em referenciar as práticas de marketing às demandas do mercado e; c) A importância de estabelecer discussões éticas, sociais e críticas que envolvam não somente a relação entre empresas e consumidores, mas que reconheçam o papel do Estado e as pressões da sociedade civil organizada. Os autores concluem que as abordagens de macromarketing e de marketing crítico podem contribuir para que as discussões abordadas possam ser conduzidas pelos professores, de maneira mais plural e sistematizada, para que o ensino de marketing transborde dos domínios da sala de aula para projetos de pesquisa e de extensão.
Purpose
This paper aims to introduce the experience-dominant (Ex-D) logic model, which synthesizes the creation, perceptions and outcomes of Ex-D logic. It is designed to offer valuable insights for strategic managerial applications and future research directions.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing a qualitative approach by using eight selected product launch events from reviewed 100 event videos and 55 in-depth interviews with industrial managers to develop an Ex-D logic model, and data were coded and analysed via NVivo.
Findings
Results show that the firm’s Ex-D logic is operationalized as the mentalizing of the three types of customer needs (service competence, hedonic excitations and meaning making), the materializing of three types of customer experiences and customer journeys (service experience, hedonic experience and brand experience) and the moderating of three types of customer values (service values, hedonic values and brand values).
Research limitations/implications
This study has implications for adding new insights into existing theory on dominant logic and customer experience management and also offers actionable recommendations for managerial applications.
Originality/value
This study sheds light on the importance of Ex-D logic from a strategic point of view and provides an organic view of the firm. It distinguishes firm perspective from customer perspective, firm experience from customer experience and firm journey from consumer journey.
Ontology is implicitly or explicitly the impetus of any study. However, what are the implications of a scholarly field whose prevailing ontological assumptions and resultant epistemological commitments impede more nuanced theorizing? In this paper, we caution against theorizing norms in fields characterized by a non-diverse and non-inclusive set of ontological assumptions. We contend that editorial practices therein create a certain kind of methodological conformity and conduct, that is, an undue justification and explanatory overtones related to methods that are set against the predominant grain. Through a thematic review of qualitative papers in international marketing as a case in point, we argue against narrow onto-epistemological arsenals, we discuss the value of critical theorizing and put forward two modest proposals to address this kind of scholarly conformity in the future.
The research aims to reveal the logic of the marketing concepts’ evolution in the context of globalization processes of the XX–XXI centuries in order to identify the emerging marketing paradigm, meaningful for Russian realities. The globalization of markets, the economy and public life is interpreted as an objective reality determined by scientific and technological progress. The sequence of four stages in the development of economic globalization has been presented and characterised. Marketing concepts’ evolution of American companies, traditional leaders of world markets, is viewed in the process of unfolding of four-stage evolution of globalization during the last century, determined by a series of industrial revolutions. In the context of the globalization processes development, a comparative description of seven marketing concepts has been given – from improving production to holistic marketing. The sequence of changes of marketing dominants in the Russian Federation since the beginning of market economy development in the 1990s has been presented, – from marketing of import to import-substitution marketing and export-oriented marketing. The research is based on the analysis of sources with overlapping themes of globalisation and marketing, including the field of global value networks. The convergence of these areas of knowledge in the process of globalization and of digital markets’ expansion has been noted. The features of the marketing paradigm in the age of digital globalization and its significance for the Russian business global positioning and for its business models’ global platformisation have been determined. The conclusion has been made about the importance of the holistic marketing concept for solving the problems of digitalisation of the economy and digital management transformation in the Russian Federation.
The contribution considers the role of digital assets in the transformation of contemporary corporate relations. The prerequisites for the emergence of digital assets in the modern economy are studied in this work, various approaches to the interpretation of the definition of digital assets, including at the legislative level, are presented. Tokens are allocated as one of the objects derived from digital assets. The authors describe distinctive features of the concept of centralization and decentralization that are used in the creation and functioning of corporate structures. A hybrid model of the corporate platform is presented. It combines the principles of a cooperative and a fund and is based on the concept of decentralization. The concept of a decentralized autonomous organization is considered as one of the promising forms of corporate relations development, taking into account the influence of such digital assets as tokens and their derivative in the form of distributed registry technology.
Purpose
The marketing literature uses five different experience terms that are supposed to represent different streams of research. Many papers do not provide a definition, most of the used definitions are unclear, the different experience terms have similar dimensionality and are regularly used interchangeably or have the same meaning. In addition, the existing definitions are not adequately informed from other disciplines that have engaged with experience. This paper aims to build a comprehensive conceptual framework of experience in marketing informed by related disciplines aiming to provide a more holistic definition of the term.
Design/methodology/approach
This research follows previously established procedures by conducting a systematic literature review of experience. From the approximately 5,000 sources identified in three disciplines, 267 sources were selected, marketing (148), philosophy (90) and psychology (29). To address definitional issues the analysis focused on enlightening four premises.
Findings
This paper posits that the term brand experience can be used in all marketing-related experiences and proposes four premises that may resolve the vagaries associated with the term’s conceptualization. The four premises address the what, who, how and when of brand experience and aim to rectify conceptual issues. Brand experience is introduced as a multi-level phenomenon.
Research limitations/implications
The suggested singular term, brand experience, captures all experiences in marketing. The identified additional elements of brand experience, such as the levels of experience and the revision of emotions within brand experience as a continuum, tempered by repetition, should be considered in future research.
Practical implications
The multi-level conceptualization may provide a greater scope for dynamic approaches to brand experience design thus providing greater opportunities for managers to create sustainable competitive advantages and differentiation from competitors.
Originality/value
This paper completes a systematic literature review of brand experience across marketing, philosophy and psychology which delineates and enlightens the conceptualization of brand experience and presents brand experience in a multi-level conceptualization, opening the possibility for further theoretical, methodological and interdisciplinary promise.
Marketing practitioners and business scholars now view some of the world's poorest communities as profitable growth markets. Hence a market-based approach to poverty alleviation has gathered momentum. This paper traces the evolution of such a market-based approach over four decades, and highlights a gradual trend away from a deficit-reduction approach (focused on constraints and justice) toward an opportunity-expansion approach (focused on capabilities and well-being). This trend is summarized in an analytical framework of human capabilities, well-being goals, and transformative impact evolved from the literature. The framework is then used to analyze the practice of sanitation marketing, which has emerged as a key method in one of the highest priority domains in international development discourse-sanitation. The paper then concludes with a discussion of how contemporary work can further take forward the key tenets of the framework and guide the development of 'good markets' for the poor.
This paper provides a synthesis and critical assessment of the sustainability marketing literature, from the period 1998–2013, building on a previous assessment from 1971 to 1998. It details research within major marketing journals and critically assesses this research in relation to the on-going conversation which focuses on marketing’s relationship with the natural environment. Differences in the content and depth of sustainability coverage in marketing journals are considered. Potential avenues for future sustainability marketing research are proposed, with a particular call for theoretical and managerial reflections which tackle broader systemic and institutional issues within the discipline.
This paper reviews the development of discourse-based analysis in marketing and consumer research and outlines the application of various forms of discourse analysis (DA) as an approach. The paper locates this development alongside broader disciplinary movements and restates the potential for critical DA (CDA) in marketing and consumer behaviour research. We argue that discourse-based approaches have considerable potential and application particularly in terms of supporting disciplinary reflexivity and research criticality. A discursive lens offers novel ways of understanding marketing as a subject/discipline as well as how marketing academics conceive and investigate objects of marketing inquiry. The objectives of this paper are fourfold: to outline the development of discourse and text-based studies in marketing and consumer research; to reveal how this has shaped, framed and limited the application and utilisation of DA in particular ways; to synthesise the main principles of DA generally and CDA specifically; and highlight how these approaches could be applied to a range of marketing and consumer behaviour issues and contexts. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Sage Handbook of Marketing Theory
Cultivation analysis suggests that television influences local cultures through its complex repertoire of images and narratives, which constitute a representation. Through a discursive analysis of television content in India we contend that rising material aspirations and consumer culture are significantly influenced by this medium. Dialectics of turmoil and tranquility mark this development for the working class population. On the one hand, there is domestication of unrest among subaltern groups, as they withdraw from collective political struggles to narrower and more tranquil forms of emulation and economism. On the other hand, these attempts at emulation have resulted in the poorer sections of society devoting their limited resources to aping a lifestyle well beyond their reach and further compromising their quality of life. The other pole of the dialectic is the increase in turmoil that results from tearing the traditional social fabric and support systems. This turmoil progressively manifests itself in increasing materialism and greater monetization of relationships for these subaltern groups.
Macromarketing has expanded inquiry regarding globalization and development since its inception. It has included quality of life (QOL) and environmental measures, and argued that economic development should improve these variables. This article argues that an expanded view of development should also consider QOL, environment, and substantive freedoms as inputs to the development process because of the nature of the globalization process characterized as the spread of Western capitalist neoliberalism. Current global capitalism is an inadequate approach to development because of its focus on economic market relations. The relation among globalization, development, and neoliberalism is examined, showing that the process has economic, political, cultural, and environmental implications that must be addressed from a macromarketing perspective. The development process is unstable and can be problematic if a single model, neoliberalism, is applied to all lesser developed countries. As Russia’s experience suggests, development approaches that ignore nation-specific factors are likely to be problematic.
This paper explores the contradictions inherent in one of the more popular buzzwords of today: sustainable development. I argue that, despite claims of a paradigm shift, the sustainable development paradigm is based on an economic, not ecological, rationality. Discourses of sustainable development embody a view of nature specified by modern economic thought. One consequence of this discourse involves the transformation of 'nature' into 'environment', a transformation that has important implications for notions of how development should proceed. The 'rational' management of resources is integral to the Western economy and its imposition on developing countries is problematic. I discuss the implications of this 'regime of truth' for the Third World with particular reference to biotechnology, biodiversity and intellectual property rights. I argue that these aspects of sustainable development threaten to colonize spaces and sites in the Third World, spaces that now need to be made 'efficient' because of the capitalization of nature.
Purpose – This study seeks to identify, synthesize, and evaluate extant research on environmental marketing and management, with the ultimate aim of unveiling trends in this field. Specifically, it aims to focus on: the characteristics of authors and manuscripts written on the subject; the methodological aspects of empirical studies, in terms of design, scope and methodology; and the thematic areas tackled, as well as the specific issues raised within each area. Design/methodology/approach – Relevant articles were identified using both electronic and manual bibliographic search methods. Altogether, 530 articles were identified in 119 academic journals published during the period 1969-2008. Each article was content-analyzed along six major dimensions, namely authorship profile, manuscript characteristics, research design, scope of research, research methodology, and topical area. Findings – Overall, it was revealed that this body of research has undergone a serious transformation, moving from an early stage of identification and exploration to a more advanced phase characterized by greater maturity and rigour. This is demonstrated by: the tendency for more multi-authored, cross-cultural, and inter-disciplinary collaborative efforts; the increasing length in manuscript size and number of references over time; the growing sophistication of research designs, gradually placing emphasis on formalized and causal structures; the expanded scope of research, covering a wide range of countries, industries, and products, as well as firms of different status, size, and geographic focus; the tendency to use probability sampling designs, obtain high response rates, secure large sample sizes, and apply advanced statistical analysis; and the great diversity and in-depth coverage of the topics examined. Research limitations/implications – Although a meta-analytical or bibliometric assessment could yield more quantitative insights, the fragmented nature of this type of research made the adoption of a bibliographic analysis a more appropriate approach. Various conceptual, methodological, and empirical implications are extracted from the study findings, while certain streams of research requiring further attention in the future were identified. Originality/value – Although research on environmental marketing/management has experienced an exponential growth in the last decades, as a result of intensifying government, public, and company concern, it has been criticised for being too fragmented, widely diverse, and non-programmatic to yield an all-round picture of trends in the subject. This study provides one of the few attempts to identify, consolidate, and evaluate extant knowledge on the subject in a systematic and integrative manner. In doing so, it would provide a reference point that could stimulate and guide future research on the subject, helping in this way the discipline's theoretical advancement and practical development.
In this paper, I argue that an elevated macro level perspective is imperative for conducting critical studies in the fields of marketing and consumer research. There are epistemic barriers to operating in this manner, and I offer several suggestions for overcoming these barriers. Finally, I review the research spaces for critical studies of marketing in various global settings and conclude that UK and Nordic Europe have the best epistemic climate, and this region needs to take leadership in promoting greater range of macro and critical studies of marketing in the rest of the world.
Today's body of marketing thought is expanding geometrically, pushing frontiers in numerous domains - quantitatively, behaviorally, strategically - with much enhanced technology and on an increasingly globalized basis. As this pushes forward on many fronts, however, it is also worthwhile to ask what is in danger of being left behind. What is the benefit, if any, of discerning the roots of this field? On the basis of an extended look across the last century of marketing thought, this article paints a wide-ranging portrait of (1) the general course that has been taken by the body of marketing thought over its "4 Eras" and (2) how the treatment of societal dimensions of marketing has fared during each period. On the basis of these findings, the authors pose several key issues for further consideration by interested thinkers concerned with the progress of marketing scholarship.
This special issue of the Journal of Macromarketing is concerned with the globalization of marketing ideology. That topic raises the questions of what constitutes a marketing ideology and what might be its status on the global scene. The different approaches adopted in this special issue acknowledge the breadth of the topic and illuminate the intersection of marketing with the basic forces of cultures, politics, religion, conflicts, and a dismal financial debt crisis in the Western nations. To gain perspective, it seems relevant to observe the historical trajectory of marketing ideology and its likely continued path. To this end, we trace marketing ideology from a nineteenth-century premarketing ideology, to its initial focus on production/distribution technology, to its early twentieth-century focus on customer orientation and branding, to its current focus on network conversations and the significance of modern brand ubiquity. Using these insights, we then discuss three perspectives on future development and raise some potentially relevant questions.
Purpose
This inquiry aims to contribute to the literature on the historical developments that have influenced the origin, uses, and meanings of branding.
Design/methodology/approach
In this qualitative work an historical methodology was followed and, according to Howell and Prevenier's guidelines, a wide variety of sources were selected of the data presented. Moreover, this study draws on three important perspectives – that of the practitioner, the scholar, and the consumer – in order to offer a thorough view of the relevant issues concerning the evolution of branding.
Findings
The investigation suggests that various forces (e.g., the media, economic developments during the Second World War, marketing research and theorizing) have enacted a comprehensive transformation in the concept of branding. First, the paper offers evidence of the link between fire/burning and the origin of branding. Second, it shows that, in its early days, branding was characterized as a phenomenon with limited applicability. Third, the paper demonstrates how that phenomenon was transformed into a multidimensional, multifunctional, and malleable entity. Last, it presents recent evidence from both business and academia that shows the current, complex status of the concept of branding.
Originality/value
The paper is novel in its large perspective and integrative narrative, and the unusual exposure of its various conceptual issues and links. It should be of interest to marketing historians, brand managers, and scholars of branding.
It may be easier to describe “what not to do” than it is to describe “what to do” when writing a conceptual or theoretical
article. In this sense, the five “wrong way” signs may be of limited value. Nonetheless, it is our experience that quite a
number of marketing manuscripts sometimes wander down one of these streets where strong theory is rarely present. We realize
that some of our recommendations are difficult to implement. The reality is that good theoretical work is far more difficult
to do and requires far greater creativity than most empirical research. This fact should not deter such efforts, and journals,
includingJAMS, must work to nurture such scholarship, even in the face of a very high hurdle. Nonetheless, we believe that marketing theorists
have made significant progress over the past 50 years, but, if the discipline is to play an important role in the social sciences
and influence management practice, it must accelerate its efforts to create its own unique theories of markets and marketing
phenomena.JAMS is a welcoming and nurturing place for such work.
Brands are today under attack by an emerging countercultural movement. This study builds a dialectical theory of consumer culture and branding that explains the rise of this movement and its potential effects. Results of an interpretive study challenge existing theories of consumer resistance. To develop an alternative model, I first trace the rise of the modern cultural engineering paradigm of branding, premised upon a consumer culture that granted marketers cultural authority. Intrinsic contradictions erased its efficacy. Next I describe the current postmodern consumer culture, which is premised upon the pursuit of personal sovereignty through brands. I detail five postmodern branding techniques that are premised upon the principle that brands are authentic cultural resources. Postmodern branding is now giving rise to new contradictions that have inflamed the antibranding sentiment sweeping Western countries. I detail these contradictions and project that they will give rise to a new post-postmodern branding paradigm premised upon brands as citizen-artists. Copyright 2002 by the University of Chicago.
This article provides a synthesizing overview of the past 20 yr. of consumer research addressing the sociocultural, experiential, symbolic, and ideological aspects of consumption. Our aim is to provide a viable disciplinary brand for this research tradition that we call consumer culture theory (CCT). We propose that CCT has fulfilled recurrent calls for developing a distinctive body of theoretical knowledge about consumption and marketplace behaviors. In developing this argument, we redress three enduring misconceptions about the nature and analytic orientation of CCT. We then assess how CCT has contributed to consumer research by illuminating the cultural dimensions of the consumption cycle and by developing novel theorizations concerning four thematic domains of research interest. (c) 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
Marketing is a pervasive societal activity that goes considerably beyond the selling of toothpaste, soap, and steel. The authors interpret the meaning of marketing for nonbusiness organizations and the nature of marketing functions such as product improvement, pricing, distribution, and communication in such organizations. The question considered is whether traditional marketing principles are transferable to the marketing of organizations, persons, and ideas.
This article develops and applies a conceptual analysis method (CAM). The CAM is a critical reflection on multiple definitions and descriptions of concepts and terms all used to refer to a phenomenon or the experiences of it. The method particularly helps researchers working in emerging research fields to discover any conceptual confusion and elucidate multiple terms and concepts. We demonstrate the utility of the CAM by discovering conceptual confusion on an example field: business relationship uncoupling, and elucidating its terms and concepts. This article adds to the discussion on the importance of conscious conceptual language for theory development, on the level of a research field.
Murray and Ozanne (1991) provided evidence of paradigmatic approaches in market and consumer research by classifying the field into Positivism, Interpretivism and Critical Theory. We discuss these approaches and celebrate their contribution. We posit, however, that paradigms are symptomatic of an epistemological trap that privileges knowledge to the detriment of other vital virtues. We propose to employ Capra’s triadic concept (Capra, 1997) to develop the notion of ‘paradigmapping’ and demonstrate that this concept can be employed to transcend incommensurability in the field of marketing. We also propose to supplement Alvesson and Skoldberg’s (2000) ‘triple’ hermeneutics of individual reflection, social construction and critical theory with a healthier balance between knowledge and other virtues. We posit a relativist position where we clearly wish to argue the case for considering marketing’s potential as a moral art rather than the amoral science we submit it has become.
Scepticism about the 'science' of social science is as widespread now as it has ever been. Sartori and his colleagues attribute this lack of progress to the neglect of concept analysis. Using the analytic procedure established by Sartori in the opening chapters, the distinguished contributors to this book attempt to build a common, consistent, and communicable set of social scientific concepts.
Twelve years after his famous Essay on Some Problems Concerning the Normal and the Pathological (1943), the philosopher Georges Canguilhem (1904-1995) published a book-length study on the history of a single biological concept. Within France, his Formation of the Reflex Concept in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (1955) contributed significantly to defining the "French style" of writing on the history of science. Outside of France, the book passed largely unnoticed. This paper re-reads Canguilhem's study of the reflex concept with respect to its historiographical and epistemological implications. Canguilhem defines concepts as complex and dynamic entities combining terms, definitions, and phenomena. As a consequence, the historiography of science becomes a rather complex task. It has to take into account textual and contextual aspects that develop independently of individual authors. In addition, Canguilhem stresses the connection between conceptual activities and other functions of organic individuals in their respective environments. As a result, biological concepts become tied to a biology of conceptual thinking, analogical reasoning, and technological practice. The paper argues that this seemingly circular structure is a major feature in Canguilhem's philosophical approach to the history of the biological sciences.
Initially dismissed as one among many intellectual fads, postmodernism now occupies a prominent position in all manner of academic disciplines. Although marketers have not been slow to board the postmodern bandwagon, the majority of analyses thus far have been preoccupied with the concept's implications for marketing practice rather than marketing theory. Examines the nature of postmodernism, explores its very serious implications for marketing thought and evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of a postmodern marketing revolution or paradigm shift. Concludes that although postmodernism challenges much of what marketing theorists hold dear, it offers a number of significant conceptual compensations.
Purpose – Guanxi is believed to be a striking feature that helps to enter a profitable and growing Chinese market. Though many have guanxi well-defined and classified, the core value undermined within the Confucianism that constructs guanxi networks, the mechanism of how guanxi works, and the factors that make them sustainable and durable in Chinese societies have rarely been discussed thoroughly. From the socio-cultural view, this study seeks to examine guanxi and its role in business. Design/methodology/approach – The paper used a combination of qualitative research approaches, namely interviews, and questionnaire for survey. The quantitative research approaches was also chosen to test and discuss for the results consistency. Findings – The result suggests guanxi, the unique cultural character of Chinese, does not simply connect the social networks; it also plays the role in setting the rules in doing business in Chinese society. Research limitations/implications – This paper provides an inner view which offers insights that should prove helpful to academics in management and related disciplines as well as to practitioners engaged in Chinese business. Originality/value – Monitoring the mechanism of Chinese social-culture and gaining an understanding of how guanxi plays as the internal and external factors in business.
Since its inception in the 17th century, the peer review process has generated much discussion and dissention. This largely introspective, occasionally tongue‐in‐cheek, paper examines the nature of the reviewing process in academic marketing research. It highlights the sorts of problems commonly associated with peer review, evaluates the many and varied reforms that have been proposed and, by introducing the principles of genre theory, discusses the academic paper as a highly codified literary form.
This paper challenges the conventional opposition, or distinction, between consumer behaviour theory and practice. This binary dualism, it is argued, is predicated on a simplistic ‘either/or’ logic that ignores the effects theory and practice have on each other. Furthermore, it obscures a hierarchical relationship between academic researchers and marketing practitioners in which basic research is more dominant and privileged than applied research. In response to these criticisms, an alternative ‘both/and’ logic is proposed for exploring the interrelationships between consumer behaviour theory and practice and new social relations among consumer researchers.
Just prior to the recent millennial transition, The Observer polled a cross-section of British celebrities about their perceptions of paradise. Most of these were suitably vague – perpetual joy, renewed relationships, blissful state of mind etc. – but the anarchic comedian Mark Thomas archly described Heaven as “smelling of bananas”. Off-hand possibly, flippant undoubtedly, yet Thomas’s remark is strikingly apt, since bananas are the original “forbidden fruit” of the Garden of Eden. Apples are mere interlopers, latter-day arrivistes that have prospered thanks to the spin-doctoring tactics of the wily Serpent. This paper, therefore, aims to set the record straight by telling a tall banana tale and explaining how bananamarketing is the future of our field.
This paper examines the treatment of paradigm incommensurability in marketing theory. It is not the first to tackle the issue, although I will argue that existing attempts to negotiate the incommensurability thesis fail on their misunderstanding of Kuhn's work. I then highlight Kuhn's own shifting position regarding the incommensurability thesis. Despite Kuhn's proposal that incommensurability can be overcome, such a strategy would be risky in an environment where cognitive bias indicates a continued subscription to logical empiricism and behavioural scientific modes of inquiry.
Marketing Disequilibrium - Douglas Brownlie et al On Redress and Restoration PART ONE: MARKETING PHILOSOPHY Postmodernism - Stephen Brown The End of Marketing? Commentary - Gibson Burrell PART TWO: REDEFINING MARKETS From Marketing to Societing - Bernard Cova When the Link Is More Important than the Thing Exchange, Institutions and Time - Luis Araujo Commentary - Robin Wensley PART THREE: REFRAMING CONSUMERS Symbolic Meaning and Postmodern Consumer Culture - Richard Elliott It's a Matter of Time - David Knights and Pamela Odih The Significance of the Women's Market in Consumption Commentary - Morris Holbrook PART FOUR: MARKETING ETHICS Morality and the Marketplace - Robert Grafton Small An Everyday Story of Consumer Ethics Theory, Ethical Critique and the Experience of Marketing - William P Hetrick and Hector R Lozada Commentary - Peter Binns Commentary - Stephen Fineman PART FIVE: THE MARKETING PROFESSION The Process of Inter-Professional Competition - P[um]aivi Eriksson A Case of Expertise and Politics On the Idolization of Markets and the Denigration of Marketers - Hugh Willmott Some Critical Reflections on a Professional Paradox Commentary - Michael Thomas PART SIX: MARKETING PEDAGOGY Research, Rhetoric and Reality - Sally Dibb and Philip Stern Marketing's Trifid Research in Marketing - Gilles Laurent and Bernard Pras Some Trends, Some Recommendations Commentary - Gerry Zaltman
This article gives an overview of the origin of the concept of sustainable development by going far back in history to trace its roots. It shows how the idea of sustainability evolved through the centuries as a counter to notions of progress. The historical context in the latter half of the 20th century is outlined, in which a paradigm shift in thinking about development caused sustainable development to occupy the centre stage in development discourses.
Advertising Revolution: The Story of a Song, from Beatles Hit to Nike Slogan
- A Bradshaw
- L Scott
End Poverty in All its Forms Everywhere
- Un Sustainable Goals
The life of concepts: Georges Canguilhem and the history of science
- I Hacking
Hacking, I., (1983) in Schmidgen, H., (2014) The life of concepts: Georges Canguilhem and
the history of science. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences. 36(2), pp. 232-253
Markets and marketing research on poverty and its alleviation
- S Sridharan
- D Barrington
Sridharan, S., Barrington, D., and Saunders, S., (2017) Markets and marketing research on
poverty and its alleviation. Marketing Theory, 17(3), pp. 323-340.