Marketing’s identity crisis: insights from the history of marketing thought
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-1-2018
Abstract
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.
Publication Title
AMS Review
Volume
8
Issue
1-2
First Page
5
Last Page
17
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1007/s13162-017-0102-y
ISSN
1869814X
E-ISSN
18698182
Citation Information
El-Ansary, Shaw, E. H., & Lazer, W. (2017). Marketing’s identity crisis: insights from the history of marketing thought. AMS Review, 8(1-2), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-017-0102-y