This article highlights the central role that the study of marketing systems could and should play in the discipline of macromarketing. Drawing from a wide-ranging literature, a new definition of marketing systems is shared. The study of a marketing system furthermore can be approached in one or more of at least four ways. Each approach discussed raises issues of modeling and measurement, of attributes, and of inputs and outputs, which increasingly often will provide insights into system design alternatives. Placing the concept of a marketing system at the center of macromarketing puts in context much if not all of the concepts, ideas, and research that have been part of macromarketing for the past thirty or more years and provides a bridge to the wealth of relevant studies now being undertaken in many related fields.

The article outlines an integrated theoretical framework identifying the causal processes underlying formation, growth, and adaptive change in marketing systems. Beginning with the co-evolution of behaviors, beliefs, and social practices that initiate innovative change in marketing systems, it integrates three theoretical frameworks drawn from analytical sociology, organization and social movement theory, and from macromarketing to show how and why economic exchange in and between human communities leads to formation, growth, and adaptive change in marketing systems. The theory of social mechanisms identifies the means whereby actions taken by individuals and entities participating in a marketing system will regularly produce over time the collective outcomes that characterize a marketing system. The theory of strategic action fields explains how these actions, engendered by competition between participants for material and status rewards in the social action field associated with a marketing system, lead to internal and external change in a marketing system. The theory of marketing systems identifies the tangible and intangible elements of structure and function in marketing systems that emerge from the interaction of social mechanisms and action fields over time and that are found in every human community. As marketing systems form, grow, and change they become part of the immediate environment in turn influencing the actions of individuals, groups and entities, as well as adjacent marketing systems, shaping on-going co-evolution, the operation of social mechanisms, and the strategic choices made by actors in action fields. The Mechanism, Action, Structure (MAS) framework of theory is dynamic, explores causation, links micro choices and macro structures, focusses on processes rather than variables, and links macromarketing with cognate social sciences in an understanding of economic exchange in human communities.

In addition to favorable institutions and knowledge accumulation, there is a third significant set of factors that could and should be taken into the analysis of economic growth. Where there is specialization there must also be trade, and, overtime, where there is trade there will also emerge the specialized roles and market structures needed to handle trade efficiently. These specialized roles and market structures, identified as marketing systems, together with institutions and technology constitute the three essential sets of factors needed for growth to occur. While institutional change tends to be long term, and technological change is often discontinuous and medium term, marketing system changes leading to improvements in either or both of effectiveness and efficiency in trade have a much more immediate impact on the well-being of the community. If the marketing systems that play such a central role are poorly adapted to the environments in which they operate, or lack in health, resilience or responsiveness, for structural or functional reasons, then growth and ultimately the quality of life will be directly affected. An understanding of marketing systems, their emergence, and their role in influencing economic growth is a necessary first step toward the ‘‘constructive engagement’’ of marketing with society envisaged by Shultz.

Purpose -As specialisation takes root in human communities, the economics of scale and of diversity come into play. Scale leads to product markets, specialised firms, channels, and to industries. Diversity generates peasant markets, shopping malls, and business eco-systems. These outcomes are all examples of marketing systems, and are typical of the patterns that emerge, grow, adapt and evolve in complex transaction flows. Marketing systems are multi-level, path dependent, dynamic systems, embedded within a social matrix, and interacting with institutional and knowledge environments. The purpose of this paper is to outline a number of propositions that might serve as a basis for a theory of marketing systems. Design/methodology/approach -The paper draws on historical research into the evolution of exchange and on examples of markets and exchange practices from marketing, anthropology, sociology, and economics. It utilises results from complex adaptive systems theory, from the networks and markets literatures, and from ecology, to formulate a series of propositions that identify properties believed to be common to all marketing systems. Findings -Marketing systems are identified and categorized as emergent patterns in flows of transactions. In total, 12 foundational propositions are suggested. The propositions are complementary to those suggested by S-D logic. Originality/value -This paper offers a fresh approach to the study of marketing systems, developing relevant theory. Marketing systems link micro choices with macro outcomes, with implications ranging from disaster recovery to distributive justice and QOL outcomes.

In this article, we offer an overview of macromarketing from the mid–1960s to the present. Based on this overview, describe examples of the system elements that have been of interest in researching marketing systems (including those that relate to the environment and the components, attributes, and outcomes of marketing systems). Next, we consider where the field stands today and discuss twelve challenges in macromarketing that compose a possible scenario for future research. Finally, we note the scenarios links to intellectual and normative traditions in the field, its potential relevance for macromarketing scholarship, and its limitations.