History and critical marketing studies

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to argue that the function of history in critical marketing studies centres on the issue of contextualisation. It aims to put forward the idea that historically informed critical marketing studies highlight that key institutions, actors and scholarly writings have all helped to constitute, perform and destabilise marketing theory, thought and practice in ways that reflect multiple constellations of interests. Design/methodology/approach -By way of an engagement with various strands of the literature, it is suggested that the history of marketing thought and marketing history are riven with power relations. They include economically derived power relations and culturally significant changes in the social environment. However, while important, they are only part of a more pluralistic tapestry of factors that come from sometimes completely unrelated areas that helped constitute the conditions which fostered a given area of inquiry, debate and so on, in marketing and consumer research. Findings -Weaved into accounts such as those articulated within critical marketing studies are attempts to rethink aspects of theory, concept formation, thought, practice and institutions that have assumed a taken-for-granted status. Originality/value -This account is based on a detailed reading of interdisciplinary debates read into the history of marketing thought and marketing history.

Commentaries on the state of journals in marketing

“…Surely this should concern us all, irrespective of whether we have a preference for behavioural scientific, interpretive, critical marketing or macromarketing forms of research (Fırat, 2009;Tadajewski, 2010aTadajewski, , 2010bTadajewski, , 2010c. Nor is it likely that one paradigm will provide us with the intellectual means to think through the complex social and political issues with which marketing and consumption in all their many forms are connected (Shapiro et al, 2009;Zinkhan and Hirschheim, 1992).…”

Constituting Marketing and Customer Experiences

“…Miller's (2001) work on Home Possessions continues in this vein, considering anthropology as a discipline which best foregrounds a sense of empathy and humanity (cf. Tadajewski, 2010aTadajewski, , 2010b. Perhaps it is time to place such an ethos and spirit as essential to the analysis of markets and market phenomena, that is, to see them as critical devices for the sustenance of social relations.…”

Embedding critique in the university: a new role for critical marketing education?

“…Our approach takes inspiration from recent scholarship which calls for historical approaches to marketing and for an understanding of how marketing ideas are perpetuated and entrenched (e.g. Tadajewski, 2010a;2010b;Tadajewski and Hewer, 2011) although it differs from them in focusing on the evolution of critique rather than on the marketing discipline itself. Although historical approaches in the field of marketing are still evolving and raise issues of reflexivity and relevance for marketing academics, the use of historical analysis in marketing is gaining currency for its ability to highlight patterns of change and identify effects and implications; marketing scholars contend that this method "suggests that historical phenomena can be rich and complex and that they can best be understood by investigating the time(s), place(s), and context(s) in which they arise and develop" (Low and Fullerton, 1994: 173).…”