Macromarketing: Past, Present, and Possible Future

Abstract

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.

Distributive Justice: Pressing Questions, Emerging Directions, and the Promise of Rawlsian Analysis

“…Such issues can raise questions about the design of the exchange system itself. Layton and Grossbart (2006) recently took stock of the rich history of macromarketing research, including the writings that specifically address DJ. They conclude that " [these] challenges are grounded in macromarketing's intellectual and normative traditions.…”

Philip Kotler, Confronting Capitalism (2015) & Democracy in Decline (2016)

“…While Piketty focuses on the brutal economic logic driving today's economic system (which would lead rational humans to shift efforts to become financiers), Kotler focuses on externalities and on stakeholders not traditionally represented in corporate board rooms, such as the environment and the poor. In this way, Kotler's critique is aligned with the critiques offered by macromarketers over the years (Layton and Grossbart 2006).…”

Grounded Theory as a Macromarketing Methodology

“…FTTs are also interesting from a macromarketing perspective because they involve commercial marketing and consumption operating at the level of a geographical community. Community-based consumption interests macromarketers as one level of study of marketing systems (Dholakia and Nason 1984;Layton and Grossbart 2006). However, although macromarketing research has investigated issues, such as community-based social marketing, or marketing to communities of interest, community-based marketing processes of the sort apparent within FTTs represent an under-researched topic within both macromarketing and micromarketing scholarship.…”

“…However, although macromarketing research has investigated issues, such as community-based social marketing, or marketing to communities of interest, community-based marketing processes of the sort apparent within FTTs represent an under-researched topic within both macromarketing and micromarketing scholarship. Layton and Grossbart (2006) note several examples of local, market-based macromarketing studies, but they are few compared to studies of national markets or industry-wide systems. FTTs take us beyond micromarketing perspectives, and the conventional range of market actors, to include as active participants a range of stakeholders more normally thought of as elements of the marketing environment (e.g.…”