Marketing Doctrine: A Principles-Based Approach to Guiding Marketing Decision Making in Firms

Abstract

The authors introduce and examine a new marketing concept that a small set of leading firms has begun to adopt: marketing doctrine. Marketing doctrine refers to a firm's unique principles, distilled from its experiences, which provide firm-wide guidance on market-facing choices. As such, marketing doctrine provides a firm-wide common approach to decision making. Importantly, marketing doctrine helps a firm address the classic consistency–flexibility conundrum by providing high-level guidance to all decision makers in the firm (thus ensuring consistency) but not specifying execution details (thus allowing for local flexibility). Across three samples, the authors explore the concept using a discovery-oriented, theories-in-use approach with 35 executives from several industries. This article makes four contributions. First, it offers a parsimonious definition of the marketing doctrine construct and contrasts it with related constructs. Second, it offers insight into how firms can develop marketing doctrine. Third, it develops a conceptual model that identifies the antecedents and consequences of marketing doctrine use. Finally, the authors explore the moderating effects of three unpredictable environments (competitive intensity, market turbulence, and structural flux) on the marketing doctrine use–performance relationship.

Making SENS: exploring the antecedents and impact of store environmental stewardship climate

“…Apparently store managers' transformational leadership practices become more effective through continued investments over time. In line with Challagalla et al (2014), we conceptualize these relational elements as methods to make the environmental marketing doctrine sustainable at an operational level. Recent claims similarly indicate that social exchange relationships support the development of a stewardship climate (Hernandez 2012).…”

“…Emergent theory suggests that generalizations about issues such as environmental responsibility can be achieved through a marketing doctrine-a set of principles, summarized in easy-tocommunicate rules of thumb, that draw on the company's experience to guide more consistent but flexible decision making at an operational level and improve organizational performance (Challagalla et al 2014). This lens is particularly pertinent in our study context, because responsibility for achieving environmental goals not only lies with marketers but also spreads throughout the organization (Langan 2014).…”

“…An operational manager acts as the critical go-between, translating the marketing doctrine to inform employee decisions and actions. A marketing doctrine is emerging as an important practice for organizations, which suggests the need for close attention to two key factors: (1) the adoption or adaptation of guiding principles by non-marketers to execute the strategy through coherent decision making and (2) how the adoption of the marketing doctrine depends on the attitudinal and situational characteristics of the workforce (Challagalla et al 2014).…”

“…We argue instead that a leader's taskoriented actions effectively articulate strategic choices and prioritization among available options, thus providing direction for the development of a work climate that fosters environmental responsibility. In addition, we account for how relationship-oriented behavior aids the sustainable creation of a SENS-climate, because both articulation and sustainability are critical to a collective interpretation of the environmental marketing doctrine in an operational (retail) context (Challagalla et al 2014). Thus consistency in green sales can be promoted; this consistency then reinforces the credibility of the organization as green among consumers (Gleim et al 2013).…”

Consumption as a Lifestyle: A Reflection on the Schopenhauer Perspective

“…With this new Cartesian configuration of Nature, man will always be faced with phenomena small enough to be properly investigated, such as the effect of the product position in the gondola (Dagger & Danaher, 2014), or ambient music (Simões & Agante, 2014), or POS illumination (Challagalla, Murtha, & Jaworski, 2014) in understanding the phenomenon of consumer behavior (incomprehensible for a single outlet). From this perspective, science is configured primarily as an entity created from the union of the axiomatic understanding of Descartes (2011), experimental techniques Galilei (2014) and neutrality of a non-human Judge of Hobbes (2013).…”