Reflections on the art-science debate

Abstract

This paper reflects upon the science versus art debate in marketing. It tracks the development of marketing science and the rationale for its promotion. The paper argues that marketing science has damaged marketing's credibility because data and methodology have dominated academic research at the expense of theory development and practical relevance. It also sees the scientific approach as a principal factor in the academic-practitioner divide. The paper concludes that despite the solid arguments in favour of the abandonment of the scientific platform too many scholars have a vested interest in the scientific approach for change to come about.

Dealing with challenges to methodological pluralism: The paradigm problem, psychological resistance and cultural barriers

“…The dominant paradigm has been called 'functionalist' (Arndt, 1985;Burton, 2001;Hanson & Grimmer, 2007;Hunt, 2002;Tadajewski, 2004Tadajewski, , 2008Tadajewski, , 2009Tadajewski & Hewer, 2012), but many advocates of 'interpretivist' research are also evident (e.g. Belk et al, 1988;Brown et al, 1996;Egan, 2009;Gummesson, 2003;Mathyseens & Vandenbempt, 2003).…”

Experienced professionals and doctoral study: A performative agenda

“…Buckley, Ferris, Bernardin, and Harvey (1998) propose some of these "areas of tension" in academic-practitioner interaction: first and notably, there is a theoretical versus pragmatic focus that affords primacy to academic outcomes. Many leading marketing scholars have become proponents of marketing as a scientific endevour (Bartels, 1951;Buzzell, 1963;Converse, 1945;Demirdjian, 1976;Hunt, 1983;Hunt, 1993;Hutchinson, 1952) while others have spoken passionately that this should not be the exclusive ambition to the cost of practical findings (Brown, Bell & Carson, 1996;Egan, 2009). Implicit in this dichotomy seems to be an assumption that a finding cannot be both scientifically and practically useful.…”

Contribuições para a Educação em Teoria de Marketing: uma Agenda Profissional e Acadêmica

“…Quando Shaw (2014) faz ressurgir a hipótese levantada por Sheth et al (1988) de que o marketing (como ciência) estaria vivendo uma crise de credibilidade, ele nos leva a retomar uma reflexão que não está ligada apenas à imagem do marketing acadêmico junto ao mercado e à sociedade como um todo, mas, principalmente, sobre a utilidade do campo acadêmico para o mundo real. Essa questão, que já vem de um longo debate, continua presente na atualidade acadêmica, produzindo reflexões profundas sobre o futuro do marketing (Piercey, 1995(Piercey, , 2002Simkin, 2002;Brennan, 2004;Blythe, 2006;Stringfellow et al, 2006;Brownlie, Hewer & Ferguson, 2007;Ramocki, 2007a;2007b;Tapp & Hughes, 2008;Egan, 2009;Jaworski, 2011;Kumar, 2015Kumar, , 2017.…”