What Constitutes Usable Knowledge in Macromarketing?

Abstract

Marketing science studies are usable to the practitioner only by chance. That field has become too narrowly focused a discipline. To be usable, macromarketing studies must remain open to the poetics, the "art" of the field. A transcending mental construct is required, one that enhances, not destroys, our scientific heritage.

Towards a history of critical marketing studies

“…18 According to Spratlen's humanistic vision, 19 marketing scholars should try to balance managerial interests with important social goals, including improving people's lives, as well as accepting a certain degree of responsibility for the end result of marketing activities (see also Hirschman, 1986). Connected with this, Spratlen -like Arndt (1985aArndt ( , 1985b, N. Dholakia (1988), Lutz (1989), Monieson (1981Monieson ( , 1988, Murray and Ozanne (1991), Ozanne and Saatcioglu (2008), Peter (1991), Rogers (1987), Sherry (1991), Zaltman and Bonoma (1979), as well as the AMA (1988) -made a plea for scholars to exhibit greater openness to alternative ways of seeking knowledge, in order to better understand marketing's impact on society. The more radical paradigms like humanism and its close relation, the liberating paradigm 20 (Arndt 1985a(Arndt , 1985bSeymour, 1985), were presented as a means to open up marketing to 'examination, experimentation and change in order to gain new insights in [to] marketing thought and action' (Spratlen, 1972, p. 408).…”

A Plea for Methodological Pluralism in Marketing Science: The Case of Nonprofit Marketing Concept

“…To achieve this goal, advocates of pluralism suggest that: (1) the dominant naturalist approach in marketing should be diluted by adopting alternative research orientations such as criticism and constructivism [19,25]; (2) marketing scholars should practice their right to dissent, to understand, and to be simple [33]; (3) a diverse array of research paradigms to better reflect subjective experiences, values, criticism, and conflicts should be brought into marketing science [19]; and (4) different metaphors within alternative research paradigms (e.g. alienated man, victimized consumers, language and text, experienced man, irrational man, political economies, and the political marketplace) should be recognized by marketing scholars [19,31,34,35]. Although their approach has been debated [21], the voices of pluralists have ignited a philosophical rethinking both of general marketing theory and of the conceptualization of public and non-profit sectors marketing in the context of public and non-profit sectors management [11,[36][37][38].…”

On the Founding of the Journal of Macromarketing

“…Following the ''Colloquium,'' the first issue contained articles on macromarketing philosophy (Monieson 1981), legal problems in franchising (Nevin, Hunt, and Levas 1981), trade flows (Layton 1981), ethics (Laczniak, Lusch, and Strang 1981), and retailing (Markin and Duncan 1981). The issue concluded with the Book Review Editor inviting readers to suggest books for review (Wish 1981), four book reviews, and abstracts of the papers presented at the 1980 Macromarketing Seminar held at the University of Rhode Island.…”