Historical methodology: the perspective of a professionally trained historian turned marketer

Abstract

PurposeThe paper's aim is to explain historical methodology in a marketing context.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on the author's personal experience, being trained in the history method and using the historical method.FindingsAn awareness of time contexts and complex change is essential, so too is an appreciation of primary sources (as defined by historians). Reading the present into the past (anachronism) is to be avoided, and the interpretation and explanation of events are essential to good history.Originality/valueThe paper represents the author's own personal experience.