Scholarly Research in Marketing: Exploring the “4 Eras” of Thought Development

Abstract

Today's body of marketing thought is expanding geometrically, pushing frontiers in numerous domains—quantitatively, behaviorally, strategically—with much enhanced technology and on an increasingly globalized basis. As this pushes forward on many fronts, however, it is also worthwhile to ask what is in danger of being left behind. What is the benefit, if any, of discerning the roots of this field? On the basis of an extended look across the last century of marketing thought, this article paints a wide-ranging portrait of (1) the general course that has been taken by the body of marketing thought over its “4 Eras” and (2) how the treatment of societal dimensions of marketing has fared during each period. On the basis of these findings, the authors pose several key issues for further consideration by interested thinkers concerned with the progress of marketing scholarship.