Guest editorial

Citation

Tadajewski, M. and Jones, D.G.B. (2020), "Guest editorial", Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 193-196. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHRM-05-2020-083

The history of marketing theory and thought

Introduction

In this special issue, we have four papers that explore varied facets of marketing theory and thought. The first article deals with the work of William A. Shryer. This individual was a practitioner from Detroit. Among his many interests, he sought to determine the most effective vehicles for marketing communications. His focus on understanding which advertisements were most successful led him to adopt an analytical strategy that places him within the emerging field of marketing and advertising science.

Keying his ads to specific outlets let him evaluate returns from expenditure and increase the efficiency of his operational decision-making. Drawing upon Shryer’s major publications, Tadajewski illuminates Shryer’s research strategy, analytic methods and unpacks the sophisticated psychological framework that underpins the approach he adopted and recommended to other research-minded businesspeople. This leads Tadajewski to engage in a close reading of the psychological literature permeating Shryer’s work – most notably the publications of William James, Boris Sidis and Joseph Jastrow – linking this to contemporary turns in marketing theory and thought (Tadajewski, 2019). This means that Tadajewski’s manuscript takes us from the late 19th century right to the present day. It starts with Shryer’s work, embeds this within normal and abnormal psychological thought, moves to mob and herd theory, motivation research, as well as studies of mindlessness and social cognition concluding with reflections on cumulative value theory.

The second article is by Ray Benton. Benton has produced a number of major contributions to critical marketing studies (Tadajewski, 2010). In this paper, he introduces us to the writing of Victor Lebow – an author ignored by scholars immersed in this critical tradition. Lebow’s work should be of interest to many different groups reading the Journal of Historical Research in Marketing including critical marketers, macromarketers as well as those exploring the increasingly vast domain of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Looking at Lebow’s publications, Benton highlights their varied nature. Running from retail and distribution papers in prominent marketing journals as well as content that appeared in a variety of practitioner outlets, it is his book that is the focus of Benton’s analysis.

Lebow takes a descriptive approach to exploring the market, marketing and their impact on human experience. Description does not necessarily indicate a subscription to a status-quo view of the marketplace, particularly if the insights that are generated reveal the increased devotion to a consumption-oriented lifestyle and its attendant costs. Though historically consumption has had multiple definitions, Lebow adopts one that exhibits a distinctly cautionary stance, linking consumption, destruction and growing levels of material waste. Lebow was interested in the market operating differently for the benefit of greater numbers of people. Indeed, he had “reserved hope” that the text Benton admirably explicates would function as a vehicle for consciousness raising among the next generation – the generation that would be in leadership positions by the year 2000 – and thereby placed to move the economic and market structure in more sustainable, equitable directions.

His representation of the market and marketing system is not the picture of mutual benefit and win-win relations that our textbooks try to sell us in an environment marked by visible and repeated corruption, organisational misbehaviour and illegality, as well as great harms to the consumer and ecosystem (Carreyrou, 2018; Snowden, 2019; Wolff, 2018, 2019). Lebow underlines that the market often fails many people and is marred by vast inequality. In this regard, he seems to point to the need for the greater expansion of the market, as well as increased access and opportunity for all to lead happy, healthy and culturally respectable lives (Arnould, 2007; Miller, 2001). The marketing system, from his perspective, provides us with many opportunities but brings with it serious costs that cannot be denied. These, of course, are typically downplayed in a systematic fashion. Lebow is attentive to propaganda, public relations and its impact on human gullibility, paying attention to the role of language in shaping the cultural climate (e.g. concepts such as “free enterprise” and their implied negation of power).

Rather than deny these factors, we need to approach them face-first, deflate the cultural influence of business, its valorisation of profits and work out how we can maximise the distribution of benefits associated with marketing while keeping the costs in check. This was not likely to happen while we tinkered around the edges of capitalism via self-disciplinary measures such as CSR. Benton unravels Lebow’s nuanced ideas, and let us hope that his article encourages greater engagement with Lebow’s contributions (the social dividend) and suggestions for business education more generally (i.e. teaching students about the “reality” of marketing practice rather than, in some cases, ideological doctrines that fail to acknowledge social, cultural, political and technological power and perversion).

The third paper in this issue is a close reading of a series of short books, which were published by Arch W. Shaw’s Company in the early 20th century. The six volumes that Tadajewski and Jones position within wider cultural shifts were penned by Herbert Watson and intended to provide neophytes as well as currently active salespeople with advice about best practice. This was possible by virtue of the background of the contributor – who had considerable experience in business – as well as courtesy of the institutional support he received from the A.W. Shaw Company. The latter had an extensive network of academic and practitioner advisors who commented on the manuscripts this Company produced and circulated.

What Tadajewski and Jones find is that the ideas in Watson’s books are sophisticated. The latter was influenced by Frederick Taylor, a major figure associated with scientific management (Tadajewski and Jones, 2012). Whether this was directly or indirectly the result of Arch Shaw’s influence on Watson is not entirely clear (Shaw’s ruminations were notably shaped by Taylor’s work). Nonetheless, the reading of Watson’s books reveals a substantial range of topics covered. These include discussions of motive lists and their application to the sales canvass and interaction between salesperson and customer. The limitations of a priori motive lists are, however, recognised. Watson implores the sales worker to speak to their customer and be attentive to their needs, wants and interests. Unusually, Watson even encourages the sales practitioner to engage in a basic form of ethnography, using whatever insights are generated to inform the approach made to the client at the time.

Throughout the discussion, what becomes apparent is that although Frederick Taylor’s work has influenced Watson’s recommendations, his original views were not translated from factory production to marketing practice uncritically. They are modified for the audience. In doing so, Taylor’s more general statements about their being “one best way” to undertake any given factory-related task is fed through the prism of temporal and locational relativity. “One best way” in Watson’s hands had a nuanced logic. It might be possible to craft a general outline of a sales talk. Even so, this had to be modified for the individual customer. Adjustments depended on the time the canvass was delivered as well as on the location in which a sale was being attempted. Sales presentations were consequently more fluid than we might otherwise have expected at this historical juncture.

The final paper in this special issue is by Eric Shaw. Though the other three papers focus on the theoretical work of historically important scholars (Shryer, Lebow and Watson), Shaw’s paper uses insights from the historical literature, works by Wroe Alderson, Reavis Cox, Robert Bartels, Donald Dixon, Arch W. Shaw, Ralph Breyer and others, to construct a general theory of marketing systems. This is an ambitious project that has preoccupied Shaw for much of his academic career (Shaw, 2009, 2010, 2014). He begins by reminding us of the reasons why a general theory is necessary for the progress of marketing science. Three of those reasons are noteworthy given the current status of the subject. A general theory of marketing could address the fragmentation of the marketing discipline, the related identity confusion arising from the lack of clarity about the borders of our subject matter and the crisis of credibility of academic research for business practitioners. Shaw carefully surveys the foundational work of early 20th century scholars and, using those historical building blocks, develops a partially formalised general theory of marketing systems that was begun in the 1940s but remained incomplete.

The core question that motivates Shaw’s general theory is – why do marketing systems occur, survive and grow? The answer is because marketing systems offer the most efficient means of supplying and distributing products and services. The structure of Shaw’s general theory draws from Shelby Hunt’s seminal work. It is detailed, step by step, in propositional format, carefully outlining the definitions, axioms, theorems, bridge laws and hypotheses.

Shaw is realistic about the limitations of his theory and acknowledges the potential need for more concepts, more clarification and development of propositions, but especially the need for validation through empirical testing of the general theory. This is a fascinating challenge for marketing scholars moving forward and we expect that doctoral students will find fertile ground here.

The above-mentioned summary of the manuscripts in this collection invariably glosses over considerable nuances, depths and the many themes tackled by our authorial teams. The interested reader will find much to engage them as well as a few surprises along the way.