Subject trends in The History of Marketing Thought: from simplicity towards complexity

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe and position the work by Tadajewski and Jones on The History of Marketing Thought as it relates to complexity sciences and the future of marketing thought.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual discussion is provided based upon a series of identified subject trends in the history of marketing thought.

Findings

There appears to be a common denominator across the addressed subject trends in The History of Marketing Thought, namely the movement from simplicity towards complexity. Marketing thought is mostly descriptive, and to some extent explanatory, but it has not yet reached the level of providing predictability.

Research limitations/implications

The future of marketing thought may benefit from the inclusion and inspiration of approaches derived from the complexity sciences.

Practical implications

The author poses some concerns regarding the future of marketing thought.

Originality/value

The author contends that there is a need for attention to be paid to the evident movement from simplicity towards complexity in marketing thought.

Citation

Svensson, G. (2009), "Subject trends in The History of Marketing Thought: from simplicity towards complexity", Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 361-370. https://doi.org/10.1108/17557500910974668