Clifford J. Shultz II
Executive Summary
Recent definitions of marketing, posited by thoughtful members of the American Marketing Association, have generated considerable discussion. The roles, foci, and purpose of marketing have been debated. Alternative definitions have been shared. The purpose of this essay is to provoke a more comprehensive, historically accurate, and meaningful definition of marketing. A possible more expansive definition, with potentially more impact, might be a follows: Marketing is a form of constructive engagement—a societal function and a systemic set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer and societal relationships in ways that benefit local and global stakeholders of these processes. A framework for the process of constructive engagement is introduced.
That framework provides some considerations and guidelines to assist marketers that are increasingly required to function in a complex, conflicted, and increasingly interdependent world in which marketing practitioners, policy makers, and scholars are asked to make difficult trade-offs. The framework offers a new synthesis commensurate with ideals typically espoused in macromarketing—concern for the systemic and societal impact of marketing activities. The author shares an illustration based on longitudinal study of U.S.–Vietnam relations, with implications for current global affairs and successful marketing and policy. The essay concludes with some thoughts on new directions for meaningful marketing research and practice.
Biography
Clifford J. Shultz II is a professor and Marley Foundation Chair in the ASU Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness at Arizona State University. He earned his PhD from Columbia University. His scholarly focus is marketing and development in recovering economies. He has worked with numerous multilateral aid organizations, companies and academic institutions to affect sound and sustainable development policies and marketing practices. He has published widely on marketing and development and related topics. He currently manages several sponsored projects in Indochina and the Balkans.
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Vol. 26, No. 2, Fall 2007
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