The History of Marketing Thought

The History of Marketing Thought
This reading assignment is from Dr. Chuck Hermans‟ PhD work. He is a professor at Missouri State University and
granted permission to use it for this course on health marketing.
A key observation to notice throughout this reading assignment is that in the history of business (or commercial)
marketing there has been no reference to health, prevention, wellness or medicine as products or services to
motivate people to buy or to sell or market to people. An important concept to note however, from the article is that
marketers evolved to applying theories of behavior, the same as health educator‟s use. Among these are
concepts borrowed from established disciplines, such as psychology and sociology and suggesting that
marketing is a social science. Please note that the bold text are from the original text from Dr. Hermans.
The article begins now.
Bartels, Robert (1976) “The History of Marketing Thought,” 2nd edition,
Highlights selected by Dr. Hermans are from chapters 1,2,3,4,9,10,11,12,13,and 14.
Accessed on Sep 18, 2009. Available at http://www.faculty.missouristate.edu/c/ChuckHermans/Bartels.htm
Chapter 1: The Meaning of Marketing
The establishment of a market economy wrought marked changes in the social and economic structure. A
new attitude toward business revolutionized the economy of the country and that revolutionary element was
identified by the term „marketing.‟ Historical accounts of trade lead one to conclude that marketing has always
existed. Was the original use of the term marketing merely an application of a new name to an old practice?
One theory is that language is an invention of man, an adornment. The other explanation of the origin of
language is that it is inseparable from reason. Accordingly, man‟s language has developed as his thoughts
have developed.
By marketing was first meant “that combination of factors which had to be taken into consideration prior to the
undertaking of cer6tain selling or promotional activities.” The essence of marketing was the combination of factors.
Blindness to and ignorance of that combination of factors is the reason for the absence of terms equivalent to
marketing in other languages. Marketing must be regarded not merely as a business practice, but as a social
institution. Marketing is essentially a means of meeting and satisfying certain needs of people. It is a highly
developed and refined system of thought and practice characteristic of a period in the development of market
economy. A latent presumption in the practice of marketing has been that marketing gives to society more than
society gives to it. The fact is that marketing is but one of several means of accomplishing a social objective.
Polyani explains that this objective is accomplished by societies in different ways:
reciprocity
redistribution
economy
trade, and
the market.
Reciprocity is a social system wherein material needs are met through exchange carried on between
individuals and groups in the form of gift-giving. Redistribution is a social system involving the assembling of
goods at a point from which they are redistributed by a duly constituted authority. Householding, or oecomomia
is a social system accomplishing what marketing does in our society. It involves production for use, not for
exchange; Self-sufficiency of trade. Trade is a form of exchange which may be carried on in the absence of
markets. It involved prices, in the form of equivalencies, 2
determined by treaty or administrative decision and not by behavior in a market place. The market is the fifth type
of social system supplying society’s material needs. Originally, the market was a local institution. It was
entirely separate from the trade carried on outside the country. The market supplied the common people with
daily provisions.
From the start, the paramount importance of consumption has been fundamental to marketing thought .
Moreover, throughout the history of marketing during this century, and the development of marketing thought,
interest not only in consumption but in consumers has continually increased. According to economic
determinism, there are explanations of the evolution of social and economic order:
1. The biological,
2. The technological
3. The astrological
Do men make the times in which such an event occurs, or have the times made the men. Is marketing a
fundamental phenomenon, or a passing one, in the sum of human knowledge?
Chapter 2: Earlier Theories Relevant to Marketing Thought
The development of marketing thought began early in the twentieth century with the conception of marketing.
Early students of marketing were actually educated as economists. Although they brought forth divergent
theories, students of marketing evolved a body of thought that by its nature, scope and application, set them
apart from the usual economists.
THE MARKET
By 1900, it was being found that demand consisted of more than simple purchasing power. It reflected desire
as well as ability to purchase, and new experiences with advertising and salesmanship were proving that desire
could be increased and molded by factors other than the mere existence of supply.
Another concept of the market concerned its capacity to adjust itself automatically to a harmonious equilibrium.
It had long been held that competitive forces would normally, in the long run, dissipate tendencies of dis-
equilibrium, but as competition diminished in some industries and trades, the assumptions found in traditional
economic theory became increasingly invalid.
A third idea was that cost was the principal determinant of price, at least in the long run. Concepts of the
elasticity of demand were still another influence upon the thinking of early students of marketing. Alfred
Marshall‟s concept of elasticity of demand has long been used by marketing writers as a theoretical basis for
selling, advertising and the promotional work of marketing in general.
THE MEANING OF VALUE.
Value theory was another area of economic thought relevant to early studies of marketing. Economists leaned
heavily upon input factors, determining their relative quantities and prices. Adam Smith held also, against most
commonly held beliefs, that distributive activities contributed to value, but only indirectly. They extended the
market, thereby making opportunities for increased production and for greater specialization of labor in
production. Economists also distinguished in their value theories value-in-use and value-in-exchange.
PRODUCTION.
In the eighteenth century, productivity was held by the physicocrats to be the production of a surplus over
costs. Concepts of production included:
diminishing returns

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