Evolution of theory of marketing – a micro- and a macro approach

Key words

micromarketing macromarketing the development of marketing theory

Abstract

In the early 20th century, the pioneers of marketing theory attempted to define the scope of content of the new academic discipline of marketing. They looked at such concepts as functions, institutions, goods and, later, interregional trade. These approaches were considered an integral part of marketing as a whole. The paradigm shift that took place in the 1950s gave rise to many other schools: marketing management, marketing systems, consumer behaviour, macromarketing, social exchange and the history of marketing. A result of the growing fragmentation of the discipline was the increasing independence of individual schools, which focused mainly on their own narrow perspectives, neither attaching importance to the achievements of the remaining ones nor caring to integrate them into a coherent whole. Further development of marketing theory will require research focused not only on the managerial perspective, but taking into account the broader social and economic context.