Marketing Systems—A Core Macromarketing Concept

This article highlights the central role that the study of marketing systems could and should play in the discipline of macromarketing. Drawing from a wide-ranging literature, a new definition of marketing systems is shared. The study of a marketing system furthermore can be approached in one or more of at least four ways. Each approach discussed raises issues of modeling and measurement, of attributes, and of inputs and outputs, which increasingly often will provide insights into system design alternatives. Placing the concept of a marketing system at the center of macromarketing puts in context much if not all of the concepts, ideas, and research that have been part of macromarketing for the past thirty or more years and provides a bridge to the wealth of relevant studies now being undertaken in many related fields.