Toward a Theory of Marketing Control: Environmental Context, Control Types, and Consequences

Historically, marketing control research has involved either the development of output-oriented financial controls or the analysis of how financial controls affect performance. This work on marketing control is limited in that it (1) has focused primarily on the control of marketing plans/activities, not on the control of marketing personnel, (2) fails to capture all controls operating within the marketing unit, (3) does not consider environmental conditions that both influence the use and moderate the effects of controls, and (4) ignores the behavioral and psychological impact of controls on individuals. To overcome these limitations, a theory integrating environmental context, controls, and the consequences of controls is proposed. Previous research is categorized within the framework, relevant propositions are advanced, and directions for future research are proposed.