Strategic marketing in emerging markets: a tension-based framework for advancing theory

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Strategic marketing research in emerging countries has expanded considerably over the past two decades. However, existing research streams have largely evolved in parallel, limiting cumulative theory development. Building on paradox theory, this editorial proposes a tension-based framework that reconceptualizes emerging countries as strategic environments shaped by enduring structural tensions rather than contextual characteristics. Four interrelated tensions are identified: global integration versus local embeddedness, formal institutional logics versus informal coordination systems, market legitimacy versus socio-political legitimacy, and short-term resilience versus long-term strategic positioning. Together, these tensions provide a common conceptual grammar that integrates fragmented perspectives while preserving their diversity. The framework also positions emerging countries as theory-generating contexts rather than peripheral settings for testing existing theories. Finally, the editorial develops a research agenda organized around these four tensions and shows how the contributions included in the special issue Advancing Strategic Marketing in Emerging Countries illustrate, enrich, and extend this integrative perspective.