Empirical Generalizations and Marketing Science: A Personal View

Marketing has matured to the point where it seems desirable to take stock of where we are, what we have learned, and fruitful directions for extending the knowledge base that has developed. Science is a process involving the interaction between empirical generalizations and theory. An empirical generalization is “a pattern or regularity that repeats over different circumstances and that can be described simply by mathematical, graphic, or symbolic methods.” One of the purposes of the Empirical Generalizations Conference held at Wharton on February 16–18, 1994 was to develop a list of examples of such empirical generalizations in marketing. Empirical generalization can precede a theory to explain it or it can be predicted by a theory. Science is the process of interaction between theory and data that leads to higher level theories. Examples are provided here of empirical generalizations in marketing and their theoretical counterparts. One example is provided of a higher level theory.