Abstract
In the lead article of this issue, Hunt (2015) provides an exposition of how the resource-advantage (R-A) theory undergirds the sixteen foundational premises of marketing strategy advanced in Varadarajan (Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38 (2), 119-140, 2010). Hunt notes that R-A theory and its three foundational strategies, and the sixteen foundational premises of marketing strategy complement each other in securing the theoretical foundations of the field of strategic marketing. Building on Hunt’s article, this commentary provides additional insights into issues fundamental to the field of strategic marketing and R-A theory, and the foundational premises of marketing strategy and R-A theory. The commentary also provides a retrospective and prospective discussion of the domain of strategic marketing, definition of marketing strategy, issues fundamental to the field of strategic marketing, and the foundational premises of marketing strategy that I had proposed in my above referenced article. In the context of theory development, empirical research and organization of the cumulative body of knowledge in the field of strategic marketing, I highlight the conceptual distinction between marketing strategy and market strategy.
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Notes
See Hunt (2012) for an insightful retrospective on six key events/experiences that influenced the development of the structure, foundational premises, and models of the resource-advantage theory (R-A theory) of competition.
An encouraging sign of the receptivity of the marketing academic community to the use of the term strategic marketing to refer to the field is a recent call for papers for a special issue of the European Journal of Marketing titled, “Strategic Marketing: New Horizons in Theory and Research.” See: http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/call_for_papers.htm?id=6007#sthash.b7Cg
Although the second column of Table 1 is discussed in the section titled, “A Retrospective,” it is a recent addition to an earlier version of the table (a single column table), and was developed after being invited by the editor of the AMS Review to submit a commentary on Hunt’s (2015) article. The second column provides corroborating evidence in support of, “What explains (marketing) behavior?” and “What explains performance?” as issues fundamental to strategic marketing.
The use of the terms “crucial choices” and “crucial decisions” in reference to a firm’s strategic marketing decisions in this paper and in Varadarajan (2010) draws on Day’s (1984, p. 3) discussion concerning the strategic role of marketing in organizations. He notes: “As a general management responsibility, marketing embraces the interpretations of the environment and the crucial choices of customers to serve, competitors to challenge, and the product characteristics with which the business will compete.”
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Varadarajan, R. Strategic marketing, marketing strategy and market strategy. AMS Rev 5, 78–90 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-015-0073-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-015-0073-9