There is More to Marketing: An Encore to Layton's Ring Cycle and the Compelling Case for Marketing Systems Theory,Research and Management *

Abstract

The purpose of this commentary is to expand the conceptualization, purpose and positioning of marketing, while also commemorating the contributions of Professor Roger Layton, who has worked similarly to champion marketing systems theory, research and practice. Thoughts on Layton's Ring Cycle are revisited. A case is made for marketing to be considered a social science and, perhaps more importantly, for marketing issues to be framed in ways, and with lexicon, concepts and measures, that resonate with other social sciences and institutions affected by markets and marketing. Marketing practitioners, policy makers and marketing scholars moreover must redouble efforts to circumvent or redress social traps embedded in marketing activities and policy, and they must do this through constructive engagement in the marketplace where those traps can and do occur, to ensure sustainable and equitable marketing systems.