How Can Marketing Address the Big Issues of Our Time

Abstract

To set the stage for the readers of this special issue on How Can Marketing Address the Big Issues of Our Time, I take you through a brief history of the scholarly work related to the broadening of the marketing concept. The broadened concept can be described in terms of three dimensions: broadening the nature of the product (an economic good or service) to anything of value; broadening the objective of the exchange from profit to any type of payoff; and broadening the target audience of the exchange from consumers to any stakeholder group that relates to the organization. I expose the reader to early studies applying the broadened marketing concept, as well as studies on recycling of solid waste and population growth. I then describe more classic studies related to broadening the scope of marketing activities, after which I make the case that the broadening of the marketing concept is consistent with general theories of marketing (e.g., Alderson's and Bagozzi's theories of marketing). Brief summaries of the 10 articles of the special issue are provided.