Eras III and IV: My Reflections

Abstract

Richard Staelin is Edward and Rose Donnell Professor of Business Administration, The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University (email: [email protected]). The author acknowledges the helpful comments of Bill Boulding, Preyas Desai, and Joel Huber on a previous draft of this article. Wilkie and Moore (2003) divide up the historical development of marketing thought into four eras. The goal in this essay is to provide my perspective on the latter two eras, starting with the year-long program in 1959 sponsored by the Ford Foundation and ending with my current experiences with the globalization of the marketing profession. In the process, I hope to provide some useful insights into one of the major concerns that Wilkie and Moore raise—namely, that the field of marketing is becoming fragmented, and as a result, (1) knowledge is being lost, and (2) theoretical and methodological domains are taking precedence over the substantive domain.