Marketing, Theory Borrowing, and Critical Reflection

Abstract

The interdisciplinary nature of marketing and macromarketing has resulted in borrowing theories from other disciplines. Informed and purposeful theory borrowing, that is, the use of a theory in a context different from its original one to explain a new phenomenon, has developed and enriched the field. To the extent that theory borrowing is indiscriminate or opportunistic, however, researchers may be misled in their attempts to understand the phenomenon of interest. This article presents the key philosophical issues involved in theory borrowing and develops evaluative criteria for appropriate borrowing. The criteria are a workbench heuristic, useful to researchers engaged in theory borrowing, and important issues are illustrated with examples from marketing and macromarketing, including population ecology, financial economics, and motivation research.