Marketing as a Science: An Appraisal

Abstract

DURING the past few years one of the ways in which the increased interest in marketing subjects has expressed itself is in the rather intense exploration of the field with a view to determining the exact significance of its subject matter. More explicitly, several scholars have either attempted to demonstrate that marketing should be admitted into the category of a science, or have discussed the subject as though it already were included. Interest in the project first became apparent through the appearance of an exploratory survey made by P. D. Converse in THE JOURNAL OF MARKETING.1 However, since this particular essay had the merit of not attempting any demonstration of the thesis that marketing is a science, one can not be sure that the article really served as the foundation of future discussions on the problem. At the time that Professor Converse wrote, regard for the application of scientific methodology to marketing problems was an increasing force, and the momentum of this interest carries on today. Three years later, Lyndon O. Brown discussed the need for the development of professional standards among marketing men in an essay which tended in the main not to regard the subject as a science, except possibly in one cloudy passage.2 The question of the status of mar-