Marketing is not an applied discipline
17/05/11 10:06
Calling marketing science an applied discipline is just sloppy logic.
It’s common wisdom that marketing science is an applied discipline. The notion being that there are some pure (note the connotations of nobility and superiority) disciplines and then there are the applied disciplines.
This notion, which I’ll point out is wrong and silly, is that marketing is really just a branch of psychology or economics. Using this logic biology is just applied chemistry, and for that matter chemistry is just applied physics - which of course is nonsense, each of these disciplines have different focuses of inquiry. Similarly marketing is not just applied psychology, nor is it applied economics, nor some mixture of the two (i.e. behavioural economics).
Another argument is that marketing is an applied discipline because marketing knowledge is used by people, i.e. marketers. But all scientific knowledge is used. Engineers, architects and many others apply physical science, so is physics an applied discipline ?
ARE THERE ANY APPLIED DISCIPLINES ?
Marketing science studies buying and selling. It has a pure focus that no other discipline can lay claim to. There are some other disciplines that apply such pure knowledge. The study of wine marketing for instance uses marketing knowledge and marketing’s focus of inquiry but in a specific application area; there are many others... services marketing, B2B, food marketing, tourism marketing and so on. Here it is very clear to see the parent discipline and the application area.
So next time you hear the study of marketing described as an applied discipline stamp on this sloppy logic.
This notion, which I’ll point out is wrong and silly, is that marketing is really just a branch of psychology or economics. Using this logic biology is just applied chemistry, and for that matter chemistry is just applied physics - which of course is nonsense, each of these disciplines have different focuses of inquiry. Similarly marketing is not just applied psychology, nor is it applied economics, nor some mixture of the two (i.e. behavioural economics).
Another argument is that marketing is an applied discipline because marketing knowledge is used by people, i.e. marketers. But all scientific knowledge is used. Engineers, architects and many others apply physical science, so is physics an applied discipline ?
ARE THERE ANY APPLIED DISCIPLINES ?
Marketing science studies buying and selling. It has a pure focus that no other discipline can lay claim to. There are some other disciplines that apply such pure knowledge. The study of wine marketing for instance uses marketing knowledge and marketing’s focus of inquiry but in a specific application area; there are many others... services marketing, B2B, food marketing, tourism marketing and so on. Here it is very clear to see the parent discipline and the application area.
So next time you hear the study of marketing described as an applied discipline stamp on this sloppy logic.