Folds in historical time and possible worlds for the marketing discipline: A commentary

Abstract

This commentary offers some alternative perspectives on Hunt, Madhavaram and Hatfield (AMS Review, 2022, in this issue). First, rather than using a periodization approach that emphasizes marketing’s troubled trajectory, I highlight several alternative ways to narrate history that can uncover absences, enable new and different voices, and unfold new disciplinary possibilities. Second, while acknowledging that fragmentation is real, I question whether the answer is a unifying marketing framework. I propose that fragmentation is essential to innovation and growth. Bridging discourses and resource interdependencies can enable both difference and community to thrive. This can be especially powerful if we create shared community around problems and are attentive to multiple stakeholders. Finally, to serve multiple stakeholders, I encourage a networked, multi-disciplinary perspective characterized by promiscuous theory shopping. Promiscuous theory shopping when combined with deep immersion in our shared problems can be a powerful generator of indigenous theory.