Tracing the evolution of the marketing discipline through the lens of theory and Practice: A journal-centric view

The goal of this article is two-fold: (a) trace the evolution of marketing vis-à-vis theory and practice, and (b) investigate the relative contribution of the Journal of Business Research (JBR) to this evolution vis-à-vis the top 10 marketing journals. To do this, we conduct a bibliometric analysis of articles published in JBR between 2014 and 2024 (April). For the same period, we compare the performance of JBR with that of the top ten marketing journals. Our analysis allows us to (a) extend the contributions of Kerin (1996) and Kumar (2015) in tracing the evolution of marketing by identifying the predominant metaphor of the current phase of marketing as “marketing as an intelligent agent”, (b) identify prominent areas and clusters of marketing for JBR and the top ten marketing journals, (c) recognize JBR’s approach to the nature and type of theories used in its articles, and its approach in the use of special issues as its key contributions to the evolution of marketing, and (d) ascertain that JBR’s geographic distribution of the author affiliations, its higher tolerance to newer topics, and its higher level of risk appetite in its editorial choices are critical in determining how and why JBR differs in its evolution compared to the top ten marketing journals. We conclude by discussing the study’s implications on the future of the discipline and offer a research agenda.