The Philosophical Foundations of Marketing Research: For Scientific Realism and Truth

Abstract

All research has philosophical foundations. Relativism, positivism, and realism are often posed as alternative philosophies for marketing research. This chapter develops the thesis that scientific realism is an appropriate foundation for guiding marketing research. Specifically, this chapter (1) reviews the reasons why philosophers of science rejected relativism as a foundation for research in the 1970s, (2) examines the historical development of realism, (3) explicates the four fundamental tenets of scientific realism, (4) develops a scientific realist model of truth using as an example the effects of decoys on consumer choice sets, and (5) develops the scientific realist argument for truth as a research objective and regulative ideal.

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