Marketing as Seen by Different Actors: Divergences and Agreements

Abstract

Objective: This study investigates how teachers, managers, and consumers understand marketing and compares their answers with the literature in the area. Theoretical framework: The perspectives about marketing are divided. On the one hand, some consider it a strategic feature with a social purpose of great importance. On the other hand, some consider it a tool for consumption’s manipulation that induces the consumers to buy what they do not need. Method: This study consists of a mixed research method: qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and addressed through content analysis. Then, in the quantitative stage, this study applied a survey based on its qualitative stage findings. The data collected were evaluated by correlation analysis. Results and conclusion: The analyses indicate divergence between the theoretical approach to marketing and its practice. Managers’ and consumers’ definitions differ from the theoretical concepts, and the teachers’ perspectives converge with what is in the specialized literature. Implications of the research: This topic has a significant role in organizations and society, requiring the academy to observe and debate the reality of marketing since the academy is responsible for schooling and training professionally those who teach marketing and those who take responsibility for its practical activity in companies. Originality/value: The results contribute to the literature on the subject and the practice of marketing since it is possible to know the perspectives of the main actors involved in the theoretical construction and dissemination of marketing and those who live the application of its concepts daily.

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