“The Voice of the Consumer?”: Speculations on the Limits to the Marketing Analogy

The basic assumptions underlying the marketing approach, both in terms of theory and practice, are considered. Particular emphasis is placed on two issues: the degree to which the specific market transaction is user or supplier specified and the degree to which the user is regarded as active or passive. This analysis results in a typology of forms of relationship between supplier and user which can be used to illustrate some of the problems of extending the marketing analogy to the public services sector as well as some of the remaining contradictions in much marketing practice itself.