Whatever their philosophical, methodological and epistemological differences, marketing academics have one thing in common. They are writers. They publish or perish. They produce books, articles, case studies and, on occasion, articles for top-notch journals like JMM. Writing, however, is rarely...

Throughout history, humankind has had a love-hate relationship with wild animals. On the one hand, we fear and detest powerful predators, especially those that destroy our crops and kill our livestock. On the other hand, we envy and admire their speed and grace, adorn ourselves in their fur and...

Recently described as "the most popular topic area in the entire marketing literature", the wheel of retailing remains a marketing enigma, revered and reviled in almost equal measure. This paper summarizes the substantial body of literature on the wheel theory and attempts to account for its...

A good customer is hard to find. And even harder to keep. However, driving customers wild with brand-, product- or service-induced desire is the hardest thing of all. How is it done? How do masterful marketing organisations, such as Apple or H&M, turn sceptical customers into slavering...

The study of micro-retail location has attracted relatively little geographical attention hitherto and this paper examines the micro-spatial perceptions of retailers in the centre of Belfast.It demonstrates the functional significance of 'generative,' 'shared' and 'suscipient' businesses and...

This interpretive study introduces the field of Utopian studies and explores its relevance in re-conceptualising certain aspects of consumer research. Making reference to a longitudinal study carried out in a festival marketplace, this paper illustrates how the concept of Utopia can yield rich...

What is the secret of marketing success? For fifty plus years, customer orientation has been regarded as a key factor, possibly the key factor. This may have been the case when marketing was in its infancy, but in a world where every organization has embraced the marketing philosophy, customer...

For more than forty years, marketers have worshipped at the feet of customers. While such a strategy may have worked in a world when customer-orientation was a comparative rarity, it is ineffective when every organisation is customer-centric, or claims to be. This article argues that marketers...

Retro brands are relaunched historical brands with updated features. The authors conduct a "netnographic" analysis of two prominent retro brands, the Volkswagen New Beetle and Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, that reveals the importance of Allegory (brand story), Aura (brand...