Towards an ecological approach to macromarketing

This paper suggest an alternative route aimed to overcome the dichotomies characterizing the methodologies applied in the macromarketing literature by drawing on three prominent theoretical advancements characterizing recent human sciences. These are the “new mobilities paradigm" (e.g. Sheller and Urry, 2006), "non-representational theories" (e.g. Cadman, 2009) and "actor network theory" (e.g. Latour, 2005). These three approaches share a diachronic ontology, involving an emphasis on flux, doing, agency, process of emergence. They all also emphasize the break-down of binary concepts, the interpenetration between formerly opposite categories, and the blurring of the reality and virtuality. Departing from their common ontological understanding of the world, this paper first discusses their epistemological communalities and differences, secondly it discusses the extent to which a combination of these theoretical stances can be a fruitful contribution to take a more holistic investigation of macromarketing phenomena via particular methodologies and, finally, it discusses both its opportunities and limitations. The paper further articulates its proposal by proposing an “ecological approach” to macromarketing phenomena, which is able to capture, via an entangled methodology, among other aspects, the close interconnectedness between firms and the places in which they are operating, the performative character of business activities and the complex networks of both human and non-human actors affecting and being affected by the “global brand society” (Kornberger, 2010) today. Finally, the study sets an agenda that may guide methodologists and marketing scholars in further explorations of relational understandings of the nexus between marketing processes and society at large.