FME3517 Marketing Theory 7.5 credits

Course main content

 In 10 four-hour sessions the course will address the following issues:

Session 1: Developing a personal research strategy

Session 2: Developing a personal research strategy (continued): The 3-Horned Dilemma of Research

Session 3: What theory is and what it isn’t: The Role of Theory in Academic Marketing Research

Session 4: Some Well-Known Marketing Theories

• Exchange Theory
• The Theory of Competitive Rationality
• The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing

Session 5: - Theories from Related Disciplines

• Economics: Transaction Cost Theory
• Sociology: Functionalist, Conflict and Interactionist perspectives
• Psychology: Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Session 6: - Theories from Related Disciplines

• Economics: Rational Choice Theory
• Psychology: Prospect Theory
• Psychology: Evolutionary Psychology

Session 7: Theories from Related Disciplines

• Economics: Game Theory, Competition and Cooperation
• Economics/Sociology/Politics: Social Network Theory; Structural Holes Theory
• Management: Stakeholder Theory

Session 8: Theories from other, less related disciplines

• Socio-geography: Oldenburg’s Theory of the Third Place
• Dramaturgy: Schechner’s Performance Theory
• Physics and Mathematics: Chaos Theory and Cusp-Catastrophe Theory

Session 9: Group Presentations Session 10: Group Presentations

1. To give students a broad understanding of the role of theory in the research process.
2. To explore the various theories that have been developed in marketing and allied disciplines such as economics, management, psychology, and sociology.
3. To explore more broadly and investigate the possible application of theories from such diverse disciplines as mathematics and physics, anthropology, and drama to marketing.
4. To apply theories to research problems in marketing, with the aim of writing a dissertation or thesis, or a scholarly paper.

Ph. D. student

Gouldner, A. W. (1960). The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary statement. American Sociological Review, 25, 161-178.

Dickson, Peter Reid. (1992) Toward a General Theory of Competitive Rationality, Journal of Marketing, Jan92, Vol. 56 Issue 1, p69-83

Bagozzi, Richard P. (1975) Marketing as Exchange, Journal of Marketing, Oct75, Vol. 39 Issue 4, p32-39

Morgan, R.M. & Hunt, S.D (1994) The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing, Journal of Marketing, 58(3), pp. 20-38.

Coase, R. H. (1937). ‘The nature of the firm’, Economica, 4(November), pp. 386-405

Bem, D.J. (1965). An experimental analysis of self-persuasion.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1, 199-218

Bem, D.J. (1967). Self-perception: An alternative interpretation of cognitive dissonance phenomena. Psychological Review, 74, 183-200

Brehm, J. (1956). Post-decision changes in desirability of alternatives.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 52, 384-389

Festinger, L. and Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). "Cognitive consequences of forced compliance".Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58, 203-211.

Harmon-Jones, E., Brehm, J. W., Greenberg, J., Simon, L., & Nelson, D. E. (1996). Evidence that the production of aversive consequences is not necessary to create cognitive dissonance.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 5-16.

Knox, R. E., & Inkster, J. A. (1968)."Postdecision dissonance at post time".Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 319-323.

Tedeschi, J.T., Schlenker, B.R. & Bonoma, T.V. (1971). Cognitive dissonance: Private ratiocination or public spectacle? American Psychologist, 26, 685-695

John Scott, Rational Choice Theory, From Understanding Contemporary Society: Theories of The Present, edited by G. Browning, A. Halcli, and F. Webster. (Sage Publications, 2000).

Frank, Robert H. (1997) "The Frame of Reference as a Public Good", The Economic Journal 107 (November), 1832-1847.

Kahneman, Daniel, and Amos Tversky (1979) "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk", Econometrica, XLVII (1979), 263-291.

Potts, Jason. Evolutionary Institutional Economics, Journal of Economic Issues, Jun2007, Vol. 41 Issue 2, p341-350

Saad, Gad; Peng, Albert. Applying Darwinian principles in designing effective intervention strategies: The case of sun tanning.Psychology & Marketing, Jul2006, Vol. 23 Issue 7, p617-638

Saad, Gad. Applying evolutionary psychology in understanding the Darwinian roots of consumption phenomena.Managerial & Decision Economics, Mar-May2006, Vol. 27 Issue 2/3, p189-201

Saad, Gad. Applying Evolutionary Psychology in Understanding the Representation of Women in Advertisements, Psychology & Marketing, Aug2004, Vol. 21 Issue 8, p593-612

Thompson, Paul, Animal Magic: Nigel Nicholson and Evolutionary Psychology, British Journal of Management, Dec2003, Vol. 14 Issue 4, p373-380

Oldenburg, Ramon; Brissett, Dennis, The Third Place, Qualitative Sociology, Winter82, Vol. 5 Issue 4, p265-284

Berthon, P.R., Pitt, L.F., Ewing, M.T., and Carr, C. (2002) Potential Research Space In MIS: A Framework For Replication, Extension And Generation, Information Systems Research, 13, 4 (December), 416-427

Pitt, L.F., van der Merwe, R., Berthon, P.R., Salehi-Sangari, E., and Caruana, A. (2006) Global Alliance Networks: A Comparison of Biotech SMEs in Sweden and Australia, Industrial Marketing Management, 35, 5, 600-610

van der Merwe, R., Pitt, L.F., Berthon, P.R. and Barnes, B. (2007) Analyzing 'Theory Networks': Identifying the Pivotal Theories in Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management, 3 (4), 181-206

Pitt, L.F., Berthon, P.R., Caruana, A., and Berthon, J.P. (2005) The State of Theory in Three Premier Advertising Journals: A Research Note, International Journal of Advertising, 24, 2, 241-250

Murgolo-Poore, M.E., Pitt, L. F., Berthon, P.R. (2003) Three Theoretical Perspectives On One Of Marketing’s Most Fundamental Exchanges: Propositions On Partner Seeking, Marketing Theory, 3, 2(June) 235-255

Hulbert, J.M., Pitt, L.F., and Ewing, M.T. (2003) Defections, Discourse and Devotion: Some Propositions on Customer Desertion, Dialogue and Loyalty, Journal of General Management, 28, 3 (Spring) 43-51)

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

If the course is discontinued, students may request to be examined during the following two academic years.

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.