Research in Marketing Strategy
Morgan, Whitler, Feng & Chari
Since developing and executng marketng strategy is central to what marketers do in practcee
research to understand these actvites is key to establish the relevance of marketngg
Conceptualizing marketing strategy
Marketing strategy: “what” strategy decisions and actons and “how” strategy-making and
realizaton processes concerning a frmms desired goals over a future tme-periode and the means
through which it intends to achieve them by selectng target markets and customerse identfying
value propositonse and designing integrated marketng programs to develope deliver and
communicate the value oferingg
Marketng strategy
is about
formulaton (goals
and means) and
then
implementaton
(tactcs and
actons)g This
process has inputs
and outputs and is
influences by the
environmentg
The defniton of marketng strategy allows us to identfy and capture studies examining strategic
marketng phenomena related to marketng strategyg The most important categories of these related
phenomena deal with:
Inputs to marketng strategy: including resources such as market knowledgee brand
portfoliose fnancial resources and capabilites such as CRMMi
Outputs of marketng strategy: including customer “mind-set” and behaviour outcomes and
marketplace and economic performancei
Environmental factors distnct from marketng strategy that may impact marketng strategy:
including internal factors (organizaton culture and size) and external factors (market
characteristcse technologye competton)g
There is a balance across the individual aspects (formulatonnimplementaton and processncontent)
in marketng strategy research studies since 1999g Howevere categorizing the marketng strategy
papers by the four sub-domains of marketng strategy (formulatonncontente formulatonnprocesse
implementatonncontente implementatonnprocess) in our frameworke reveals a lack of research in
the formulatonnprocess sub-domaing This may be due to the lack of secondary data on such difcult-
to-observe phenomenag Published papers in this domain therefore tend to be conceptual or use
qualitatvee survey or other primary data collecton methodsg
Formulation – content research
This sub-domain concerns the specifc goals that a marketng strategy has to deliver and the strategic
decisions concerning how these will be achievedg Decisions about intended strategy choices generally
only explain performance outcomes to the extent that frmms marketng program choices and
behaviours are consistent with the intended strategyg The most frequent studied issue in this sub-
domain involves the intended strategy pursued by a Strategic Business Unit (SBU) or frmg
Morgan, Whitler, Feng & Chari
Since developing and executng marketng strategy is central to what marketers do in practcee
research to understand these actvites is key to establish the relevance of marketngg
Conceptualizing marketing strategy
Marketing strategy: “what” strategy decisions and actons and “how” strategy-making and
realizaton processes concerning a frmms desired goals over a future tme-periode and the means
through which it intends to achieve them by selectng target markets and customerse identfying
value propositonse and designing integrated marketng programs to develope deliver and
communicate the value oferingg
Marketng strategy
is about
formulaton (goals
and means) and
then
implementaton
(tactcs and
actons)g This
process has inputs
and outputs and is
influences by the
environmentg
The defniton of marketng strategy allows us to identfy and capture studies examining strategic
marketng phenomena related to marketng strategyg The most important categories of these related
phenomena deal with:
Inputs to marketng strategy: including resources such as market knowledgee brand
portfoliose fnancial resources and capabilites such as CRMMi
Outputs of marketng strategy: including customer “mind-set” and behaviour outcomes and
marketplace and economic performancei
Environmental factors distnct from marketng strategy that may impact marketng strategy:
including internal factors (organizaton culture and size) and external factors (market
characteristcse technologye competton)g
There is a balance across the individual aspects (formulatonnimplementaton and processncontent)
in marketng strategy research studies since 1999g Howevere categorizing the marketng strategy
papers by the four sub-domains of marketng strategy (formulatonncontente formulatonnprocesse
implementatonncontente implementatonnprocess) in our frameworke reveals a lack of research in
the formulatonnprocess sub-domaing This may be due to the lack of secondary data on such difcult-
to-observe phenomenag Published papers in this domain therefore tend to be conceptual or use
qualitatvee survey or other primary data collecton methodsg
Formulation – content research
This sub-domain concerns the specifc goals that a marketng strategy has to deliver and the strategic
decisions concerning how these will be achievedg Decisions about intended strategy choices generally
only explain performance outcomes to the extent that frmms marketng program choices and
behaviours are consistent with the intended strategyg The most frequent studied issue in this sub-
domain involves the intended strategy pursued by a Strategic Business Unit (SBU) or frmg
