Australasian Marketing Journal 24 (2016) 257–259

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Australasian Marketing Journal

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Commentary

There is more to marketing: An encore to Layton’s ring cycle

and the compelling case for marketing systems theory,
research and management ☆
Clifford J. Shultz II *
Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing, Quinlan School of Business, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60611, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: The purpose of this commentary is to expand the conceptualization, purpose and positioning of
Available online 31 August 2016 marketing, while also commemorating the contributions of Professor Roger Layton, who has worked sim-
ilarly to champion marketing systems theory, research and practice. Thoughts on Layton’s Ring Cycle are
Keywords: revisited. A case is made for marketing to be considered a social science and, perhaps more impor-
Macromarketing tantly, for marketing issues to be framed in ways, and with lexicon, concepts and measures, that resonate
Marketing Systems
with other social sciences and institutions affected by markets and marketing. Marketing practitioners,
Sustainability
policy makers and marketing scholars moreover must redouble efforts to circumvent or redress social
Constructive Engagement
traps embedded in marketing activities and policy, and they must do this through constructive engage-
ment in the marketplace where those traps can and do occur, to ensure sustainable and equitable marketing
systems.
© 2016 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction ments and a rebirth in systemic analyses of marketing phenomena,

Despite the best efforts of many members of the marketing
academy and business practitioners to reduce marketing to the 4
P’s and consumer dynamics related to their management, market-
ing is or should be considerably more. Dating back millennia, markets
and marketing activities were in fact intended to be much more; they
emerged to sustain and to organize societies, and ultimately have
proven to be integral to human survival and the advancement of
civilization (e.g., Camp, 1986; McMillan, 2002; Shultz, 2007a). This
classic and more systemic and societal perspective is now best cap-
tured in macromarketing, which examines the interactions among
markets, marketing and society, ideally toward the enhancement
and sustainability of societal well-being and individual quality of
life (e.g., Alderson, 1965; Bartels and Jenkins, 1977; Fisk, 1981; Hunt,
2002; Journal of Macromarketing, 2016; Meade and Nason, 1991;
Mittelstaedt et al., 2014; Shultz, 2007b). Research on and adapta-
tions to marketing systems furthermore are integral to the field of
(macro)marketing. Professor Roger Layton’s many contributions over
more than 35 years are greatly responsible for initial advance-
☆Thanks are extended to Roger Marshall, Michaela Haase and Michael
Kleinaltenkamp for including me in the session and issue, and of course to Roger
Layton for his many contributions to the marketing academy.
www.luc.edu/quinlan/cjs.
* Fax: +1 312 915 6988.
E-mail address: cjs2@luc.edu.
and greater understanding of marketing’s conceptualization, focus,
purpose and possibilities (e.g., Layton, 1981, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2016).
This systems-oriented renaissance has implications for the re-
search, practice, policy, direction and impact of marketing scholarship
and practice, not to mention outcomes for the countless stakehold-
ers beyond the academy (see also Shultz, 2015).
Thus, perhaps not surprisingly, the program of the 41st Annual
Marketing Macromarketing Conference included a special session
featuring scholarly exploration of Roger’s body-of-work, particu-
larly as it pertains to marketing systems and fundamental questions
regarding the essence, categorization and reach of marketing. I was
pleased and honored to be invited to participate and to share some
thoughts at that session, which are summarized toward the end of
this commentary. The reflections and fresh ideas articulated here
build on some themes published previously, including in this Journal
(Shultz, 2012);many of them have been inspired by Roger’s volu-
minous and rigorous scholarship, and my epiphanies during a
scholarly journey studying marketing systems in devastated, sub-
sistence, distressed, recovering, transforming and flourishing
economies (e.g. Manfredo and Shultz, 2007; Nguyen et al., 2014;
Shultz, 1997; Shultz et al., 1994; Shultz et al., 2005; Shultz et al.,
in press). They also respond to a fundamental question raised by
Professor Layton: “Is marketing a management technology, a soci-
etal provisioning system, or the study of seller and buyer decision
processes in increasingly complex contexts, or…or should it, first
of all, be thought of as a discipline within the social sciences?”
(Layton, 2016, p. 2; see also Haase and Kleinaltenkamp, 2016). In

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2016.08.012
1441-3582/© 2016 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
258 C.J. Shultz II / Australasian Marketing Journal 24 (2016) 257–259
raising and discussing this question, Roger suggests to the reader,
“There could be more to marketing than you (and I) might have
thought! (Layton, 2016, p. 1). More indeed; off we go.
2. Encore to Layton’s Ring Cycle
A few years ago, Professor Ian Wilkinson organized and edited
a special issue of the Australasian Journal of Marketing featuring schol-
arly examinations of Roger’s substantial contributions to the science,
philosophy, purpose and practice of marketing. Applying a frame-
work that loosely paralleled Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (i.e.,
The Ring of the Nibelung, The Ring Cycle or simply The Ring), my
modest contribution to that tome (Shultz, 2012) shared an analy-
sis and assessment of what I thought were four of Roger’s most
seminal articles – collectively, Layton’s Ring Cycle – each of which
was published in the Journal of Macromarketing (Layton, 2007, 2008,
2009; Layton and Grossbart, 2006). The evolution of Roger’s con-
ceptualization, interpretation and application of marketing systems,
from Das Rheingold, represented by Layton and Grossbart (2006),
to Die Walküre (Layton, 2007), to Siegfried (Layton, 2008), and finally
to Götterdämmerung was deep, nuanced, (r)evolutionary – at least
in comparison to the increasingly granular focus of the marketing
academy – and useful. The collective vision and wisdom of these
articles, three of which won prestigious awards, remains impressive.
In addition to commemorating Roger’s field-shaping contribu-
tions, Layton’s Ring Cycle also symbolically hinted at some form of
closure to a distinguished academic career. After all, Götterdäm-
merung – “Twilight of the Gods” – in many respects can be
interpreted as a celebratory send-off for heroes. And so I thought
my article would be. Professor Layton however had other plans.
Since the publication of Layton’s Ring Cycle (Shultz, 2012), Roger
has published at least three other significant articles, a triple encore
as it were, that prod, provoke, and inspire. These articles were not
mere knock-ons; rather, they challenge the academy to revisit the
very purpose of marketing, as evinced by the title of the first post-
Ring offering, “Towards a Theory of Marketing Systems” (Layton,
2011). The next publication, “Formation, Growth, and Adaptive
Change in Marketing Systems” (Layton, 2015), saw a return to
macromarketing roots, while also integrating important theoreti-
cal work from other disciplines, including sociology, organization
and social movement theory. Roger shares an integrated theoreti-
cal framework that identifies potential causal processes in marketing
systems, and he explores the co-evolution of beliefs, behaviors, and
social practices that drive innovative and adaptive systemic-
change (Layton, 2015, p. 1). Most recently, Roger challenges us to
consider the depth, breadth and potential impact of marketing. Sug-
gesting that “There could be more to marketing than you (and I)
might have thought!” (Layton, 2016, p. 1), we are encouraged to
reframe marketing as a major discipline within social science – or
perhaps to redouble our efforts to make it one – which in turn will
make our research and our claims more resonant with other
members of the academy and institutions that shape policy and prac-
tice to affect societal well-being. Roger thoughtfully includes an
elegant model to illustrate the integration of key constructs, in-
cluding (1) Everyday Life, (2) Social Mechanism, (3) Outcomes,
(4) Emergent Systems, and (5) Institutions, Infrastructure, Prac-
tices, Norms and Beliefs.
Below, I share some brief thoughts on some of Roger’s post-
Ring contributions and new directions for anyone interested in more
comprehensive marketing and specifically marketing systems re-
search. In so doing, I revisit some fundamental tenets of marketing,
and marketing-systems framing and analysis; why systemic re-
search is vital not only to macromarketing scholarship but to
sustainable societal/global well-being; I identify factors to consid-
er when conducting large-scale research on some of the world’s most
vexing problems. Of particular interest is the opportunity for some
form of integrative framing for scholarly understanding by focus-
ing on communities, broadly and holistically defined, and as urged
by Professor Layton (e.g., 2016), Shultz (2007a, 2015) and Shultz et al.
(in press), and consideration of factors that retard acceptance of mar-
keting as vital not only to individual consumers, but to the survival
of human civilization.
3. More to marketing? An emphatic yes!
Yes, our colleagues in the marketing academy, business, gov-
ernment and NGO spaces – anyone who reads Professor Layton’s
articles – will conclude (hopefully) there is in fact more to mar-
keting than he, she, they may have thought. Those of us grinding
away in complex and/or distressed marketscapes, whether focused
on business, policy, consumer behavior or all the above, know this
to be true. The importance of markets and marketing to societal and
community well-being and individual life-quality cannot be over-
stated. No level of ignorance, antipathy or disregard can undo that
truth. However, while I am confident the work of actual and would-
be marketing systems scholars – macromarketers – can affect positive
outcomes for individuals, families, and communities in the forms
of like-minded groups as well as villages, cities, states, countries,
regions, trans-national ecosystems and the entire planet, it would
be naïve or foolish not to understand or to appreciate numerous
challenges remain. Building further on Roger’s work, in addition to
scholarship by others, a few of those challenges are shared in the
text that follows.
Similarly to Roger, “I am convinced that now is the time for a
reawakening of macromarketing as we enter a new world of eco-
nomic, social and environmental change that demand marketing
(inputs and) outcomes that are sensitive to a much wider set of re-
quirements than ever before (italics and text in parentheses
added by author; see Layton, 2011; cf. Layton, 2015; Wilkie and
Moore, 2006). At least three factors affect the extent to which
(macro)marketing and systemic, longitudinal thinking will be ap-
preciated by key catalytic institutions – business, government, NGOs
– and whether those institutions will recognize or value appropri-
ate marketing inputs and outcomes. In other words, what must be
done to make sure these catalysts understand and appreciate mar-
keting is more than they think?
Firstly, issues must be framed in ways, and with lexicon, con-
cepts and measures, that resonate with those institutions (Shultz
and Shapiro, 2012). This is a position that Roger seems to appre-
ciate as well, as he makes the case for marketing as, or integral to,
social science (e.g., Layton, 2016). Moreover, community well-
being and individual life-quality should be desirable marketing and
policy outcomes; Shultz et al. (in press), in a synthesis of decades
of empirical research and extant literature, have posited salient pre-
dictors of them. The weightings of those predictors vis-à-vis
idiosyncratic and universal values within any particular commu-
nity await further study. This presents a research opportunity.
Secondly, the extent to which those factors are understood, ap-
preciated, conceptualized, communicated and measured will greatly
affect another challenge: the social trap. Social traps or dilemmas
occur when individuals, organizations or governments make seem-
ingly rational decisions for short-term gain, but at great long-term
and often systemically catastrophic costs to a larger group (e.g., Dawes,
1980; Hardin, 1968; Messick and Brewer, 1983; Shultz and Holbrook,
1999). Appropriate and effective incentive structures for marketing-
system stakeholders; regulations and their enforcement; organization
and inclusion; communication, transparency and accountability, and
marketing activities all can help to overcome social traps, the scale
and scope of which increasingly are an existential threat to homo
sapiens (e.g., Ostrom et al., 2002; Shultz, 2015).
 C.J. Shultz II / Australasian Marketing Journal 24 (2016) 257–259
Thirdly, overcoming the two preceding challenges – or even steps
toward overcoming them – is likely to elicit cooperation among
system stakeholders and to invoke constructive engagement in the
system by catalysts capable of appropriate, sustainable marketing
practices that facilitate community well-being and individual quality-
of-life (Shultz, 2007a); moreover, effective monitoring and
appropriate measures and incentives help to make systems adap-
tive, as needs, wants and goals for the system and its stakeholders
evolve (see also Layton, 2015). Note too that such systemic efforts
require marketing to be viewed and operationalized as manage-
ment technology, a societal provisioning system, and the study
of seller and buyer decision processes in increasingly complex
contexts, over time and space. Other challenges, including
misunderstanding or lack of appreciation, poor conceptualization
or articulation, social traps and a failure to engage constructively
all are vexing, but as previously intimated they also create oppor-
tunities for further research, better and needs-driven marketing
management, and more effective, sustainable and just governance
(e.g., Shultz, 2015; World Bank, 2016).
Finally, “Is marketing a social science”? Many marketing schol-
ars use scientific methods to study social dynamics in the contexts
of markets, marketing and consumption; ipso facto marketing, as a
scholarly discipline anchored in universities and studied by many
academics, is a social science. However, most people outside the
academy – and many people in it – do not regard marketing as a
science; many of them believe marketing is a small subset of busi-
ness practice, advertising or simply “sellin’ stuff”. If marketing scholars
were to re-brand the academic discipline, thus creating, say,
marketology – the science or study of markets and marketing – then
we might be able to make a better argument that what we do is
explicitly a social science. Mittelstaedt et al. (2006) made a similar
argument, coining the word “agorology”, with a nod to the Greek
words agora and ology, which mean market and subject-of-study,
respectively. A rebranding initiative however could be difficult,
costly and time-consuming. Perhaps the better tack is to make more
meaningful connections to extant social sciences; to champion mar-
keting’s conceptual and scientific rigor and relevance to economics,
sociology, anthropology, psychology, political science etc. and thus
to make clearly the case that marketing is more than people might
think, and certainly more than managing the 4 P’s and merely “sellin’
stuff”.
As I ponder the preceding challenges and opportunities – and
many others – I am struck by the realization that scientific study
of marketing, especially marketing systems research, is as compel-
ling as it ever has been. Given that much work is still to be done,
and Roger’s boundless energy, enthusiasm and commitment to mar-
keting systems research, we can expect further contributions from
Roger and the systems-researchers he has inspired. These oppor-
tunities likely could not be seized were it not for the extraordinary
contributions already made by Roger to marketing theory and our
understanding of marketing systems. Those contributions have
shaped the academy and I believe they will further shape it; they
should influence marketing practice and policy; they will positive-
ly affect societal well-being and individual quality-of-life. We will
all be better-off from those outcomes and so a debt of thanks to Pro-
fessor Layton is owed.
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