A Global Perspective on the Marketing Mix across Time and Space
By Julian Wichmann, Abhinav Uppal, Amalesh Sharma, Marnik Dekimpe
International Journal of Research in Marketing | June 2022
DOI
doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2021.09.001
Citation
Wichmann, Julian., Uppal, Abhinav., Sharma, Amalesh., Dekimpe, Marnik. (2021). A Global Perspective on the Marketing Mix across Time and Space International Journal of Research in Marketing doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2021.09.001.
Copyright
International Journal of Research in Marketing, 2021
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Abstract
The marketing mix (MM) is an integral part of a firm’s marketing strategy sitting at the nexus between a company and the marketplace. As such, it evolves together with the marketplace and its stakeholders. Over the past decade, three fundamental global drivers have emerged—advancements in technology, socioeconomic and geopolitical shifts, and environmental changes—that have caused major ongoing and intensifying evolutions in the marketplace, its stakeholders, and, in turn, the MM. We describe the resulting evolutions in the MM along four central questions: who is involved in the MM, what constitutes the MM, how is it implemented, and where is it deployed. We identify a blurring of roles and responsibilities relating to the MM (who), an extension and integration of the MM instruments (what), an increase in customization and fragmentation of its actions (how), and a growing recognition of emerging-market idiosyncrasies (where). Taking a look into the future, we observe that along each of the four dimensions, the MM has arrived at a crossroad, with opposing scenarios for its future: (i) more inter-firm collaboration versus marketing-mix protectionism, (ii) added complexity versus increased simplicity, (iii) further automation versus an increased recognition of the human touch, and (iv) local adaptation versus global uniformity in the marketing mix. Applying a contingency approach, we derive relevant moderators for these forthcoming evolutions and provide an extensive set of future research questions.

Abhinav Uppal is an assistant professor of Marketing at the Indian School of Business. His research interests lie broadly in using microeconomic theory and game-theory based models to study topical problems in marketing. Currently, his work focuses on two main streams of research: the first is retailing, specifically how traditional retailers can counter modern threats; the second is competitive strategy and pricing, particularly how various market settings, structures, and strategic partnerships influence firms’ competitive behavior and marketing decisions.

Professor Uppal received his PhD and MS in Marketing from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has previously worked on algorithmic trading strategies in equity markets at Tower Research Capital and conducted research on technology for emerging markets at Microsoft Research India. He holds a BTech in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and is a KVPY and NTSE scholar.

Abhinav Uppal (2)
Abhinav Uppal