Commentary on “The Essence of Business Marketing Theory, Research and Tactics: Contributions by the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing,” by Lichtenthal, Mummalaneni, and Wilson: A Paradigm Shift and Prospection Through Expanded Roles of Buyers and Sellers

ABSTRACT

The authors build upon the effort by Lichtenthal, Mummalaneni, and Wilson (2008) and others to applaud the B2B marketing progress to date and delineate the paradigm shift in marketing from goods to service-dominant logic, and from value creation to value cocreation. They argue that inquiry through the expanded roles of buyers-sellers will enable favorable innovation/customer/financial outcomes depending on the interaction(s) and metrics emphasized. They also provide the propositions that underline their logic.

KEYWORDS:

• Roles of buyers
• roles of sellers
• service-dominant logic
• value cocreation
• return on marketing investment
• innovation

Notes

1. George S. Day, John Deighton, Das Narayandas, Evert Gummesson, Shelby D. Hunt, C.K. Prahalad, Roland T. Rust, and Steven Shugan.

2. The American Marketing Association serves a variety of stakeholders and takes a conservative approach. This stance has historically resulted in time lags in marketing domain responsiveness. The 2004 revision was only the second time the definition was revised since its original conception in 1935. Fortunately, the current board has adopted a periodic review process for the definition. It is only natural for a next iteration to include value cocreation.