Overcoming the Challenge of Marketing Myopia

Abstract

                Over the course of the previous half a century, marketers generally adhered to Levitt's advice on the need to avoid marketing myopia by focusing on customers. In the article, the authors contend that marketers have learned this lesson too well, resulting today in a new form of marketing myopia that equally causes distortions in strategic vision and can lead to business failure. The new marketing myopia is mainly founded on three related concepts: a single-minded focus on the customers, which excludes other stakeholders, a narrow definition and scope of the customers along with their needs as well as the failure to recognize the changed societal context of businesses that requires addressing the interests of several stakeholders. Through a robust literature review, the article demonstrates these phenomena and then provides a vision of marketing management as an activity that mainly engages several stakeholders in value creation. The article provides five practice propositions that will assist marketers in overcoming the challenge of marketing myopia: mapping the stakeholders of the company, determining the salience of stakeholders, researching stakeholder issues and expectations while measuring impact, engaging the stakeholders, and embedding a stakeholder orientation. The article concludes by noting the implications.