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The purpose of this paper is to show that Wroe Alderson's contributions to marketing thought earn him recognition as the “Father of Modern Marketing.”

An extensive review of writings by and about Alderson, a thorough examination of the history of marketing thought literature, and the personal remembrances of one of the authors, are drawn upon to organize Alderson's numerous contributions to the marketing literature into a small number of categories. Such an organization is expected to provide a big picture overview of Alderson's significant impact on marketing thought.

Alderson's contributions to the marketing discipline can be organized into three broad categories, which collectively produced a tectonic shift in academic thinking about marketing: from distribution (macro) to marketing management (micro); from economics to the behavioral sciences; and from description and classification to explanation and theory building. These epic transformations have become so embedded in the marketing literature that they are now taken for granted, but they are so significant they represent a paradigm shift in marketing thought. Because of this legacy, the authors argue Wroe Alderson has earned the honorific title: “Father of Modern Marketing.”

This work provides an historical context to understand the origins of modern marketing thought by recognizing the most dynamic marketing thinker of the last half‐century.

This paper organizes the many and varied contributions of Wroe Alderson into broad categories in a context that is useful for researchers studying the history of marketing thought. The organization of Alderson's contributions also provides an historical foundation for scholars working on a general theory of marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate Donald F. Dixon's contribution to scholarship in clarifying two parallel streams of thought on marketing's role in value creation: value in use and value in exchange.

The paper presents a literary analysis of some of Dixon's work that is often overlooked, and a discussion of its relevance to the services, channels and marketing strategy literature.

Dixon's distinction between the two streams of thought (“value in use” and “value in exchange”) clarifies an important aspect of marketing's intellectual heritage that has eluded the literature on services marketing, channels and marketing strategy. The consequences of this oversight are considerable.

The paper focuses on an aspect of Dixon's work that is underappreciated and not widely understood.

The purpose of this paper is to extend and apply the systems model of the household proposed by Dixon, his colleagues, and his students to situations in which vulnerable consumers are not able to follow the purely rational models of economics. The case of homeless families is examined.

The paper presents a literature review, an introduction of Baker et al.'s concepts of consumer normalcy and consumer vulnerability, and an application of expanded model to consumer studies of homeless persons published by Ronald Hill and his colleagues.

The same household systems models might be used to unfold the complex problems that can undermine the functioning in a household, causing it to be unproductive and potentially fail. Applications of the concepts of “consumer normalcy” and “consumer vulnerability” provide a useful platform to develop public policy recommendations, the example of homeless persons will be considered as an illustration.

The extension and application is limited in that it is applied to analyze data collected approximately 20 years ago. The research should be extended to actual homeless households in the present day, and to additional “types” of households who are likely to encounter vulnerabilities as consumers (e.g. persons with disabilities).

The four levels of household processes (employment, purchasing, home‐production, and consumption) provide a useful framework for examining households in which vulnerabilities occur. This approach is useful in identifying the gaps in the household processes that can slow down productivity and instead introduce confusion and demoralization, plus continue the spiral of economic deprivation.

For over 50 years, the work of Goffman has played an important role in identifying individuals and households that did not fit societal norms, resulting in their possibly experiencing conditions of stigmatization. Examining specific household types in terms of the functionality or dysfunctionality of their use of inputs may allow researchers to recommend various types of support, training, or assistance related to the household as a system, rather than focusing on the individual without considering the household dynamics.

This paper takes a general systems approach in applying the concepts of consumer normalcy and consumer vulnerability, both based in behavioral theories in the social sciences, to the economic approach to the household emphasizing rational decision making and orderly production functions.

The purpose of this paper is to organize the semantics jungle of marketing strategy approaches, terms and concepts into a logically coherent framework using the history of marketing thought to inform current marketing research and practice.

The paper takes the form of an intensive literature review tracing the three streams of marketing strategy terms and concepts from their roots in the literatures of early marketing management, managerial economics and corporate management to the present.

Along with marketing ideas, strategy concepts from managerial economics and from corporate management were absorbed directly into the corpus of strategic marketing thought. These three streams of research have converged into the current state of marketing strategy – an eclectic mixture of both complementary and conflicting strategic approaches, terms and concepts. By systematically following the evolutionary development of major contributions to strategic marketing thought and by redefining terms and refining concepts the various approaches to strategy can be integrated into a comprehensive conceptual framework for organizing and choosing among individual marketing strategies.

The framework offers conceptual and practical value. It provides a researcher with a consistent set of terms and concepts to build upon. The framework also provides a strategic toolkit for the marketing manager, based upon organizational and environmental conditions, to choose from among the feasible alternatives the most effective marketing strategy to achieve management's goal(s).

The purpose of this paper is to present an alternative view of marketing that Donald F. Dixon spent much of his distinguished career developing – a paradigm that we refer to as the Dixonian systems perspective of marketing. It is a paradigm that presents marketing as a phenomenon that reaches far beyond the micro/managerial marketing mix paradigm.

Analysis and interpretation of Donald F. Dixon's and colleagues' scholarly work to distill the essence of Dixon's view of marketing, which we refer to as the Dixonian systems perspective of marketing.

The Dixon's systems perspective of marketing offers a framework for the analysis of macromarketing issues that is not provided by the conventional marketing mix micro/managerial paradigm.

The paper provides a concise overview of the macro/systems ideas and concepts of marketing contained in Donald F. Dixon's and his colleagues' extensive writings that to date has not been available from any other source.

The purpose of this review is to examine an early marketing textbook for its insights into concepts and theory that may have relevance today.

To examine the book in light of the commentary provided by numerous scholars over the decades since its publication.

The latter half of the book, about the marketing implications of the “New Deal” response to the “Great Recession” of the 1930s, is out of date; however, the first half offers an insightful analysis of the marketing system and the rudiments of a general theory of marketing.

Providing a rationale for marketing systems and core concepts for building a general theory of marketing, the book therefore has much to recommend it to students of marketing thought and theory.

This book was first reviewed some 80 years ago. With a longer time horizon, and the additional comments by numerous scholars in the historical literature, a more meaningful appraisal of the influence of this work can now be made.

The purpose of this paper is to present memories of Don Dixon in Australia and of his outstanding contribution.

The paper is based on recollections and personal diaries.

Don Dixon made a significant contribution to the development of marketing as social discipline in Australia and to the evolution of the concept of a marketing system.

The paper contributes to a reassessment of the role of Don Dixon as an outstanding scholar in the discipline of marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to comment on the meaning and significance of the article by Don Dixon on the change in teaching of marketing theory at Wharton in 1955‐1957.

The paper presents a personal reflection and consideration of the history of marketing research since 1957.

Dixon has throughout his career championed a broad systems framework for understanding marketing. His comments show the beginning of a major shift in marketing theory towards a narrow one sided marketing management focus that limited research and neglected areas that ended up being taken up by other disciplines such as strategic purchasing, supply chains and networks.

Highlights a tipping point in the development of marketing theory that restricted the development of marketing theory.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an assessment of the contribution of Donald F. Dixon to the study of marketing as an academic subject.

This paper evaluates three of Dixon's working papers to demonstrate two features of his work. First, Dixon's ability to identify critically important topics of enquiry – topics that are of concern to academics but also that reflects issues in the “real” world. Second, the quality of his scholarship which is based upon an extraordinarily wide knowledge and understanding of the social sciences – especially of the economics and the marketing literatures.

In addition to the challenge that the quality of his work makes to the quality of much academic research in marketing, Dixon's papers raise fundamental questions about the purpose of marketing as an academic study and also as an economic activity.

This paper shows how even when his ideas were at an early stage of development Dixon analysis was both insightful and rigorous. In addition, the paper also provides an insight into Dixon's generous personality.

The purpose of this paper is to read a selection of Dixon's library collection in conjunction with his published work in an effort to make his book collection and research speak to contemporary scholars who should be exposed to Dixon's writings.

The paper adopts a viewpoint approach.

A case is made that Dixon's work is characterised by a concern with the historical sedimentation and structuration of marketing theory and practice.

Calls attention to Dixon's work for scholars who might otherwise have bypassed it by linking it with contemporary interpretive and critical marketing approaches.