Aims & Scope

Founded by Michael J. Baker, the Journal of Marketing Management (JMM) is the official Journal of the Academy of Marketing and is a double-blind peer-reviewed periodical with a global reputation for publishing path-breaking and original contributions. JMM is concerned with all aspects of marketing theory and practice. The intellectual remit of the Journal includes contributions that further our knowledge of marketing management, as well as research that takes marketing management and the managerial agenda of marketing thought as an object of intellectual scrutiny in its own right. By its nature, this means that the JMM is the preeminent outlet in marketing and consumer research that welcomes contributions from across the paradigmatic and methodological spectrum.

The JMM explicitly desires to see all paradigmatic traditions contribute to debates on marketing theory and practice. This includes traditional, predominantly managerial contributions aligned with logical empiricist perspectives, through to interpretive and Consumer Culture Theoretic (CCT) reflections on marketing’s role in providing the resources for identity building and self-affirmation, as well as the negative ramifications of consumption on individuals and communities. Studies that engage with both the light-side and dark-side of marketing and consumer practice are welcome.

Going beyond these two research orientations, the JMM seeks to support a number of other important paradigmatic traditions including Marxist and Neo-Marxist perspectives, postmodern interpretations of marketing and consumer practice, postcolonial understandings, macromarketing and Transformative Consumer Research (TCR) interventions, to name just a few which further marketing thought. The paradigmatic pluralism of the JMM is underwritten by a belief that marketing scholarship must be theoretically embedded and reflexive if it is to enhance our knowledge of marketing theory and practice(s).

Areas of Interest

JMM seeks to meet the needs of a wide but sophisticated audience. As such, all contributions to the Journal are expected to be intellectually rigorous, well embedded in the relevant literatures, yet understandable to our wide audience. We do not wish to be overly prescriptive about the types of papers we desire to receive, yet some of the areas that are of interest can include:

• Marketing Theory – What are the key issues and topics emerging in this domain? What contributions to marketing theory can be offered by our sister disciplines of philosophy, social theory, psychology, sociology, anthropology and other related areas?
• State of the Art Papers on Particular Topics – For example, comprehensive literature reviews that indicate emerging research frontiers, empirical studies of marketing practice, CCT, TCR, Critical Marketing Studies and so forth.
• Systematic Literature Reviews – The JMM welcomes systematic literature reviews provided they meet the following criteria: (1) deal with a topic likely to interest a general marketing audience; (2) survey a substantial range of literature (over 100 articles and books); (3) cover at least a period of ten years of scholarship; (4) provide evidence of critical thinking and reflection (i.e., do not simply group and summarise the literature); and (4) combine an initial review with meta-analysis and expert analysis as appropriate.
• The Management of Marketing – How well do our current conceptualisations of marketing reflect the reality of corporate and small business practice? Are there instances where marketing needs to be “managed” by external stakeholders such as through legislation or the activities of social movements? How should marketing respond to the challenges posed by the current climate of social criticism and demands for social responsibility?
• The Computational Turn – What are the likely impacts of Artificial Intelligence and the “computational” turn for marketing theory, concepts and practice? How is “big data” reshaping the nature of our discipline, theory, practice and pedagogy? What are the ethical implications of the computational turn for marketing activities? What are the possible frontiers for marketing and consumer research in a world where brain-to-computer technology is rapidly becoming feasible?
• Consumption and Consumer Practice – How do consumers negotiate the marketplace using the resources provided by corporations, non-profit actors and other groups? Do our current understandings and conceptualisations of the consumer adequately reflect the lived-experience of a diverse range of actors, each of whom is subject to differing “affordances” and intersectional constraints? We hear much about the light-side of the marketplace, such as the benefits that it provides, but what about the dark-side of the market and its implications for consumer health and well-being? Do reflections on the dark-side of the market provide us with a means to rethink marketing theory and practice?
• Interconnections between Marketing and Society – How does marketing influence wider society? What are the ecological impacts of marketing practice? How can marketing be rethought to reflect the needs of a world characterised by resource limitations, population growth, and an ethical responsibility to future generations? What role should marketing play in a world where degrowth may need to become our new normal?
• Marketing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – How can marketing and consumer research enhance marketplace equity, diversity and inclusion? What about engagement with universal design principles? How might we foster collaborative relationships with advocacy organisations? How can we leverage inclusive storytelling to enhance the consumer experience?
• Marketing, Social Change and Public Policy – Marketing academics can have a demonstrable influence on government policy. As part of the interest in impact and actionable change, the JMM welcomes case studies from scholars who have conducted original research which has been used to influence social change and public policy in some fashion. What lessons do such projects provide for academics who wish to engage with public policy? How can public policy engagement be supported, rewarded and how can we measure our impact in this regard?
• Marketing and Alternative Political-Economic Perspectives – What does/can marketing look like through alternative political-economic prisms? For example, via worldviews that emphasize post-capitalist thinking, including a focus on collective welfare, equity and community-centric value commitments? Or those that underscore economic decentralisation, a grassroots focus, anti-consumerism (including Do-It-Yourself ethics), mutual aid, corporate transparency and community-led marketing practice as well as commitments to anti-Authoritarianism? What role can or should marketing play in combatting Authoritarianism in our world?
• The Marketing of Services, the Labours of Marketing Actors and Service Inclusion – Increasingly, services are central to debates in marketing theory as well as important in terms of the economy. We welcome contributions that seek to advance the research agenda in this domain. Given the remit of the JMM, these can include papers that contribute to managerial practice, but equally those which highlight the potential dark-side of service practices and performances. Connected to the latter, companies of all sizes are drawing on the life-world resources of their employees including their emotional, aesthetic, and sexual labours. What are the implications of this for service delivery and the staff concerned? How should the commitment to inclusion modify service development, delivery and feedback loops?
• Business-to-Business and Network Marketing – The domain of industrial and business marketing is a vibrant one, characterised by a growth utilisation of contemporary social theory, especially practice theory and Actor-Network-Theory. What are the new and emerging areas worthy of exploration in this domain (e.g., conversational marketing)? How well does the theoretical and conceptual architecture developed in America and Europe translate to other global contexts?

How to Submit

Submissions to the journal must be made via the T&F Submission Portal: https://rp.tandfonline.com/submission/create?journalCode=RJMM

Please note, JMM currently desk rejects over 80% of papers submitted to the journal. We recommend that authors read the following prior to submitting their article: Why do papers get desk rejected from JMM?