paradigm shift has already taken place. Books published on services marketing and on industrial marketing as well as major research reports published are based on the relationship marketing paradigm. A major shift in the perception of the fundamentals of m

ery given situation was shortened for pedagogical reasons and because a more limited number of marketing variables seemed to fit typical situations observed in the late 1950s and in the 1960s by the initiators of the short list of four standardized Ps. These typical situations can be described as involving consumer packaged goods in a North American environment with huge mass markets, a highly competitive distribution system and very commercial mass media. However, in other markets the infrastructure is to varying degrees different and the products are only partly consumer packaged goods. Nevertheless the four Ps of the marketing mix have become the universal marketing model or even theory and an almost totally dominating paradigm for most academics, and they have had a tremendous impact on the practice of marketing as well. Is there any justification for this? The Nature of the Marketing Mix Any marketing paradigm should be well set to fulfil the marketing concept, i.e. the n!

plicitly include any interactive elements. Furthermore, it does not indicate the nature and scope of such interactions. The problems with the marketing mix management paradigm are not the number or conceptualization of the decision variables, the Ps, as American Marketing Association as well as the authors of most publications criticizing the marketing mix management paradigm argue. Rather, the problem is of a theoretical nature. The Four Ps and the whole marketing mix management paradigm are, theoretically, based on a loose foundation, which in a recent Journal of Marketing article was also demonstrated by van Waterschoot and Van den Bulte. They conclude: "To our knowledge, the classification property(-ies) or rationale for distinguishing four categories labelled 'product', 'price', 'place' and 'promotion' have never been explicated...Though casual observation of practitioners, students, and textbooks suggest a general consensus to classify marketing mix elements in the same !

nts not intended to be a definition at all. Moreover, the elements of this list would probably have to be reconsidered in any given situation. McCarthy either misunderstood the meaning of Borden's marketing mix, when he reformulated the original list in the shape of the rigid mnemonic of the Four Ps where no blending of the Ps is explicitly included, or his followers misinterpreted McCarthy's intentions. In many marketing textbooks organized around the marketing mix, such as Philip Kotler's well-known Marketing Management, the blending aspect and the need for integration of the Four Ps are discussed, even in depth, but such discussions are always limited owing to the fact that the model does not explicitly include an integrative dimension. In the 1950s in Europe, researchers within the so-called Copenhagen School approached marketing in a similar way to the notion of the marketing mix, based on the idea of action parameters presented in the 1930s by von Stackelberg. Arne Rasmu!

al idea of a list of a large number of marketing mix ingredients that have to be reconsidered in every given situation was shortened for pedagogical reasons and because a more limited number of marketing variables seemed to fit typical situations observed in the late 1950s and in the 1960s by the initiators of the short list of four standardized Ps. These typical situations can be described as involving consumer packaged goods in a North American environment with huge mass markets, a highly competitive distribution system and very commercial mass media. However, in other markets the infrastructure is to varying degrees different and the products are only partly consumer packaged goods. Nevertheless the four Ps of the marketing mix have become the universal marketing model or even theory and an almost totally dominating paradigm for most academics, and they have had a tremendous impact on the practice of marketing as well. Is there any justification for this? The Nature of the !

elevant elements, it

Some common words found in the essay are:
North America, Eventually Ps, Johan Arndt, Moreover Mickwitz, Ps Advocators, Probably Borden's, Marketing Mix, , Waterschoot Van, Neil Borden, marketing mix, ps marketing, mix management, marketing mix management, marketing theory, parameter theory, marketing paradigm, ps marketing mix, mix management paradigm, marketing research, relationship marketing, management paradigm, consumer packaged, marketing mix ps, parameter theory developed,
Approximate Word count = 2686
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)