Marketing-as-Practice: A Practice Theory-Based Framework for Marketing Research
The aim of this RJ sabbatical application is to complete four articles that all will contribute to establish a research program referred to as “marketing-as-practice” (MAP). With inspiration from strategy, accounting, and consumer research, MAP draws on practice theory to study the minutiae of marketing activities. Hence, MAP offers an alternative to the dominant managerial marketing research focused on prescribing practices to practitioners.
Two conceptual articles will be finished that outline practice theory informed frameworks for general marketing and service marketing research. The aim of the first of these is to draw on practice theory to outline a MAP framework to advance the understanding of marketing activity in firms. The aim of the second conceptual article is to advance a framework to understand the notion of service from a practice theory perspective. In addition, two empirical articles that are both based on completed empirical studies will be finished. The aim of the first of these is to contribute to described and understand the role of marketing practices at marketing departments. The second article aims to contribute to research on service innovation by focusing on how service practices are created and changed.
The goal is to publish the articles in Journal of Service Research, Journal of Marketing Management, and Marketing Theory. Two one month stays abroad at key co-authors institutions is planned for the sabbatical.
Two conceptual articles will be finished that outline practice theory informed frameworks for general marketing and service marketing research. The aim of the first of these is to draw on practice theory to outline a MAP framework to advance the understanding of marketing activity in firms. The aim of the second conceptual article is to advance a framework to understand the notion of service from a practice theory perspective. In addition, two empirical articles that are both based on completed empirical studies will be finished. The aim of the first of these is to contribute to described and understand the role of marketing practices at marketing departments. The second article aims to contribute to research on service innovation by focusing on how service practices are created and changed.
The goal is to publish the articles in Journal of Service Research, Journal of Marketing Management, and Marketing Theory. Two one month stays abroad at key co-authors institutions is planned for the sabbatical.
Final report
Scientific report for RJ sabbatical project:
Marketing-as-Practice: A Practice Theory-Based Framework for Marketing Research
Project manager: Per Skålén, Service research center, Karlstad University
The goal of the RJ sabbatical project “Marketing-as-Practice: A Practice Theory-Based Framework for Marketing Research” was to finish writing four scientific articles that all applies practice theory to the study of marketing as well as to the sub-field of service research within marketing.
Article 1
The first of these articles is called "Marketing-as-practice: A framework and research agenda for value-creating marketing activity" (Skålén et al. 2023) and have been published according to plan in the journal Marketing Theory in collaboration with Bernard Cova (Kedge Business School, Marseille, France), Johanna Gummerus (Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland), and Antti Sihvonen (Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics, Jyväskylä, Finland). The paper draws on practice theory and a review of practice theoretical studies in marketing, management, consumer, and markets research to advance the knowledge of marketing as a value-creating activity within firms. Building on previous research, the paper contributes to the literature by advancing a Marketing-as-Practice (MAP) framework based on three key concepts: marketing practices, marketing practitioners, and marketing praxis. The framework can be used to study value-creating marketing activities within firms as well as between firms and their stakeholders. This paper also contributes by presenting a MAP research agenda to guide future research on value-creating marketing activity. This research agenda reports concrete research questions on four areas: (1) value-creating marketing practices, practitioners, and praxis; (2) the relationship between these constructs; (3) the relationship between value-creating marketing activity within firms and their stakeholders; and (4) research on value-creating marketing activity that extends beyond the firm. The research agenda also includes research questions on a variety of contemporary marketing issues, such as technology, sustainability, and marketing strategy, and specifies how these issues can be explored based on the MAP framework. In total 45 research questions are suggested. The article was presented at an online seminar at the University of Westminster, London, UK, organized by the Service Research & Customer Experience group during the sabbatical.
Article 2
The second of the articles that the RJ sabbatical project was intended to finish had the working title "Contemporary marketing practices: An ethnography of a marketing department" and was co-written with Bernard Cova and Leena Aarika-Stenroos (Tampere University, Finland). This article was rejected by the intended journal (Journal of Marketing Management), partly because we were not able to obtain all the ethnographic data needed for the paper. The ethnographic data that was collected at a record company was instead used to write an article together with Jessica Edlom (Karlstad University) called "Agile, cocreative, and data-driven: Multifaceted and emerging strategic communication practices within the music industry, "which have been submitted to The Journal of Communication Management. The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze how strategic communication practices within the music industry are adjusted to audience engagement, as well as to examine how communication practitioners manage fluid contexts and relationships. Findings shows that the complex, and digitalized arena demands communication practices that are at the same time strategic, professionalized, agile and co-creative. There are tensions between trying to encourage, follow and understand an active audience on the one hand, and trying to strategically steer them to act in anticipated ways, on the other. The study enhances the understanding of how emergent and agile strategic communication practices are affected by audience engagement and algorithmic use within the field of strategic marketing communication. The role of power in cocreation and agility within industries other than the music industry is suggested as avenues for future research.
Article 3
The third article is called "Conceptualizing services and service innovation: A practice theory study of the Swedish music market" and have been published by Journal of Service Research together with Johanna Gummerus (see Skålén and Gummerus 2023) according to plan. The paper builds on general practice theory, the scarce prior service research that has drawn on practice theory, and an empirical study of the Swedish music market, to outline a framework that conceptualizes services and service innovation by focusing on value cocreation practices (VCPs). The framework contributes to service research by conceptualizing services as bundles of VCPs, providing a theoretical foundation for the research that studies services as activities. It also contributes to service research by conceptualizing service innovation as the creation of VCPs. In addition, the paper offers practical insights into how managers, with the help of the framework, may broaden their focus to include the shared VCPs of the markets to secure a competitive advantage. A future agenda for research on services and service innovation is also proposed that is structured around five core concepts of the framework: (1) VCPs, (2) Templates of activities, (3) Concrete activities, (4) Multiple actors, and (5) Valancing. In total 34 research questions are formulated for future research on services and service innovation from a practice theory perspective.
Article 4
The fourth article is focusing on developing a new foundation for service research by outlining a conceptualization of services based on practice theory. The paper is written by Per Skålén and is in second for review for publication in an international scientific journal, which is not disclosed here in order to not break the double-blind review. This paper contributes to facilitate the understanding of services by researchers and practitioners by developing a services-as-practices (SAP) framework, which consists of six propositions. The SAP framework argues that services are composed of bundles of VCPs. These VCPs are organized and recurring activities that are intended to cocreate value, but they can also codestroy (i.e., diminish) value when performed. The SAP framework contributes to service research by: (1) developing a construct of services that resonates with how researchers and practitioners view these, (2) introducing a set of related concepts that realizes the long-lasting opportunity to study services-as-activities, and (3) offering an alternative foundation to service-dominant logic for the service research discipline. The SAP framework also provides practitioners with a new perspective for analyzing, managing, and developing services. Hence, this paper contributes to develop the conceptualization of services as practices started in the paper entitled "Conceptualizing services and service innovation: A practice theory study of the Swedish music market" (see above). A future agenda relating to the six propositions of the SAP framework is presented. As the SAP framework is intended to inform all types of service research, general research questions are presented first. In addition, research questions are presented in respect of service innovation, service ecosystems, and transformative service research, which are all priorities for service research. In total 91 research questions are suggested.
Stays abroad
Two periods abroad were spent at Hanken School of Economics, Finland, and at University of Naples Federico II, Italy. These stays abroad were helpful in developing the articles described above and contributed to strengthen the relationship between Hanken School of Economics and University of Naples Federico II and the Service Research Center (CTF), Karlstad University. At HANKEN School of Economics the two articles that were written with Johanna Gummerus was further developed. A seminar for faculty was also conducted on the topic of services as practices. A similar seminar was conducted for the faculty at Turku Business School towards the end of the stay. At the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, several meetings with practice theory scholars, in particular with Kristina Mele and Tiziana Russo Spena, that provided essential input to finish the fourth paper and that laid the ground for future collaboration. The work on services as practices was presented as a part of a conference for faculty and students. Originally, a stay at Kedge Business School, Marseille, was planned but this was not possible to conduct for practical reasons.
Diffusion of results outside of academia
The results of the project have been diffused outside of the academia via CTF’s social media channels (LinkedIn and Facebook), CTF’s homepage, and CTF’s newsletter. Entries about two of the articles described above have been presented on these platforms as well as a feature article about the whole sabbatical project.
Marketing-as-Practice: A Practice Theory-Based Framework for Marketing Research
Project manager: Per Skålén, Service research center, Karlstad University
The goal of the RJ sabbatical project “Marketing-as-Practice: A Practice Theory-Based Framework for Marketing Research” was to finish writing four scientific articles that all applies practice theory to the study of marketing as well as to the sub-field of service research within marketing.
Article 1
The first of these articles is called "Marketing-as-practice: A framework and research agenda for value-creating marketing activity" (Skålén et al. 2023) and have been published according to plan in the journal Marketing Theory in collaboration with Bernard Cova (Kedge Business School, Marseille, France), Johanna Gummerus (Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland), and Antti Sihvonen (Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics, Jyväskylä, Finland). The paper draws on practice theory and a review of practice theoretical studies in marketing, management, consumer, and markets research to advance the knowledge of marketing as a value-creating activity within firms. Building on previous research, the paper contributes to the literature by advancing a Marketing-as-Practice (MAP) framework based on three key concepts: marketing practices, marketing practitioners, and marketing praxis. The framework can be used to study value-creating marketing activities within firms as well as between firms and their stakeholders. This paper also contributes by presenting a MAP research agenda to guide future research on value-creating marketing activity. This research agenda reports concrete research questions on four areas: (1) value-creating marketing practices, practitioners, and praxis; (2) the relationship between these constructs; (3) the relationship between value-creating marketing activity within firms and their stakeholders; and (4) research on value-creating marketing activity that extends beyond the firm. The research agenda also includes research questions on a variety of contemporary marketing issues, such as technology, sustainability, and marketing strategy, and specifies how these issues can be explored based on the MAP framework. In total 45 research questions are suggested. The article was presented at an online seminar at the University of Westminster, London, UK, organized by the Service Research & Customer Experience group during the sabbatical.
Article 2
The second of the articles that the RJ sabbatical project was intended to finish had the working title "Contemporary marketing practices: An ethnography of a marketing department" and was co-written with Bernard Cova and Leena Aarika-Stenroos (Tampere University, Finland). This article was rejected by the intended journal (Journal of Marketing Management), partly because we were not able to obtain all the ethnographic data needed for the paper. The ethnographic data that was collected at a record company was instead used to write an article together with Jessica Edlom (Karlstad University) called "Agile, cocreative, and data-driven: Multifaceted and emerging strategic communication practices within the music industry, "which have been submitted to The Journal of Communication Management. The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze how strategic communication practices within the music industry are adjusted to audience engagement, as well as to examine how communication practitioners manage fluid contexts and relationships. Findings shows that the complex, and digitalized arena demands communication practices that are at the same time strategic, professionalized, agile and co-creative. There are tensions between trying to encourage, follow and understand an active audience on the one hand, and trying to strategically steer them to act in anticipated ways, on the other. The study enhances the understanding of how emergent and agile strategic communication practices are affected by audience engagement and algorithmic use within the field of strategic marketing communication. The role of power in cocreation and agility within industries other than the music industry is suggested as avenues for future research.
Article 3
The third article is called "Conceptualizing services and service innovation: A practice theory study of the Swedish music market" and have been published by Journal of Service Research together with Johanna Gummerus (see Skålén and Gummerus 2023) according to plan. The paper builds on general practice theory, the scarce prior service research that has drawn on practice theory, and an empirical study of the Swedish music market, to outline a framework that conceptualizes services and service innovation by focusing on value cocreation practices (VCPs). The framework contributes to service research by conceptualizing services as bundles of VCPs, providing a theoretical foundation for the research that studies services as activities. It also contributes to service research by conceptualizing service innovation as the creation of VCPs. In addition, the paper offers practical insights into how managers, with the help of the framework, may broaden their focus to include the shared VCPs of the markets to secure a competitive advantage. A future agenda for research on services and service innovation is also proposed that is structured around five core concepts of the framework: (1) VCPs, (2) Templates of activities, (3) Concrete activities, (4) Multiple actors, and (5) Valancing. In total 34 research questions are formulated for future research on services and service innovation from a practice theory perspective.
Article 4
The fourth article is focusing on developing a new foundation for service research by outlining a conceptualization of services based on practice theory. The paper is written by Per Skålén and is in second for review for publication in an international scientific journal, which is not disclosed here in order to not break the double-blind review. This paper contributes to facilitate the understanding of services by researchers and practitioners by developing a services-as-practices (SAP) framework, which consists of six propositions. The SAP framework argues that services are composed of bundles of VCPs. These VCPs are organized and recurring activities that are intended to cocreate value, but they can also codestroy (i.e., diminish) value when performed. The SAP framework contributes to service research by: (1) developing a construct of services that resonates with how researchers and practitioners view these, (2) introducing a set of related concepts that realizes the long-lasting opportunity to study services-as-activities, and (3) offering an alternative foundation to service-dominant logic for the service research discipline. The SAP framework also provides practitioners with a new perspective for analyzing, managing, and developing services. Hence, this paper contributes to develop the conceptualization of services as practices started in the paper entitled "Conceptualizing services and service innovation: A practice theory study of the Swedish music market" (see above). A future agenda relating to the six propositions of the SAP framework is presented. As the SAP framework is intended to inform all types of service research, general research questions are presented first. In addition, research questions are presented in respect of service innovation, service ecosystems, and transformative service research, which are all priorities for service research. In total 91 research questions are suggested.
Stays abroad
Two periods abroad were spent at Hanken School of Economics, Finland, and at University of Naples Federico II, Italy. These stays abroad were helpful in developing the articles described above and contributed to strengthen the relationship between Hanken School of Economics and University of Naples Federico II and the Service Research Center (CTF), Karlstad University. At HANKEN School of Economics the two articles that were written with Johanna Gummerus was further developed. A seminar for faculty was also conducted on the topic of services as practices. A similar seminar was conducted for the faculty at Turku Business School towards the end of the stay. At the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, several meetings with practice theory scholars, in particular with Kristina Mele and Tiziana Russo Spena, that provided essential input to finish the fourth paper and that laid the ground for future collaboration. The work on services as practices was presented as a part of a conference for faculty and students. Originally, a stay at Kedge Business School, Marseille, was planned but this was not possible to conduct for practical reasons.
Diffusion of results outside of academia
The results of the project have been diffused outside of the academia via CTF’s social media channels (LinkedIn and Facebook), CTF’s homepage, and CTF’s newsletter. Entries about two of the articles described above have been presented on these platforms as well as a feature article about the whole sabbatical project.