Abstract
McCarthy's mnemonic of the four Ps, by offering a seductive sense of simplicity to students, teachers and practitioners of marketing, has become an article of faith. Among the consequences of this have been a lack of empirical study into what are the key marketing variables and how they are perceived and used by marketing managers, a neglect of process in favour of structure and a neglect of product range considerations. What is needed is a form of analysis developed by sociologists that would focus on the process by which managers construct their own interpretations of marketing realities and develop individual styles of management and decision‐taking.

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