Entrepreneurship within the history of marketing

Abstract

Few scholarly articles explore the history of marketing beyond the commonly accepted origins. Even fewer studies explore the role of the entrepreneur in early markets and economies or how entrepreneurs adapted as the world economy shifted. Aside from recognizing that early forms of commercial exchange existed in the pre-industrial age, little is written about the social, historical, and anthropological constructs that contributed to the development of marketing and entrepreneurial theory or the profile of the first entrepreneurs who sought to expand commerce beyond simple exchanges within their community. We believe this to be an oversight on the part of historical scholars in marketing, entrepreneurship, and related disciplines which leaves a gap in the literature that we address by comparing and contrasting the traditional marketing perspectives with the entrepreneurial and relational perspectives across different eras. Propositions are developed in conjunction with the discussion of implications.