Theories of Marketing Study Guide
UvA 2026/2027 - period 1
(Includes: lectures, discussion sessions, articles, reading questions)
Topic 1: Developments in marketing thinking
Exam role: strategy question (one case, 0.5–1 A4, shared with Topics 3 and 5).
Sources: Q&A lecture + discussion lecture (Venetis), intro lecture, reading questions, Dolan
2014 (pp. 1–13, pre-knowledge), Narver & Slater 1990, Slater & Narver 1998, Homburg, Jozić &
Kuehnl 2017, Achrol & Kotler 2022. Extra (not mandatory): AMA Future Trends 2026.
0. The storyline (learn this first)
The lecturer's closing slide sums up the topic: marketing thought is context-driven (market
dynamics and customer needs change, at least in the Western world), but the basic
assumptions have stayed the same since the marketing concept:
1. Customers (and the environment) are the starting point for company success.
2. Companies win by differentiating through superior (network) value delivery.
What changes is the HOW. The articles are steps in that story:
Step Article Main idea What changes in the
HOW
Marketing Drucker, Purpose of business = create and —
concept Levitt (in keep a customer, through
Dolan) differentiation
Strategy Dolan 2014 5 Cs → STP → 4 Ps → acquisition, The tool to apply in any
formation retention, ambassadors case
Market Narver & MO = the culture that creates Marketing concept made
orientation Slater 1990 superior customer value → profit measurable
Proactive vs Slater & Customer-led (expressed wants) ≠ MO is long-term and
responsive Narver 1998 market-oriented (latent needs) innovative, not just
MO listening
CEM Homburg et Manage the whole touchpoint From product/customer
al. 2017 journey, incl. partners to experience +
alliances
, Distributed Achrol & 4th industrial revolution: networks From brand manager to
networks Kotler 2022 become distributed platform coordinator
Venetis (2017) Marketing V1–V4 table (on both lecture slide sets):
V1 V2 V3 V4 Innovation-driven
Product-ce Customer-ce Value-driven
ntric ntric
Objective Sell Retain Improve the Loyalty and growth
products customers world
Enabling Industrial IT revolution WWW Digital & mobile touch
force revolution
View of Mass Smarter Whole human: Humans in bigger networks,
market market, consumer, heart, mind, with and without the company
basic needs social needs spirit
Key Product Differentiation Values Customer journey
concept developmen
t
Guideline Product Brand and Corporate Whole experience beyond own
s specs products values brand (incl. competitors and
partners)
Interactio Functional Functional + + spiritual + experiential
n emotional
CEM and distributed networks sit in V4.
Marketing system on the slides: supplier → organisation → distributor → consumer, with
brands, business functions, direct and multichannel distribution. It now becomes networks:
supplier networks (co-production), co-creation with customers, consumer networks (social
media).
AMA marketing definitions (intro lecture): 1985 = the 4 Ps process "to create exchanges that
satisfy individual and organizational goals". 2012/2017 = "activity, set of institutions, and
processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for
customers, clients, partners, and society at large". The shift: from transaction to relation
(metric: market share → share of wallet) and from product-driven to value-driven.
,Two main marketing decisions (intro lecture): (1) segmentation, i.e. understanding
consumers (the CB side), and (2) value differentiation, i.e. creating customer value (the strategy
side).
1. Dolan 2014: Framework for marketing strategy formation (pp. 1–13, pre-knowledge)
Why it's in the course: it is the basic strategy toolkit. Use it to structure any case answer (who
is the target, what is the positioning, which 4 Ps). The course itself only studies the Customer C
in depth; the other Cs are assumed knowledge (PESTEL, Porter's 5 forces, competitor
analysis).
Purpose of business
● Drucker: "to create a customer". Levitt: "to create and keep a customer", which requires
differentiation. Dolan adds a third purpose: make customers active brand
ambassadors.
Shapiro's marketing process (6 parts): (1) strategy formation, (2) planning, (3) programming,
allocating and budgeting, (4) implementation, (5) monitoring and auditing, plus (6) analysis and
research, which supports all the others continuously.
The framework (Exhibit 2): Analysis → Decisions → Outcomes. The process is iterative,
not linear.
● Analysis: the 5 Cs, with the Customer at the centre:
○ Customer: the DMU (decision-making unit). Bonoma's 6 roles: initiator,
gatekeeper, decider, influencer, purchaser, user (on average about 7 people fill
them in B2B). Then the DMP (decision-making process): search, interaction,
criteria and their weights, trade-offs or minimum levels. The aim is
product/market fit.
○ Company: strengths and weaknesses, and core competency (Prahalad &
Hamel): it (1) contributes significantly to perceived customer value and (2) is hard
for competitors to imitate. The aim is product/company fit.
○ Collaborators: external assets that complement the company (Peloton:
Kickstarter, VCs, 2 manufacturing partners).
○ Competition: winning means creating more value (benefits − costs) than any
alternative known to the customer. Define competition broadly. Peloton's
competitor was also not exercising at all: 8 in 10 buyers were not in the market
for fitness equipment.
○ Context: culture, technology, politics, regulation, social norms (e.g. coolhunting).
● Decisions
○ Aspiration decision = STP: segmenting, targeting, positioning ("what value
to what kind of customer").
, ○ Action plan = 4 Ps. Product, promotion and place create value. Price captures
value. The value created is the upper bound on price, and it must exceed unit
cost.
● Outcomes: customer acquisition, retention, brand ambassadors, short-term financial
results, and the franchise(brand reputation and loyalty as a platform for future
marketing).
Key messages: there is no single best way to go to market (Steinway vs Yamaha, L'Oréal vs
Mary Kay). Strategy can change over time (Samsung went from low-cost to top-quality). Focus
is key: you don't need a mass-market product (Vizio vs Bang & Olufsen).
Peloton as the running example: the "Peloton Difference" was a studio experience at home,
on your own time (bike + live classes + subscription + community). Note how close this already
is to CEM (an experience, a community, partners) and to MO (founder insight into a latent need;
surveys along the member journey).
2. Narver & Slater 1990: The effect of a market orientation on business profitability
Why it's in the course: a classic. It is the first valid measure of MO and the first evidence that
MO drives profit. The slides focus on (1) the measurement and (2) the effect on profit, which
differs between commodity and non-commodity markets (with control variables). The
scale-validation statistics are NOT relevant for the exam.
Logic: above-normal performance requires a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA),
which means sustainable superior customer value.
● Value = the buyer's perceived expected benefits − total acquisition and use costs. A
seller creates value in only 2 ways: increase benefits or decrease costs.
Definition (memorise the core): "Market orientation is the organization culture that most
effectively and efficiently creates the necessary behaviors for the creation of superior value for
buyers and, thus, continuous superior performance for the business."
→ Its core is culture → behaviours → superior customer value → long-term profit. It is the
implementation of the marketing concept: the customer as the starting point, and value as
the route to profit.
Content: 3 behavioural components (equal weight, the triangle) + 2 decision criteria
1. Customer orientation: enough understanding of target buyers to create superior value
continuously. This means understanding the buyer's whole value chain, now and how it
will evolve, including the buyer's buyers. It covers who customers are and what they
want now and in the future. (Keep this "future" part in mind for RQ1.)
2. Competitor orientation: short-term strengths and weaknesses and long-term
capabilities and strategies of current and potential competitors, including all
UvA 2026/2027 - period 1
(Includes: lectures, discussion sessions, articles, reading questions)
Topic 1: Developments in marketing thinking
Exam role: strategy question (one case, 0.5–1 A4, shared with Topics 3 and 5).
Sources: Q&A lecture + discussion lecture (Venetis), intro lecture, reading questions, Dolan
2014 (pp. 1–13, pre-knowledge), Narver & Slater 1990, Slater & Narver 1998, Homburg, Jozić &
Kuehnl 2017, Achrol & Kotler 2022. Extra (not mandatory): AMA Future Trends 2026.
0. The storyline (learn this first)
The lecturer's closing slide sums up the topic: marketing thought is context-driven (market
dynamics and customer needs change, at least in the Western world), but the basic
assumptions have stayed the same since the marketing concept:
1. Customers (and the environment) are the starting point for company success.
2. Companies win by differentiating through superior (network) value delivery.
What changes is the HOW. The articles are steps in that story:
Step Article Main idea What changes in the
HOW
Marketing Drucker, Purpose of business = create and —
concept Levitt (in keep a customer, through
Dolan) differentiation
Strategy Dolan 2014 5 Cs → STP → 4 Ps → acquisition, The tool to apply in any
formation retention, ambassadors case
Market Narver & MO = the culture that creates Marketing concept made
orientation Slater 1990 superior customer value → profit measurable
Proactive vs Slater & Customer-led (expressed wants) ≠ MO is long-term and
responsive Narver 1998 market-oriented (latent needs) innovative, not just
MO listening
CEM Homburg et Manage the whole touchpoint From product/customer
al. 2017 journey, incl. partners to experience +
alliances
, Distributed Achrol & 4th industrial revolution: networks From brand manager to
networks Kotler 2022 become distributed platform coordinator
Venetis (2017) Marketing V1–V4 table (on both lecture slide sets):
V1 V2 V3 V4 Innovation-driven
Product-ce Customer-ce Value-driven
ntric ntric
Objective Sell Retain Improve the Loyalty and growth
products customers world
Enabling Industrial IT revolution WWW Digital & mobile touch
force revolution
View of Mass Smarter Whole human: Humans in bigger networks,
market market, consumer, heart, mind, with and without the company
basic needs social needs spirit
Key Product Differentiation Values Customer journey
concept developmen
t
Guideline Product Brand and Corporate Whole experience beyond own
s specs products values brand (incl. competitors and
partners)
Interactio Functional Functional + + spiritual + experiential
n emotional
CEM and distributed networks sit in V4.
Marketing system on the slides: supplier → organisation → distributor → consumer, with
brands, business functions, direct and multichannel distribution. It now becomes networks:
supplier networks (co-production), co-creation with customers, consumer networks (social
media).
AMA marketing definitions (intro lecture): 1985 = the 4 Ps process "to create exchanges that
satisfy individual and organizational goals". 2012/2017 = "activity, set of institutions, and
processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for
customers, clients, partners, and society at large". The shift: from transaction to relation
(metric: market share → share of wallet) and from product-driven to value-driven.
,Two main marketing decisions (intro lecture): (1) segmentation, i.e. understanding
consumers (the CB side), and (2) value differentiation, i.e. creating customer value (the strategy
side).
1. Dolan 2014: Framework for marketing strategy formation (pp. 1–13, pre-knowledge)
Why it's in the course: it is the basic strategy toolkit. Use it to structure any case answer (who
is the target, what is the positioning, which 4 Ps). The course itself only studies the Customer C
in depth; the other Cs are assumed knowledge (PESTEL, Porter's 5 forces, competitor
analysis).
Purpose of business
● Drucker: "to create a customer". Levitt: "to create and keep a customer", which requires
differentiation. Dolan adds a third purpose: make customers active brand
ambassadors.
Shapiro's marketing process (6 parts): (1) strategy formation, (2) planning, (3) programming,
allocating and budgeting, (4) implementation, (5) monitoring and auditing, plus (6) analysis and
research, which supports all the others continuously.
The framework (Exhibit 2): Analysis → Decisions → Outcomes. The process is iterative,
not linear.
● Analysis: the 5 Cs, with the Customer at the centre:
○ Customer: the DMU (decision-making unit). Bonoma's 6 roles: initiator,
gatekeeper, decider, influencer, purchaser, user (on average about 7 people fill
them in B2B). Then the DMP (decision-making process): search, interaction,
criteria and their weights, trade-offs or minimum levels. The aim is
product/market fit.
○ Company: strengths and weaknesses, and core competency (Prahalad &
Hamel): it (1) contributes significantly to perceived customer value and (2) is hard
for competitors to imitate. The aim is product/company fit.
○ Collaborators: external assets that complement the company (Peloton:
Kickstarter, VCs, 2 manufacturing partners).
○ Competition: winning means creating more value (benefits − costs) than any
alternative known to the customer. Define competition broadly. Peloton's
competitor was also not exercising at all: 8 in 10 buyers were not in the market
for fitness equipment.
○ Context: culture, technology, politics, regulation, social norms (e.g. coolhunting).
● Decisions
○ Aspiration decision = STP: segmenting, targeting, positioning ("what value
to what kind of customer").
, ○ Action plan = 4 Ps. Product, promotion and place create value. Price captures
value. The value created is the upper bound on price, and it must exceed unit
cost.
● Outcomes: customer acquisition, retention, brand ambassadors, short-term financial
results, and the franchise(brand reputation and loyalty as a platform for future
marketing).
Key messages: there is no single best way to go to market (Steinway vs Yamaha, L'Oréal vs
Mary Kay). Strategy can change over time (Samsung went from low-cost to top-quality). Focus
is key: you don't need a mass-market product (Vizio vs Bang & Olufsen).
Peloton as the running example: the "Peloton Difference" was a studio experience at home,
on your own time (bike + live classes + subscription + community). Note how close this already
is to CEM (an experience, a community, partners) and to MO (founder insight into a latent need;
surveys along the member journey).
2. Narver & Slater 1990: The effect of a market orientation on business profitability
Why it's in the course: a classic. It is the first valid measure of MO and the first evidence that
MO drives profit. The slides focus on (1) the measurement and (2) the effect on profit, which
differs between commodity and non-commodity markets (with control variables). The
scale-validation statistics are NOT relevant for the exam.
Logic: above-normal performance requires a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA),
which means sustainable superior customer value.
● Value = the buyer's perceived expected benefits − total acquisition and use costs. A
seller creates value in only 2 ways: increase benefits or decrease costs.
Definition (memorise the core): "Market orientation is the organization culture that most
effectively and efficiently creates the necessary behaviors for the creation of superior value for
buyers and, thus, continuous superior performance for the business."
→ Its core is culture → behaviours → superior customer value → long-term profit. It is the
implementation of the marketing concept: the customer as the starting point, and value as
the route to profit.
Content: 3 behavioural components (equal weight, the triangle) + 2 decision criteria
1. Customer orientation: enough understanding of target buyers to create superior value
continuously. This means understanding the buyer's whole value chain, now and how it
will evolve, including the buyer's buyers. It covers who customers are and what they
want now and in the future. (Keep this "future" part in mind for RQ1.)
2. Competitor orientation: short-term strengths and weaknesses and long-term
capabilities and strategies of current and potential competitors, including all
