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COMMENTARYCommentary

Thesphericalmarketingconcept

Arevitalizationofthemarketingconcept

¨5

GoranSvensson

SchoolofBusiness,HalmstadUniversity,Halmstad,Sweden

Purpose–Inthemarketingliteratureitisoftenarguedthatcorporationsshouldpayattentiontothe

needsandwantsnotonlyoftheirowncustomers,butalsotothoseoftheircustomers’customers.This

isoftenreferredtoas“themarketingconcept”.Theobjectiveistorevitalizethemarketingconcept

beyondthetraditionallevelsofmanufacturers,rs,wholesalers,retailers,customersand

consumersinmarketingchannels.

Design/methodology/approach–Conceptualdiscussionandapproachareundertaken.

Findings–Theterm“sphericalmarketingconcept”iscoined.Thistermconnectsthedistinct

upstreamanddownstreamlevelsofmarketingchannels,aswellasreconnectingtheirindistinct

subsequentandprecedinglevels.

Researchlimitations/implications–Thedilemmawiththecommonuseofthemarketingconcept

intheliteratureisthatitfailstoacknowledgethesimultaneousconnectionofthecomponentsand

interfacesweentheupstreamanddownstreamdistinctlevelsfromthestarttoofthe

marketingchannelswiththereconnectionofthecomponentsandinterfacesfromthesubsequentand

precedingindistinctlevelsofthemarketingchannels.Furtherresearcheffortsshouldbededicatedto

bridgethestartandendofdistinctlevelsofmarketingchann