The New Marketing Myopia

Social Innovation Centre

The New Marketing Myopia

_______________ N. Craig SMITH Minette E. DRUMWRIGHT Mary C. GENTILE 2009/08/ISIC

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1336886

The New Marketing Myopia

by N. Craig Smith* Minette E. Drumwright ** and Mary C. Gentile ***

forthcoming in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing
This paper can be downloaded without charge from the Social Science Research Network electronic library at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1336886

*

Chaired Professor of Ethics and Social Responsibility at INSEAD, Boulevard de Constance, 77305 Fontainebleau Cedex, France, Tel: 33 (0)1 60 72 41 45, Fax: 33 (0)1 60 74 55 00, e-mail: Craig.Smith@insead.edu Associate Professor of Advertising & Public Relations at the University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, Austin, T X 78712; e-mail: mdrum@mail.utexas.edu PhD, independent business education consultant and Director of the Giving Voice to Values curriculum (www.aspenCBE.org); based in Arlington, M A M cgentile@aol.com

**

***

A working paper in the INSEAD Working Paper Series is intended as a means whereby a fac ulty researcher's thoughts and findings may be communic ated to interested readers. The paper should be considered preliminary in nature and may require revision. Printed at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. Kindly do not reproduce or circulate without permission.

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1336886

2

THE NEW MARKETING MYOPIA

Abstract During the past half century, marketers generally have heeded Levitt’s (1960) advice to avoid “marketing myopia” by focusing on customers. We argue that they learned this lesson too well, resulting today in a new form of marketing myopia, which also causes distortions in strategic vision and can lead to business failure. The New Marketing Myopia stems from three related phenomena: 1) a single-minded focus on the customer to the exclusion of other stakeholders; 2) an... [continues]

Read full essay