Abstract

Consumers’ understandings of marketing are related to their product attitudes or brand image formation. However, little empirical evidence exists of what marketing means to consumers. This study documents a new term called conceptions of marketing, which refers to the beliefs and understandings held by consumers about marketing. The purpose of this research is to investigate the variation in how marketing is conceptualized by consumers. The interview data were gathered from thirty participants with various characteristics in Taiwan and were analyzed using a qualitative research method, the phenomenographic approach. The study identified four qualitatively different categories by which marketing is understood by these participants, including marketing as ‘delivery’, ‘creating attraction’, ‘guidance’ and ‘agency’. Within each concept, a functional and a philosophical view of marketing are discerned, and some general characteristics of the conceptions of marketing are also described.

Key words: Conceptions of marketing, phenomenographic approach, Taiwan.