Marketing : science or standardised art

This paper aimed to answer the question of whether or not marketing should be considered a science or a standardised art. In order to address this question, it was necessary to detail the development of the varying philosophies of science. A criteria of science, often applied to the discipline of marketing, was evaluated. The dominant philosophy of science in marketing was identified as empiricism and the strengths and weakness of this approach were evaluated against a relativist approach. The need to develop a marketing paradigm was identified. A marketing philosophy of science, labelled constructive empiricism, was proposed. The conclusion of the paper suggests that it is impossible to answer this question without any firm ontological answers to other sciences. However, any attempt to answer the question contributes to the development of a research methodology that the discipline of marketing will find both relevant in use and rigorous in approach.