Emergent understandings of the market

In the last fifteen years, scholars have challenged the neoclassical definition of the market. The debate is not closed. The plurality of definitions suggests a need for an understanding of the different approaches that are emerging, and their degrees of development. The research method is based on a series of bibliometric analyses; mainly, the co-occurrence network of keywords and the development of a thematic map. The paper provides three conceptual contributions. First, it provides evidence of an intensification in the conversation on the understanding of the market. Second, it elicits five clusters: performance, marketing systems, market shaping, institutions and market practices. Finally, adopting Sawyer’s (Social emergence: societies as complex systems, Cambridge University Press, 2005) social emergence model, it suggests a positioning of the clusters within the five ontological levels of emergence.