Les trois représentations du marketing au travers de ses définitions

The evolution of Marketing writes a multi-faceted history : the Marketing concept itself, its application area, its scientific dimension have all known an important evolution. The formulation of a definition of Marketing have to solve two main difficulties : include all the facets of marketing in a sole definition, and express the latest developments for each of them. The objective of this article is to study the way authors cope with this problem. We first begin with a review of the evolutions of Marketing. Then, we perform a lexical analysis of a set of 41 definitions of Marketing, from different periods and countries (England, France, USA). Using ACESTE methodology, we revealed three groups of definitions. An anlysis of these definitions in the light of the history of Marketing led to the following classification : Operational definitions, where Marketing is mainly perceived as of activity aimed at facilitating the selling process ; Marketing Management definitions, where Marketing is perceived as a process of value construction ; Marketing as Exchange definitions, where Marketing appears enriched and more open.