The Development of the Science of Marketing—An Exploratory Survey

Abstract

T HE SCIENCE or art of marketing, as we know it, has developed largely from the fields of economics, scientific management, psychology, and accounting. It is entirely possible that archeologists or historians may sometime discover that many of the principles were known and practiced by ancient peoples. But the classified body of knowledge which we call the science of marketing has evolved during the past 50 years-to a very considerable extent during the past 35 years-and it has been developed very largely by persons still living. The first college courses in marketing were offered in 1901-02 at the Universities of Illinois and Michigan. The first textbooks appeared in the years 1911 -I915. Correspondence courses in advertising were offered in Chicago in I896 by Edward T. Page and Samuel T. Davis. Harlow Gale at the University of Minnesota in the late 1890's, and Walter Dill Scott at Northwestern University by I900, devoted considerable attention to advertising in their classes in psychology, but New York University is said to have offered the first collegiate course in advertising in I9o5.1 Sooner or later studies will be made into the origins of the principles and concepts of marketing, and it seems desirable to ascertain and record the recollec-