Understanding and developing contributions to marketing theory

Understanding theory and what constitutes a contribution to theory is challenging in any discipline, but is particularly challenging in marketing. Yet, developing such contributions is important both for advancing the collective body of knowledge in marketing and for achieving individual success in academic marketing careers. Our paper aims to facilitate the understanding and development of contributions to theory by providing guidance on how marketing academics can approach marketing theory. Specifically, we discuss how to understand what a contribution to theory in marketing is, and we utilize notable contributions to theory in marketing to illustrate what marketing theory is and how to understand the sufficiency and significance of a contribution to marketing theory.