Market Systems Dynamics

Market systems dynamics (MSD) is a research approach that problematizes market organizing processes to recenter the study of markets within marketing scholarship. Rather than assuming that markets are trade arenas governed by quintessential economic rules, MSD examines markets as complex emergent systems constructed through the patterned interactions of multiple actors, not just buyers and sellers. MSD-inspired researchers aim to correct three persistent biases in marketing scholarship: the tendency to focus almost exclusively on consumers and producers as the only actors relevant in markets, the tendency to downplay the importance of sociocultural and historical patterns in the construction of markets, and the tendency to focus on a single market rather than exploring distinctions and boundaries across multiple markets. The intellectual roots of MSD are grounded in consumer culture theory (CCT), particularly in research that examines the sociocultural patterns of consumption and the role of consumers in shaping markets. Moreover, MSD has significant overlaps with research traditions on market studies, especially constructivist market studies (CMS), market shaping, and service-dominant logic (SDL). Together, these researchers argue that the core concern of marketing as a distinctive scholarly discipline is understanding how markets work in practice.