The influence of marketing from a power perspective

Purpose – Based on the widely held view that influence is exercised power, and in light of the suitability of power theory to studies of marketing's relative influence within the firm, this paper seeks to explore marketing's level of influence from a power perspective. The paper proposes and empirically tests a model in which the marketing function's four key types of power (bureaucratic power, critical contingencies power, network power, and psychological power) act as antecedents to marketing's influence within the firm. The model also aims to consider the contingency effect of market turbulence.Design/methodology/approach – The study employs data drawn from a sample of senior managers in medium and large manufacturing firms. The model is tested using hierarchical ordinary least squares regression analysis.Findings – The findings provide support for a link between all types of power and marketing's influence, with the exception of psychological power. Market turbulence is also found to strengthen the po...