The Complete English Tradesman – business relations, trust, and honesty or 'let's rethink the history of relationship marketing'. (17th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Prof. Stefan Schwarzkopf, Assoc.; Tadajewski, Mark
• Is Part Of: Journal of historical research in marketing. Volume 7:Number 3(2015)
• Page Start: 407
• Page End: 422
• Publication Date: 2015-08-17
• Subjects: Marketing -- History -- Periodicals; Marketing -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; 658.8005
• DOI: 10.1108/JHRM-04-2015-0012
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1755-750X

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x content-type="archive" xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Purpose</title> <p> – This paper aims to provide a close reading of Daniel Defoe's <italic>The Complete English Tradesman</italic>. It makes a case that many of the themes that Defoe engages with are consistent with later arguments offered by relationship marketing scholars. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Design/methodology/approach</title> <p> – This is a close reading of one of Defoe's most popular texts, <italic>The Complete English Tradesman</italic>. It links this discussion with relationship marketing tenets. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Findings</title> <p> – Defoe pays considerable attention to key relational ideas, including the cultivation of a public perception of business honesty, the need to cater to customer requirements, treating the customer as the "idol" of the practitioner and undertaking a variety of actions to ensure that consumers trust the words and actions of the tradesman. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Practical implications</title> <p> – This paper highlights how ahistorical debates surrounding relationship marketing have been and calls for a return to the archives. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Originality/value</title> <p> – This paper supplements existing research that charts the implications for marketing thought of Defoe's work, extending this via a juxtaposition of his writing with relational tenets.</p> </sec> </abstract>