Evaluating the impact of Arnould and Wallendorf's (1994) market-oriented ethnography

This paper evaluates the significance and research impact of Arnould and Wallendorf's (1994), “Market-Oriented Ethnography: Interpretation Building and Marketing Strategy Formulation” (A&W). A&W provides a comprehensive theoretical aspect of market-oriented ethnography which is useful to marketing practitioners in formulating marketing strategy. A citation analysis is conducted to assess the scholarly impact of A&W. In the 13 year period (1996–2009), A&W receives 204 citations in Google Scholar and 86 citations in Scopus. In total 43 journals include citations to A&W. The findings show that the cited authors are referencing the work of A&W mainly in two aspects: (1) using an ethnographic approach as an exemplar qualitative methodology; and (2) using an etic/emic perspective to provide deeper insights in a cultural context. Evidence in this report supports the assertion that A&W is a seminal contribution to advancing alternative research methods in marketing in general that go beyond the continuing dominant logic of empirical positivism.