Legitimizing the contribution of marketing to firms’ success: An exploratory investigation of marketing professionals

This paper reports the results of research performed by the research team established on the occasion of the 14th meeting of the SIM (Società Italiana Marketing) entitled “Il marketing di successo: imprese, enti e persone” held on 26-27 October 2017 at the University of Bergamo. Acknowledging the scant literature on the topic relating marketing performances to firms’ success and dealing with what marketing success is and how marketing success can be measured, the study reports findings emerging from a qualitative enquiry involving several in-depth interviews with key informants representing leading firms in the province of Bergamo. Besides providing first-hand definitions of marketing success based on practitioners’ experiences, the findings highlight how marketing strives to gain in-firm legitimacy and underline how it contributes to firms’ performances.