In researching the material for this book, I spent several years reading a variety of resources on critical thinking, epistemology, philosophy of science, and marketing theory. You might as well take advantage of my experience if you seek to expand your “background knowledge” in these fields. You can purchase all of the resources listed below on Amazon—most at significantly reduced prices over their original selling price if you purchase them used, which I did whenever possible by simply entering the book’s title and author’s name in Amazon’s search field.
Where to Begin
I suggest you begin your journey by purchasing a few classics in the fields of marketing and philosophy of science and one video/audio lecture series on the philosophy of science. In particular, I recommend the following:
• Marketing:
◦ Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective by George E. Belch & Michael A. Belch
◦ Marketing Management by Philip Kotler.
• Philosophy of Science and Epistemology:
◦ Audio or video lecture series, Philosophy of Science, by Professor Jeffrey L. Kasser, Colorado State University, purchased through The Teaching Company at http://www.thegreatcourses.com/greatcourses.aspx (I purchased the audio format so that I could listen to them in the car)
◦ Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction, by Samir Okasha
◦ What is This Thing Called Knowledge? by Duncan Pritchard
◦ What is This Think Called Science? by A. F. Chalmers.
• Critical Thinking
◦ See the discussion group, “Critical Thinking for Marketers,” at LinkedIn.com
◦ A Rulebook for Arguments, by Anthony Weston
◦ Asking the Right Questions, by M. Neil Browne and Stuart M. Keeley
◦ Becoming a Critical Thinker: A Guide for the New Millennium, by Robert Todd Carroll
Beyond the Basics
The following resources are slightly more challenging, but still quite accessible:
• Marketing
◦ Controversy in Marketing Theory: For Reason, Realism, Truth, and Objectivity, by Shelby D. Hunt
◦ Marketing Theory: Foundations Controversy, Strategy, Resource-Advantage Theory, by Shelby D. Hunt. This is a particularly excellent book, which doubles as an excellent introduction to the philosophy of science.
◦ The Social Psychology of Consumer Behavior, by Richard P. Bagozzi, Zeynep Gürhan-Canli, and Joseph R. Priester
◦ Theory Construction and Model-Building Skills, by James Jaccard and Jacob Jacoby.
• Philosophy of Science and Epistemology
◦ Epistemology: Classic Problems and Contemporary Responses, by Laurence BonJour
◦ Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, by Robert Audi
◦ The Philosopher’s Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods, by Julian Baggini and Peter S. Fosl
◦ Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science, by Richard Dewitt.
• Behavioral economics is having a significant impact on the field of marking. The following are some great introductions to this field:
◦ Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.
◦ Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, by Dan Ariely
◦ Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
◦ Why We Buy, by Paco Underhill. This book is particularly relevant to marketing and the retail store environment.
• Neuroscience
◦ buy-ology, by Martin Lindstrom
◦ How We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer
◦ Imagine: How Creativity Works, by Jonah Lehrer
◦ On Being Certain, by Robert A. Burton, M.D.
A Real Challenge
If you really want to test yourself, the following are excellent resources in the fields of marketing and philosophy of science.
• Marketing
◦ Causal Models in Marketing, by Richard P. Bagozzi
◦ Marketing Theory: Evolution and Evaluation, by Jagdish N. Sheth, David M. Gardner, and Dennis E. Garrett
◦ Metatheory and Consumer Research, by Gerald Zaltman, Christian R. A. Pinson, and Reinhard Anglemar
• Philosophy of Science
◦ Philosophy of Science: From Explanation to Justification, by Mario Bunge
◦ The Structure of Empirical Knowledge, by Laurence Bonjour
All of the above resources additionally offer their own suggested readings. Often on Amazon you can preview a book’s table of contents and read selected pages before deciding which book you want to purchase. Again, enjoy your journey!