The Epistemic Architecture of Marketing: A Multi-Layer Network Analysis of Journals, People, and Knowledge
(A2026-132017)

AUTHORS

Marco Visentin, University of Bologna

ABSTRACT

This study examines whether leading marketing journals operate as intellectual silos by analyzing their structures across three layers: People (editorial board interlocks), Research (topic similarity in recently published articles), and Engagement (Aims & Scope statements). Using network and text-analytic methods on twenty top journals, the findings reveal a strong convergence between the editorial and research layers: the same core outlets—JM, JMR, IJRM, JCR, and JCP—dominate both governance and knowledge production, forming a tightly coupled institutional–intellectual center. In contrast, the discursive layer projects a far more open and interdisciplinary image, with journals such as EJM and JA becoming central only at this rhetorical level. These divergences suggest that although marketing journals present themselves as inclusive, the field’s epistemic core remains highly concentrated, potentially constraining innovation and cross-paradigmatic exploration.