Reassembling marketing systems : an application of actor-network theory to an illegal online marketplace

![CDATA[The empirical application of marketing systems theory presents a significant challenge to researchers. The expansive nature of macro level theory requires the analyst to include an extensive range of influences. The issue of boundary definition is frequently cited as problematic. However, this paper argues that this is not the key issue. Rather, a limitation is that the theory is not attuned to the symmetry between the human and non-human and its focus on human activities, structures, functions and outcomes limits its empirical potential. By addressing these limitations with a different approach, our understanding of how marketing systems are constructed and perpetuated is increased enhancing the explanatory power of the theory. This paper outlines an approach to the study of marketing systems that may help towards overcoming the obstacles identified, that is, Actor-Network Theory (ANT). This method encourages the researcher to trace the visible connections left by actors. This paper explores ANT and it’s potential usefulness to Macromarketing scholars applying it to the controversial online marketplace for drugs and other illegal goods, The Silk Road. This exploration provides an illustrative example of the benefit of reconceptualising marketing systems as an interconnected mosaic of human and nonhuman actors that are continuously acting to construct a marketing system. Following from a demonstration of the usefulness of ANT as a methodology, the implications for practice and theory are discussed.]]