Editor's introduction: the what and why of marketing law.

INTRODUCTION

This special editor's introduction offers my personal perspective on the answers to the questions posed in the title: what is marketing law and why would the American Business Law Journal (ABLJ) publish a special issue on it? I first discuss the importance of law to the

practice of marketing. Then, I examine three distinct ways of defining marketing law. Finally, I describe the significance of publishing this special issue as a contribution to the continuing development of research and publication in the area of marketing law.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LAW TO MARKETING

Threats of criminal sanctions, including jail time, and million, or even billion, dollar judgments against their companies provide sufficient incentives for marketing practitioners in the business community to develop an interest in marketing law. Marketing faculty also long have been interested in law and its impact on the practice of marketing.(1) Murphy and Laczniak appear to have initiated the modern period of interest when their survey of 225 marketing chairs found that the effect of legal and regulatory trends on marketing decision-making was the factor felt most likely to influence education in the 1980s.(2) However, they found that only 6% of the undergraduate and 16% of the masters programs in marketing offered marketing and public policy or law courses.(3) Thus, they recommended that marketing educators explore how best to educate marketing students about legal issues:

   The data suggest respondents find a variety of orientations
   useful--behavioral, managerial, societal; more thought needs to be given on
   how the orientations interrelate.... Along the above lines, a demarcation
   of how the legal/public policy orientation--seemingly the newest
   orientation--might best be implemented, would be welcome. Given the
   increasingly regulated and litigation-charged business environment, is this
   approach best handled in existing courses or does it call for a distinct
   treatment in the curriculum?(4)

Marketing commentators began addressing this issue from the teaching perspective. Stern and Eovaldi published the first marketing law textbook, followed by Cohen.(5) Welch asserted that teaching marketing students to be concerned about the law creates marketing managers who are aware of their social and legal environments.(6) Kelley urged that antitrust law be included in the basic marketing course.(7) Berdine argued that student research and debate about controversial marketing topics, most with legal implications, enhance student involvement with learning and improve the learning process.(8) Miller stated: