Theory and its Construction
This study clarifies the structure and development of theory in the social sciences, defining theory as an abstract representation of causal relationships among observable phenomena, composed of three core components: constructs, propositions, and supporting arguments. First, the analysis delineates the internal structure of arguments underpinning various types of theoretical propositions and introduces argument mapping as a practical tool for constructing arguments. Next, it demonstrates that theory application and theory construction lie along a continuum rather than a strict dichotomy, highlighting subtle distinctions across this spectrum. Finally, theory construction is characterized as an iterative, trial-and-error process—a creative and critical set of interactions between empirical observations and abstract representations, guided by criteria that render a theory both defensible and impactful.
Ajay K. Kohli
Ajay K. Kohli is the Gary T. and Elizabeth R. Jones Chair and Regents Professor of Marketing at the Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Marketing, a current Associate Editor of the Journal of Marketing, and an Area Editor of the International Journal of Research in Marketing. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Marketing Association and EMAC.
Professor Kohli’s research has been cited more than 50,000 times, and two of his articles are among the 10 most cited Journal of Marketing articles in a quarter century. He is the recipient of the AMA/McGraw-Hill/Irwin Award and the Paul D. Converse Award, and he has received three honorary doctorates from BI Norwegian Business School, the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, and Corvinus University of Budapest. He is also an AMA Fellow, EMAC Fellow, and ISBM Fellow, and he received IIM Calcutta’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2017 and IIT Kharagpur’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2024.
Professor Kohli is the first two-time recipient of the Sheth Foundation/Journal of Marketing Award for an article’s long-term impact on the field of marketing. He also received the Alpha Kappa Psi Award, now called the MSI/Paul Root Award, the ISBM-David T. Wilson-Sheth Foundation Award, and the best paper award from the International Journal of Research in Marketing. He has worked in India for the Tata Group and HMM, now GSK, and in the United States as a group leader at the Monitor Group, now part of Deloitte. He has also consulted with and taught at several companies, including 3M, Accenture, Andersen, Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, Eastman Kodak, The Forum Corporation, Halliburton, IBM, Shell, Texas Instruments, and the World Bank. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from IIT Kharagpur, a PGDM (MBA) from IIM Calcutta, and a PhD in Business Management from the University of Pittsburgh.