Quick answer
The American Marketing Association currently describes marketing through the activity, institutions and processes used to create, communicate, deliver and exchange offerings that provide value to customers, clients, partners and society. The wording was introduced in the AMA's 2007 revision and reapproved in 2017; the current official page displays it under information about the 2017 panel. It is an institutional scope definition, not an official step-by-step model, funnel or claim that marketing alone owns every value-producing function.
What is the AMA definition of marketing?
The American Marketing Association's current definition presents marketing as a combination of activity, institutions and processes. Those elements support creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings of value for customers, clients, partners and society at large. As of July 13, 2026, this remains the wording displayed on the official AMA definition page.
This formulation is deliberately broader than advertising, promotion or a marketing department. It includes the arrangements and repeatable work through which an offering is shaped, understood, made accessible and exchanged. It also names more than the immediate buyer as a possible recipient of value.
A definition sets a boundary around a field. It does not, by itself, identify the right target, choose a positioning, allocate a budget or prove that value occurred. Those tasks require strategy, evidence, operating models and ethical judgment.
The 2007 revision and 2017 reapproval
The wording on today's AMA page has two dates that are easily confused. It was introduced through the association's 2007 revision. The definition was later reapproved in 2017, and the current page presents information about the 2017 panel that reviewed AMA definitions. Calling it a newly authored 2017 definition loses that history.
The AMA has revised its formal definition as the field and its debates have changed. Earlier definitions placed more weight on distribution and the flow of goods and services. Later revisions in 1985, 2004 and 2007 shifted the stated scope, actors and consequences of marketing.
The revisions were not simple vocabulary updates. Wilkie and Moore argued that the 2004 formulation was too closely centred on marketing management and did not adequately represent the larger marketing system. Gundlach and Wilkie's commentary documents the process and perspective around the 2007 response.
The components of the AMA definition
Read the definition as a component map. Activity recognizes purposeful work. Institutions draw attention to organizations, professions, channels, platforms, norms and other arrangements that make exchange possible. Processes indicate connected routines rather than isolated promotional acts.
The four verbs widen the work. Creation concerns how an offering and its value proposition take shape. Communication concerns meaning, expectations and evidence. Delivery concerns access and performance. Exchange concerns the terms through which parties give and receive something of value.
Offerings and value recipients complete the map. The definition avoids reducing marketing to physical goods and names customers, clients, partners and society. It does not say these groups always want the same thing or provide a formula for resolving conflicts among them.
Scope
Map the activities, institutions and processes involved in bringing the offering into use.
- Which actors shape the outcome?
- Where does responsibility cross organizational boundaries?
Create
Examine how customer and stakeholder evidence influences the offering and its value proposition.
- What valuable outcome is proposed?
- Which assumptions shape the design?
Connect
Review communication and delivery as distinct but interdependent parts of access and expectation.
- Can people understand the promise?
- Can they reliably obtain and use it?
Exchange
Study the terms and processes through which parties give, receive and negotiate value.
- Are the terms clear and workable?
- Do partners have a viable reason to participate?
Validate
Assess value for named recipients and investigate benefits, trade-offs and harms.
- Who received what value?
- Which effects require stronger evidence?
What the definition changes about everyday marketing
If marketing is treated as promotion after a product is finished, evidence enters too late. The AMA framing makes it reasonable for marketing insight to influence what is created, which market is selected, how an offer is priced, where it is available and what supporting service makes the promise credible.
The institutional language also challenges a department-only view. Retailers, marketplaces, agencies, regulators, professional norms, payment systems and service partners can shape the exchange. Their roles vary by market, and they do not all become part of a firm's marketing team, but ignoring them can make the customer experience unintelligible.
Value is the organizing idea, yet the definition does not equate value with a positive message. A claim describes intended value; research and outcomes support whether recipients experienced it. Marketing can fail, transfer costs or create harm, so validation remains necessary.
Why the AMA definition is not a step-by-step model
The order of creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging should not be converted into an official funnel. In practice, the activities overlap and loop. A delivery constraint can reshape creation, a sales exchange can reveal a communication problem and service evidence can change the next version of the offer.
The definition is also not a substitute for a marketing plan, the marketing mix, segmentation or a market-orientation system. Those tools answer different questions about choices, implementation and organizational behaviour. Kohli and Jaworski, for example, explicitly developed a framework for implementing the marketing concept through market intelligence and responsiveness.
Treating the definition as a workflow creates false authority. Teams may use its components as audit lenses, as this article does, but should label the method as their practical interpretation and design the actual sequence around the decision and market.
A practical audit derived from the definition
Start with the offering and the intended recipients of value. Name the customer outcome, the client or partner role and any material social effect. Separate evidence from aspiration. A purpose statement or sustainability claim is not proof that value has been created.
Map activities and institutions across the system. Identify who controls research, design, pricing, claims, channel access, fulfilment, service, exchange terms and learning. Mark handoffs where goals or information conflict. This often reveals that a promise depends on teams the campaign brief never included.
Review each value-related verb as a lens, not a stage gate. Ask what is known, which assumptions are riskiest and what evidence would change the decision. Assign accountable owners because a broad definition can otherwise produce shared language without responsibility.
AMA definition example: a repairable backpack
The Mendway case shows how the definition expands attention beyond an advertisement. Research and service evidence influence the offering, communication sets expectations, delivery includes access to repairs and exchange includes terms for customers and partners.
It also shows the boundary of the concept. The marketing lens can coordinate questions across the value system, but sourcing still requires technical competence, finance must test viability and operations must deliver quality. Broad scope does not mean the marketing department should control every function.
Mendway is a fictional company considering a repairable commuter backpack. The product team treats marketing as the launch campaign that will begin after design is complete.
The company maps product, sourcing, ecommerce, retailers, repair partners, payment providers, logistics and service. Marketing does not own every actor, but the customer promise depends on coordinated institutions and processes.
Research into breakdowns, replacement behaviour and commuter disruption informs replaceable high-wear parts, parts availability and a clear target segment. These are offering decisions, not communication decoration.
Communication demonstrates repair access and states limits. Delivery includes bag availability, spare-part fulfilment, instructions and repair support, so the advertised promise can survive actual use.
Mendway tests price, warranty, returns, service terms and repair-partner compensation. A conversion is not a healthy exchange if hidden conditions or weak partner economics make the system fail.
The company measures customer task continuity, repair completion, trust, margin and partner outcomes. It does not claim broad environmental value without lifecycle evidence that supports the claim.
This is a hypothetical audit derived from the definition's components. It is not an official AMA sequence, certification method or claim that the four verbs must occur in this order.
How to measure the definition in practice
Measure creation by the quality of problem evidence, prototype behaviour and the fit between the selected market and offer. Measure communication through comprehension, claim credibility, expectation accuracy and qualified response, not reach alone. Measure delivery through availability, onboarding, reliability and service completion.
Measure exchange through conversion alongside price realization, consent quality, returns, disputes, renewal and partner economics. A high conversion rate can coexist with confused expectations or an unsustainable channel arrangement. Measures should reveal the quality of the exchange, not merely its occurrence.
Value measurement depends on the recipient and claim. Customer task success, satisfaction and retention may be relevant; partner margin and reliability may matter to collaborators. Social or environmental claims require suitable methods, boundaries and evidence. The AMA definition does not supply a universal KPI set or causal model.
Limits, debates and common misuses
An institutional definition must be broad enough to represent a field, which makes it less decisive for a particular company. It cannot tell a manager which segment to choose, whether to enter a market or how to balance short-term revenue against a long-term effect. Practical frameworks must add those choices.
The definition also reflects an association's considered position, not an eternal or uncontested truth. Its revision history records debate about marketing's boundaries and social role. Scholars and practitioners can use it while continuing to question what is included, omitted or difficult to operationalize.
Do not use the wording to declare that marketing owns everything or that any exchange is beneficial. Naming society does not grant an ethical halo, and value for one party can impose costs on another. Legitimate practice needs truthful communication, consent, legal compliance and evidence about material consequences.
AMA definition of marketing checklist
Use this checklist to review whether a plan reflects the breadth of the definition while retaining clear accountability. It is an editorial implementation aid, not an AMA-approved assessment.
- Current definition and its 2007 and 2017 dates are represented accurately
- Offering and intended value are explicit
- Customers, clients, partners and material social effects are considered
- Activities, institutions and processes are mapped
- Creation is informed by market evidence
- Communication claims have proof and clear limits
- Delivery can fulfil the stated promise
- Exchange terms are understandable and workable
- Value and possible harm are measured by recipient
- Cross-functional owners and decision rights are clear
Use the AMA definition to widen the questions, not to borrow authority for an invented sequence or an unproven value claim.
Frequently asked questions
What is the AMA definition of marketing in simple terms?
It describes marketing as the activities, institutions and processes involved in shaping, explaining, delivering and exchanging valuable offerings for customers and other relevant parties.
Is the current AMA definition from 2007 or 2017?
The wording was introduced in the 2007 revision and reapproved in 2017. The current official page also identifies the 2017 panel, which is why both dates appear in references.
Does the AMA definition say marketing is only promotion?
No. It explicitly reaches across creation, communication, delivery and exchange and includes the institutions and processes that support them.
Are the four verbs an official marketing process?
No. They describe important parts of marketing's scope, but the AMA definition does not prescribe them as a fixed chronological workflow, funnel or planning model.
Does society at large mean every marketing action creates social value?
No. Society is named as a value recipient, but the definition does not prove a benefit or resolve trade-offs. Social and environmental claims still require appropriate evidence and ethical judgment.
Sources and further reading
- American Marketing Association: The Definition of Marketing ↗Official current wording and information about AMA's definition-review panel
- Journal of Public Policy & Marketing: Perspective on the 2007 Revision ↗Gundlach and Wilkie's history and commentary on AMA's 2007 revision
- Journal of Public Policy & Marketing: What Does the Definition of Marketing Tell Us About Ourselves? ↗Wilkie and Moore's historical critique of the 2004 definition and its field-level scope
- Journal of Marketing: Market Orientation, the Construct and Managerial Implications ↗A distinct implementation framework illustrating what an institutional definition does not prescribe