Efficient consumer response – its origin and evolution in the history of marketing

The article provides a non‐mainstream discussion the origin and evolution of efficient consumer response (ECR) in marketing literature. It challenges generally believed positions in the area of the concept. In addition, the novelty value of ECR is questioned. The author argues that ECR has parts of its origin and evolution in the managerial school of marketing and in the three classical schools of marketing, namely the functional school, the commodity school, and the institutional school.