As a powerful means of theory building, conceptual
articles are increasingly called for in marketing academia. However, researchers
struggle to design and write non-empirical articles because of the lack of
commonly accepted templates to guide their development. The aim of this paper
is to highlight methodological considerations for conceptual papers: it is argued
that such papers must be grounded in a clear research design, and that the
choice of theories and their role in the analysis must be explicated and
justified. The paper discusses four potential templates for conceptual papers –
Theory Synthesis, Theory Adaptation, Typology, and Model – and their respective
aims, approach for using theories, and contribution potential.