History of marketing

Marketing history: an overview

According to etymologists, the term 'marketing' first appeared in dictionaries in the sixteenth century where it referred to the process of buying and selling at a market. The contemporary definition of 'marketing' as a process of moving goods from producer to consumer with an emphasis on sales and advertising first appeared in dictionaries in 1897. The term, marketing, is a derivation of the Latin word, mercatus meaning market or merchant.

Historians of marketing tend to fall into two distinct branches of marketing history - the history of marketing practice and the history of marketing thought. These branches are often deeply divided. These branches have very different roots. The history of marketing practice is based in management and marketing studies, while the history of marketing thought is based in economic and cultural history. This means that they ask very different types of research questions and employ different research tools and frameworks.

Historians of marketing have undertaken considerable investigation into the emergence of marketing, yet there is little agreement about when marketing first began. Some researchers argue that marketing practices can be found in antiquity while others suggest that marketing, in its modern form, emerged in conjunction with the rise of consumer culture in seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe while yet other researchers suggest that modern marketing was only fully realised in the decades following the industrial revolution in Britain from where it subsequently spread to Europe and North America. Hollander and others have suggested that the different dates for the emergence of marketing can be explained by problems surrounding the way that marketing has been defined - whether reference to 'modern marketing' as a planned, programmed repertoire of professional practice including activities such as segmentation, product differentiation, positioning and marketing communications versus 'marketing' as a simple form distribution and exchange.

Marketing in antiquity

A number of studies have found evidence of advertising, branding, packaging and labelling in antiquity. Umbricius Scauras, for example, was a manufacturer of fish sauce (also known as garum) in Pompeii, circa 35 C.E. Mosaic patterns in the atrium of his house were decorated with images of amphora bearing his personal brand and quality claims. The mosaic comprises four different amphora, one at each corner of the atrium, and bearing labels as follows:

1. G(ari) F(los) SCO[m]/ SCAURI/ EX OFFI[ci]/NA SCAU/RI Translated as "The flower of garum, made of the mackerel, a product of Scaurus, from the shop of Scaurus" 2. LIQU[minis]/ FLOS Translated as: "The flower of Liquamen" 3. G[ari] F[los] SCOM[bri]/ SCAURI Translated as: "The flower of garum, made of the mackerel, a product of Scaurus" 4. LIQUAMEN/ OPTIMUM/ EX OFFICI[n]/A SCAURI Translated as: "The best liquamen, from the shop of Scaurus"

The reputation of Scauras' fish sauce was known to be of very high quality across the Mediterannean and its reputation travelled as far away as modern France. Curtis has described this mosaic as a "an advertisement... and a rare, unequivocal example of a motif inspired by a patron, rather than by the artist. In Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum, archeaological evidence also points to evidence of branding and labelling in relatively common use. Wine jars, for example, were stamped with names, such as "Lassius" and "L. Eumachius;" probably references to the name of the producer. Carbonized loaves of bread, found at Herculaneum, indicate that some bakers stamped their bread with the producer's name.

David Wengrow has argued that branding became necessary following the urban revolution in ancient Mesopotamia in the 4th century BCE, when large-scale economies started mass-producing commodities such as alcoholic drinks, cosmetics and textiles. These ancient societies imposed strict forms of quality control over commodities, and also needed to convey value to the consumer through branding. Producers began by attaching simple stone seals to products which over time were transformed into clay seals bearing impressed images, often associated with the producer's personal identity thus giving the product a personality.

Diana Twede has argued that the "consumer packaging functions of protection, utility and communication have been necessary whenever packages were the object of transactions" (p.107). She has shown that amphoras used in Mediterranean trade between 1500 and 500 BCE exhibited a wide variety of shapes and markings, which provided information for transactions. Systematic use of stamped labels dates from around the fourth century BCE. In a largely pre-literate society, the shape of the amphora and its pictorial markings conveyed information about the contents, region of origin and even the identity of the producer which were understood to convey information about product quality. Not all historians agree that these markings can be compared with modern brands or labels. Moore and Reid, for example, have argued that the distinctive shapes and markings in ancient containers should be termed proto-brands rather than modern brands.

Marketing in the Middle Ages

In England and Europe during the Middle Ages, market towns sprang up. Some analysts have suggested that the term, 'marketing,' may have first been used in the context of market towns where producers used the term to describe the process of carting and selling their produce and wares in market towns. Blintiff has investigated the early Medieval networks of market towns and suggests that by the 12th century there was an upsurge in the number of market towns and the emergence of merchant circuits as traders bulked up surpluses from smaller regional, different day markets and resold them at the larger centralised market towns.

Braudel and Reynold have made a systematic study of these European market towns between the thirteenth and fifteenth century. Their investigation shows that in regional districts markets were held once or twice a week while daily markets were common in larger cities. Gradually over time, permanent shops began to open daily and supplanted the periodic markets. Peddlers filled in the gaps in distribution by travelling door-to-door selling produce and wares. The physical market was characterised by transactional exchange and the economy was characterised by local trading. Braudel reports that, in 1600, goods travelled relatively short distances - grain 5–10 miles; cattle 40–70 miles; wool and wollen cloth 20–40 miles. However, following the European age of discovery, goods were imported from afar - calico cloth from India, porcelain, silk and tea from China, spices from India and South-East Asia and tobacco, sugar, rum and coffee from the New World.

As trade between countries or regions grew, companies required information on which to base business decisions. Individuals and companies carried out formal and informal research on trade conditions. In 1380, Johann Fugger travelled from Augsburg to Graben in order to gather information on the international textile industry. He exchanged detailed letters on trade conditions in relevant areas. While such activities might now be recognised marketing research, at that time they were known as 'commercial research' or 'commercial intelligence' and not seen as part of a repertoire of activities that make up marketing practice.

Marketing in seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe

Scholars have identified specific instances of marketing practices in England and Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. During the 1700s, as England began to exploit trading opportunities with South-East Asia, industrial houses demanded more detailed information, on how to base their marketing decisions. At this time, the English trader and prolific author, Daniel Defoe prepared a number of publications providing information on the state of trade in England, Scotland and India - information used subsequently used to make business decisions.

In a major review of consumer society, McKendrick, Brewer and Plumb found extensive evidence of eighteenth century English entrepreneurs using 'modern' marketing techniques, including product differentiation, sales promotion and loss leader pricing. English industrialists, Josiah Wedgewood and Matthew Boulton are often portrayed as pioneers of modern mass marketing methods. Wedgewood was known to have used marketing techniques such as direct mail, travelling salesmen and catalogues in the eighteenth century. Wedgewood also carried out serious investigations into the fixed and variable costs of production and recognised that increased production would lead to lower unit costs. He also inferred that selling at lower prices would lead to higher demand and recognised the value of achieving scale economies in production. By cutting costs and lowering prices, Wedgewood was able to generate higher overall profits. Similarly, one of Wedgewood's contemporaries, Matthew Boulton, pioneered early mass production techniques and product differentiation at his Soho Manufactory in the 1760s. He also practiced planned obsolescence and understood the importance of 'celebrity marketing' - that is supplying the nobility often at prices below cost and of obtaining royal patronage, for the sake of the publicity generated.

Evidence of early marketing practices has also been noted across Europe. A study of the German book trade found examples of both product differentiation and market segmentation in the 1820s. Other works have documented the use of persuasive advertising practices in eighteenth century Italy, England and France as early as the 1600s.

Marketing outside Europe

The rise of consumer culture and marketing in England, the United States and Europe has been extensively studied, but less is known about developments elsewhere. Nevertheless, recent research suggests that China exhibited a rich history of early marketing practices; including branding, packaging, advertising and retail signage. From as early as 200 BCE, Chinese packaging and branding was used to signal family, place names and product quality, and the use of government imposed product branding was used between 600 and 900 AD. Eckhart and Bengtsson have argued that during the Song Dynasty (960–1127), Chinese society developed a consumerist culture, where a high level of consumption was attainable for a wide variety of ordinary consumers rather than just the elite (p. 212). The rise of a consumer culture led to the commercial investment in carefully managed company image, retail signage, symbolic brands, trademark protection and the brand concepts of baoji, hao, lei, gongpin, piazi and pinpai, which roughly equate with Western concepts of family status, quality grading, and upholding traditional Chinese values (p. 219). Eckhardt and Bengtsson's analysis suggests that brands emerged in China as a result of the social needs and tensions implicit in consumer culture, in which brands provide social status and stratification. Thus, the evolution of brands in China stands in sharp contrast to the West where manufacturers pushed brands onto the market in order to differentiate, increase market share and ultimately profits (pp 218–219).

Marketing in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

Until the nineteenth century, Western economies were characterised by small regional suppliers who sold goods on a local or regional basis. However, as transportation systems improved from the mid nineteenth century, the economy became more unified allowing companies to distribute standardised, branded goods a national level. This gave rise to a much broader mass marketing mindset. Manufacturers tended to insist on strict standardisation in order to achieve scale economies with a view to keeping production costs down and also to achieving market penetration in the early stages of a product's life cycle. The Model T Ford was an example of a product being manufactured at a price that was affordable for the burgeoning middle classes.

In the early twentieth century, as market size increased, it became more commonplace for manufacturers to produce a variety of models pitched at different quality points designed to meet the needs of various demographic and lifestyle market segments, giving rise to the widespread practice of market segmentation and product differentation. Between 1902 -1910 George B Waldron, working at Mahin's advertising agency, used tax registers, city directories and census data to show advertisers the proportion of education versus illiterate consumers and the earning capacity of different occupations in what is believed to be the first demographic segmentation of a population. Within little more than a decade, Paul Cherington had developed the 'ABCD' household typology - the first socio-demographic segmentation tool.

When Wendell R. Smith published his now classic article, Product Differentiation and Market Segmentation as Alternative Marketing Strategies in 1956, he noted that he was simply documenting marketing practices that had been observed for some time and which he described as a "natural force". Other theorists agree that Smith was simply codifying implicit knowledge that had been used in marketing and brand management from the early twentieth century.

As industry grew, the demand for skilled business professionals also grew. To meet this demand, universities began offering courses in commerce, economics and marketing. Marketing, as a discipline, was first taught in universities in the very early twentieth century. However, researchers only became interested in investigating the history of marketing in the mid twentieth century. From the outset, researchers tended to identify two strands of historical research; the history of marketing practice and the history of marketing thought which was fundamentally concerned with the rise of marketing education and dissecting the way that marketing was taught and studied. Early historical studies were primarily descriptive.

History of marketing practice

The practice of marketing may have been carried out for millennia, but the modern concept of marketing as a professional practice appears to have emerged the post industrial corporate world. In addition to the studies of specific cultures or time periods, discussed in the preceding section, some historians of marketing have sought to write more general histories of marketing's evolution. To do this, historians often turn to a method known as periodisation. Periodisation refers to the process or study of categorizing the past into discrete, quantified named units for the purpose of analysis or study.

A key question that has preoccupied researchers is whether specific orientations or mindsets that inform key periods of marketing's evolution can be identified. Marketers disagree about the precise periods that outline marketing practice and describe the way that marketing practice has evolved over time.

Orientations or philosophies that inform marketing practice

In the marketing literature, continuing debate surrounds the orientations or philosophies that might have informed marketing practice at different periods of time. An orientation may be defind as "the type of activity or subject that an organization seems most interested in and gives most attention to." In relation to marketing orientations, the term has been defined as a "philosophy of business management." or "a corporate state of mind" or as an "organisation[al] culture"

Hollander et al. have identified fourteen different stage theories or short periodisations as well as a total of nineteen long periodisations that have been carried out since 1957. Of these, the contributions of Robert Keith (1960) and Ronald Fullerton (1988) are the most frequently cited.

Keith's periodisation

In 1960, Robert Keith, the then Vice President of Pillsbury, set the stage for decades of controversy when he published an article entitled the "Marketing Revolution" in which he set out the way that the Pillsbury Company had shifted from a focus on production in the 1860s through to a consumer focus in the 1950s. He traced three distinct eras in Pillsbury's evolution:

the production oriented era from 1869 -1930s - characterised by a 'focus on production processes' the sales oriented era from the 1930s to the 1950s - characterised by investment in research to develop new products and advertising to persuade markets of product benefits the marketing oriented era from the beginning of the 1950s - characterised by a focus on the customer's latent and existing needs

In addition, Keith hypothesised that a marketing control era was about to emerge. Although Keith's article explicitly documented Pillsbury's evolution, the article appears to suggest that this evolutionary path (production→sales→marketing) is normal and that most large organisations move through each of the orientations.

Keith's notion of distinct eras in the evolution of marketing practice has been widely criticised and his periodisation described as "hopelessly flawed". Specific criticisms of Keith's tripartite periodisation include that:

It ignores historical facts about business conditions It mis-states the nature of supply and demand It slights the growth of marketing institutions

The article, which is entirely based on Keith's personal recollections and did not use a single reference, is best described as anecdotal. Systematic studies carried out since Keith's work have failed to replicate Keith's periodisation. Instead, other studies suggest that many companies exhibited a marketing orientation in the nineteenth century and that the business schools were teaching marketing decades before Pillsbury adopted a marketing oriented approach. Jones and Richardson also investigated historical accounts of marketing practice and found evidence for both the sales and marketing era during the so-called production era and concluded that there was no 'marketing revolution.' A detailed study of the chocolate manufacturer, Rowntree, found that this company had shifted from a production orientation through to a marketing orientation by the 1930s, without having transitioned through the so-called sales orientation. Other critiques of Keith's work have pointed out that the so-called production era fails to align with historical facts and have suggested that it is a myth. Keith's eras have become known, somewhat cynically, as the standard chronology.

Fullerton's periodisation

In 1988, Fullerton developed a more subtle and nuanced periodisation for the so-called marketing eras. Fullerton's eras were:

the era of antecedents 1500 -1750 - a long gestational period in which people were largely self-sufficient and rural; economy characterised by low levels of consumption; commerce was seen as suspicious the era of origins 1750-1870 - precipitated by the dislocations of the English industrial revolution and the rise of a more urban population, this era is characterised by more attention to persuasive tactics designed to stimulate demand the era of institutional development 1850-1929 - many of the large institutions and modern marketing practices emerged during this period the era of refinement and formalisation 1930 - present [1988] - further development and refinement of principles and practices developed in the preceding period

In spite of the intense criticism levelled at Keith's eras of marketing practice, his periodisation is the most frequently cited in text-books and has become the accepted wisdom. One content analysis of 25 introductory and advanced texts found that Keith's eras were reproduced in all but four. Another study, which examined 15 of the top selling marketing texts, found that the although the incidence of repeating Keith's eras was waning, it had not been replaced by Fullerton's periodisation, nor any other more meaningful framework.

Other periodisations

For all the controversies surrounding the so-called marketing stages or periods, Keith and others appear to have contributed a lasting legacy. A study by Grundey (2010) suggests that many contemporary text-books begin with Keith's eras and expand on it by including newer concepts such as the societal marketing concept, the relationship marketing concept and the interfunctional concept, as shown in the table below. More recently, Kotler and Keller added the holistic marketing concept to the list of eras in marketing. Marketing theorists continue to debate whether the holistic era represents a genuine new orientation or whether it is an extension of the marketing concept.

Source: Dainora Grundey, "The Marketing Philosophy and Challenges for the New Millennium", Scientific Bulletin – Economic Sciences: Marketing, Commerce and Tourism, Vol. 9, no. 15, 2010, p. 170

Production orientation

A production orientation is often proposed as the first of the so-called orientations that dominated business thought. Keith dated the production era from the 1860s to the 1930s, but other theorists argue that evidence of the production orientation can still be found in some companies or industries. Specifically Kotler and Armstrong note that the production philosophy is "one of the oldest philosophies that guides sellers... [and] is still useful in some situations."

The production orientation is characterised by:

a focus on production, manufacturing, and efficiency

attainment of economies of scale, economies of scope, experience effects or all three

an assumption that demand exceeds supply

a mindset that is encapsulated by Say's Law; "Supply creates its own demand" or "if somebody makes a product, somebody else will want to buy it"

limited research - and largely limited to technical-product research rather than customer research

this orientation rose to prominence in an environment which had a shortage of manufactured goods relative to demand, so goods sold easily.

minimal promotion and advertising, marketing communications limited to raising awareness of the product's existence

Selling orientation

The selling orientation is thought to have begun during the Great Depression and continued well into the 1950s although examples of this orientation can still be found today. Kotler et al. note that the selling concept "is typically practised with unsought goods."

The selling orientation is characterised by:

Aggressive selling to push products, often involving door-to-door selling

Accepting every possible sale or booking, regardless of its suitability for the business

Has a strongly transactional focus (ignores potential relationships)

The marketing orientation

The marketing orientation or the marketing concept emerged in the 1950s.

Characteristics of the marketing orientation:

A thorough understanding of the customer's needs, wants and behaviours should be the focal point of all marketing decisions

Marketing efforts (sales, advertising, product management, pricing) should be integrated and in tune with the customer

New product concepts should flow from extensive market analysis and product testing

The societal marketing concept

Societal marketing orientation or societal marketing concept was first proposed in the 1970s by Phillip Kotler in an article published in the Harvard Business Review. The societal marketing concept adopts the position that marketers have a greater social responsibility than simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value. Instead, marketing activities should strive to benefit society's overall well-being. Marketing organisations that have embraced the societal marketing concept typically identify key stakeholder groups including: employees, customers, local communities, the wider public and government. They ensure that marketing activities do not damage the environment and are not hazardous to broader society. Societal marketing developed into sustainable marketing.

Characteristics of societal marketing:

An attempt to balance corporate commitments to groups and individuals in its environment, including customers, other businesses, employees and investors.

Companies must include social and ethical considerations into their marketing practices

Consideration is given to the environment includes problems such as air, water and land pollution

Consideration is given to consumer rights, unfair pricing and ethics in advertising

Relationship orientation

Starting in the 1990s, a new stage of marketing emerged called relationship marketing. The focus of relationship marketing is on a long-term relationship that benefits both the company and the customer. The relationship is based on trust and commitment, and both companies tend to shift their operating activities to be able to work more efficiently together. One of the most prominent reasons for relationship marketing comes from Kotler's idea that it costs about five times more to obtain a new customer than to maintain the relationship with an existing customer. A relationship marketing approach seeks to maximise the value of all the potential exchanges an organisation could have into the future.

The characteristics of relationship marketing include:

A focus on the relationship between seller and buyer

An investment in the lifetime of relationships (customer lifetime value) rather than single transactions

An orientation on product benefits and/or customer value

High customer service; high customer commitment; high customer contact

Quality is the concern of all

All activities are coordinated with the customer interface, including the customer's involvement in the firm’s processes

Customised offerings, where practical

Empirical support for relationship marketing as a distinct paradigm is very weak. One study suggests that relationship marketing is really a sub-component of large scale movements of the value-added process rather than a separate era or framework. Some theorists suggest that marketing is moving from a relationship marketing paradigm and towards a social media paradigm where marketers have access to a more controlled environment and are able to customise offers and communications messages.

History of marketing thought

Dating the history of marketing thought is just as problematic as the history of markting practice. Marketing historians cannot agree on how to date the beginnings of marketing thought. Eric Shaw, for instance, suggests that a period of pre-academic marketing thought can be identified prior to 1900. Other historians, on the other hand, suggest that the theory of marketing only emerged in the 20th century when the discipline began to offer courses at universities. Nevertheless, the birth of marketing as a discipline is usually designated to the academic year, 1904-1905, when a "marketing course" appeared at the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to the emergence of marketing courses, marketing was treated as a branch of economics and was often called applied economics. Early marketing theories were described as modifications or adaptations of economic theories.

Several scholars have attempted to describe chronologically the evolution of marketing thought and to connect it with broader intellectual and academic trends. Bartels (1965) sketched an account of marketing's formative periods, and Shah and Gardner (1982) briefly considered the development of the six dominant schools in contemporary marketing. However, these initial attempts have been described as descriptive. (Savitt, 1980).

One of the first theorists to consider the stages in the development of marketing thought was Robert Bartels, who in the The History of Marketing Thought, used a periodisation approach, he categorised the development of marketing theory decade by decade from the beginning of the 20th century:

1900s: discovery of basic concepts and their exploration

1910s: conceptualisation, classification and definition of terms

1920s: integration on the basis of principles

1930s: development of specialisation and variation in theory

1940s: reappraisal in the light of new demands and a more scientific approach

1950s: reconceptualisation in the light of managerialism, social development and quantitative approaches

1960s: differentiation on bases such as managerialism, holism, environmentalism, systems, and internationalism

1970s: socialisation; the adaptation of marketing to social change

Other marketing historians have eschewed the periodisation approach, and instead considered whether distinct schools within marketing reflect different facets of common theory and whether a more unifying intellectual structure has emerged. These approaches tend to identify distinct schools of thought. A school of thought refers to an intellectual tradition or a group of scholars who share a common philosophy or set of ideas.

O'Malley and Lichrou, for example, document the schools as:

Functional: What activities does marketing perform? (Focus on intermediaries and value adding) Commodities: How are goods classified? (Focus on classification of goods; trade flows) Marketing Institutions: Who performs marketing functions on commodities? (Focus on retailers, wholesalers, intermediaries, distribution channels) Marketing Management: How should marketers and managers market products and services to consumers? Business firm as seller/ supplier Marketing Systems: What is a marketing system and how does it work? Channels of distribution and aggregate systems, Consumer behaviour: How and why do consumers buy? organisational buyer and consumer buyer Macro-marketing: How do marketing systems impact on society? Industries, channels, consumer movement, environmentalism Exchange: What are the forms of exchange? Who are the parties to the exchange process? Aggregations of buyers and sellers Marketing history: When did marketing practice and ideas emerge and evolve? Marketing thought and marketing practice

Modern schools

Marketing historians like Eric Shaw and Barton A. Weitz point to the publication of Wroe Alderson's book, Marketing Behavior and Executive Action (1957), as a break-point in the history of marketing thought, moving from the macro functions-institutions-commodities approach to a micromarketing management paradigm. After Alderson, marketing began to incorporate other fields of knowledge besides economics, notably behavioral science, becoming a multidisciplinary field. For some scholars, Alderson's book marks the beginning of the Marketing Management Era.

Unlike economists, marketers have difficulty in organizing the different theories in their discipline into schools of thought. However, some marketing historians like Jagdish Sheth have tried to identify the main concepts behind the work of scholars in the field, grouping their ideas into "marketing schools" such as the following:

the Managerial school emerged during the late 1950s and became arguably the predominant and most influential school of thought in the field

the Consumer/buyer behavior school, which dominated the academic field in the second half of the twentieth century (apart from the Managerial school), features theories emerging from behavioral science

the Social exchange school, which focuses on exchange as the fundamental concept of marketing

Key innovations that influenced marketing practice

1450: Gutenberg's metal movable type, leading eventually to mass-production of flyers and brochures

1600s: Paid advertising in Italy

1605: World's first newspaper published in Germany

1600s and 1700s: Posters and handbills used for promotion in England

1665: The Oxford Gazette first published in England (later renamed the London Gazette and still published today)

1700s: Widespread emergence of newspapers and magazines in England (a future vector of niche marketing)

1719: The Daily Post first published; early instance of a periodical dedicated to business, science and innovation

1836: Paid advertising in a newspaper (in France)

1839: Posters on private property banned in England

1864: Earliest recorded use of the telegraph for mass unsolicited spam

1867: Earliest recorded billboard rentals

1876: Films produced by French film-makers, Auguste and Louis Lumiere, made at the request of a representative of Lever Brothers in France and feature Sunlight soap, are thought to be the first recorded instance of paid product placement.

1880s: Early examples of trademarks as branding

1905: The University of Pennsylvania offered a course in "The Marketing of Products"

1908: Harvard Business School opens - Harvard was an early influence on marketing thought

1920: The magazine, Variety, reports that 50% of cinemas show advertising programmes

1920s: Radio advertising commences

1940s: Electronic computers developed

1941: First recorded use of television advertising

1950s: Systematization of telemarketing

1970s: E-commerce developed

1980s: Development of database marketing as precursor to CRM

1980s: Emergence of relationship marketing

1980s: Emergence of computer-oriented spam

1984: Introduction of guerrilla tactics

1985: Desktop publishing democratizes the production of print-advertising (precursor to consumer-generated media and content)

1991: IMC gains academic status

Mid 1990s: Modern search engines started appearing in the mid-1990s, with Google making its debut in 1998

1990s CRM and IMC (in various guises and names) gain dominance in promotions and marketing planning,

1995-2001: The Dot-com bubble temporarily re-defines the future of marketing

1996: Identification of viral marketing

2000s: Integrated marketing gains widespread acceptance with its first dedicated academic research centre opened in 2002

2003 -2006: Emergence of social media. MySpace and LinkedIn emerged in 2003, Facebook in 2004 and Twitter in 2006.