In reconnecting marketing to more plastic and malleable markets, we need more understanding about market evolution. In this research we explore how to assess the state of a market, and how the roles of a market-shaping actor vary depending on this state. We view markets as configurations of 25 interdependent elements and argue that well-functioning markets have a high degree of configurational fit between elements. The level of configurational fit describes the state of a market as a continuum from low to high marketness. The clout of a market actor to influence a market configuration is an amalgamation of the actor’s capabilities, network position and relative power. By exploring marketness and clout as contextual contingencies, we identify four market-shaping roles: market maker, market activist, market champion, and market complementor. The focus of a market-shaping actor, in terms of which elements to influence and in which order, vary significantly between roles.
