Chrematistics, or the study of wealth or a particular theory of wealth as measured in money, has historically had varying levels of acceptability in Western culture. This article will summarize historical trends.
Ancient Greece
established a difference between economics and chrematistics that would be foundational in medieval thought. For Aristotle, the accumulation of money itself is an unnatural activity that dehumanizes those who practice it. Trade Exchanges, money for goods, and usury creates money from money, but do not produce useful goods. Hence, Aristotle, like Plato, condemns these actions from the standpoint of their philosophical ethics. According to Aristotle, the "necessary" chrematistic economy is licit if the sale of goods is made directly between the producer and buyer at the right price; it does not generate a value-added product. By contrast, it is illicit if the producer purchases for resale to consumers for a higher price, generating added value. The money must be only a medium of exchange and measure of value.
Although Martin Luther raged against usury and extortion, modern sociologists have argued that he inspired doctrines that assisted in the spread of capitalistic practices in early modern Europe. Max Weber argued that Protestant sects emphasized frugality, sobriety, deferred consumption, and saving. In Karl Marx's Das Kapital, Marx developed a labor theory of value inspired by Aristotle's notions of exchange and highlighting the consequences of what he also calls auri sacra fames, a Latin reference of Virgil to the passion of money for money itself.
Chrematistics theory in marketing
From the marketing systems perspective, chrematistics refers to the process of manipulatively influencing marketing systems' structure, functions, and outcomes perpetuated by marketing system actors wielding required power, knowledge, and skills. To study chrematistics in marketing systems, researchers can employ the following macromarketing research methodology proposed by Kadirov et al. :
frame a marketing system for analysis;
collect rich data about the marketing system under focus;
analyse the following symptoms: community needs myopia, demand engineering, commercialisation, and the view of "success";
