American Marketing Association (AMA)
The professional home of marketing — and the source of the field's most-cited definition. Less a rulemaker than a steward of the discipline's ideas, ethics, and education.
- Term
- American Marketing Association (AMA)
- Type
- Professional association
- Founded
- 1937
- Marketing focus
- Definitions, ethics, research, education
Parts of speech & senses
- The American Marketing Association (AMA) is a major professional association for marketers, known for its widely cited official definitions of marketing, its code of ethical norms, and its research, journals, and professional development. "The AMA's definition of marketing is the one most textbooks quote."
What the American Marketing Association (AMA) is
The American Marketing Association (AMA) is one of the largest and most established professional bodies for marketers, formed in 1937 from the merger of two earlier groups. It serves marketing practitioners and academics through research, publications (including the influential Journal of Marketing), conferences, training, and certification.
The AMA is best known beyond its membership for two things: its periodically updated official definition of marketing, which is among the most cited in the field and shapes how the discipline understands itself, and its statement of ethical norms and values, which articulates professional standards of honesty, responsibility, and fairness in marketing practice.
Why the AMA matters to marketers
The AMA matters as a steward of the discipline rather than a regulator. Its definition of marketing — evolving over the decades from a focus on selling toward value creation, exchange, and stakeholder relationships — reflects and influences how marketers frame what they do. Its ethical code gives the profession a shared reference for responsible practice that goes beyond what the law strictly requires.
Practically, the AMA is a hub for marketing knowledge and professional development: research that advances practice, education and certification that build skills, and a community that sets norms. For a marketer, engaging with the AMA is less about compliance and more about staying connected to the discipline's evolving body of knowledge and ethical standards.
AMA vs. regulators and standards bodies
The AMA is a professional and academic association, distinct from both regulators (like the FTC, which enforces law) and technical standards bodies (like the IAB, which sets operating specs for digital advertising). Where those set what's required or how systems interoperate, the AMA shapes how the profession thinks, defines itself, and conducts itself ethically.
For a marketer, the three layers are complementary: regulators set legal floors, standards bodies set technical norms, and the AMA stewards the discipline's definitions, knowledge, and professional ethics. None substitutes for the others.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin & history
The American Marketing Association was formed in 1937 from the merger of the National Association of Marketing Teachers and the American Marketing Society, uniting marketing's academic and practitioner traditions into a single professional body.
Etymology: source.
Usage trends
Search interest for this term over the last five years:
Common questions
- What is the American Marketing Association (AMA)?
- A major professional association for marketers, known for its widely cited official definitions of marketing, its code of ethical norms, and its research, journals, and professional education.
- Why is the AMA's definition of marketing important?
- Because it is among the most cited in the field and shapes how the discipline understands itself — framing marketing around creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging value, not just selling or promotion.
- Is the AMA a regulator?
- No. The AMA is a professional and academic association that stewards the discipline's knowledge, definitions, and ethics. It doesn't enforce law — that's the role of regulators like the FTC.
Resources & people to follow
- referenceRGM analysis — definitions, senses, and usage verified per term
Curated, non-competitor resources verified per term.
Related training
Disciplines
Areas of marketing where american marketing association (ama) is a core concern: