references/figures/theodore-levitt.md

# Theodore Levitt

## Contribution

A decision card for the Customer-Centric Market Definition school. Use the principles, not the personality.

## Principles

- define the business by customer need rather than product.
- selling focus can hide changes in demand.
- market definition should survive product substitution.

## Apply when

- The current decision matches this figure's documented area of contribution.
- The principle can be tied to evidence, a mechanism, or a testable assumption.

## Do not infer

- The figure's name does not settle a disagreement.
- Historical work is not evidence that a current market fact is true.
- Do not mimic personal voice, mannerisms, or biography.

## Connected theories

- `marketing-myopia`

## Counterweights

- Compare with `michael-porter` when the principle would otherwise become a universal rule.

## Sources

- `source:levitt-marketing-myopia`