Article Effectuation and Morphogenesis in the New Zealand Fairtrade Marketing System Michelle Renton, 1 and Hamish Simmonds 1 Abstract We address the influence of and constraints on actors, networks, structures and institutions within marketing systems. Using case study analysis we contribute to effectuation literature by discussing the loose coupling of Fairtrade ANZ to its market develop- ment partners. While creating certainty for producers by maintaining focus on its development aims, Fairtrade ANZ adopts an affordable loss approach to market development, arguably at the cost of communicating to its highly fragmented and contingent market place. Simmonds, Gazley, and Dallenbach’s (2018) morphogenetic cycle framework brings a theoretical and analytical lens to examining the Fairtrade marketing system by delayering the interconnections, interdependencies and interrelations existing within each layer. In untangling the embedded social, historical and institutional contexts within which Fairtrade ANZ exists we offer this paper as an initial exploration of effectuation, change and stability in a complex marketing system. Keywords effectuation, entrepreneurial marketing, morphogenesis, fairtrade, marketing systems Introduction The re-orientation of entrepreneurial research from character- istics, traits and actions of individuals towards its social, insti- tutional, contextualised and systemic nature (Dodd, Pret, and Shaw 2016; Johnston, Lassalle, and Yamamura 2018; Welter 2011; Zahra, Wright, and Abdelgawad 2014) mirrors an increasing attention to systems’ perspectives within the mar- keting literature (Aarikka-Stenroos and Ritala 2017; Barile et al. 2016; El-Ansary, Shaw, and Lazer 2017; Layton 2007; Prenkert 2017; Shaw 2014). In this paper, we join the vanguard of macro-marketing scholars who advocate for a systems per- spective to help understand both markets and marketing (Lay- ton 2007; Mittelstaedt, Kilbourne, and Mittelstaedt 2006). In doing so, we apply Simmonds, Gazley, and Dallenbach’s (2018) morphogenetic cycle framework to map adaptation, change, evolution (morphogenesis) and stability (morphosta- sis) within the NZ specialty coffee industry (Archer 1995). We make two theoretical contributions in this study. Firstly, we contribute understanding at the interface between entrepre- neurial marketing, effectuation and marketing systems, by addressing the actions of the effectuator / entrepreneur within their socially and historically situated contexts. Secondly, we explore the interconnections, interdependencies, and interrela- tions of the multi-layered marketing system in which Fairtrade coffee exists. We present a case study of an effectuating agent, Fairtrade Australia New Zealand (Fairtrade ANZ), who exists within an ecosystem of social, trade and market development within the Pacific region. Within this ecosystem, Fairtrade ANZ utilizes partnerships to create the Fairtrade coffee industry and, in this paper, we explore their influence on the broader marketing ecosystem of Fairtrade coffee. Fairtrade Coffee in New Zealand Established in 2006, Fairtrade ANZ supports the creation of sustainable farming practices and worker communities in the Pacific and advocates for improved terms of trade through certification and access to Fairtrade markets (Fairtrade ANZ 2018.) Achieving and maintaining Fairtrade certification is a rigorous, audited programme based around compliance to a comprehensive suite of standards, centred on the creation of social justice, gender equality, environmental sustainability and economic benefit. Pacific producers of commodity prod- ucts including coffee, cocoa, sugarcane and bananas, are the centre of Fairtrade ANZ initiatives, with coffee being the lead- ing commodity product, expanding from a speciality niche of 1 Victoria Business School, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand Corresponding Author: Michelle Renton, Victoria Business School, Victoria University of Wellington, P O Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. Email: michelle.renton@vuw.ac.nz Journal of Macromarketing 2019, Vol. 39(4) 385-399 ª The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0276146719882748 journals.sagepub.com/home/jmk