Strategic reasoning in marketing practice: a qualitative study of computational thinking operations

Purpose This study aims to examine how marketing professionals organise strategic reasoning in complex, data-rich contexts, using computational thinking (CT) to analyse how specific cognitive operations appear and combine in their accounts of decision-making. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a qualitative design based on 20 semi-structured interviews with experienced marketing professionals. The data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, with MAXQDA supporting transcript organisation, coding and retrieval. The resulting themes were interpreted in relation to four CT elements: decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition and algorithmic thinking. A focused cross-case comparison examined how these operations appeared together in participants’ accounts. Findings The findings show that marketing professionals described strategic work involving CT-related operations, although they did not use CT terminology. A targeted cross-case analysis identified clear instances in which multiple operations were combined within individual accounts of strategic processes. These examples suggest flexible configurations of interrelated cognitive operations rather than a fixed or universal sequence. Practical implications The four CT operations could be used as prompts in campaign planning, dashboard interpretation, strategy reviews and marketing education. Whether these applications improve marketing decision-making or learning requires empirical evaluation. Originality/value The study contributes to the marketing strategy and managerial cognition literatures by making the organisation of strategic reasoning more explicit. Using CT as an analytical vocabulary, it shows how marketing professionals decompose problems, prioritise information, connect experience with current market signals and combine these operations when planning and adapting strategic action.