TY - JOUR
T1 - Good for science, but which implications for business? An analysis of the managerial implications in high-impact B2B marketing articles published between 2003 and 2012
AU - Baraldi, Enrico
AU - La Rocca, Antonella
AU - Perna, Andrea
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Purpose – This article aims to analyze a set of features in the managerial implications of the most-cited business-to-business (B2B) marketing
articles which are related to their managerial relevance. The purpose is to further identify which are the most recurrent features of managerial
implications, as well as the connections between such features. Finally, the articles aim to verify if these features of managerial implications vary
depending on the scientific impact of the article.
Design/methodology/approach – The 60 most-cited articles were selected from both generalist and specialized academic journals and a content
analysis was conducted. Then the article assesses the formal features (e.g. dedicated space), the language (e.g. consulting or normative), the
translation of scientific results (e.g. message efficacy) and such other features as time orientation, specificity and abstraction of the managerial
implications in these high-impact articles. The article also analyses patterns and associations between the aforementioned dimensions across the
60 articles, also depending on their level of scientific impact (i.e. their number of citations).
Findings – The results point that six out of nine features contributing to managerial relevance are the most frequently present in the implications
(dedicated section easy to find, balance between academic and consulting language, partly scientific approach, overlap with scientific findings,
message neither too complicated nor too simplistic, and long-term orientation). However, three other features reducing managerial relevance afflict
nearly half of the articles: non-normative, generic and abstract implications. The ten articles lacking completely managerial implications are slightly
more frequent among highest impact ones, which also often include overly complicated implications; while speculative and overly simplistic
implications typically appear more among lowest impact articles which, however, also stand for very specific messages. There seems not to be any
statistical correlation between the features contributing to managerial relevance and the scientific impact (number of citations) of an article. Instead,
several of these features are correlated among each other, meaning that when one is missing, it is likely that the others also are. Finally, when
implications are included in a dedicated section of the article, they tend to be specific and consequently also tend to have the other features favoring
relevance.
Originality/value – The article provides an empirically grounded assessment of features that influence the managerial relevance of scientific
research in the areas of B2B marketing. Our results are, in fact, grounded in a detailed examination of the managerial implications of 60 high-impact
articles in this disciplinary domain.
AB - Purpose – This article aims to analyze a set of features in the managerial implications of the most-cited business-to-business (B2B) marketing
articles which are related to their managerial relevance. The purpose is to further identify which are the most recurrent features of managerial
implications, as well as the connections between such features. Finally, the articles aim to verify if these features of managerial implications vary
depending on the scientific impact of the article.
Design/methodology/approach – The 60 most-cited articles were selected from both generalist and specialized academic journals and a content
analysis was conducted. Then the article assesses the formal features (e.g. dedicated space), the language (e.g. consulting or normative), the
translation of scientific results (e.g. message efficacy) and such other features as time orientation, specificity and abstraction of the managerial
implications in these high-impact articles. The article also analyses patterns and associations between the aforementioned dimensions across the
60 articles, also depending on their level of scientific impact (i.e. their number of citations).
Findings – The results point that six out of nine features contributing to managerial relevance are the most frequently present in the implications
(dedicated section easy to find, balance between academic and consulting language, partly scientific approach, overlap with scientific findings,
message neither too complicated nor too simplistic, and long-term orientation). However, three other features reducing managerial relevance afflict
nearly half of the articles: non-normative, generic and abstract implications. The ten articles lacking completely managerial implications are slightly
more frequent among highest impact ones, which also often include overly complicated implications; while speculative and overly simplistic
implications typically appear more among lowest impact articles which, however, also stand for very specific messages. There seems not to be any
statistical correlation between the features contributing to managerial relevance and the scientific impact (number of citations) of an article. Instead,
several of these features are correlated among each other, meaning that when one is missing, it is likely that the others also are. Finally, when
implications are included in a dedicated section of the article, they tend to be specific and consequently also tend to have the other features favoring
relevance.
Originality/value – The article provides an empirically grounded assessment of features that influence the managerial relevance of scientific
research in the areas of B2B marketing. Our results are, in fact, grounded in a detailed examination of the managerial implications of 60 high-impact
articles in this disciplinary domain.
KW - Content analysis, B2B marketing, Managerial implications, Managerial relevance, Scientific impact
KW - Content analysis, B2B marketing, Managerial implications, Managerial relevance, Scientific impact
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/178466
U2 - 10.1108/JBIM-09-2013-0200
DO - 10.1108/JBIM-09-2013-0200
M3 - Article
SN - 0885-8624
SP - 574
EP - 592
JO - THE JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & INDUSTRIAL MARKETING
JF - THE JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & INDUSTRIAL MARKETING
ER -