ABSTRACT

Purpose

This interlude mirrors some of the issues raised in Tanner’s recent paper (2021) on areas of contribution, made to the field: a review of several inflection points that led to the evolution of business-to-business (B-to-B) marketing research, the lack of relevance of B-to-B marketing research, and the challenge of little B-to-B research reaching mainstream journals. Acknowledged is that the issues addressed are timely and relevant to an inquiry into the current state of B-to-B research. It is agreed that B-to-B research remains under-represented in marketing literature and that B-to-B marketing research should be of value, if more practical. However, it is also argued that a more thoughtful discussion on the journals that publish B-to-B marketing studies is needed. There is a rising trend in the number and impact of Journal of Business to Business Marketing (JBBM) publications per year, not fully captured in Tanner’s study. This paper, augments that paper, by reflecting on some of the issues raised, while discussing implications beneficial for all our organizational marketing researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

This is both an assessment of historical data, literature review, and a contemporary analysis of business marketing research. It is based on the author’ interpretation of the case of relevance in B-to-B marketing research and the relative importance of JBBM within the field of B-to-B marketing.

Findings

A stronger case is made, for the relevance gap in B-to-B marketing research providing insights on, what does managerial relevance involve, why is there a gap between academics and practitioners, and how the gap can be bridged. Academics and practitioners agree that academic research should be of more practical value. However, their respective priorities differ. For academics publishing in refereed journals is the first priority and influencing practice is lower priority, while practitioners are not interested in the methodological and theoretical advances of business marketing research; their priority is to satisfy day-to-day practical needs. In addition, this article corrects the record on the relative importance of B-to-B journals in the contribution of studies of B-to-B marketing. JBBM’s growth in quality and influence to the field is documented.

Practical implications

The study provides academics with guidance concerning how B-to-B marketing research can have a greater effect on the practice of marketing.

Originality/value

This article contributes to the research base by identifying and discussing constantly emerging aspects of the academic/practitioner gap. The study also offers insights into how managerial relevance in marketing research can, practically, be improved. Also, this article reveals the impact that JBBM is achieving by fostering the evolution of business marketing.

中文翻译：

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对企业对企业营销研究现状的一些思考

摘要

目的

这段插曲反映了 Tanner 最近关于该领域贡献领域的论文（2021 年）中提出的一些问题：回顾导致企业对企业 (B2B) 营销发展的几个拐点研究、B2B 营销研究缺乏相关性，以及 B2B 研究很少到达主流期刊的挑战。公认的是，所解决的问题是及时的，并且与对 B2B 研究现状的调查相关。人们一致认为，B2B 研究在营销文献中的代表性仍然不足，并且 B2B 营销研究应该是有价值的，如果更实用的话。然而，也有人认为，需要对发表 B2B 营销研究的期刊进行更深思熟虑的讨论。数量和影响呈上升趋势每年出版的企业对企业营销杂志(JBBM) 出版物，在 Tanner 的研究中并未完全体现。本文通过对提出的一些问题进行反思，同时讨论了对我们所有组织营销研究人员有益的影响，从而扩充了该论文。

设计/方法/方法

这既是对历史数据的评估、文献综述，也是对商业营销研究的当代分析。本文基于作者对 B2B 营销研究中相关性案例的解读以及 JBBM 在 B2B 营销领域中的相对重要性。

发现

对于 B2B 营销研究中的相关性差距，提出了一个更有力的案例，它提供了关于管理相关性涉及什么、为什么学者和从业者之间存在差距以及如何弥合差距的见解。学者和从业者一致认为，学术研究应该更具实用价值。但是，它们各自的优先级不同。对于学者来说，在参考期刊上发表文章是第一优先，影响实践是次要的，而从业者对商业营销研究的方法和理论进展不感兴趣；他们的首要任务是满足日常的实际需要。此外，本文更正了关于 B2B 期刊在 B2B 营销研究贡献中相对重要性的记录。

实际影响

该研究为学者提供了有关 B2B 营销研究如何对营销实践产生更大影响的指导。

原创性/价值

本文通过识别和讨论学术/从业者差距的不断出现的方面，为研究基础做出了贡献。该研究还提供了有关如何在实践中改进营销研究中的管理相关性的见解。此外，本文还揭示了 JBBM 通过促进商业营销的发展所产生的影响。