Creating Boundary-Breaking Marketing-Relevant Consumer Research

56 Pages Posted: 12 Nov 2019

See all articles by Deborah J. MacInnis

Deborah J. MacInnis

University of Southern California - Marketing Department

Vicki Morwitz

Columbia University

Simona Botti

London Business School

Donna Hoffman

George Washington University

Robert Kozinets

University of Southern California

Donald R. Lehmann

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Marketing

John G. Lynch

University of Colorado-Boulder, Leeds School of Business - Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making

Cornelia Pechmann

University of California Irvine

Date Written: November 1, 2019

Abstract

Consumer research often fails to have broad impact on members of our own discipline, on adjacent disciplines studying related phenomena, and on relevant stakeholders who stand to benefit from the knowledge created by our rigorous research. We propose that impact is limited because consumer researchers have adhered to a set of implicit boundaries or defaults regarding what we study, why we study it, and how we do so. We identify these boundaries and describe how they can be challenged. We show that boundary-breaking marketing-relevant consumer research can impact relevant stakeholders (including academics in our own discipline and allied ones, and a wide range of marketplace actors including business practitioners, policymakers, the media, and society) by detailing five articles and identifying others that have had such influence. Based on these articles, we articulate what researchers can do to break boundaries and enhance the impact of their research. We also indicate why engaging in boundary-breaking work and enhancing the breadth of our influence is good for both individual researchers and the fields of consumer research and marketing.

Keywords: consumer research, marketing, breaking boundaries, broad impact, marketplace stakeholders

Suggested Citation

MacInnis, Deborah J. and Morwitz, Vicki and Botti, Simona and Hoffman, Donna and Kozinets, Robert and Lehmann, Donald R. and Lynch, John G. and Pechmann, Cornelia, Creating Boundary-Breaking Marketing-Relevant Consumer Research (November 1, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3479207 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3479207

Deborah J. MacInnis (Contact Author)

University of Southern California - Marketing Department ( email )

Hoffman Hall 701
Los Angeles, CA 90089-1427
United States

Vicki Morwitz

Columbia University ( email )

3022 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
United States

Simona Botti

London Business School ( email )

Sussex Place
London, London NW1 4SA
United Kingdom
442070008646 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.london.edu

Donna Hoffman

George Washington University ( email )

2121 I Street NW
Washington, DC 20052
United States

Robert Kozinets

University of Southern California ( email )

2250 Alcazar Street
Los Angeles, CA 90089
United States

Donald R. Lehmann

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Marketing ( email )

New York, NY 10027
United States

John G. Lynch

University of Colorado-Boulder, Leeds School of Business - Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making ( email )

Leeds School of Business
Boulder, CO 80309-0419
United States
919-971-5201 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.colorado.edu/business/john-g-lynch-jr

Cornelia Pechmann

University of California Irvine ( email )

The Paul Merage School of Business
School of Business
Irvine, CA CA 92617
United States
949-824-4058 (Phone)
949-725-2840 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://merage.uci.edu/Faculty/FacultyDirectory/FacultyProfiles.aspx?FacultyID=45

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
114
Abstract Views
778
Rank
436,129
PlumX Metrics