The B2B Knowledge Gap Lilien, Gary L.
International journal of research in marketing,
September 2016, 2016-09-00, 20160901, Letnik:
33, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Roughly equal in terms of the economic value of transactions, B2B (Business-to-Business) marketing sees a small fraction of the academic research attention that B2C (Business-to-Consumer) marketing ...sees. In this article, I cite some of the reasons for that imbalance. I then highlight three specific areas—B2B Innovation, B2B Buying and B2B Analytics—that have great potential for yielding academically significant research contributions that meet the needs of practitioners. In each area, I sketch the state of knowledge and then identify a few research questions. I then highlight a number of other areas of B2B that offer high potential. Next, I comment on the importance of crafting B2B academic research that is both rigorous and relevant and what we as a profession might do to encourage more such work. I then offer a few thoughts about how to increase the participation of practitioners in the B2B knowledge creation process.
The B2B sales process is undergoing substantial transformations fueled by advances in information and communications technology, specifically in artificial intelligence (AI). The premise of AI is to ...turn vast amounts of data into information for superior knowledge creation and knowledge management in B2B sales. In doing so, AI can significantly alter the traditional human-centric sales process. In this article, we describe how AI affects the B2B sales funnel. For each stage of the funnel, we describe key sales tasks, explain the specific contributions AI can bring, and clarify the role humans play. We also outline managerial considerations to maximize the contributions from AI and people in the context of B2B sales.
This study attempts to understand how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) positively influences the quality of business relationship in the business-to-business market. The purpose of this article ...is to suggest the CSR model in the B2B context. First, this study discerns two dimensions of firms' CSR activities based on the previous studies in B2B area - Business CSR and Altruistic CSR. Furthermore, we tried to investigate the CSR activities affecting the result of the development of business relationships (economic and non-economic factors) and customer trust as a relationship performance in the B2B market. Managerial implications and limitation of the study were also discussed.
•Previous CSR researches have focused on B2C side, but recently, CSR is becoming an important issue in the business-to-business market.•Business practice CSR and altruistic CSR activities have positive effects on developing business relationships.•Corporate social responsibility derives B2B relationship performance and trust building.
This research examines current applications and potential capabilities of a wide array of social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others within the context of B2B supply ...chain operations. Specifically, we use social media affordances (SMA) as a framework to explore how social media is used in B2B supply chain settings. We report findings based on a survey of 209 professionals in supply chain areas. These findings include the extent to which social media and different social media tools are used in B2B supply chain operations, the impact of company size on social media use, the areas in which social media is used, the perceptions of social media, and other relevant issues such as social media policy and security. Based on these findings, this study provides a discussion regarding the current and future use of social media in B2B supply chain operations.
With the meteoric progress of digital technology and the advent of network economy, there has been increasing interest in the business model of purchasing with B2B network among B2B e-commerce ...platforms and customer firms. Based on the perspective of parasocial relationship and dual-process theory, this study constructs a model of cognitive and emotional influences on customer firms' behavior, and analyzes the influence of features of entrepreneur endorser and online purchasing platform on B2B parasocial relationship, and how this relationship can affect repeat purchase intention. Furthermore, this paper examines the moderating effect of trust in the relationship between B2B parasocial relationship and repeat purchase intention. Findings indicate that perceived interactivity and trustworthiness of entrepreneur endorser and the service and product quality of online purchasing platform have a positive impact on B2B parasocial relationship. B2B parasocial relationship has a significant and positive impact on repeat purchase intention, while trust moderates the relationship between B2B parasocial relationship and repeat purchase intention.
•Features of entrepreneur endorser affect B2B parasocial relationship.•Features of online purchasing platform affect B2B parasocial relationship.•B2B parasocial relationship affects the repeat purchase intention of customer firm.•Trust has moderating effects.•Trust strengthens the positive effect of B2B parasocial relationship.
Small and medium manufacturers' attempts to grow their business often produce less-than-desired results due to self-inflicted obstacles and pitfalls that defeat their well-intended efforts. Many do ...not follow generally accepted basic business practices such as knowing product costs and margins, obtaining strategically useful information about customers, conducting market research to identify prospective customers, and understanding competitors' advantages and disadvantages needed to build effective growth strategies. Their approach to pursuing growth strategies--a.k.a shotgun marketing--is akin to ready, shoot, aim--and often the business' working capital, cash flow, financial ratios, and overall profitability are insufficient to afford the costs of needed sales, marketing, and promotional strategies typically called for to find and develop new customers, markets, and products.
In the business-to-business (B2B) domain, brand activism is growing as a tool for attending to social problems and achieving brand differentiation. In this paper, we introduce B2B brand activism and ...conceive it as an emerging strategy that is enacted by firms within their supply chains and involves taking actions in relation to channel partners (e.g., firing professional services agencies, ceasing advertising spending with media outlets) based on the firm's avowed social and political purpose and values. We explore the ‘accelerators’ and ‘decelerators’ of B2B brand activism via in-depth interviews with B2B marketers. We find evidence for three main accelerators that expedite adoption of B2B brand activism, including (1) a need to maintain relevance via stakeholder communications, (2) an increased ability to track and use customer data, and (3) a need to respond to the power of end-consumers, B2B partners, competitors, and regulators. These accelerators exist alongside decelerators that restrain participation in purpose-driven practice— from (1) the need to ensure activism aligns with B2B purpose, to (2) the way marketers question their ability to enable long-term strategic change, and (3) a constant pressure to justify spending. We contribute to theory building by defining the conceptual framework for B2B brand activism.
•B2B marketers are adopting social activism in marketing activities in an attempt to solve social problems•We conceptualize and empirically examine B2B brand activism via a phenomenological approach•We find that B2B marketers are among the key stakeholders driving uptake in B2B brand activism•When strategic, B2B brand activism is proactive and tied to conscientious brand purpose as part of longer-term strategy
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how business-to-business (B2B) salespeople use social media and emulate value creation strategies used by social media influencers.
Design/methodology/approach
...Using 28 interviews with salespeople, this paper develops six propositions and a conceptual framework that outlines when and how B2B salespeople use social media in value-creating sales.
Findings
This study’s findings provide a critical analysis of when social media are most effective and beneficial in supporting salespeople’s value-creating sales in various stages in the sales process (e.g. prospecting, opening relationships, qualifying prospects and serving accounts) and when they are less effective (e.g. presenting sales messages and closing sales).
Research limitations/implications
This research yields a substantive understanding of the evolving role that social media play in B2B sales by examining B2B salespeople’s value creation strategies through the lens of social media influencers’ practice and outlines ideas for future research on B2B salespeople’s social media strategies.
Practical implications
The findings of this research can be used by B2B organizations to structure the training of B2B salespeople to use social media to the fullest extent by aligning specific strategies with different parts of the sales process.
Originality/value
This paper contributes by summarizing the B2B sales literature on social media and integrating recent insights from the social media influencer literature; empirically identifying how B2B salespeople use social media to create value, thus validating previous findings and extending understanding by offering a set of six theoretical propositions; and delineating B2B salespeople’s social media practice into 11 value creation strategies that are critically explored for their place in the sales process.
Organizational climate is a concept that has attracted considerable attention from practitioners and academics alike. However, recent developments in the B2B space, including the emergence of complex ...and dynamic environments, the expansion in the number and types of parties involved in B2B exchanges, and changes in the work environment, require a better understanding of the role of organizational climate. To synthesize B2B knowledge associated with organizational climates, we undertook a systematic review. Our results point toward six organizational climate dimensions, which have at their core issues related to Human Resources, Service, Interpersonal Relationships, Coordination, Environmental, and Exploration. Among these, the Exploration dimension is specific to B2B. Building from these dimensions, we highlight emerging research streams focused on interactions and relationships. We contribute to the literature on B2B organizational climate by bringing clarity and a research agenda for central topics that require further attention.
•Organizational climate reflects perceptions related to the workplace in the increasingly complex and competitive B2B space•There are six main themes of research in B2B organizational climate, corresponding to six B2B climate dimensions: human resources, service, interpersonal relationships, coordination, environmental, and exploration.•There is an emphasis on ethical, psychological and innovation climate, at the expense of other types of focused climates•For B2B organizations, the nature and the type of interactions that take place between parties are evolving and become more complex•Avenues for future research delineate how organizational climate can be employed in B2B relationships
A growing body of evidence indicates that implementing artificial intelligence (AI) at scale can improve market performance in B2B settings by accelerating decision-making process. Despite its ...popularity in the B2B sector, there have been few academic studies about this phenomenon in the context of industrial markets. Currently, AI research focuses predominantly on the marketing aspect of consumers, but in fact industrial data is rarely analyzed to address the issues regarding organizational behavior, product innovation, supply chain management, and B2B customer relationship management. The special issue presents 16 papers that explore why do B2B companies seek to use AI for marketing purposes, how AI can be used to foster innovation and use supply chain networks, how AI can enhance B2B customer experience and customer relationship management, and how AI can be used to develop dynamic capabilities on B2B marketing. These research articles provide insights into various industrial contexts and have applied both qualitative and quantitative approaches to identify AI applications for value creation.
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