How to develop original, courageous ideas in business marketing research

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Authors

Lindgreen, Adam
Di Benedetto, C. Anthony
Kock, Florian

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Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Elsevier

Abstract

Despite evidence of meticulous business-to business marketing research efforts, and the pleas of editors for truly original, ground-breaking research, there is still a shortage of original, courageous research ideas. To provide guidance to researchers and address this problem, we apply the OBC model (observe the world, bridge disciplines, and challenge assumptions and theories), proposed by Kock, Assaf, and Tsionas (2020). We discuss the three main and four blended strategies recommended by this model, and illustrate each of these strategies with examples drawn from the marketing literature. Our application of the OBC model offers actionable guidelines for generating original research ideas, as well as theoretical grounding for each element of the model. Given the publication pressure felt by young academic researchers, we hope that our discussion provides encouragement and guidance, which will result in original, courageous business-to-business marketing research.

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Keywords

Assumptions, Business marketing, Courageous ideas, OBC model, Observe-bridge-challenge model, Original ideas, Research, Theory development

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Citation

Lindgreen, A., Di Benedetto, C.A & Kock, F. 2021, 'How to develop original, courageous ideas in business marketing research', Industrial Marketing Management, vol. 95, pp. A1-A4.