Generating Better Marketing for a Better World Research Ideas

Better Marketing for a Better World (BMBW) Proseminar – Session 1

• Faculty Leaders: Rajesh Chandy, London Business School and Christine Moorman, Duke University 
• Date: 28 September, 9-11:30AM ET / 2 – 4:30PM BST 
• Target Audience: Faculty and Ph.D. students interested in developing research in the BMBW area
• Register via Zoom

Session Summary

The objective of this seminar is to help scholars develop skills in generating research ideas for the study of how marketing can have a more positive impact on the world. The seminar will be composed of an introduction, the first hour focused on how to approach ideas and tools in the BMBW area, a
break, and a second hour focused on generating ideas.

In the first hour, we will discuss papers (1) and (2) below, with the goal of offering deep examples of scholarship that links marketing activities to a better world. Problem selection, research design, data collection and analytical methods, and practical insights will be discussed to help scholars seeking to engage in this type of research with the crafting of their work.

In the second hour, participants will explore how core topics in marketing can be studied from a BMBW perspective. As a case study of one such topic, we will take a deep dive into one very traditional area of marketing—the role of the salesperson. Although we selected it as the context for
sharing ideas and approaches on how to generate BMBW research ideas, we believe these approaches will easily transfer to other areas of marketing. As one example of how to approach BMBW, paper (3), participants will review a short excerpt of the Habel, Allavi, and Lisenmeyer article on “Variable Compensation and Salesperson Health,” published in the Journal of Marketing Special Issue on “Better Marketing for a Better World,” and watch a brief video of the authors presenting their ideas.

Finally, participants will read a set of short popular-press articles listed in (4) about the impact of salespeople and their management on the world.

Readings:

1. Jensen, Robert (2007), “The Digital Provide: Information (Technology), Market Performance, and Welfare in the South Indian Fisheries Sector,” The Quarter Journal of Economics, CXXII (August), 879-924.
2. Anderson, Stephen J., Rajesh Chandy, and Bilal Zia (2018), “Pathways to Profits: The Impact of Marketing vs. Finance Skills on Business Performance,” Management Science, 64 (December), 5559-5583.
3. Habel, Johannes, Sascha Alavi, and Kim Lisenmayer (2021), “Variable Compensation and Salesperson Health,” Journal of Marketing, 85 (3), 130-149.
   – Scholarly insight (managerial summary) of article
   – Video of authors presenting article
   – Complete article

Popular press articles on salespeople and their environment

• Sales incentives at Wells Fargo
• Selling food in Brazil
• Sales entrepreneurs at Dharma Life
• Selling climate change, saving the planet
• Covid and US sales jobs

Assignment

Using the materials above for inspiration, write two short paragraphs describing a research idea for examining how salespeople might be help create or hurt the development of a better world, including specifying the stakeholders who might be affected and the key activities important for creating or hurting a better world. Write ~100-200 words for each idea, outlining the nature of the impact and why it is important. Describe at least one key hypothesis you might study for each research idea. You can enter your ideas into this link and we will review these before class.

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The Better Marketing for a Better World (BMBW) initiative has been established as a collaboration between Professor Rajesh Chandy, Professor Gita Johar from Columbia Business School, Professor Christine Moorman from Fuqua School of Business and Professor John Roberts, Professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia.  The aim of the BMBW initiative is to build community and support the development and dissemination of knowledge on how marketing can improve lives, sustain livelihoods, strengthen societies and benefit the world at large. There is natural synergy with the aspirations of BMBW and the Wheeler Institute, and therefore under the guidance of Rajesh Chandy the Wheeler Institute has taken a significant role in supporting the launch of the BMBW initiative (bmbw.org). Going forward members of the Wheeler Institute team will undertake a secretariat role in support of the BMBW initiative developing its operational frameworks related to organising forums, facilitating training, and maintaining online resources.

Read more on our blog about the Better Marketing for a Better Word initiative.