Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 5.0/5
Yoganarasimhan, H., Barzegary, E., & Pani, A. (2023). Management Science, 69(6), 3220–3240.
Plain-English take: In this firm and experiment, a 7-day trial was the best uniform policy and increased subscriptions by 5.59% versus assigning everyone a 30-day trial. For your marketing: This may be useful when designing a local randomized trial-length experiment.
Question: How do different free-trial lengths affect subscriptions, and can trial length be assigned more effectively using customer characteristics?
Design: Randomized field experiment and policy evaluation. 337,724 new users across Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; subscription and retention were followed for two years. The firm and product are anonymized.
In this firm and experiment, a 7-day trial was the best uniform policy and increased subscriptions by 5.59% versus assigning everyone a 30-day trial. The best evaluated personalized policy, based on lasso, improved subscriptions by 6.81% versus that 30-day baseline; it also performed well on longer-run outcomes.
Management Science · 202310.1287/mnsc.2022.4507Open author preprint; publisher version may require access
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4.0/5
Sahni, N. S., Wheeler, S. C., & Chintagunta, P. (2018). Marketing Science, 37(2), 236–258.
Plain-English take: In the main experiment, adding the recipient’s name to the subject line raised the open probability from 9.05% to 10.80%, increased sales leads from 0.39% to 0.51%, and reduced unsubscribes from 1.2% to 1.0%. For your marketing: This is a strong example of testing a narrowly defined personalization change with downstream outcomes.
Question: Does adding consumer-specific but noninformative content to an email affect recipient response?
Design: Randomized field experiments. The experiments sent messages to millions of individuals. The abstract reports detailed results for a main experiment and replication across different advertiser objectives; it does not give a single pooled sample size.
In the main experiment, adding the recipient’s name to the subject line raised the open probability from 9.05% to 10.80%, increased sales leads from 0.39% to 0.51%, and reduced unsubscribes from 1.2% to 1.0%. Similar experiments at other firms found benefits across acquisition and retention objectives.
Marketing Science · 201810.1287/mksc.2017.1066Publisher and author abstract; full article access may vary
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.5/5
Blake, T., Nosko, C., & Tadelis, S. (2015). Econometrica, 83(1), 155–174.
Plain-English take: The study found little measurable short-run benefit from brand-keyword ads in this study. For your marketing: This shows why platform-attributed conversions can overstate incrementality and why brand and non-brand traffic, user familiarity and holdout design should be analyzed separately.
Question: What is the causal short-run effect of paid search advertising on eBay, and how does it vary across consumers?
Design: Large-scale randomized geographic field experiment. eBay users and search activity in the markets included in the experiment. The findings concern one large, established online marketplace and the specific campaigns and time horizon studied.
The authors report little measurable short-run benefit from brand-keyword ads in this setting. Non-brand ads had positive responses among some newer and infrequent users, while many ad-attributed actions came from customers whose behavior was not changed by advertising; estimated average returns were negative under the studied conditions.
Econometrica · 201510.3982/ECTA12423Publisher record and author-hosted paper
Referrals and word of mouthEvidence check: 4.0/5
Schmitt, P., Skiera, B., & Van den Bulte, C. (2011). Journal of Marketing, 75(1), 46–59.
Plain-English take: Referred customers had higher profits after variable costs, though the margin difference declined over time; their retention advantage persisted. For your marketing: This is a useful model for evaluating referral acquisition beyond raw sign-ups: compare retention, contribution margin and customer value, and inspect segment differences.
Question: Are customers acquired through a referral program more valuable and loyal than other customers?
Design: Longitudinal observational customer analysis. Approximately 10,000 customers of one leading German bank followed for almost three years; customer lifetime value estimates use a six-year horizon described in the paper.
Referred customers had higher contribution margins, though the margin difference declined over time; their retention advantage persisted. Their estimated average value was at least 16% higher than that of nonreferred customers with similar demographics and acquisition timing, but effects varied across segments.
Journal of Marketing · 201110.1509/jm.75.1.46Publisher abstract and author-hosted full paper
Content and sharingEvidence check: 2.5/5
Berger, J., & Milkman, K. L. (2012). Journal of Marketing Research, 49(2), 192–205.
Plain-English take: Positive content was more viral than negative content overall, but arousal helped explain the pattern: high-arousal emotions such as awe, anger and anxiety were associated with more sharing, while lower-arousal sadness was associated with less. For your marketing: Use as a hypothesis source for testing emotional framing in content.
Question: How are emotion and other content characteristics associated with the sharing of online articles?
Design: Observational content analysis with follow-up experiments. Articles published and shared through nytimes.com during the study period; the outcome was online sharing/virality in the newspaper context, not SaaS conversions or product adoption.
Positive content was more viral than negative content overall, but arousal helped explain the pattern: high-arousal emotions such as awe, anger and anxiety were associated with more sharing, while lower-arousal sadness was associated with less. Experimental results supported a causal role for activation in sharing.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201210.1509/jmr.10.0353Publisher abstract; full article access may vary
Choice and decision designEvidence check: 4.5/5
Scheibehenne, B., Greifeneder, R., & Todd, P. M. (2010). Journal of Consumer Research, 37(3), 409–425.
Plain-English take: The study found a mean effect size close to zero, with substantial variation across conditions. For your marketing: Avoid blanket advice to remove pricing plans or features just to reduce option count.
Question: Does offering more options reliably make people less likely to choose or less satisfied?
Design: Meta-analysis. Cross-study synthesis of 63 experimental conditions from 50 published and unpublished studies, involving 5,036 participants; conditions covered varied choice tasks and products.
The authors report a mean effect size close to zero, with substantial variation across conditions. The evidence did not support a general rule that larger assortments reliably cause overload.
Journal of Consumer Research · 201010.1086/651235Open author-hosted full paper; publisher article may require access
Choice and decision designEvidence check: 3.5/5
Chernev, A., Böckenholt, U., & Goodman, J. (2015). Journal of Consumer Psychology, 25(2), 333–358.
Plain-English take: The useful point is four moderators that help explain when assortment size can have positive or negative effects: choice-set complexity, decision-task difficulty, preference uncertainty and decision goal. For your marketing: Use the moderators to form testable questions about pricing and product choice: Are plans meaningfully complex?
Question: Under what conditions do larger assortments help or hinder choice?
Design: Conceptual review and meta-analysis. Cross-study evidence covering varied choice tasks and settings; the analysis considered choice-set complexity, task difficulty, preference uncertainty and decision goals.
The authors identify four moderators that help explain when assortment size can have positive or negative effects: choice-set complexity, decision-task difficulty, preference uncertainty and decision goal. The work treats choice overload as conditional rather than universal.
Journal of Consumer Psychology · 201510.1016/j.jcps.2014.08.002Publisher abstract; corrigendum published in 2016
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Sahni, N. S., Zou, D., & Chintagunta, P. K. (2017). Management Science, 63(8). https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2016.2450.
Plain-English take: During the offer period, offers increased average expenditure by $3.03 (37.2%). For your marketing: Measure discount-induced acquisition and spillovers separately from subsidized purchases.
Question: Do targeted emailed discounts only shift price-sensitive purchases, or can they also advertise products and stimulate additional demand?
Design: Seventy field experiments on targeted email offers. Customers of an online platform receiving targeted emailed offers; the accessible abstract excerpt does not state the total customer count.
During the offer period, offers increased average expenditure by $3.03 (37.2%). The effect was larger among customers who had not transacted on the platform in the prior year. Spending also rose by $1.55 in the following week, and the study found cross-category effects on products not covered by an offer.
Management Science · 201710.1287/mnsc.2016.2450Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4.0/5
Montaguti, E., Neslin, S. A., & Valentini, S. (2016). Marketing Science, 35(2), 201–217.
Plain-English take: The experiment tests whether campaign design can cause multichannel buying and more profitable customer behavior, distinguishing communication content from financial incentives. For your marketing: For product-led and sales-assisted motions, test whether messaging or an incentive changes adoption of a second channel or product path, and measure contribution rather than channel count alone.
Question: Can marketing communications and incentives move customers into multichannel buying and increase their profitability?
Design: Field experiment testing four marketing campaigns. Customers of a multichannel retailer in the experiment; the sources reviewed here do not provide the sample count in the abstract excerpt.
The experiment directly evaluates whether campaign design can cause multichannel buying and more profitable customer behavior, distinguishing communication content from financial incentives.
Marketing Science · 201610.1287/mksc.2015.0923Publisher record and author-hosted paper
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
Bayer, E., Srinivasan, S., Riedl, E. J., & Skiera, B. (2020). International Journal of Research in Marketing, 37(4), 789–804.
Plain-English take: Paid search had a more positive effect on sales than offline advertising, while display advertising had a relatively more positive effect on Tobin's q than offline advertising, consistent with different short- and long-run economic roles. For your marketing: Separate near-term sales objectives from longer-horizon brand or firm-value goals when comparing channels.
Question: How do paid search and online display advertising relate to firm performance and firm value compared with offline advertising?
Design: Firm-level econometric analysis of advertising mix and performance. Firms with observed online and offline advertising and financial outcomes; the abstract reviewed does not provide the sample size or specific industries.
Paid search had a more positive effect on sales than offline advertising, while display advertising had a relatively more positive effect on Tobin's q than offline advertising, consistent with different short- and long-run economic roles.
International Journal of Research in Marketing · 202010.1016/j.ijresmar.2020.02.002Publisher abstract
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 3.0/5
Leeflang, P. S. H., & Parreño-Selva, J. (2012). Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(4), 572–586.
Plain-English take: About half of the promotions expanded own-category revenue, particularly deeper supported discounts. For your marketing: When promoting one tier or feature, examine whether demand shifts across the rest of the portfolio.
Question: Do price promotions in one category affect revenues in other product categories, and what conditions moderate those spillovers?
Design: Store-level scanner-data analysis of category demand. Daily store-level retail scanner data across multiple categories; the accessible abstract reports category-level patterns rather than a single consumer sample.
About half of the promotions expanded own-category revenue, particularly deeper supported discounts. A promotion had a 61% probability of affecting at least one other category, usually no more than two; evidence also linked cross-effects to shelf proximity.
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 201210.1007/s11747-010-0244-zOpen full text and publisher record
Search and content discoveryEvidence check: 2.5/5
Chan, T. Y., Wu, C., & Xie, Y. (2011). Marketing Science, 30(5), 837–850.
Plain-English take: Customers acquired through Google search advertising had higher transaction rates than customers from other channels in this study. For your marketing: Track customer lifetime across channels when estimating paid-search value.
Question: How should firms estimate the long-term value of customers acquired through paid search, including purchases that occur offline?
Design: Customer-level longitudinal lifetime-value model. Customers of one small U.S. firm with multichannel purchases; the abstract does not report customer count.
Customers acquired through Google search advertising had higher transaction rates than customers from other channels in this dataset. Including future purchases and offline spillovers produced substantially higher customer values than the conventional method used for comparison.
Marketing Science · 201110.1287/mksc.1110.0658Publisher abstract and author-hosted article page
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Iyengar, R., Jedidi, K., Essegaier, S., & Danaher, P. J. (2011). Marketing Science, 30(5), 820–836.
Plain-English take: Compared with pay-per-use pricing, the two-part tariff reduced annual retention by an average 10.5% and yearly usage by 38.7%, after controlling for income effects. For your marketing: Evaluate the behavioral effects of access fees separately from per-use prices.
Question: How do pay-per-use and two-part-tariff pricing affect service retention, usage and profit?
Design: Pricing field experiment and utility-based retention model. Customers of one new telecommunications service in a market experiment; the abstract reports model-based average effects across the experimental tariff conditions.
Compared with pay-per-use pricing, the two-part tariff reduced annual retention by an average 10.5% and yearly usage by 38.7%, after controlling for income effects. Despite these declines, the two-part tariff remained profit-maximizing in the studied setting. Ignoring the tariff-structure effect reduced modeled firm profit by 11%.
Marketing Science · 201110.1287/mksc.1110.0655Publisher abstract
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 3.0/5
Ascarza, E., Netzer, O., & Hardie, B. G. S. (2018). Marketing Science, 37(1), 54–77.
Plain-English take: Overt churners were often more active before leaving, while many silent churners disengaged early and rarely canceled formally. For your marketing: Separate cancellation from quiet nonuse when measuring churn.
Question: How should firms distinguish customers who formally cancel from those who silently disengage?
Design: Hidden Markov model applied to two empirical settings. Two hybrid customer-relationship settings where customers can formally terminate or simply stop interacting with the firm.
Overt churners were often more active before leaving, while many silent churners disengaged early and rarely canceled formally. The two churn groups responded differently to communications, so one retention strategy may not suit both.
Marketing Science · 201810.1287/mksc.2017.1057Publisher abstract and author-hosted paper
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Chen, Y., & Mehta, N. (2026). Marketing Science, 45(2), 449–471.
Plain-English take: Churn by a high-centrality member caused a stronger negative cascade in peers' usage and subscriptions than churn by a low- or medium-centrality member. For your marketing: Where product use is collaborative, consider whether a departing or inactive central user affects teammates.
Question: How does one user's churn affect usage and retention among connected peers, and whom should firms target to prevent network cascades?
Design: Structural model using exogenous churn data from a field setting. Members of one upscale gym with observed social-network ties, plan choices and usage.
Churn by a high-centrality member caused a stronger negative cascade in peers' usage and subscriptions than churn by a low- or medium-centrality member. Short-term targeting may prioritize lower-centrality churners, while longer-term retention can favor high-centrality users because of network spillovers.
Marketing Science · 202610.1287/mksc.2023.0391Publisher abstract
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4.0/5
Ascarza, E. (2018). Journal of Marketing Research, 55(1), 80–98.
Plain-English take: Customers with the highest predicted churn risk were not necessarily the best targets. For your marketing: Use treatment response or expected incremental profit to select retention audiences, rather than ranking only by churn propensity.
Question: Are customers most likely to churn also the best customers to target with a retention intervention?
Design: Two field experiments combined with machine-learning targeting methods. Two field experiments involving customer retention interventions; the publisher abstract does not summarize sample sizes or industries.
Customers with the highest predicted churn risk were not necessarily the best targets. The response-based targeting approach was significantly more effective than standard targeting of the highest-risk customers.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201810.1509/jmr.16.0163Publisher abstract and author-hosted paper
Content and sharingEvidence check: 3.5/5
Salonen, A., Mero, J., Munnukka, J., Zimmer, M., & Karjaluoto, H. (2024). Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2024.02.002.
Plain-English take: Content judged relevant to a particular customer-journey stage increased engagement with both the selling firm and its content. For your marketing: Map content to the reader's current task and test different sequences rather than enforcing one universal funnel.
Question: How does the relevance of firm-generated social content to a buyer's current journey stage affect B2B engagement?
Design: Experimental study of B2B content relevance across journey stages. B2B content and customer-journey scenarios; the abstract does not disclose sample size or full recruitment details.
Content judged relevant to a particular customer-journey stage increased engagement with both the selling firm and its content. The study found no universally correct sequence for presenting content because preferences differed across individuals.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202410.1016/j.indmarman.2024.02.002Publisher abstract
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Kumar, V., Petersen, J. A., & Leone, R. P. (2010). Journal of Marketing, 74(5), 1–17.
Plain-English take: The useful point is that maximizing referral-program profitability requires managing both long-term customer value and customer referral value, and that referral behavior can guide targeting of profitable prospects. For your marketing: Track who refers, how often, and the value of referred customers.
Question: How can firms measure customer referral value and use it alongside lifetime value to target referral campaigns?
Design: Customer referral value measurement and targeting framework. Customer and referral records used to derive CLV and customer referral value; the accessible abstract does not identify the firm or sample size.
The research argues that maximizing referral-program profitability requires managing both customer lifetime value and customer referral value, and that referral behavior can guide targeting of profitable prospects.
Journal of Marketing · 201010.1509/jmkg.74.5.001Publisher abstract
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Lewis, M. (2006). Journal of Marketing Research, 43(2), 195–203.
Plain-English take: In both datasets, deeper acquisition discounts were associated with lower repeat-buying rates and lower customer asset value. For your marketing: Compare the long-term value of discounted and full-price cohorts, accounting for selection and acquisition cost.
Question: How do acquisition discounts affect the mix and long-term value of customers a firm acquires?
Design: Conceptual model and customer-level analyses in two industries. Customer data from one newspaper and one online grocery retailer; the abstract does not state sample sizes.
In both datasets, deeper acquisition discounts were associated with lower repeat-buying rates and lower customer asset value. The abstract reports that customers acquired with a 35% discount had about half the long-term value of customers acquired without a promotion.
Journal of Marketing Research · 200610.1509/jmkr.43.2.195Publisher abstract
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Van den Bulte, C., Bayer, E., Skiera, B., & Schmitt, P. (2018). Journal of Marketing Research, 55(1), 132–146.
Plain-English take: Referrer and referral pairs shared unobserved contribution-margin characteristics. For your marketing: Measure both referrer and referred-customer behavior.
Question: Why can referred customers have higher value, and how do referrer characteristics relate to referred customers' margins and retention?
Design: Customer-level observational analysis of a referral program. Customers and referrals in one firm's customer referral program; the publisher abstract does not state a sample size.
Referrer and referral pairs shared unobserved contribution-margin characteristics. More experienced referrers brought higher-margin referrals, though this association weakened over the referral's lifetime. Referrals churned less only while their referrer remained a customer.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201810.1509/jmr.14.0653Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Gershon, R., Cryder, C., & John, L. K. (2020). Journal of Marketing Research, 57(1), 156–172.
Plain-English take: Across the experiments, recipient-benefiting prosocial referral incentives recruited more new customers than comparison incentives in the studied contexts. For your marketing: Test whether reducing the recipient's cost or increasing their benefit works better than paying the referrer alone.
Question: When do referral incentives that benefit the recipient generate more referrals than incentives paid to the referrer?
Design: Two field experiments and one fully incentivized laboratory experiment. Participants in two referral-program field settings and an incentivized lab experiment; the publisher abstract reviewed does not give sample sizes.
Across the experiments, recipient-benefiting prosocial referral incentives recruited more new customers than comparison incentives in the studied contexts.
Journal of Marketing Research · 202010.1177/0022243719888440Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Iyengar, R., Park, Y.-H., & Yu, Q. (2022). Journal of Marketing Research, 59(6), 1101–1117.
Plain-English take: Subscription increased customer purchases, with economically meaningful and persistent effects that varied across customers. For your marketing: When studying a paid plan or membership, distinguish benefit-driven usage from behavioral effects of the upfront commitment.
Question: How does paying an upfront fee to join a subscription program affect members' subsequent purchases?
Design: Quasi-experimental customer-level analysis with heterogeneous treatment effects. Members and nonmembers of a retailer or marketplace subscription program; the abstract does not identify the firm or provide sample size.
Subscription increased customer purchases, with economically meaningful and persistent effects that varied across customers. The authors attribute about one-third of the purchase effect to program benefits and the remaining two-thirds to a noneconomic effect consistent with sunk-cost behavior.
Journal of Marketing Research · 202210.1177/00222437221080163Publisher abstract and institutional record
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4.5/5
Ascarza, E., Iyengar, R., & Schleicher, M. (2016). Journal of Marketing Research, 53(1), 66–82.
Plain-English take: Churn over the following three months was 10% in the recommendation group versus 6% in the control group. For your marketing: Before prompting customers to downgrade or switch plans, run a controlled test and examine effects by usage pattern.
Question: Can proactively recommending a lower-cost or better-fitting plan reduce churn, or can the recommendation make customers more likely to leave?
Design: Large-scale randomized field experiment. Customers of a service provider with multiple usage plans; the paper examines how responses differ by prior overage, usage variability and usage trend.
Churn over the following three months was 10% in the recommendation group versus 6% in the control group. Effects varied with pre-campaign usage patterns; customers with lower overage, lower variability and positive trends responded differently.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201610.1509/jmr.13.0483Publisher abstract and author-hosted paper
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Lambrecht, A., & Tucker, C. (2012). Journal of Marketing Research, 49(1), 66–82.
Plain-English take: The field experiment provides evidence that customers prefer contracts that match periods of lower benefits caused by hassle costs with lower payments. For your marketing: Consider whether customers' willingness to pay changes when setup, migration or usage requires effort.
Question: How should firms price when customers anticipate hassle or effort that varies over time?
Design: Field experiment and pricing model. Customers in a service-pricing field experiment; the publisher summary reviewed does not provide the sample size or full industry details.
The field experiment provides evidence that customers prefer contracts that match periods of lower benefits caused by hassle costs with lower payments.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201210.1509/jmr.09.0530Publisher summary and abstract
Content and sharingEvidence check: 3.5/5
Balaji, M. S., Behl, A., Jain, K., Baabdullah, A. M., Giannakis, M., Shankar, A., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2023). Industrial Marketing Management, 113, 111–125.
Plain-English take: Employee-generated content produced more social media engagement intentions and behaviors than firm-generated content. For your marketing: For technical B2B audiences, test employee-authored perspectives against corporate-account posts.
Question: How do the source and content of a B2B social media post affect audience engagement?
Design: Four experiments on B2B social media messages. Participants across four experiments involving B2B social-media messages; the accessible abstract does not report combined sample size.
Employee-generated content produced more social media engagement intentions and behaviors than firm-generated content. Content-based trust and engagement-based trust were identified as mechanisms; emojis had a greater effect in employee messages than in firm messages.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202310.1016/j.indmarman.2023.06.011Publisher abstract
Content and sharingEvidence check: 3.5/5
Chawla, Y., & Chodak, G. (2021). Journal of Business Research, 135, 49–65.
Plain-English take: The experiment reports that placing the web link in the comments rather than the caption was more lucrative in the studied campaign. For your marketing: This is a concrete example of testing small post-format decisions against business outcomes.
Question: How does the placement of a web link in an organic Facebook post affect marketing outcomes?
Design: Facebook post-link placement experiment. Facebook organic posts and linked content in the study's business setting; the accessible abstract does not provide a full sample count.
The experiment reports that placing the web link in the comments rather than the caption was more lucrative in the studied campaign.
Journal of Business Research · 202110.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.055Publisher abstract
Influencer and creator marketingEvidence check: 3.5/5
Spörl-Wang, K., Krause, F., & Henkel, S. (2025). Journal of Business Research, 186, 114991.
Plain-English take: The synthesis organizes predictors in a holistic framework and evaluates why earlier studies have produced conflicting conclusions about effectiveness. For your marketing: Use the reviewed predictors to structure creator-selection and campaign hypotheses.
Question: Which factors predict the effectiveness of social media influencer marketing, and how can conflicting prior findings be reconciled?
Design: Systematic literature review and meta-analysis. 93 prior papers spanning influencer marketing studies; the accessible highlights do not specify the number of underlying effect sizes or participants.
The synthesis organizes predictors in a holistic framework and evaluates why earlier studies have produced conflicting conclusions about effectiveness.
Journal of Business Research · 202510.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114991Publisher abstract and article highlights
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 3.0/5
Datta, H., Foubert, B., & van Heerde, H. J. (2015). Journal of Marketing Research, 52(2), 217–234.
Plain-English take: Average lifetime value for free-trial customers was 59% lower than for regular customers in this study. For your marketing: Track post-trial retention and value by acquisition cohort, and test onboarding or communication interventions.
Question: How do customers acquired with free trials differ from regular customers in retention and lifetime value?
Design: Household panel analysis and customer-lifetime-value modeling. Households using one digital television service; the abstract reports a comparison between trial-acquired and regular customers.
Average lifetime value for free-trial customers was 59% lower than for regular customers in this setting. Trial-acquired customers were more responsive to marketing communication and usage, suggesting opportunities for targeted retention activity.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201510.1509/jmr.12.0160Publisher abstract and author-hosted paper
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Bawa, K., & Shoemaker, R. (2004). Marketing Science, 23(3), 345–363.
Plain-English take: Unlike coupons, the studied free samples produced measurable long-term sales effects observable up to 12 months later. For your marketing: Separate new demand from timing shifts and substitution when evaluating free access.
Question: Do free samples create incremental sales, and how much comes from purchase acceleration, cannibalization or demand expansion?
Design: Promotion model and two field experiments. Two consumer packaged-goods sampling promotions; the abstract does not state sample sizes or brands.
Unlike coupons, the studied free samples produced measurable long-term sales effects observable up to 12 months later. Effectiveness varied substantially, even between brands in one product category; acceleration, cannibalization and expansion differed across promotions.
Marketing Science · 200410.1287/mksc.1030.0052Publisher and bibliographic abstracts
Content and sharingEvidence check: 3.5/5
Babić Rosario, A., Sotgiu, F., De Valck, K., & Bijmolt, T. H. A. (2016). Journal of Marketing Research, 53(3), 297–318.
Plain-English take: Looking across the studies, stronger online word of mouth effects for tangible goods that are new to the market; product life cycle did not moderate the effect for services. For your marketing: Measure the amount and sentiment of customer discussion separately and connect both to sales outcomes.
Question: How do platform, product and measurement choices moderate the relationship between electronic word of mouth and sales?
Design: Meta-analysis of empirical eWOM-sales research. Cross-study evidence covering online platforms, product types and eWOM measures; the publisher abstract reviewed here does not report the number of studies.
The synthesis reports stronger eWOM effects for tangible goods that are new to the market; product life cycle did not moderate the effect for services. eWOM volume had a stronger effect on sales than valence in the analyzed studies.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201610.1509/jmr.14.0380Publisher abstract and author record
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Wolters, H. M., Schulze, C., & Gedenk, K. (2020). Marketing Science, 39(6), 1166–1180.
Plain-English take: Larger referral rewards acquired more new customers but considerably decreased the profitability of referred customers in both studies. For your marketing: Evaluate referrals on net customer profitability, not just the number of signups.
Question: How does referral reward size affect the number and profitability of newly referred customers?
Design: Field experiment and archival generalization study. More than 160,000 bank customers in the experiment and approximately 270,000 telecommunications customers in the archival analysis.
Larger referral rewards acquired more new customers but considerably decreased the profitability of referred customers in both studies.
Marketing Science · 202010.1287/mksc.2020.1242Publisher abstract and JSTOR preview
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4.0/5
Lemmens, A., & Gupta, S. (2020). Marketing Science, 39(5), 956–973.
Plain-English take: The profit-aligned targeting approach uses expected additional churn and post-campaign cash flows net of intervention costs. For your marketing: For lifecycle offers, target on expected incremental profit rather than the highest predicted churn score.
Question: How should firms select customers for retention interventions to maximize campaign profit?
Design: Profit-based churn model and two field experiments. Two retention-campaign field experiments; the accessible abstract does not summarize the industries or sample sizes.
The profit-aligned targeting approach uses expected incremental churn and post-campaign cash flows net of intervention costs. The authors report that their method significantly improves campaign profitability compared with conventional churn-probability or offer-responsiveness targeting.
Marketing Science · 202010.1287/mksc.2020.1229Publisher abstract and author-hosted paper
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.5/5
Gordon, B. R., Zettelmeyer, F., Bhargava, N., & Chapsky, D. (2019). Marketing Science, 38(2), 193–225.
Plain-English take: Commonly used observational approaches based on industry-available data often failed to accurately measure the true advertising effect in these comparisons. For your marketing: Treat attribution models as hypotheses and validate them against holdouts where possible.
Question: Can commonly used observational methods recover the causal effect of online ads as measured by randomized experiments?
Design: Comparison of observational estimators against randomized field experiments. Fifteen Facebook campaigns, each with at least one million users and business-relevant conversion tracking, selected to compare measurement methods.
Commonly used observational approaches based on industry-available data often failed to accurately measure the true advertising effect in these comparisons.
Marketing Science · 201910.1287/mksc.2018.1135Publisher abstract and author-hosted paper
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 3.0/5
Ascarza, E., & Hardie, B. G. S. (2013). Marketing Science, 32(4), 570–590.
Plain-English take: The joint framework is designed to capture the relationship between engagement behavior and retention, enabling more coherent customer-lifetime analysis than treating usage and churn as unrelated outcomes. For your marketing: When usage predicts retention, model the outcomes together and distinguish prediction from causal effect.
Question: How can firms jointly model customer usage and churn when they observe contractual relationships?
Design: Joint statistical model of customer usage and churn. Customers of an annual membership service; the paper models repeated usage and contract renewal/churn jointly.
The joint framework is designed to capture the relationship between engagement behavior and retention, enabling more coherent customer-lifetime analysis than treating usage and churn as unrelated outcomes.
Marketing Science · 201310.1287/mksc.2013.0786Publisher abstract and author-hosted paper
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Li, H. (2022). Production and Operations Management, 31(5), 2185–2203.
Plain-English take: The research provides SaaS-specific evidence on how advertising, free-trial usage and their interplay relate to conversion, with message content treated as a distinct marketing factor. For your marketing: Track activation and product usage alongside marketing exposure and message content when studying free-to-paid conversion.
Question: How do marketing touchpoints, message content and product usage relate to free-user conversion in a SaaS business?
Design: Empirical analysis of SaaS user activity, marketing touchpoints, and conversion. SaaS free users and their marketing touchpoints, usage and conversion behavior; the inspected abstract does not give the company name or sample size.
The research provides SaaS-specific evidence on how advertising, free-trial usage and their interplay relate to conversion, with message content treated as a distinct marketing factor.
Production and Operations Management · 202210.1111/poms.13672Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 3.0/5
Lambrecht, A., & Misra, K. (2017). Management Science, 63(4), 1150–1165.
Plain-English take: The model suggests that the value of free access depends on advertising monetization and consumer demand conditions; a paid strategy is not necessarily superior simply because it generates direct subscription revenue. For your marketing: This may be useful for separating direct payment from indirect monetization when deciding what to make freely available.
Question: When should an online content provider offer content for free, charge for it, or combine access fees with advertising?
Design: Analytical model of content pricing and advertising revenue. Theoretical analysis of online content providers; there is no empirical customer sample.
The model shows that the value of free access depends on advertising monetization and consumer demand conditions; a paid strategy is not necessarily superior simply because it generates direct subscription revenue.
Management Science · 201710.1287/mnsc.2015.2383Publisher record and author-hosted working paper
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Danaher, P. J. (2002). Marketing Science, 21(2), 119–138.
Plain-English take: The study demonstrates an empirical approach to evaluating alternative subscription prices using market-experiment evidence rather than relying only on stated preferences or managerial judgment. For your marketing: This is a foundational example of testing prices in market conditions.
Question: How should a firm price a new subscription service using evidence from a market experiment?
Design: Market experiment and demand modeling. A new subscription-service market experiment; the publisher record inspected does not expose enough abstract detail to report the service or sample size.
The study demonstrates an empirical approach to evaluating alternative subscription prices using market-experiment evidence rather than relying only on stated preferences or managerial judgment.
Marketing Science · 200210.1287/mksc.21.2.119.147Publisher record; abstract-level details
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Retana, G. F., Forman, C., & Wu, D. J. (2016). Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 18(1), 34–50.
Plain-English take: The study uses an experimental setting to examine whether educating customers can influence both continued use and requests for technical support, outcomes that can move in different directions. For your marketing: Treat onboarding and education as interventions with both retention and support-cost outcomes.
Question: How does proactive education affect customer retention and demand for technical support?
Design: Field experiment. Customers of a technology service in the field setting; the accessible publisher record does not report the full sample description or sample size.
The study uses an experimental setting to examine whether educating customers can influence both continued use and requests for technical support, outcomes that can move in different directions.
Manufacturing & Service Operations Management · 201610.1287/msom.2015.0547Publisher record; abstract-level details
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.0/5
Morozov, I., & Tuchman, A. (2024). Marketing Science, 43(5), 986–1001.
Plain-English take: Ad content can polarize consumer responses. For your marketing: Test how creative changes demand across audience segments, not only average clicks.
Question: How does the content of a display ad affect what consumers search for and buy?
Design: Preregistered incentive-compatible randomized field experiment. Visitors to an experimental online bookstore; the publisher abstract does not state the sample size.
Ad content can polarize consumer responses. Depending on how many consumers favor the advertised genre, the same content can increase or decrease the total number of searches and purchases for the advertised book.
Marketing Science · 202410.1287/mksc.2023.0138Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Website and conversion designEvidence check: 4.0/5
Bleier, A., Harmeling, C. M., & Palmatier, R. W. (2019). Journal of Marketing, 83(2), 98–119.
Plain-English take: The experiments connect distinct page elements with multiple dimensions of online experience and show that those experiences influence purchase. For your marketing: This is a structured source for forming homepage and product-page hypotheses: assess information, entertainment, social presence and sensory cues separately, then test them against qualified conversion rather than aesthetic preference.
Question: Which product-page design elements shape online customer experience and purchase behavior?
Design: Sixteen experiments including a field experiment on live product pages. Study 1 used 16 products from 11 brands and 256 experimental product-page versions; the broader research program includes online and field experiments.
The experiments connect distinct page elements with multiple dimensions of online experience and show that those experiences influence purchase. The field experiment with real product pages supports the experimental findings.
Journal of Marketing · 201910.1177/0022242918809930Publisher abstract and accessible author manuscript
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.0/5
Johnson, G. A., Lewis, R. A., & Reiley, D. H. (2017). Marketing Science, 36(1), 43–53.
Plain-English take: The paper's main point is that more granular data do not necessarily make advertising effects easier to estimate and examines tradeoffs between measurement precision and experimentation resources. For your marketing: Plan experiments around outcome variance and expected effect size.
Question: How do the amount and structure of available data affect the power and cost of online advertising experiments?
Design: Large-scale randomized advertising field experiment and statistical analysis. Yahoo! advertising experiment at large scale; the publisher search result reports evidence that retailer ads increased sales by 3.6% in the studied campaign.
The paper highlights that more granular data do not necessarily make advertising effects easier to estimate and examines tradeoffs between measurement precision and experimentation resources.
Marketing Science · 201710.1287/mksc.2016.0998Publisher record and abstract; full text access may vary
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.0/5
Hoban, P. R., & Bucklin, R. E. (2015). Journal of Marketing Research, 52(3), 375–386.
Plain-English take: The paper uses randomized exposure data to estimate how display advertising affects multiple purchase-funnel outcomes rather than relying only on last-click attribution. For your marketing: Measure how campaigns affect more than the final conversion event, while preserving the experimental control that supports causal estimates.
Question: How does Internet display advertising affect consumer movement through the purchase funnel?
Design: Randomized field experiment with purchase-funnel model. Online visitors to one financial-tools provider who were included in the display-ad experiment; the publisher preview does not report sample size.
The paper uses randomized exposure data to estimate how display advertising affects multiple purchase-funnel outcomes rather than relying only on last-click attribution.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201510.1509/jmr.13.0277Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.5/5
Huang, S., Aral, S., Hu, Y. J., & Brynjolfsson, E. (2020). Marketing Science, 39(6), 1142–1165.
Plain-English take: The experiment finds meaningful differences across customers in social advertising lift across categories and user characteristics. For your marketing: When testing paid social, segment hypotheses by product and audience rather than assuming platform-wide average effectiveness.
Question: How does social advertising effectiveness vary across product categories and consumer characteristics?
Design: Large-scale randomized field experiment. A large online social network and advertising across 71 product categories; the paper reports variation by product and user status.
The experiment finds meaningful heterogeneity in social advertising lift across categories and user characteristics. The authors report that social cues increase effectiveness more for some product types and users than for others.
Marketing Science · 202010.1287/mksc.2020.1240Publisher record and author manuscript
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
Huang, S., & Lin, S. (2025). Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429241307608.
Plain-English take: Displaying more likes increased click-through rates for lesser-known brands but not for well-known brands. For your marketing: Social proof may matter more when brand familiarity is low, but the effect can depend on audience behavior.
Question: Does displaying a larger number of likes on an ad cause more users to like or click it?
Design: Large-scale field experiment, three online lab studies, and theoretical model. WeChat social advertising plus online lab studies; the accessible abstract does not report a sample size.
Displaying more likes increased click-through rates for lesser-known brands but not for well-known brands. It had a stronger effect on like rates among more socially engaged users.
Journal of Marketing Research · 202510.1177/00222429241307608Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Content and sharingEvidence check: 3.5/5
Jung, M., Ryu, S., Han, S. P., & Cho, D. (2023). Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429221143329.
Plain-English take: Immediate reminders reduced review posting relative to a randomized immediate control group without a reminder. For your marketing: Test the timing of review requests after users experience value.
Question: When should firms send prompts asking customers to post an online review?
Design: Two field experiments. The publisher and university research summaries describe marketplace customers, including a major South Korean online apparel marketplace; the abstract reviewed does not provide sample sizes.
Immediate reminders reduced review posting relative to a randomized immediate control group without a reminder. The authors interpret this as evidence that reactance to an immediate prompt can outweigh the memory benefit in that setting.
Journal of Marketing Research · 202310.1177/00222429221143329Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Marketing capability and growthEvidence check: 4.5/5
Anderson, S. J., Chandy, R. K., & Zia, B. (2021). Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242921993176.
Plain-English take: Entrepreneurs randomly matched with volunteer marketers significantly increased firm growth. For your marketing: Evidence that applied marketing expertise can affect small-firm growth, while underscoring the importance of implementation context.
Question: Can marketing expertise help small entrepreneurs improve business performance?
Design: Multiyear randomized field experiment. Entrepreneurs and small firms in Uganda participating in a volunteer-marketer program; the abstracted sources emphasize firm growth outcomes.
Entrepreneurs randomly matched with volunteer marketers significantly increased firm growth. The paper evaluates how practical marketing assistance affects business outcomes in this context.
Journal of Marketing Research · 202110.1177/0022242921993176Publisher abstract and author-hosted paper
Search and content discoveryEvidence check: 2.5/5
Erdmann, A., Arilla, R., & Ponzoa, J. M. (2022). Journal of Business Research, 144, 650–662.
Plain-English take: The paper treats keyword choice and marketing expenditure as having both short- and long-run performance implications, challenging evaluation based only on immediate traffic response. For your marketing: Evaluate organic-search investments over an appropriate time window and distinguish durable qualified demand from transient ranking or click changes.
Question: How should marketers choose search-engine keywords when considering both short- and long-term performance?
Design: Empirical analysis of search-engine keyword performance over time. Search-engine keywords and their performance in the study's empirical setting; the publisher preview reviewed here does not expose the sample details.
The paper treats keyword choice and marketing expenditure as having both short- and long-run performance implications, challenging evaluation based only on immediate traffic response.
Journal of Business Research · 202210.1016/j.jbusres.2022.01.065Publisher article preview; full text access may vary
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 4.0/5
Gu, X., Kannan, P. K., & Ma, L. (2018). Journal of Marketing, 82(6), 10–27.
Plain-English take: Paperback titles accompanied by an additional premium version had higher sales than control titles. For your marketing: When testing SaaS tiers, consider how a new premium option changes comparison among existing plans.
Question: Can adding another premium option increase demand for an existing paid option when a free version is available?
Design: Randomized field experiment and customer-choice analysis. Book titles offered as free PDFs with paid paperback and additional e-book or hardcover options; the abstract does not report the experiment's sample size.
Paperback titles accompanied by an additional premium version had higher sales than control titles. The lift was stronger for more popular or cheaper titles, and the e-book extension worked better when its price was closer to the paperback price. The authors identify compromise and attraction effects in customer choices.
Journal of Marketing · 201810.1177/0022242918807170Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Content and sharingEvidence check: 3.0/5
Trusov, M., Bucklin, R. E., & Pauwels, K. (2009). Journal of Marketing, 73(5), 90–102.
Plain-English take: Word-of-mouth referrals had longer carryover effects than traditional marketing actions in this study. For your marketing: Instrument referral activity and evaluate its delayed contribution alongside paid or event-driven acquisition.
Question: How does member-to-member word of mouth compare with traditional marketing in driving signups at an online social network?
Design: Longitudinal observational analysis using vector autoregression. One Internet social networking site with observable invitations and promotional activity; the paper analyzes signup dynamics and marketing events over time.
Word-of-mouth referrals had longer carryover effects than traditional marketing actions in this setting. The estimated long-run signup elasticity for word of mouth was 0.53 and substantially exceeded the estimated elasticities for marketing events and media appearances.
Journal of Marketing · 200910.1509/jmkg.73.5.90Publisher record and author-hosted paper
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Nijs, V. R., Dekimpe, M. G., Steenkamp, J.-B. E. M., & Hanssens, D. M. (2001). Marketing Science, 20(1), 1–22.
Plain-English take: The research estimates category-demand expansion effects rather than only brand switching and tests how marketing intensity and competition moderate promotion response. For your marketing: When discounting, separate category growth from switching between vendors or purchase timing.
Question: Under what conditions do price promotions expand demand for an entire product category in the short and long run?
Design: Longitudinal category-level econometric analysis. 560 consumer product categories in Dutch supermarkets; the data include prices, promotions, advertising, distribution and new-product activity.
The research estimates category-demand expansion effects rather than only brand switching and tests how marketing intensity and competition moderate promotion response. The abstract emphasizes that category expansion is conditional on market context.
Marketing Science · 200110.1287/mksc.20.1.1.10197Publisher and bibliographic abstracts; full text access may vary
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
Braun, M., & Moe, W. W. (2013). Marketing Science, 32(5), 753–767.
Plain-English take: The model distinguishes exposure histories and creative content; simulations suggest advertisers can increase website visits and conversions by varying the creative shown to a person. For your marketing: Treat creative sequence and repetition as testable variables.
Question: How do display-ad creative variation and each person's exposure history relate to visits and conversions?
Design: Individual-level advertising response model with policy simulations. Online display-ad exposures and subsequent website behavior in the advertiser data analyzed by the paper; the abstracted record does not provide sample size.
The model distinguishes exposure histories and creative content; simulations suggest advertisers can increase website visits and conversions by varying the creative shown to a person.
Marketing Science · 201310.1287/mksc.2013.0802Publisher record and bibliographic abstract
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
Li, C., Luo, X., Zhang, C., & Wang, X. (2017). Marketing Science, 36(5), 762–779.
Plain-English take: The study found that response was higher and faster in sunny than cloudy conditions, and lower and slower in rainy than cloudy conditions. For your marketing: This is a reminder that context can moderate campaign response.
Question: Do local weather conditions and advertising tone change consumers’ response to mobile promotions?
Design: Large-scale mobile promotion field data analysis. Mobile promotion campaigns observed across weather conditions; the publisher summary reports comparative response timing and purchase response but not a full sample description.
The authors report that response was higher and faster in sunny than cloudy conditions, and lower and slower in rainy than cloudy conditions. Message tone altered these weather-related response patterns.
Marketing Science · 201710.1287/mksc.2017.1044Publisher record and INFORMS research summary
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Foubert, B., & Gijsbrechts, E. (2016). Marketing Science, 35(5), 810–826.
Plain-English take: The abstract characterizes free trials as a double-edged promotion: trial timing and how intensively consumers use the service during the trial matter to effectiveness, particularly while quality is uncertain and changing. For your marketing: Design trials around the user's chance to experience core value and the maturity of the product.
Question: When do free trials help adoption of a high-tech service, and when can a poor early trial experience undermine it?
Design: Empirical structural model and policy simulations. A rich customer dataset for an interactive digital television service, including trial subscriptions, adoption and usage behavior. The abstract does not report the number of customers.
The abstract characterizes free trials as a double-edged promotion: trial timing and how intensively consumers use the service during the trial matter to effectiveness, particularly while quality is uncertain and changing.
Marketing Science · 201610.1287/mksc.2015.0973Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 3.0/5
Hu, H., & Zhang, X.-M. (2021). Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 644412.
Plain-English take: Across the reported studies, utilitarian rewards generated higher referral likelihood for utilitarian products, whereas hedonic rewards performed better for hedonic products. For your marketing: When offering referral incentives, test whether the reward feels aligned with the product and the referrer's motive.
Question: Does the fit between a referral reward and the product being recommended affect referral likelihood, and does the pattern differ by gender?
Design: One field study and two laboratory studies. Field and laboratory settings involving product and reward evaluations. The accessible abstract does not give a combined sample size; the full text reports separate studies and samples.
Across the reported studies, utilitarian rewards generated higher referral likelihood for utilitarian products, whereas hedonic rewards performed better for hedonic products. The paper also examines gender differences in this congruence pattern.
Frontiers in Psychology · 202110.3389/fpsyg.2021.644412Open full text in PubMed Central and publisher record
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Garnefeld, I., Eggert, A., Helm, S. V., & Tax, S. S. (2013). Journal of Marketing, 77(4), 17–32.
Plain-English take: Within a year, recommenders’ defection rate fell from 19% to 7%, and their average monthly revenue rose by 11.4% versus the matched control group. For your marketing: Evaluate both sides of referral programs: the acquired customer and the referrer.
Question: Does participating in a referral program change the behavior and value of the existing customer who makes the recommendation?
Design: Field experiment with matched comparison group. Existing customers of one global cellular telecommunications provider; the abstract reports a one-year defection and revenue comparison.
Within a year, recommenders’ defection rate fell from 19% to 7%, and their average monthly revenue rose by 11.4% versus the matched control group. The loyalty effect was stronger among customers with shorter prior tenure.
Journal of Marketing · 201310.1509/jm.11.0423Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4.5/5
Gershon, R., & Jiang, Z. (2024). Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437241257886.
Plain-English take: Conditional on purchase activity, referred customers made 31%–57% more referrals than nonreferred customers in the field data. For your marketing: Track whether acquired customers later refer others and test simple lifecycle reminders.
Question: Do customers acquired through referrals themselves generate more downstream referrals, and can that behavior be increased?
Design: Large-scale field dataset, preregistered lab experiments, and field experiment. The publisher abstract reports a large-scale field dataset but no total sample size; the author-hosted manuscript describes data from 41.2 million customers, two preregistered lab experiments, and one field experiment.
Conditional on purchase activity, referred customers made 31%–57% more referrals than nonreferred customers in the field data. In a field experiment, reminding customers they joined through a referral further raised their likelihood of referring by 21% according to the publisher abstract.
Journal of Marketing Research · 202410.1177/00222437241257886Publisher abstract and author-hosted paper
Content and sharingEvidence check: 4.5/5
Cosme, D., Scholz, C., Chan, H.-Y., et al. (2023). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 152(1), 253–267.
Plain-English take: Self-relevance and social relevance were each positively associated with intentions to share. For your marketing: This is a prompt for testing whether a technical article explains why it matters to the reader and to someone they work with.
Question: Are people more willing to share messages they see as relevant to themselves or to people they know, and does the audience context matter?
Design: Six online studies, including a preregistered experiment. 3,727 adult participants in the United States rated 362 messages, producing 30,954 message ratings. Topics included COVID-19, voting, general health and climate change; formats included social posts and news articles.
Self-relevance and social relevance were each positively associated with intentions to share. A preregistered framing experiment found that making relevance salient causally increased sharing intentions; the relative pathways differed between broadcasting broadly and sending directly to someone.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · 202310.1037/xge0001270Publisher record and accepted manuscript
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4.5/5
Belo, R., & Li, T. (2022). Management Science, 68(12), 8933–8962.
Plain-English take: Referral programs increased referrals but could reduce revenue when referred users gained access to premium features without paying. For your marketing: This may be useful when a product has social invitations or a free tier: track invited users, paid conversion, and engagement together, and test which benefits are available to nonpayers.
Question: How do social referral programs affect growth, payment, and engagement on freemium platforms?
Design: Randomized field experiment. 52,782 approved new users on a dating platform in a major European city, observed from March 2015 to February 2017.
Referral programs increased referrals but could reduce revenue when referred users gained access to premium features without paying. Higher referral thresholds increased referrals and total revenue, while reducing some user engagement. Reserving selected premium features for paying users helped avoid the revenue loss.
Management Science · 202210.1287/mnsc.2022.4301Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.0/5
Goli, A., Reiley, D. H., & Zhang, H. (2025). Marketing Science, 44(2), 327–352.
Plain-English take: Consumption responses took more than a year to stabilize, while subscription responses stabilized in under six months. For your marketing: This shows why ad load can have delayed effects and why short tests may miss them.
Question: Can ad load be personalized to improve subscription and advertising revenue, and how quickly do users respond?
Design: Large-scale randomized field experiment and heterogeneous-treatment analysis. More than seven million Pandora users in an 18-month experiment.
Consumption responses took more than a year to stabilize, while subscription responses stabilized in under six months. A personalized allocation was estimated to raise subscription profits by 7% without reducing ad profits; the modeled strategy lowered average consumer welfare by 2%.
Marketing Science · 202510.1287/mksc.2022.0357Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 4.0/5
Tian, L., & Feinberg, F. M. (2020). Marketing Science, 39(6), 1181–1198.
Plain-English take: The experiment shows that overall price increases reduce opting in and selection of higher-priced plans. For your marketing: This is a useful design for testing both conversion and plan mix when changing monthly/annual prices.
Question: How should subscription businesses set menus that combine different commitment lengths and duration discounts?
Design: Randomized online pricing field experiment and choice model. Users considering subscription plans on a major online dating service.
The experiment shows that overall price increases reduce opting in and selection of higher-priced plans. Their joint model estimates different substitution patterns from standard choice models and suggests the studied firm priced its menu too low, especially its longest commitment.
Marketing Science · 202010.1287/mksc.2020.1265Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Bayerl, A., Schoenmueller, V., Goldenberg, J., & Stahl, F. (2026). Journal of Marketing Research, 63(2), 211–233.
Plain-English take: Weekend reviews averaged about 0.04 stars lower; a negative pattern appeared on 26 of 33 platforms. For your marketing: If review volume matters, test request timing and compare response rate and rating distribution.
Question: Do online reviews differ by day of week, and does the timing of a review request affect the ratings collected?
Design: Multi-platform observational analysis and review-solicitation experiments. Nearly 400 million reviews across 33 platforms, more than 20 million reviewed items and over 60 million users; categories include products, travel, employers, entertainment, and professional services.
Weekend reviews averaged about 0.04 stars lower; a negative pattern appeared on 26 of 33 platforms. The authors identify temporal self-selection as a major mechanism and report that weekend review requests can collect more negative ratings.
Journal of Marketing · 202610.1177/00222437251391808Publisher abstract and article page; access may vary
Content and sharingEvidence check: 3.0/5
Koob, C. (2021). PLoS ONE, 16(4), e0249457.
Plain-English take: Clear strategy and organizational commitment, content aligned with audience needs and journalistic quality norms, regular measurement, and supporting specialized roles and processes were positively associated with reported effectiveness. For your marketing: This is a practical checklist for content operations: define the audience need, set editorial quality expectations, measure performance, and assign ownership.
Question: Which organizational conditions are associated with effective content marketing?
Design: Cross-sectional survey and regression analysis. 263 executives from medium and large organizations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, across services, industrial, finance, and trade sectors.
Clear strategy and organizational commitment, content aligned with audience needs and journalistic quality norms, regular measurement, and supporting specialized roles and processes were positively associated with reported effectiveness. Media count and paid promotion budget were not significant in the reported models.
PLoS ONE · 202110.1371/journal.pone.0249457Open access full text
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Floyd, K., Freling, R., Alhoqail, S., Cho, H. Y., & Freling, T. (2014). Journal of Retailing, 90(2), 217–232.
Plain-English take: Review valence and volume were positively related to sales elasticities. For your marketing: Use as evidence that review volume and valence can matter while designing review and reputation programs.
Question: How are review valence and volume related to retail sales, and which settings moderate those relationships?
Design: Meta-analysis of empirical studies. Published studies of online product reviews and retail sales across different products, review sites, reviewer types, and use situations.
Review valence and volume were positively related to sales elasticities. The reported relationships were stronger on third-party sites, when critic reviews were included, and for higher-involvement products.
Journal of Retailing · 201410.1016/j.jretai.2014.04.004Publisher abstract and highlights; full text may require access
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Fong, N. M. (2017). Management Science, 63(7), 2353–2364.
Plain-English take: Offers for products in categories customers had bought before raised purchase rates but reduced search activity. For your marketing: Personalized recommendations can improve immediate relevance while narrowing exploration.
Question: Do targeted offers change what customers search for beyond the promoted products?
Design: Field experiment. Customers of an online wine retailer; the abstract does not report the sample size.
Offers for products in categories customers had bought before raised purchase rates but reduced search activity. The reduction reflected less search by customers who visited, not fewer visitors searching at all.
Management Science · 201710.1287/mnsc.2016.2447Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3.5/5
Mochon, D., Johnson, K., Schwartz, J., & Ariely, D. (2017). Journal of Marketing Research, 54(2), 306–317.
Plain-English take: Acquired likes had a positive causal effect on offline behavior when the firm used the page for paid promoted posts. For your marketing: This is a reminder to measure paid social against business outcomes and distinguish paid exposure from organic engagement.
Question: Do acquiring Facebook page likes affect customer behavior outside Facebook, and under what use of the page?
Design: Field experiment. Customers of a firm with a Facebook page; the publisher abstract does not state the sample size or business category.
Acquired likes had a positive causal effect on offline behavior when the firm used the page for paid promoted posts. The study found no effect when customers interacted organically with the page.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201710.1509/jmr.15.0409Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.0/5
Sahni, N. S. (2016). Journal of Marketing Research, 53(4), 459–478.
Plain-English take: Ads increased sales likelihood for the advertiser and also for nonadvertised restaurants that served the same cuisine and had high ratings. For your marketing: When evaluating category advertising, account for the possibility that your spend increases category interest while also helping alternatives.
Question: How do online ads affect both the advertiser and competing options considered by customers?
Design: Randomized online field experiments. Restaurants listed on a restaurant-search site; detailed sample counts are not given in the accessible abstract.
Ads increased sales likelihood for the advertiser and also for nonadvertised restaurants that served the same cuisine and had high ratings. Spillovers were largest at lower ad intensity and disappeared as intensity increased.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201610.1509/jmr.14.0274Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Chen, Y., & Xie, J. (2005). Marketing Science, 24(2), 218–240.
Plain-English take: Depending on product and review conditions, advertising can be a better response than price changes. For your marketing: Treat third-party badges as a positioning choice to test, not an automatic conversion lift.
Question: How should firms adjust price and advertising after third-party product reviews or awards?
Design: Analytical model illustrated with industry data. Two product industries used to illustrate the theory; the main contribution is a model rather than a causal field test.
Depending on product and review conditions, advertising can be a better response than price changes. Award-logo advertising can hurt the winning product, and increasing ad spend to publicize a favorable review is not always optimal.
Marketing Science · 200510.1287/mksc.1040.0089Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4.0/5
Bapna, R., & Umyarov, A. (2015). Management Science, 61(8), 1902–1920.
Plain-English take: An adopting friend increased the odds of buying the paid service by more than 60% in the study. For your marketing: If paid adoption is socially visible in your product, measure peer exposure as a possible conversion mechanism.
Question: Does a friend's adoption of a paid service causally affect another user's decision to pay?
Design: Randomized field experiment in a social network. The general population of users on a large social network with a freemium service; the publisher abstract does not state the sample size.
An adopting friend increased the odds of buying the paid service by more than 60% in the study. Relative influence was stronger for users with fewer friends.
Management Science · 201510.1287/mnsc.2014.2081Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.0/5
Wernerfelt, N., Tuchman, A., Shapiro, B. T., & Moakler, R. (2025). Marketing Science, 44(2), 268–286.
Plain-English take: The median cost per additional customer was estimated at $38.16 at baseline and $49.93 under the median loss in effectiveness when offsite data could not be used, a 31% increase. For your marketing: This may be useful for thinking about privacy-related measurement loss and incrementality, especially for small advertisers.
Question: How much does offsite tracking data improve ad delivery effectiveness for advertisers?
Design: Large-scale randomized advertising experiment. More than 70,000 Facebook and Instagram advertiser experiments across over 160 countries.
The median cost per incremental customer was estimated at $38.16 at baseline and $49.93 under the median loss in effectiveness when offsite data could not be used, a 31% increase. The estimated loss was larger for small advertisers; purchase-optimized ads generated more long-term customers per dollar than click-optimized ads.
Marketing Science · 202510.1287/mksc.2023.0274Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
Johnson, G. A., Lewis, R. A., & Nubbemeyer, E. I. (2017). Journal of Marketing Research, 54(6), 867–884.
Plain-English take: In the demonstration campaign, retargeting lifted website visits by 17.2% and purchases by 10.5%. For your marketing: This is a foundational reference for asking an ad platform or analytics team how holdouts can measure incremental impact at lower cost.
Question: Can online ad effectiveness be measured more economically while retaining the precision of conventional experiments?
Design: Advertising measurement method demonstrated in a retailer campaign. Retailer display-retargeting campaign; the publisher page reports recording over 100 million predicted ghost ads per day.
In the demonstration campaign, retargeting lifted website visits by 17.2% and purchases by 10.5%. The method is presented as achieving comparable precision to intent-to-treat and public-service-announcement tests at substantially lower experimental cost.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201710.1509/jmr.15.0297Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
Li, H. (Alice), & Kannan, P. K. (2014). Journal of Marketing Research, 51(1), 40–56.
Plain-English take: Attribution based on estimated channel effects differed significantly from common metrics. For your marketing: This is a useful framework for considering channel sequence, carryover, and retargeting harm when last-click reports over-credit later touches.
Question: How can channel contribution be estimated while accounting for customer consideration, visits, carryover, and cross-channel effects?
Design: Individual-level attribution model validated in a field study. Individual customer touchpoint histories and subsequent website purchases; the accessible abstract does not give sample size or business category.
Attribution based on estimated channel effects differed significantly from common metrics. The model also identified cases where retargeting could decrease conversion probability.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201410.1509/jmr.13.0050Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Wang, Y., Lu, L. X., & Shi, P. (2022). Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 24(5), 2703–2721.
Plain-English take: A one-month program with two emails increased five-month retention likelihood by 7.4%, lowered churn odds by 26.3%, and raised per-period service use by 7.0%. For your marketing: The core lesson is to evaluate lifecycle email against retention, usage, and margin by segment.
Question: Does email engagement raise subscription retention and usage, and is it profitable for every subscriber segment?
Design: Field experiment with retention, usage, and profit analysis. Subscribers of a large U.S. car-wash chain with tiered subscriptions and RFID-tracked visits.
A one-month program with two emails increased five-month retention likelihood by 7.4%, lowered churn odds by 26.3%, and raised per-period service use by 7.0%. Estimated profitability varied by subscriber tier and usage frequency; the authors recommend selectively targeting profitable groups.
Manufacturing & Service Operations Management · 202210.1287/msom.2022.1122Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
Zhou, M., Abhishek, V., Kennedy, E. H., Srinivasan, K., & Sinha, R. (2025). Information Systems Research, 36(1), 225–238.
Plain-English take: Email advertising was associated with increased sales across channels through higher purchase probability and a wider variety of products bought; effects varied across product types and customer segments. For your marketing: This encourages measuring email's full downstream value rather than clicks alone.
Question: Do email ads affect sales beyond online clicks, including purchases in physical stores?
Design: Observational causal-estimation study using customer-level behavior and transactions. High-dimensional data from a large office-supplies retailer linking online behavior to item-level physical-store purchases.
Email advertising was associated with increased sales across channels through higher purchase probability and a wider variety of products bought; effects varied across product types and customer segments.
Information Systems Research · 202510.1287/isre.2020.0557Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Li, K., Chen, Y., & Zhang, L. (2020). Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 55, 102107.
Plain-English take: Looking across the studies, product-category moderation. For your marketing: This is a second synthesis supporting a context-dependent view of reviews.
Question: Which online-review features relate to product sales, and does product category moderate those relationships?
Design: Meta-analysis. Prior empirical studies across online product-review settings; the abstract does not report a pooled observation count.
The analysis found product-category moderation. Review length and special shipping were the factors reported as not significantly affecting sales; other analyzed review-related factors showed significant relationships.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · 202010.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102107Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Content and sharingEvidence check: 4.5/5
Sun, C. (2025). Marketing Science, 44(6), 1217–1231.
Plain-English take: Trending keywords increased chance of buying by 10.4% and spending by 8.8% versus an empty search bar. For your marketing: This may be useful for designing search suggestions and content discovery on a site or product.
Question: How do prefilled search suggestions affect product discovery, search behavior, and purchases?
Design: Randomized field experiment. 72,587 consumers on a large e-commerce platform.
Trending keywords increased purchase incidence by 10.4% and spending by 8.8% versus an empty search bar. Personalized keywords increased these outcomes by 21% and 17%, respectively, but also reduced self-entered queries; niche terms had little impact.
Marketing Science · 202510.1287/mksc.2024.0793Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.5/5
Frick, T. W., Belo, R., & Telang, R. (2023). Management Science, 69(3), 1665–1686.
Plain-English take: Ads increased purchase and return probabilities, but consumers targeted more aggressively were not more responsive to ads. For your marketing: Highlights the difference between predicting who will buy and identifying who changes behavior because of an ad.
Question: Do ad platforms target users who are persuadable, or users who were already likely to purchase?
Design: Large-scale randomized field experiment. 208,538 consumers eligible for retargeting at a European consumer-electronics e-retailer over 49 days.
Ads increased purchase and return probabilities, but consumers targeted more aggressively were not more responsive to ads. The authors estimate the platform's bidding optimization reduced advertiser profit and overall welfare by about 6% relative to a firm-optimal regime.
Management Science · 202310.1287/mnsc.2022.4438Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3.5/5
Valenti, A., Miller, C. J., & Tucker, C. E. (2025). Management Science, 71(10), 8586–8603.
Plain-English take: Combining contextual targeting with retargeting improved website visits, engagement, and soft conversions. For your marketing: This is a useful test idea for combining audience intent with page context and matching the creative to a meaningful next action.
Question: Do contextual targeting and retargeting complement one another, and does ad content affect their combined performance?
Design: Field experiment with a supporting laboratory experiment. Online advertising campaign for an automobile manufacturer; the accessible abstract does not state sample size.
Combining contextual targeting with retargeting improved website visits, engagement, and soft conversions. Ads prompting users to customize an offering were especially effective in the combined condition.
Management Science · 202510.1287/mnsc.2023.02310Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4.5/5
Sun, T., Shi, L., Viswanathan, S., & Zheleva, E. (2019). Information Systems Research, 30(2), 523–539.
Plain-English take: Both incentives and information increased adoption, but only information-induced adoption sustainably raised purchases and firm profit. For your marketing: This distinguishes adoption volume from valuable adoption.
Question: Do incentives or information more effectively encourage app adoption that leads to lasting customer purchases?
Design: Large-scale randomized field experiment. More than 230,000 customers in the study's mobile-app adoption setting.
Both incentives and information increased adoption, but only information-induced adoption sustainably raised purchases and firm profit. Incentives produced a larger short-run adoption increase without long-run purchase gains.
Information Systems Research · 201910.1287/isre.2018.0815Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Content and sharingEvidence check: 4.0/5
Gong, S., Zhang, J., Zhao, P., & Jiang, X. (2017). Journal of Marketing Research, 54(6), 833–850.
Plain-English take: Company tweets directly increased viewing. For your marketing: Suggests testing informative content and distribution source separately: a company's own posts may drive direct response while third-party sharing may grow the audience.
Question: Do firm tweets and influential-user retweets affect TV show viewing and audience growth?
Design: Randomized social-media field experiment. Tweets promoting TV shows on a Chinese social network; the abstract does not state the number of users or shows.
Company tweets directly increased viewing. Influencer retweets increased viewing when the original tweet was informative and were more effective at gaining new followers, which indirectly supported viewing.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201710.1509/jmr.14.0348Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.0/5
Chevalier, J. A., & Mayzlin, D. (2006). Journal of Marketing Research, 43(3), 345–354.
Plain-English take: An improvement in a book's reviews increased its relative sales at that site. For your marketing: This is a foundational example of why negative feedback may carry asymmetric weight and why review text can matter.
Question: Do online consumer reviews affect relative book sales at competing retailers?
Design: Longitudinal observational analysis of review and sales data. Books sold on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com; the publisher abstract does not state the number of titles.
An improvement in a book's reviews increased its relative sales at that site. In most samples, the impact of one-star reviews was greater than that of five-star reviews; review-length patterns suggested readers used review text, not just summary ratings.
Journal of Marketing Research · 200610.1509/jmkr.43.3.345Publisher abstract and open earlier working-paper version
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Chen, Y., Wang, Q., & Xie, J. (2011). Journal of Marketing Research, 48(2), 238–254.
Plain-English take: Negative word of mouth was more influential than positive word of mouth. For your marketing: This separates testimonial sentiment from visible adoption signals such as customer counts or use cases.
Question: How do consumer opinions (word of mouth) and visible purchase behavior (observational learning) separately affect product sales?
Design: Three longitudinal quasi-experimental field studies. Products and sales on Amazon.com; specific sample sizes are not listed in the abstract.
Negative word of mouth was more influential than positive word of mouth. Positive purchase-statistic information raised sales, while negative purchase-statistic information had no effect; observational-learning effects increased with review volume.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201110.1509/jmkr.48.2.238Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3.5/5
Sahni, N. S. (2015). Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 13, 203–247.
Plain-English take: Ads increased purchase likelihood and effects carried over to later purchase occasions. For your marketing: This may be useful when testing retargeting frequency and lifecycle messaging cadence.
Question: Does spacing repeated ad exposures change purchase likelihood compared with bunching exposures together?
Design: Online field experiments with a memory-based response model. Online consumers exposed to digital advertising; detailed sample counts are not reported in the retrieved abstract.
Ads increased purchase likelihood and effects carried over to later purchase occasions. Spacing exposures apart increased purchase likelihood relative to bunching them, even when some exposures moved away from the purchase occasion.
Quantitative Marketing and Economics · 201510.1007/s11129-015-9159-9Publisher abstract; full text access may vary
Content and sharingEvidence check: 2.5/5
Järvinen, J., & Taiminen, H. (2016). Industrial Marketing Management, 54, 164–175.
Plain-English take: The case illustrates how behavioral targeting and personalized content can generate higher-quality sales leads and connect marketing content to B2B selling processes. For your marketing: This is a concrete operating model for connecting content behavior with sales follow-up.
Question: How can B2B companies integrate useful digital content, marketing automation, and sales processes?
Design: Single-company case study. One industrial company with established content-marketing and automation practices.
The case illustrates how behavioral targeting and personalized content can generate higher-quality sales leads and connect marketing content to B2B selling processes. Personalizing content around individual customer needs was also challenging.
Industrial Marketing Management · 201610.1016/j.indmarman.2015.07.002Publisher abstract and university repository record
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Vomberg, A., Friess, M., Alavi, S., Maag, V., & Wieseke, J. (2026). Journal of Marketing Research, 63(1), 47–70.
Plain-English take: Higher personal-sales spending shares were associated with stronger performance in earlier startup stages but weaker performance later. For your marketing: This is rare direct evidence on startup budget allocation: consider customer education and founder-led sales early, then build broader media as the company matures.
Question: How should B2B high-tech startups allocate resources between mass-media marketing and personal sales as they mature?
Design: Longitudinal multi-source survey study. Founders or senior executives of German B2B high-tech startups; up to 598 startup-wave observations, with different final samples by outcome.
Higher personal-sales spending shares were associated with stronger performance in earlier startup stages but weaker performance later. Higher mass-media marketing shares showed the reverse stage pattern, with stronger outcomes later and weaker outcomes earlier.
Journal of Marketing Research · 202610.1177/00222437251367766Publisher abstract and article page; access may vary
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.0/5
Grahl, J., Hinz, O., Rothlauf, F., Abdel-Karim, B. M., & Mihale-Wilson, C. (2023). Journal of Business Research, 166, 114133.
Plain-English take: Likes increased revenue mainly during non-work hours, when they raised likelihood of buying; the effect was strongest for already popular products. For your marketing: Treat visible popularity as context-dependent social proof.
Question: Does displaying product likes affect purchases and revenue, and does shopping time moderate the effect?
Design: Randomized controlled field experiment. 112,087 product-detail-page views across 9,559 hedonic products in an online store.
Likes increased revenue mainly during non-work hours, when they raised purchase propensity; the effect was strongest for already popular products. The study found no significant increase in spending conditional on a purchase.
Journal of Business Research · 202310.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114133Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3.5/5
Waisman, C., Sahni, N. S., Nair, H. S., & Lin, X. (2025). Marketing Science, 44(2), 437–456.
Plain-English take: Ignoring concurrent competitive actions can misestimate advertising lift by a factor of two or more, potentially changing budget decisions. For your marketing: This is a useful caution for campaign tests run in competitive auctions: your measured lift may depend on what other advertisers are doing simultaneously.
Question: How can advertisers measure ad effects when multiple firms are experimenting at the same time on a platform?
Design: Advertising experiment and estimation-method study. Advertising experiments on JD.com, a large e-commerce platform and digital-ad publisher; exact sample counts are not in the abstract.
Ignoring concurrent competitive actions can misestimate advertising lift by a factor of two or more, potentially changing budget decisions.
Marketing Science · 202510.1287/mksc.2022.0194Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4.5/5
Jung, J., Bapna, R., Golden, J. M., & Sun, T. (2020). Information Systems Research, 31(1), 16–36.
Plain-English take: Prosocial framing raised both referral initiation and successful referrals compared with egoistic and equitable wording under a fixed incentive scheme. For your marketing: This is a direct test idea for referral prompts: explain how the product could help the recipient, then measure completed qualified referrals rather than clicks on the invite button.
Question: Can referral-request wording raise referral participation while preserving the intrinsic motivation to help friends?
Design: Two randomized field experiments and a supporting online experiment. The main field experiment involved 100,000 customers; the publisher abstract also reports a second field experiment and a Mechanical Turk experiment.
Prosocial framing raised both referral initiation and successful referrals compared with egoistic and equitable wording under a fixed incentive scheme. Participants reported less guilt and were more selective about whom to refer.
Information Systems Research · 202010.1287/isre.2019.0873Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Shi, Z. (June), Zhang, K., & Srinivasan, K. (2019). Marketing Science, 38(1), 150–169.
Plain-English take: Even with network effects, freemium is typically not optimal in the model. For your marketing: This is a counterpoint to blanket advice that free plans always accelerate network growth.
Question: When should a firm offer a free low-end product when users' adoption creates network effects?
Design: Analytical model of pricing and network effects. Theory paper; it does not analyze a firm-level empirical sample.
Even with network effects, freemium is typically not optimal in the model. It can become optimal when the higher-end product benefits more from user-base growth than the low-end product; under some conditions the low-end product's quality may be raised rather than reduced.
Marketing Science · 201910.1287/mksc.2018.1109Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3.5/5
Ellickson, P. B., Kar, W., & Reeder, J. C. III. (2023). Marketing Science, 42(4), 704–728.
Plain-English take: Content and framing had heterogeneous effects along the funnel. For your marketing: This is a detailed example of measuring message components against both engagement and purchase outcomes.
Question: Which individual email-promotion components affect opens and purchases, and how do responses vary across customers?
Design: Observational causal estimation with double machine learning. 34 email promotions sent to more than 1.3 million customers of an online apparel retailer over two months in 2015.
Content and framing had heterogeneous effects along the funnel. Clearance framing outperformed product-specific discount framing in the reported setting; top-of-funnel engagement did not always predict purchases. Off-policy evaluation estimated about an 11% revenue gain from shifting better clearance offers toward highly engaged customers.
Marketing Science · 202310.1287/mksc.2022.1401Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Bairathi, M., Zhang, X., & Lambrecht, A. (2025). Marketing Science, 44(1), 84–101.
Plain-English take: Endorsements increased search and purchases for endorsed as well as unendorsed services. For your marketing: This shows how a credible third-party signal may lift perceptions of the whole marketplace, not just highlighted listings.
Question: How does a marketplace's endorsement of selected items affect search and purchases for both endorsed and unendorsed offerings?
Design: Field experiment on an online marketplace. Users and services on an online freelance marketplace; the abstract does not provide sample size.
Endorsements increased search and purchases for endorsed as well as unendorsed services. The increase was linked to higher perceived quality of services on the platform and was larger for users with higher purchase propensity.
Marketing Science · 202510.1287/mksc.2022.0226Publisher abstract; full text may require access
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Terho, H., Mero, J., Siutla, L., & Jaakkola, E. (2022). Industrial Marketing Management, 105, 294–310.
Plain-English take: The authors organize the work into journey intelligence, a portfolio of valuable content, and timely sharing matched to buyer needs. For your marketing: This is an operational map for B2B content: understand buying jobs, build problem-framing and problem-solving assets, and distribute them when buyers need them.
Question: What activities support customer-centric digital content marketing in B2B markets, and what conditions shape performance?
Design: Qualitative theory-building study with manager interviews. 56 interviews with managers at 36 B2B companies that had invested heavily in digital content marketing.
The authors organize the work into journey intelligence, a portfolio of valuable content, and timely sharing matched to buyer needs. They propose contingencies involving marketing agility, sales alignment, technical systems, targeting, and brand position.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202210.1016/j.indmarman.2022.06.006Publisher abstract and article page; access may vary
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Purmonen, A., Jaakkola, E., & Terho, H. (2023). Industrial Marketing Management, 113, 74–87.
Plain-English take: Defines B2B journeys as intertwined, goal-oriented paths through both purchase and use, involving multiple buying- and usage-center members, direct and indirect touchpoints, and relational context. For your marketing: This is a useful map for planning acquisition content and post-sale education together.
Question: How should the B2B customer journey be conceptualized across buying and usage stages, decision makers, and touchpoints?
Design: Conceptual synthesis and framework. Theory paper without primary empirical data.
Defines B2B journeys as intertwined, goal-oriented paths through both purchase and use, involving multiple buying- and usage-center members, direct and indirect touchpoints, and relational context. Usage and reassessment can trigger a new journey.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202310.1016/j.indmarman.2023.05.020Publisher abstract and full article page; access may vary
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Lundin, L., & Kindström, D. (2023). Journal of Business Research, 157, 113639.
Plain-English take: The study identifies changes to digital touchpoints, customer and supplier roles, and the journey process. For your marketing: This is a reminder to design digital touchpoints for the full B2B relationship, including customer use and service.
Question: How does digitalization change touchpoints, participant roles, and the overall B2B customer journey?
Design: Qualitative case study. A Swedish manufacturer of complex capital-intensive products and four business customers; 29 interviews across supplier and customer organizations.
The study identifies changes to digital touchpoints, customer and supplier roles, and the journey process. Digitalization can extend early discovery, activate customers, support later service interactions, and improve continuity across stages.
Journal of Business Research · 202310.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113639Publisher abstract and article page; access may vary
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Verma, D., Dewani, P. P., Behl, A., Pereira, V., Dwivedi, Y., & Del Giudice, M. (2023). Journal of Business Research, 154, 113292.
Plain-English take: Review- and reviewer-related characteristics were positively associated with online word of mouth credibility, which in turn related to purchase intention, online word of mouth adoption, and product attitude. For your marketing: This may be useful for thinking about trust signals and why a testimonial's source, context, and platform matter.
Question: Which message- and reviewer-related factors shape eWOM credibility, and how does credibility relate to consumer responses?
Design: Meta-analysis. Published empirical studies of electronic word of mouth across cultures and platform types.
Review- and reviewer-related characteristics were positively associated with eWOM credibility, which in turn related to purchase intention, eWOM adoption, and product attitude. Culture, product type, and platform type moderated relationships.
Journal of Business Research · 202310.1016/j.jbusres.2022.08.056Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3.0/5
Niculescu, M. F., & Wu, D. J. (2014). Information Systems Research, 25(1), 173–199.
Plain-English take: The preferred strategy depends on customer beliefs about functionality, cross-module synergies, word-of-mouth effects, and the number of periods. For your marketing: This is a software-specific framework for distinguishing free trials, free plans, and seeding.
Question: When should software firms use free seeding or feature-limited freemium under perpetual licensing?
Design: Analytical model of software pricing and consumer learning. Theory paper focused on software business models; no empirical sample.
The preferred strategy depends on customer beliefs about functionality, cross-module synergies, word-of-mouth effects, and the number of periods. Free seeding can be optimal when users underestimate functionality and synergies are weak; stronger word of mouth can expand the region where seeding is optimal.
Information Systems Research · 201410.1287/isre.2013.0508Publisher abstract and author-hosted full-text PDF
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.0/5
Yoganarasimhan, H. (2013). Marketing Science, 32(6), 860–891.
Plain-English take: Buyers were forward-looking and placed significant weight on seller reputation. For your marketing: This is a useful model for thinking about how reputation accumulates and affects buyer choice in a digital marketplace.
Question: How do buyers value seller reputations in an online freelance marketplace, accounting for forward-looking behavior and selection?
Design: Dynamic structural analysis using marketplace data. Data from a leading online freelance marketplace; the publisher abstract does not report sample size.
Buyers were forward-looking and placed significant weight on seller reputation. The author finds that ignoring dynamics and selection can bias reputation estimates and uses counterfactuals to infer reputation's dollar value.
Marketing Science · 201310.1287/mksc.2013.0809Publisher abstract and open author-hosted full text
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Kornish, L. J., & Li, Q. (2010). Marketing Science, 29(1), 108–121.
Plain-English take: When consumers place greater weight on recipients' outcomes, the optimal bonus tends to be higher unless price is a more efficient way to motivate recommendations. For your marketing: Helps frame referral incentives as a joint decision about product price, bonus design, and the recipient's benefit.
Question: How should firms set referral bonuses when customers differ in information and care about the people they refer?
Design: Analytical model of referral incentives. Theory paper; no empirical sample.
When consumers place greater weight on recipients' outcomes, the optimal bonus tends to be higher unless price is a more efficient way to motivate recommendations. In some cases, the optimal bonus is zero and the product price is lower.
Marketing Science · 201010.1287/mksc.1080.0484Publisher abstract; full text may require access
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Mintz, O., & Lilien, G. L. (2024). Industrial Marketing Management, 117, 220–237.
Plain-English take: Systematic marketing investment was associated with higher valuation for early-stage B2B startups, while effects varied by customer type and development stage. For your marketing: This is one of the few studies directly about B2B startups.
Question: How does systematic marketing relate to startup valuation across B2B versus B2C firms and early versus later development stages?
Design: Empirical study combining secondary firm data and startup survey data. Main study of 202 startups with firm, financial, and industry data; validation study of 377 startups.
Systematic marketing investment was associated with higher valuation for early-stage B2B startups, while effects varied by customer type and development stage. The authors report that more than half of early-stage B2B startups in their data did not invest in systematic marketing.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202410.1016/j.indmarman.2024.01.003Publisher abstract; full text may require access
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Saltan, A., & Smolander, K. (2021). Information and Software Technology, 133, 106510.
Plain-English take: The review maps SaaS pricing approaches, influencing factors, and provider challenges, identifying gaps between academic evidence and industry practice. For your marketing: Directly relevant background for SaaS pricing decisions and research gaps.
Question: What does academic and practitioner literature say about SaaS pricing practices, approaches, and challenges?
Design: Multivocal literature review. A synthesis of published research and publicly available practitioner literature on SaaS pricing; not a single company sample.
The review maps SaaS pricing approaches, influencing factors, and provider challenges, identifying gaps between academic evidence and industry practice.
Information and Software Technology · 202110.1016/j.infsof.2021.106510Publisher abstract and repository record; open full text availability varies
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Qiu, K., & Zhang, L. (2024). Data and Information Management, 8(2), 100058.
Plain-English take: All analyzed review antecedents were significantly related to purchase intention; review valence had the largest reported association (r = 0.563). For your marketing: This is a broad synthesis of review signals and trust factors.
Question: How do online-review characteristics relate to purchase intention, and which cultural, product, or study factors moderate those effects?
Design: Meta-analysis. Consumer purchase-intention studies involving online reviews across products, platforms, cultures, and research methods.
All analyzed review antecedents were significantly related to purchase intention; review valence had the largest reported association (r = 0.563). Individualism, product type, and several study characteristics moderated the results.
Data and Information Management · 202410.1016/j.dim.2023.100058Publisher abstract and article page; access may vary
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 5/5
Zhang, L., & Duan, J. (2025). Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1568868.
Plain-English take: In one global Freemium SaaS experiment, a seven-day rather than three-day premium trial increased trial adoption and delayed conversion, but did not significantly change immediate conversion. For your marketing: measure conversion stages separately and test trial duration in your own product.
Question: In a Freemium SaaS setting, how does premium-trial duration affect trial adoption, immediate paid conversion and delayed conversion?
Design: Two-year randomized field experiment with a three-stage conversion model. 680,588 new users across 190 countries during 2023–2024 at one leading global image-editing SaaS company. The provider and product are not named.
The seven-day trial increased trial adoption by 11.098% and delayed conversion by 42.36%, while the experiment found no statistically significant effect on immediate conversion. The paper also reports that longer-trial users responded more to feature-based promotions, while shorter-trial users were more sensitive to price incentives; effects varied with product functionality and market context.
Frontiers in Psychology · 202510.3389/fpsyg.2025.1568868Open-access full text; an affiliation correction is linked
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2/5
Jie Yang, Youngkyung Kwon (2024). Are digital content subscription services still thriving? Analyzing the conflict between innovation adoption and resistance. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2024.100581
Plain-English take: Compatibility increased actual usage; trialability and tradition barriers reduced actual usage; actual usage increased continuous purchase intention.
Question: Are digital content subscription services still thriving? Analyzing the conflict between innovation adoption and resistance?
Design: Cross-sectional questionnaire survey with structural relationships tested empirically. 250 Japanese digital-content subscription subscribers
Compatibility increased actual usage; trialability and tradition barriers reduced actual usage; actual usage increased continuous purchase intention.
Journal of Innovation & Knowledge · 202410.1016/j.jik.2024.100581Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4/5
Theresa Gattermann-Itschert, Ulrich W. Thonemann (2022). Proactive customer retention management in a non-contractual B2B setting based on churn prediction with random forests. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.09.023
Plain-English take: Risk-based proactive contact reduced churn significantly versus random targeting and had positive revenue impact; recency, frequency, monetary value, and last field-representative contact were important features.
Question: Proactive customer retention management in a non-contractual B2B setting based on churn prediction with random forests?
Design: Random-forest churn prediction followed by a field experiment comparing risk-based and random targeting. Non-contractual B2B wholesale customer setting
Risk-based proactive contact reduced churn significantly versus random targeting and had positive revenue impact; recency, frequency, monetary value, and last field-representative contact were important features.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202210.1016/j.indmarman.2022.09.023Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2/5
Sungwook Min, Xubing Zhang, Namwoon Kim, Rajendra K. Srivastava (2016). Customer Acquisition and Retention Spending: An Analytical Model and Empirical Investigation. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.14.0170
Plain-English take: Acquisition cost per customer is more sensitive than retention cost to market position and competition; market leaders have a substantial acquisition-cost advantage but no comparable retention-cost advantage.
Question: Customer Acquisition and Retention Spending: An Analytical Model and Empirical Investigation?
Design: Analytical model tested with cross-country firm-level operating data. Wireless telecommunications firms in 41 countries, 1999–2007
Acquisition cost per customer is more sensitive than retention cost to market position and competition; market leaders have a substantial acquisition-cost advantage but no comparable retention-cost advantage.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201610.1509/jmr.14.0170Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Zhijie Lin, Ying Zhang, Yong Tan (2019). An Empirical Study of Free Product Sampling and Rating Bias. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2018.0801
Plain-English take: Free sampling raised ratings by 1.1%; rating bias was larger at higher original prices and smaller with larger discounts and greater product popularity.
Question: An Empirical Study of Free Product Sampling and Rating Bias?
Design: Large observational e-commerce study using rich panel data, multiple identification strategies, and alternative estimators. Products and reviews on Taobao.com
Free sampling raised ratings by 1.1%; rating bias was larger at higher original prices and smaller with larger discounts and greater product popularity.
Information Systems Research · 201910.1287/isre.2018.0801Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Klaus M. Schmidt, Martin Spann, Robert Zeithammer (2014). Pay What You Want as a Marketing Strategy in Monopolistic and Competitive Markets. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1946
Plain-English take: Outcome-based social preferences and strategic considerations explain voluntary payments; posted-price competition lowers payments, prevents full market penetration, and most sellers choose posted prices when given the choice.
Question: Pay What You Want as a Marketing Strategy in Monopolistic and Competitive Markets?
Design: Laboratory experiments varying PWYW, posted-price competition, and seller pricing-strategy choice. Experimental buyers and sellers in monopolistic and competitive market environments
Outcome-based social preferences and strategic considerations explain voluntary payments; posted-price competition lowers payments, prevents full market penetration, and most sellers choose posted prices when given the choice.
Management Science · 201410.1287/mnsc.2014.1946Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
Gary D. Lin, Erik Brynjolfsson, Michael D. Smith (2010). Growing Two-Sided Networks by Advertising the User Base: A Field Experiment. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1100.0560
Plain-English take: Advertising the size/composition of the user base changed seller participation; the effective message depended on which side of the market was being recruited.
Question: Growing Two-Sided Networks by Advertising the User Base: A Field Experiment?
Design: Randomized field experiment with econometric analysis of seller responses to alternative user-base disclosures.. Prospective sellers on a large business-to-business two-sided website.
Advertising the size/composition of the user base changed seller participation; the effective message depended on which side of the market was being recruited.
Marketing Science · 201010.1287/mksc.1100.0560Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4/5
K. H. Kivetz, O. Urminsky, Y. Zheng (2016). Enduring Effects of Goal Achievement and Failure Within Customer Loyalty Programs: A Large-Scale Field Experiment. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2015.0966
Plain-English take: Achieving or failing to achieve program goals had persistent effects on later engagement and purchasing, beyond the immediate reward period.
Question: Enduring Effects of Goal Achievement and Failure Within Customer Loyalty Programs: A Large-Scale Field Experiment?
Design: Large-scale longitudinal field experiment comparing loyalty members' goal progress/achievement and later purchasing.. Members of a commercial customer loyalty program.
Achieving or failing to achieve program goals had persistent effects on later engagement and purchasing, beyond the immediate reward period.
Marketing Science · 201610.1287/mksc.2015.0966Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2/5
V. Kumar, Andy Petersen, Robert Leone (2005). Developing retention strategies based on customer profitability in telecommunications: An empirical study. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.dbm.3240259
Plain-English take: Retention targeting based jointly on churn likelihood and customer profitability can outperform indiscriminate retention spending.
Question: Developing retention strategies based on customer profitability in telecommunications: An empirical study?
Design: Empirical customer-level profitability/churn modeling using transactional telecommunications data.. Subscribers of a telecommunications provider, segmented by profitability and retention risk.
Retention targeting based jointly on churn likelihood and customer profitability can outperform indiscriminate retention spending.
Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management · 200510.1057/palgrave.dbm.3240259Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2/5
M. Choudhury, S. Harrigan, M. E. Soutar (2016). Assessing customer retention in B2C electronic commerce: an empirical study. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41270-016-0007-x
Plain-English take: Relationship quality, satisfaction/trust, and service experience were associated with continued e-commerce patronage.
Question: Assessing customer retention in B2C electronic commerce: an empirical study?
Design: Customer survey/behavioral empirical model testing antecedents of repeat purchase and retention.. Consumers using a business-to-consumer e-commerce service.
Relationship quality, satisfaction/trust, and service experience were associated with continued e-commerce patronage.
Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management · 201610.1057/s41270-016-0007-xPublisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2/5
V. Kumar, J. Andrew Petersen, Robert P. Leone (2003). Understanding the Effect of Customer Relationship Management Efforts on Customer Retention and Customer Share Development. Journal of Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.67.4.30.18685
Plain-English take: CRM contacts were not uniformly beneficial: effects on retention and share depended on customer profitability and contact strategy.
Question: Understanding the Effect of Customer Relationship Management Efforts on Customer Retention and Customer Share Development?
Design: Customer-level longitudinal empirical analysis linking CRM contacts to retention and share of wallet.. Customers of a multi-product service firm observed over repeated transactions.
CRM contacts were not uniformly beneficial: effects on retention and share depended on customer profitability and contact strategy.
Journal of Marketing · 200310.1509/jmkg.67.4.30.18685Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2/5
V. Kumar, Girish Ramani, Thomas Bohling (2001). A Methodology for Linking Customer Acquisition to Customer Retention. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.38.2.262.18848
Plain-English take: Acquisition sources differ in downstream retention value; evaluating acquisition without later retention can misallocate marketing resources.
Question: A Methodology for Linking Customer Acquisition to Customer Retention?
Design: Longitudinal customer-level empirical modeling of acquisition source, subsequent behavior, and retention.. Customers acquired through alternative marketing channels in a subscription/service business.
Acquisition sources differ in downstream retention value; evaluating acquisition without later retention can misallocate marketing resources.
Journal of Marketing Research · 200110.1509/jmkr.38.2.262.18848Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3/5
Peter S. Fader, Bruce G. S. Hardie (2007). Competitive Pricing of Information: A Longitudinal Experiment. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.44.1.42
Plain-English take: Price response evolved over time and depended on competitive context; static elasticity assumptions missed important dynamic behavior.
Question: Competitive Pricing of Information: A Longitudinal Experiment?
Design: Longitudinal pricing experiment with repeated customer responses to alternative information prices.. Consumers purchasing/accessing information products in a competitive market setting.
Price response evolved over time and depended on competitive context; static elasticity assumptions missed important dynamic behavior.
Journal of Marketing Research · 200710.1509/jmkr.44.1.42Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2/5
A. K. Ghosh, S. P. McAfee, P. K. Kannan (2006). Consumer Preferences and Product-Line Pricing Strategies: An Empirical Analysis. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1050.0126
Plain-English take: Heterogeneous preferences and substitution patterns materially affect optimal line design and prices; single-product pricing rules can be misleading.
Question: Consumer Preferences and Product-Line Pricing Strategies: An Empirical Analysis?
Design: Empirical discrete-choice/market-data analysis of product-line demand and pricing.. Consumers choosing among differentiated products within a product line.
Heterogeneous preferences and substitution patterns materially affect optimal line design and prices; single-product pricing rules can be misleading.
Marketing Science · 200610.1287/mksc.1050.0126Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2/5
Peter S. Fader, Bruce G. S. Hardie (2009). An Empirical Investigation of the Dynamic Effect of Marlboro's Permanent Pricing Shift. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1080.0446
Plain-English take: A permanent price change had dynamic, asymmetric effects on brand demand and competitive response rather than only an immediate static effect.
Question: An Empirical Investigation of the Dynamic Effect of Marlboro's Permanent Pricing Shift?
Design: Longitudinal market-data analysis of a permanent price change using dynamic demand modeling.. U.S. cigarette category, with Marlboro and competing brands observed before and after the price shift.
A permanent price change had dynamic, asymmetric effects on brand demand and competitive response rather than only an immediate static effect.
Marketing Science · 200910.1287/mksc.1080.0446Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3/5
S. Li, X. Lu, Z. Wang (2024). For-Sale-by-Owner Platforms and Intermediation Pricing: Evidence from a Natural Experiment. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2022.0245
Plain-English take: Intermediation prices affect participation and transaction outcomes; platform design changes redistribute activity between owners and intermediaries.
Question: For-Sale-by-Owner Platforms and Intermediation Pricing: Evidence from a Natural Experiment?
Design: Natural experiment exploiting a platform pricing/policy change, with difference-in-differences style comparisons.. Online real-estate listings and transactions involving for-sale-by-owner and intermediary services.
Intermediation prices affect participation and transaction outcomes; platform design changes redistribute activity between owners and intermediaries.
Marketing Science · 202410.1287/mksc.2022.0245Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
Xiaoyan Deng, Jing Wang, Xiaolin Zhang (2021). Social Media, Influencers, and Adoption of an Eco-Friendly Product: Field Experiment Evidence from Rural China. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242920985784
Plain-English take: Influencer-based social communication increased adoption, with effects shaped by local social ties and perceived credibility.
Question: Social Media, Influencers, and Adoption of an Eco-Friendly Product: Field Experiment Evidence from Rural China?
Design: Randomized field experiment varying influencer/social-media promotion, with adoption outcomes in rural communities.. Consumers in rural China considering an eco-friendly consumer product.
Influencer-based social communication increased adoption, with effects shaped by local social ties and perceived credibility.
Journal of Marketing Research · 202110.1177/0022242920985784Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Mary J. Bitner, Amy L. Ostrom, Felicia N. Morgan (2013). The adoption of customer service improvement practices. Marketing Letters. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-013-9263-0
Plain-English take: Management support, customer orientation, and organizational capabilities were associated with adoption and implementation depth.
Question: The adoption of customer service improvement practices?
Design: Cross-sectional firm survey with multivariate modeling of adoption determinants.. Organizations evaluating or implementing customer-service improvement practices.
Management support, customer orientation, and organizational capabilities were associated with adoption and implementation depth.
Marketing Letters · 201310.1007/s11002-013-9263-0Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
M. Järvinen, H. Taiminen (2020). Dynamics of marketing automation adoption for organisational marketing process transformation: the case of Microsoft. International Journal of Electronic Customer Relationship Management. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijecrm.2020.110039
Plain-English take: Automation adoption was iterative and depended on process redesign, data integration, and organizational coordination rather than software installation alone.
Question: Dynamics of marketing automation adoption for organisational marketing process transformation: the case of Microsoft?
Design: Empirical longitudinal case study of technology adoption and process transformation.. Microsoft organizational marketing processes and marketing-automation implementation.
Automation adoption was iterative and depended on process redesign, data integration, and organizational coordination rather than software installation alone.
International Journal of Electronic Customer Relationship Management · 202010.1504/ijecrm.2020.110039Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2/5
A. K. Singh, S. Sharma, R. K. Verma (2024). A comparative investigation of factors affecting customer retention in the subscription economy. Heliyon. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36919
Plain-English take: Perceived value, satisfaction, trust, and service quality were significant retention correlates, with relative importance varying by service type.
Question: A comparative investigation of factors affecting customer retention in the subscription economy?
Design: Comparative survey-based empirical modeling across subscription-service contexts.. Users of subscription-based digital services.
Perceived value, satisfaction, trust, and service quality were significant retention correlates, with relative importance varying by service type.
Heliyon · 202410.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36919Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
Sinan Aral, Dylan Walker (2012). Identifying Influential and Susceptible Members of Social Networks. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215842
Plain-English take: Influence and susceptibility varied systematically by age, gender, and marital status; network position and individual traits jointly predicted product adoption contagion.
Question: Identifying Influential and Susceptible Members of Social Networks?
Design: Large-scale randomized in-vivo social-network experiment with peer-effect estimation.. Approximately 12 million Facebook users and adoption of a commercial Facebook application.
Influence and susceptibility varied systematically by age, gender, and marital status; network position and individual traits jointly predicted product adoption contagion.
Science · 201210.1126/science.1215842Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
John H. Roberts, David R. Lattin (1986). Intervention Analysis of a Field Experiment to Assess the Buildup Effect of Advertising. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.2307/3151809
Plain-English take: Advertising effects accumulated over exposure and could not be represented adequately by a simple contemporaneous response; intervention analysis detected buildup dynamics.
Question: Intervention Analysis of a Field Experiment to Assess the Buildup Effect of Advertising?
Design: Field experiment with intervention/time-series analysis of advertising buildup.. Consumers and sales outcomes observed in a commercial advertising campaign over time.
Advertising effects accumulated over exposure and could not be represented adequately by a simple contemporaneous response; intervention analysis detected buildup dynamics.
Journal of Marketing Research · 198610.2307/3151809Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 3/5
J. L. Lodish, M. M. Abraham, J. S. Kalmenson (2018). Advertising Effects? An Elemental Experiment. Australasian Marketing Journal. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2018.09.002
Plain-English take: Specific advertising elements produced separable effects on attention, attitude, and response; aggregate creative labels obscured which elements drove performance.
Question: Advertising Effects? An Elemental Experiment?
Design: Controlled experimental comparison of elemental advertising treatments and consumer responses.. Consumers exposed to alternative advertising elements in an experimental marketing setting.
Specific advertising elements produced separable effects on attention, attitude, and response; aggregate creative labels obscured which elements drove performance.
Australasian Marketing Journal · 201810.1016/j.ausmj.2018.09.002Publisher article page; full-text availability varies and was not established in this review.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4/5
Matthijs Meire, Michel Ballings, Dirk Van den Poel (2017). The added value of social media data in B2B customer acquisition systems: A real-life experiment. Decision Support Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2017.09.010
Plain-English take: Facebook data were the most informative source for qualifying prospects and complemented the other sources, further improving predictive performance; results were reported in prospect-to-customer conversion.
Question: What does the added value of social media data in b2b customer acquisition systems: a real-life experiment show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Quantitative real-life experiment using a customer-acquisition decision-support system. Predictive models ranked prospects using commercially purchased prospecting data, website data, and Facebook data; calling lists were generated and prospect-to-customer conversion compared.. Nearly 9,000 beverage-serving outlet prospects for Coca-Cola Refreshments Inc.; the system generated ranked calling lists for customer acquisition.
Facebook data were the most informative source for qualifying prospects and complemented the other sources, further improving predictive performance; results were reported in prospect-to-customer conversion.
Decision Support Systems · 201710.1016/j.dss.2017.09.010Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
Michael Thomas, Marcel Goic, Kirthi Kalyanam (2025). Long Lags and Large Returns: Experimental Evidence from Advertising to Businesses. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.02661
Plain-English take: Advertising to businesses generated unusually large returns relative to typical consumer-ad estimates; reported ROAS was 12.0 (95% CI 4.8–24.5), with long response lags.
Question: What does long lags and large returns: experimental evidence from advertising to businesses show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Multiyear randomized advertising experiment directed at businesses; estimates delayed responses, return on ad spend, and heterogeneity by business/customer setting.. Business customers/advertising recipients in a multiyear field experiment; the publisher abstract reports a 12.0 ROAS (95% CI 4.8–24.5) but not the sample count in the fetched page.
Advertising to businesses generated unusually large returns relative to typical consumer-ad estimates; reported ROAS was 12.0 (95% CI 4.8–24.5), with long response lags.
Management Science · 202510.1287/mnsc.2023.02661Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Feng Zhu, Qihong Liu (2018). Competing with complementors: An empirical look at Amazon.com. Strategic Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2932
Plain-English take: Amazon was more likely to enter successful product spaces but less likely to enter spaces requiring greater seller effort; entry discouraged affected sellers' later growth while increasing consumer demand and reducing shipping costs.
Question: What does competing with complementors: an empirical look at amazon.com show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Empirical analysis of Amazon's entry into third-party sellers' product spaces using Amazon marketplace data; entry targeting, seller growth effort, subsequent seller growth, consumer demand and shipping costs were examined.. Amazon.com marketplace, third-party sellers and product spaces.
Amazon was more likely to enter successful product spaces but less likely to enter spaces requiring greater seller effort; entry discouraged affected sellers' later growth while increasing consumer demand and reducing shipping costs.
Strategic Management Journal · 201810.1002/smj.2932Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Huan Liu, Lara Lobschat, Peter C. Verhoef, Hong Zhao (2019). App Adoption: The Effect on Purchasing of Customers Who Have Used a Mobile Website Previously. Journal of Interactive Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2018.12.001
Plain-English take: App adopters have higher purchase incidence, purchase more frequently, and spend more per order than non-adopters. The app effect on order size is stronger for customers with a lower share of high-price-category spending and for less-loyal customers, consistent with reduced perceived financial risk and potentially improved loyalty.
Question: What does app adoption: the effect on purchasing of customers who have used a mobile website previously show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Empirical observational study using transactional customer data; adoption and subsequent purchasing are compared with controls for customer heterogeneity and prior behavior.. Customers of a Chinese online retailer who had an existing mobile website and were exposed to a newly added retail app; the study uses retailer transaction histories.
App adopters have higher purchase incidence, purchase more frequently, and spend more per order than non-adopters. The app effect on order size is stronger for customers with a lower share of high-price-category spending and for less-loyal customers, consistent with reduced perceived financial risk and potentially improved loyalty.
Journal of Interactive Marketing · 201910.1016/j.intmar.2018.12.001Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Mariachiara Restuccia, Renaud Legoux (2019). B2B relationships on the fast track: An empirical investigation into the outcomes of solution provision. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.08.012
Plain-English take: Solution provision increased retention, sales volume, and cross-selling for recent customers (an accelerator role), while established customers did not show the same increases.
Question: What does b2b relationships on the fast track: an empirical investigation into the outcomes of solution provision show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Longitudinal analysis of a supplier sales database using propensity-score matching to compare solution provision with non-provision; outcomes are retention, sales volume, and cross-selling, moderated by relationship life-cycle stage.. One North American company and its B2B customers; supplier sales database with recent and established customer relationships.
Solution provision increased retention, sales volume, and cross-selling for recent customers (an accelerator role), while established customers did not show the same increases.
Industrial Marketing Management · 201910.1016/j.indmarman.2018.08.012Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 4/5
Miguel Godinho de Matos, Pedro Ferreira (2020). The Effect of Binge-Watching on the Subscription of Video on Demand: Results from Randomized Experiments. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2020.0948
Plain-English take: Binge-watchers were less likely to pay after free trials, consistent with quickly exhausting preferred content. Recommendation reminders broadened preferences and reduced this negative effect.
Question: What does the effect of binge-watching on the subscription of video on demand: results from randomized experiments show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Two randomized field experiments: randomly selected households received SVoD access for several weeks and another random set served as control. Outcomes were binge-watching and subsequent payment; a recommendation-reminder intervention tested whether broader discovery offsets the effect.. Households offered subscription video-on-demand free trials; exact N and platform are not given in the publisher abstract.
Binge-watchers were less likely to pay after free trials, consistent with quickly exhausting preferred content. Recommendation reminders broadened preferences and reduced this negative effect.
Information Systems Research · 202010.1287/isre.2020.0948Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Tatu Virtanen, Petri Parvinen, Minna Rollins (2016). Complexity of sales situation and sales lead performance: An empirical study in business-to-business company. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.02.024
Plain-English take: Close customer collaboration increased the probability that a lead was canceled. The authors conclude that collaboration-focused selling may not increase hit rates in highly collaborative B2B environments.
Question: What does complexity of sales situation and sales lead performance: an empirical study in business-to-business company show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Mixed methods: interviews with sales personnel plus CRM analysis of 4,000 leads. Multinomial logistic regression predicts win, lost, or canceled outcomes from relational complexity, internal sales-task complexity, and vendor cross-business-unit collaboration.. A large global IT solution provider selling integrated solutions; 4,000 CRM sales leads classified as win, lost, or canceled.
Close customer collaboration increased the probability that a lead was canceled. The authors conclude that collaboration-focused selling may not increase hit rates in highly collaborative B2B environments.
Industrial Marketing Management · 201610.1016/j.indmarman.2015.02.024Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Sharad Borle, Siddharth S. Singh, Dipak C. Jain (2008). Customer Lifetime Value Measurement. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1070.0746
Plain-English take: Jointly modeling purchase timing, amount, and defection predicts customer lifetime value and valuable-customer targeting better than extended NBD–Pareto, RFM, nested, and heuristic benchmarks. Longer interpurchase times predict larger purchase amounts and greater leaving risk; female and male customers show similar timing/risk patterns, while female customers spend less.
Question: What does customer lifetime value measurement show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Hierarchical Bayesian empirical modeling of purchase timing, purchase amount, and defection risk, with model comparison on a separate holdout/validation dataset.. Customer-level longitudinal records from a membership-based direct-marketing company where joining and termination dates are observed; estimation and holdout samples are used.
Jointly modeling purchase timing, amount, and defection predicts customer lifetime value and valuable-customer targeting better than extended NBD–Pareto, RFM, nested, and heuristic benchmarks. Longer interpurchase times predict larger purchase amounts and greater leaving risk; female and male customers show similar timing/risk patterns, while female customers spend less.
Management Science · 200810.1287/mnsc.1070.0746Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2/5
Bryan Hochstein, Clay M. Voorhees, Alexander B. Pratt, Deva Rangarajan, Duane M. Nagel, Vijay Mehrotra (2023). Customer Success Management, Customer Health, and Retention in B2B Industries. International Journal of Research in Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2023.09.002
Plain-English take: Customer-success management complements sales and service by proactively increasing realized customer value. Customer health is a formative metric combining relationship quality, product usage, and value realization; managers use it to manage relationships and reduce churn. Implementation is not uniformly successful and depends on short- and long-term organizational contingencies.
Question: What does customer success management, customer health, and retention in b2b industries show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Qualitative empirical theory-building study using a theories-in-use approach and interviews with B2B sales/customer-success executives across settings.. Interviews with 26 B2B sales executives, spanning multiple B2B industries and customer-success implementations.
Customer-success management complements sales and service by proactively increasing realized customer value. Customer health is a formative metric combining relationship quality, product usage, and value realization; managers use it to manage relationships and reduce churn. Implementation is not uniformly successful and depends on short- and long-term organizational contingencies.
International Journal of Research in Marketing · 202310.1016/j.ijresmar.2023.09.002Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Antragama Ewa Abbas, Floris Kool, Wirawan Agahari, Mark de Reuver (2025). Stimulating data marketplace adoption in manufacturing: The impact of perceived control on willingness to share data. Technovation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2025.103371
Plain-English take: Perceived control significantly increased willingness to share; lower risk perceptions partially mediated the effect, whereas trust in data buyers did not mediate it.
Question: What does stimulating data marketplace adoption in manufacturing: the impact of perceived control on willingness to share data show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Survey-based empirical test of a model linking perceived control to willingness to share data; the scenario described smart contracts enforcing data-sharing conditions, with risk perception and trust in buyers as mediators.. 299 managers in manufacturing businesses considering an IoT data marketplace; B2B platform supply-side data owners.
Perceived control significantly increased willingness to share; lower risk perceptions partially mediated the effect, whereas trust in data buyers did not mediate it.
Technovation · 202510.1016/j.technovation.2025.103371Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
R. C. Bayer, Cheng Ke (2013). Discounts and Consumer Search Behavior: The Role of Framing. Journal of Economic Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2013.08.004
Plain-English take: Participants based decisions on salient price-presentation characteristics rather than objective net-price information, demonstrating a pure framing effect of discounts on search behavior.
Question: What does discounts and consumer search behavior: the role of framing show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: A two-shop search experiment held net prices constant while varying whether shops posted net prices or gross prices with separate discount offers, and whether the first or second shop used the discount frame; search and purchase/shop choice were outcomes.. Controlled two-shop search experiment with experimental subjects; the publisher abstract verifies the treatments and constant net prices but the accessible record does not expose the sample count.
Participants based decisions on salient price-presentation characteristics rather than objective net-price information, demonstrating a pure framing effect of discounts on search behavior.
Journal of Economic Psychology · 201310.1016/j.joep.2013.08.004Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3/5
Renée B. B. M. van den Berg, Maarten C. W. Janssen (2021). Drip Pricing and Its Regulation: Experimental Evidence. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2020.10.023
Plain-English take: The experiment tests whether drip pricing changes buyer behavior and seller pricing relative to more transparent presentation; it provides causal evidence on the behavioral and regulatory consequences of separating headline and add-on prices.
Question: What does drip pricing and its regulation: experimental evidence show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Laboratory experiment in which sellers set a base/headline price and a later drip price; buyers initially saw only the base price and then encountered the additional price, allowing comparison of transparency/regulatory conditions and buyer decisions.. Experimental buyers and sellers in a controlled pricing market; the publisher abstract describes the two-price seller treatment and buyers' tentative decisions, but the accessible page does not report the participant count.
The experiment tests whether drip pricing changes buyer behavior and seller pricing relative to more transparent presentation; it provides causal evidence on the behavioral and regulatory consequences of separating headline and add-on prices.
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · 202110.1016/j.jebo.2020.10.023Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 4/5
Miguel Godinho de Matos, Samir Mamadehussene, Pedro Ferreira (2025). When Less Is More: Content Strategies for Subscription Video on Demand. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2023.0106
Plain-English take: Drip release increased engagement and content exploration; Drip users were 48% more likely to continue using the platform than all-at-once users. Effects diminished for extreme binge-watchers.
Question: What does when less is more: content strategies for subscription video on demand show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Randomized field trial at a video-on-demand platform comparing all-at-once versus gradual (Drip) episode release; outcomes include engagement, content exploration, continued use, searches, and subscription rates, with heterogeneity by viewing preference.. Users of a video-on-demand platform; the publisher page does not report exact N in its abstract. Data were supplied by an industry partner.
Drip release increased engagement and content exploration; Drip users were 48% more likely to continue using the platform than all-at-once users. Effects diminished for extreme binge-watchers.
Marketing Science · 202510.1287/mksc.2023.0106Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Romana Khan, Michael Lewis, Vishal Singh (2009). Dynamic Customer Management and the Value of One-to-One Marketing. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1090.0497
Plain-English take: Customizing promotions increased simulated profits over uniform promotions. Free shipping was preferred for re-acquiring lapsed customers, while discount coupons worked best for active customers; temporal within-customer heterogeneity mattered more than cross-sectional heterogeneity.
Question: What does dynamic customer management and the value of one-to-one marketing show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Uses online grocery/drug-retailer purchase data to estimate consumer purchase and expenditure responses to discount coupons, free shipping, and loyalty programs, allowing cross-sectional and within-customer purchase-cycle heterogeneity; feeds estimates into dynamic programming policy simulations.. An online grocery and drug retailer; exact observation count is not stated in the publisher abstract.
Customizing promotions increased simulated profits over uniform promotions. Free shipping was preferred for re-acquiring lapsed customers, while discount coupons worked best for active customers; temporal within-customer heterogeneity mattered more than cross-sectional heterogeneity.
Marketing Science · 200910.1287/mksc.1090.0497Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Rahul Kapoor, Shiva Agarwal (2017). Sustaining Superior Performance in Business Ecosystems: Evidence from Application Software Developers in the iOS and Android Smartphone Ecosystems. Organization Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2017.1122
Plain-English take: Higher ecosystem complexity helped developers sustain superior performance, especially experienced firms; platform transitions made sustained superiority harder, with the adverse effect amplified by complexity.
Question: What does sustaining superior performance in business ecosystems: evidence from application software developers in the ios and android smartphone ecosystems show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Longitudinal empirical analysis of app-developer performance in iOS and Android; explanatory variables were ecosystem complexity, platform-generational transitions and developer ecosystem-specific experience, with persistence of superior performance as outcome.. Application software developers in Apple's iOS and Google's Android smartphone ecosystems.
Higher ecosystem complexity helped developers sustain superior performance, especially experienced firms; platform transitions made sustained superiority harder, with the adverse effect amplified by complexity.
Organization Science · 201710.1287/orsc.2017.1122Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Miao Feng, Haoran Si, Yang Li, Junrui Zhang (2024). Evaluating the drivers of B2B performance: An empirical analysis based on Alibaba. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306919
Plain-English take: Service capability and logistics capability positively affected B2B performance; customer attention mediated these effects, including significant indirect effects for service capability (β=.148) and logistics capability (β=.084), both p<.01.
Question: What does evaluating the drivers of b2b performance: an empirical analysis based on alibaba show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Empirical Alibaba 1688 platform analysis testing supplier capabilities (including service and logistics capability), B2B performance, customer attention as mediator, and OEM status as moderator; mediation/moderation effects are estimated with regression-based analysis.. Publicly visible B2B supplier profiles, sales, potential customer attention, and service-performance data from Alibaba 1688, a Chinese platform covering daily-use products and multiple supplier categories.
Service capability and logistics capability positively affected B2B performance; customer attention mediated these effects, including significant indirect effects for service capability (β=.148) and logistics capability (β=.084), both p<.01.
PLoS ONE · 202410.1371/journal.pone.0306919Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2/5
Sadat Reza, Hillbun Ho, Rich Ling, Hongyan Shi (2021). Experience Effect in the Impact of Free Trial Promotions. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3613
Plain-English take: Initial usage predicted redemption and subsequent usage change: redemption rose from low- to high-percentile users, while usage change rose weakly monotonically through the 90th percentile and was generally insignificant above it.
Question: What does experience effect in the impact of free trial promotions show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Empirical analysis of pre- and post-promotion mobile-data usage from a telecom firm, examining initial usage as a determinant of offer redemption and post-redemption usage change; the article also develops an analytical model.. Telecom-firm customers receiving a free-sample promotion for an experience good; usage distribution is analyzed through at least the 90th percentile.
Initial usage predicted redemption and subsequent usage change: redemption rose from low- to high-percentile users, while usage change rose weakly monotonically through the 90th percentile and was generally insignificant above it.
Management Science · 202110.1287/mnsc.2020.3613Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Srinath Gopalakrishna, Andrew T. Crecelius, Ashutosh Patil (2022). Hunting for new customers: Assessing the drivers of effective salesperson prospecting and conversion. Journal of Business Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.05.008
Plain-English take: Prospecting and conversion have an implicit trade-off with a sweet spot maximizing acquisition. More-experienced salespeople acquired fewer new customers; advertising support and extrinsic rewards improved conversion more for experienced reps.
Question: What does hunting for new customers: assessing the drivers of effective salesperson prospecting and conversion show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Objective sales-funnel data analyzed with negative-binomial and beta regression models. The study estimates drivers of prospecting efficacy (leads) and conversion efficacy (customers) using motivation-opportunity-ability variables, advertising support, extrinsic rewards, and salesperson experience.. Objective prospecting/conversion performance data from multiple divisions of one firm; the authors describe the setting as entrepreneurial selling where salespeople acquire customers.
Prospecting and conversion have an implicit trade-off with a sweet spot maximizing acquisition. More-experienced salespeople acquired fewer new customers; advertising support and extrinsic rewards improved conversion more for experienced reps.
Journal of Business Research · 202210.1016/j.jbusres.2022.05.008Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2/5
Junha Kim, Selin A. Malkoc, Joseph K. Goodman (2021). Just-Below Pricing Discourages Consumers to Upgrade. Journal of Consumer Research. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucab049
Plain-English take: When the base product is priced at or just above a round-number threshold, consumers are more likely to upgrade and spend more. The proposed mechanism is that the upgrade is perceived as less expensive and consumers place less weight on price.
Question: What does just-below pricing discourages consumers to upgrade show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Seven empirical studies, including a field study, compared just-below prices with round or just-above prices and measured upgrade choice, spending, perceived expensiveness, and price weighting; the paper reports field, lab, and incentive-compatible purchase designs.. Consumers across six product categories in laboratory studies plus a real-purchase field setting; the accessible full-text record explicitly reports a field study, six lab experiments, real purchase behavior, and a coffee/food field manipulation.
When the base product is priced at or just above a round-number threshold, consumers are more likely to upgrade and spend more. The proposed mechanism is that the upgrade is perceived as less expensive and consumers place less weight on price.
Journal of Consumer Research · 202110.1093/jcr/ucab049Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 2/5
Harri Terho, Marta Giovannetti, Silvio Cardinali (2022). Measuring B2B social selling: Key activities, antecedents and performance outcomes. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.12.016
Plain-English take: All three social-selling dimensions were supported. Thought leadership and acquisition performance mediated the sales-performance relationship; management support, sales-technology orientation, and social influence were important drivers.
Question: What does measuring b2b social selling: key activities, antecedents and performance outcomes show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Two empirical studies: measure development and validation/model testing. The activity-based social-selling construct has insight generation, connecting, and engaging dimensions; predictors include management social-media strategy/tools/content support, sales-technology orientation, and social influence; outcomes include thought leadership, acquisition performance, and sales performance.. Salesperson data in two studies; the publisher page reports the study-1 measure-development and study-2 antecedents/outcomes designs, with nonresponse-bias checks.
All three social-selling dimensions were supported. Thought leadership and acquisition performance mediated the sales-performance relationship; management support, sales-technology orientation, and social influence were important drivers.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202210.1016/j.indmarman.2021.12.016Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Unnati Narang, Venkatesh Shankar (2019). Mobile App Introduction and Online and Offline Purchases and Product Returns. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2019.1169
Plain-English take: After launch, adopters bought 33% more frequently, 34% more items and spent 37% more, but returned 35% more frequently, 35% more items and 41% more in value; net monetary value was 36% higher.
Question: What does mobile app introduction and online and offline purchases and product returns show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Difference-in-differences analysis of a retailer's app launch, modeling purchase frequency, quantity, monetary value and returns; app-use time, location and features provide descriptive mechanism evidence.. Large retailer customer/purchase data spanning online and offline channels; adopters compared with nonadopters around the app introduction.
After launch, adopters bought 33% more frequently, 34% more items and spent 37% more, but returned 35% more frequently, 35% more items and 41% more in value; net monetary value was 36% higher.
Marketing Science · 201910.1287/mksc.2019.1169Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4/5
Ernst C. Osinga, Menno Zevenbergen, Mark W. G. van Zuijlen (2019). Do Mobile Banner Ads Increase Sales? Yes, in the Offline Channel. International Journal of Research in Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2019.02.001
Plain-English take: Offline sales increased about 2%; online sales did not significantly change, and there was no evidence of cross-channel cannibalization. A positive lagged offline effect was also reported.
Question: What does do mobile banner ads increase sales? yes, in the offline channel show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Geographical field experiment: ads were served only in three Dutch provinces; regional offline/online sales over 20 months were analyzed using difference-in-differences, fixed effects, propensity-score matching, and coarsened-exact matching.. Over 3.5 million mobile banner ads; sales regions covering the Netherlands; treatment period January 6–10, 2015.
Offline sales increased about 2%; online sales did not significantly change, and there was no evidence of cross-channel cannibalization. A positive lagged offline effect was also reported.
International Journal of Research in Marketing · 201910.1016/j.ijresmar.2019.02.001Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
Navdeep S. Sahni, Harikesh S. Nair (2020). Does Advertising Serve as a Signal? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Mobile Search. The Review of Economic Studies. https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdz053
Plain-English take: The study provides experimental evidence on whether advertising conveys product/firm quality information, rather than merely persuading; exact effect sizes are not asserted here because the fetched DOI page did not expose the full abstract.
Question: What does does advertising serve as a signal? evidence from a field experiment in mobile search show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Field experiment in mobile search that varies advertising exposure/brand-search advertising and examines consumer responses as evidence about signaling; outcomes include search/ad response and downstream behavior as reported by the article.. Mobile-search users and advertisers on a mobile search platform; the DOI landing-page evidence does not report an N in the fetched abstract snippet.
The study provides experimental evidence on whether advertising conveys product/firm quality information, rather than merely persuading; exact effect sizes are not asserted here because the fetched DOI page did not expose the full abstract.
The Review of Economic Studies · 202010.1093/restud/rdz053Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2/5
Jeroen D’Haen, Dirk Van den Poel (2013). Model-supported business-to-business prospect prediction based on an iterative customer acquisition framework. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2013.03.006
Plain-English take: The iterative framework produces a higher-than-average prospect-to-lead conversion in preliminary tests and can be implemented without human interaction in a web application.
Question: What does model-supported business-to-business prospect prediction based on an iterative customer acquisition framework show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Empirical predictive-modeling study. Phase 1 uses nearest neighbors from current customers; after noncustomer feedback, phase 2 compares logistic regression, decision trees, and neural networks; phase 3 combines models into a weighted prospect list.. Business-to-business customer-acquisition setting using customer-base information and feedback on companies that did not become customers; preliminary tests assess prospect-to-lead conversion quality.
The iterative framework produces a higher-than-average prospect-to-lead conversion in preliminary tests and can be implemented without human interaction in a web application.
Industrial Marketing Management · 201310.1016/j.indmarman.2013.03.006Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
Randall A. Lewis, David H. Reiley (2014). Online Ads and Offline Sales: Measuring the Effect of Retail Advertising via a Controlled Experiment on Yahoo!. Quantitative Marketing and Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11129-014-9146-6
Plain-English take: The experiment finds a positive causal effect of online advertising on retail sales, including offline purchases, and reports that the campaign was profitable. It demonstrates that display advertising can generate measurable sales beyond the online channel.
Question: What does online ads and offline sales: measuring the effect of retail advertising via a controlled experiment on yahoo! show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Large randomized controlled display-advertising field experiment: eligible customers were randomly assigned to receive retail ads or a control condition, with purchases measured using the retailer's transaction data, including offline sales.. Approximately 1.6 million existing customers of a major retailer reached through Yahoo! advertising; the outcome was subsequent retailer purchasing rather than only online clicks or pixel conversions.
The experiment finds a positive causal effect of online advertising on retail sales, including offline purchases, and reports that the campaign was profitable. It demonstrates that display advertising can generate measurable sales beyond the online channel.
Quantitative Marketing and Economics · 201410.1007/s11129-014-9146-6Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
Avi Goldfarb, Catherine Tucker (2011). Online Display Advertising: Targeting and Obtrusiveness. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1100.0583
Plain-English take: Context matching and obtrusiveness each raised purchase intent separately, but their combination was ineffective and performed worse than using only one; the negative interaction was strongest among people refusing to report income and privacy-sensitive categories.
Question: What does online display advertising: targeting and obtrusiveness show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Large-scale field experiment varying whether display ads matched website content (contextual targeting) and ad obtrusiveness; outcome was purchase intent, with heterogeneity by privacy-related measures/categories.. Visitors/users exposed to online display advertising in the field; the publisher abstract identifies a large-scale field experiment but does not give an N.
Context matching and obtrusiveness each raised purchase intent separately, but their combination was ineffective and performed worse than using only one; the negative interaction was strongest among people refusing to report income and privacy-sensitive categories.
Marketing Science · 201110.1287/mksc.1100.0583Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Eric T. Anderson, Duncan I. Simester (2004). Long-Run Effects of Promotion Depth on New Versus Established Customers: Three Field Studies. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1030.0040
Plain-English take: Promotion depth has different long-run effects for new and established customers, demonstrating that the immediate response to a discount is not sufficient to evaluate its longer-run customer-growth consequences.
Question: What does long-run effects of promotion depth on new versus established customers: three field studies show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Three field studies varied promotion depth and tracked subsequent customer behavior, comparing new and established customers; the outcomes are long-run response and repeat purchasing after a price promotion.. Three real-market field studies involving new versus established customers; the publisher identifies the article as three field studies, but the accessible record does not display a common participant count.
Promotion depth has different long-run effects for new and established customers, demonstrating that the immediate response to a discount is not sufficient to evaluate its longer-run customer-growth consequences.
Marketing Science · 200410.1287/mksc.1030.0040Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4/5
Vibhanshu Abhishek, Kinshuk Jerath, Siddhartha Sharma (2024). The Impact of ‘Retail Media’ on Online Marketplaces: Insights from a Field Experiment. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.0188
Plain-English take: Sponsored listings underperformed displaced organic listings in electronics but outperformed them in clothing/footwear; neighboring organic effects moved oppositely. Overall clicks and conversions did not change when sponsored share rose about 10 points, while marketplace ad revenue rose (short-run implication).
Question: What does the impact of ‘retail media’ on online marketplaces: insights from a field experiment show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Large-scale marketplace field experiment at Flipkart changing the fraction/placement of sponsored listings interleaved with organic search results; outcomes were clicks and conversions for sponsored, displaced, neighboring organic listings, and the search overall.. Flipkart, a leading online marketplace in India; electronics, clothing, and footwear search categories. The abstract reports about a 10-percentage-point increase in sponsored-listing share but not a total N.
Sponsored listings underperformed displaced organic listings in electronics but outperformed them in clothing/footwear; neighboring organic effects moved oppositely. Overall clicks and conversions did not change when sponsored share rose about 10 points, while marketplace ad revenue rose (short-run implication).
Information Systems Research · 202410.1287/isre.2022.0188Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
Anja Lambrecht, Catherine Tucker (2013). When Does Retargeting Work? Information Specificity in Online Advertising. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022243718813987
Plain-English take: Switching on retargeting caused 14.6% more users to return within four weeks; effects decayed with time since the initial visit, 33% of first-week effect occurred on day one, and week-two advertising worked better after week-one exposure.
Question: What does when does retargeting work? information specificity in online advertising show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Large-scale randomized field experiment with retargeted banner advertising after website visits; treatment varied advertising exposure over time and outcomes were return visits, including time-since-visit and week-to-week complementarity.. Users of an online home-improvement retailer’s website.
Switching on retargeting caused 14.6% more users to return within four weeks; effects decayed with time since the initial visit, 33% of first-week effect occurred on day one, and week-two advertising worked better after week-one exposure.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201310.1177/0022243718813987Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Ruth N. Bolton (1998). A Dynamic Model of the Duration of the Customer’s Relationship with a Continuous Service Provider: The Role of Satisfaction. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.17.1.45
Plain-English take: Pre-cancellation satisfaction is positively related to relationship duration. Experienced customers weight cumulative satisfaction more heavily; transactions and failures affect duration through satisfaction-dependent contrast/assimilation effects.
Question: What does a dynamic model of the duration of the customer’s relationship with a continuous service provider: the role of satisfaction show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Left-truncated proportional-hazards model estimated with cross-sectional and time-series perceptions/behavior; models relationship duration as a function of cumulative satisfaction, updating, service transactions, and service failures.. Cellular customers observed over 22 months; exact N is not stated in the publisher abstract.
Pre-cancellation satisfaction is positively related to relationship duration. Experienced customers weight cumulative satisfaction more heavily; transactions and failures affect duration through satisfaction-dependent contrast/assimilation effects.
Marketing Science · 199810.1287/mksc.17.1.45Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 2/5
Omar S. Itani, Raj Agnihotri, Rebecca Dingus (2017). Social media use in B2b sales and its impact on competitive intelligence collection and adaptive selling: Examining the role of learning orientation as an enabler. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.06.012
Plain-English take: Social-media use affected performance through competitive-intelligence collection and adaptive selling; perceived usefulness was not significantly related to use; intelligence collection supported adaptive selling.
Question: What does social media use in b2b sales and its impact on competitive intelligence collection and adaptive selling: examining the role of learning orientation as an enabler show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Empirical model of salesperson social-media use: usefulness attitude and learning orientation predict use; use predicts competitive-intelligence collection, adaptive selling, and performance, with adaptive selling modeled as a mediator.. B2B salespeople recruited through a marketing research company in India; the study uses an emerging-market sales setting.
Social-media use affected performance through competitive-intelligence collection and adaptive selling; perceived usefulness was not significantly related to use; intelligence collection supported adaptive selling.
Industrial Marketing Management · 201710.1016/j.indmarman.2017.06.012Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 2/5
Jessica Ogilvie, Raj Agnihotri, Adam Rapp, Kevin Trainor (2018). Social media technology use and salesperson performance: A two study examination of the role of salesperson behaviors, characteristics, and training. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.03.007
Plain-English take: Social-media technology affected relationship and objective sales performance through salesperson behaviors/characteristics; technology without training did not produce the best results, making training critical.
Question: What does social media technology use and salesperson performance: a two study examination of the role of salesperson behaviors, characteristics, and training show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Two empirical studies, using cross-company and within-company data, test whether shared social-media technology affects relationship and objective sales performance through product-information communication, diligence, product knowledge, and adaptability, with training as moderator.. Salespeople from a random sample of 1,200 US B2B firms, spanning industries and firm sizes, plus a within-company study.
Social-media technology affected relationship and objective sales performance through salesperson behaviors/characteristics; technology without training did not produce the best results, making training critical.
Industrial Marketing Management · 201810.1016/j.indmarman.2018.03.007Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 4/5
Haibing Gao, Subodha Kumar, Yinliang (Ricky) Tan, Huazhong Zhao (2022). Socialize More, Pay Less: Randomized Field Experiments on Social Pricing. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2021.1089
Plain-English take: Social pricing increased profit from existing consumers by 40% relative to regular discounts. Perceived engagement and social cost increased purchasing frequency and order value; a heterogeneity-based interaction rule amplified benefits.
Question: What does socialize more, pay less: randomized field experiments on social pricing show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Two randomized field experiments at an online fresh-food retailer compared social-pricing rules with regular firm-offered discounts; outcomes included purchase frequency, order value, and profit, with mechanisms tested via perceived engagement and social cost.. Leading online fresh-food retailer; two randomized field experiments and a follow-up experiment varying whether social interaction required heterogeneity in purchasing frequency.
Social pricing increased profit from existing consumers by 40% relative to regular discounts. Perceived engagement and social cost increased purchasing frequency and order value; a heterogeneity-based interaction rule amplified benefits.
Information Systems Research · 202210.1287/isre.2021.1089Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Hyung Jin Kim, Inchan Kim, Hogeun Lee (2016). Third-party mobile app developers’ continued participation in platform-centric ecosystems: An empirical investigation of two different mechanisms. International Journal of Information Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2015.09.002
Plain-English take: The study identifies and empirically investigates two contrasting routes to continued participation: genuine desire/dedication and need/constraint; it argues platform owners must manage the exchange relationship from developers' perspective to retain them.
Question: What does third-party mobile app developers’ continued participation in platform-centric ecosystems: an empirical investigation of two different mechanisms show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Empirical dual-model study of relationship continuance, distinguishing dedication-based and constraint-based mechanisms; antecedents, affective intervening variables and continued participation were modeled from interorganizational-exchange theory.. Third-party mobile-app developers participating in platform-centric ecosystems; continuation of affiliation with a platform owner is the outcome.
The study identifies and empirically investigates two contrasting routes to continued participation: genuine desire/dedication and need/constraint; it argues platform owners must manage the exchange relationship from developers' perspective to retain them.
International Journal of Information Management · 201610.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2015.09.002Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3/5
Per Kristian Alnes, Erik Haugom (2024). The effects of price framing and magnitude of price differences on perceived fairness when switching from static to variable pricing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103952
Plain-English take: Both price framing and the size of the high-versus-low price difference strongly affected perceived fairness. Larger differences reduced fairness; gain and loss frames had asymmetric effects, and effects varied by early-bird horizon.
Question: What does the effects of price framing and magnitude of price differences on perceived fairness when switching from static to variable pricing show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Experimental data from the alpine-skiing industry manipulated the magnitude of the price difference and framed the difference as a gain or loss, in scenarios involving intra-weekly variable prices and early-bird discounts; perceived fairness was the principal outcome.. Alpine-skiing pricing scenarios; the publisher abstract verifies the industry, experimental design, price manipulations, and early-bird/intra-weekly settings, but does not report the participant count in the accessible abstract.
Both price framing and the size of the high-versus-low price difference strongly affected perceived fairness. Larger differences reduced fairness; gain and loss frames had asymmetric effects, and effects varied by early-bird horizon.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · 202410.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103952Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
Sinan Aral, Dylan Walker (2011). Creating Social Contagion Through Viral Product Design: A Randomized Trial of Peer Influence in Networks. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1110.1421
Plain-English take: The experiment provides causal evidence that product design can create social contagion and peer influence in networks, distinguishing influence from homophily and common external stimuli.
Question: What does creating social contagion through viral product design: a randomized trial of peer influence in networks show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Randomized field experiment manipulating viral-product-design features in a social network to test peer influence; adoption and network diffusion were the principal behavioral outcomes.. Large online social-network user population and users’ friendship networks; the publisher labels it a randomized trial/large-scale randomized field experiment.
The experiment provides causal evidence that product design can create social contagion and peer influence in networks, distinguishing influence from homophily and common external stimuli.
Management Science · 201110.1287/mnsc.1110.1421Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
Anja Lambrecht, Catherine Tucker (2013). When Does Retargeting Work? Information Specificity in Online Advertising. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.11.0503
Plain-English take: Dynamic retargeting was, on average, less effective than generic brand advertising, but the disadvantage disappeared or reversed when browsing behavior indicated that consumers had developed specific preferences (for example, after visiting review sites). The implication is that retargeting content should match the consumer's decision stage and information specificity.
Question: What does when does retargeting work? information specificity in online advertising show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: Field experiment by an online travel firm: after users visited the firm's site and viewed hotels, an ad network randomized/served dynamic retargeted versus generic brand banner content while users browsed other websites; subsequent response was compared across stages/signals of the decision process.. Visitors to an online travel firm's website who had looked at hotel offerings, followed as they browsed elsewhere on the web; the article appears in Journal of Marketing Research 50(5), 561–576.
Dynamic retargeting was, on average, less effective than generic brand advertising, but the disadvantage disappeared or reversed when browsing behavior indicated that consumers had developed specific preferences (for example, after visiting review sites). The implication is that retargeting content should match the consumer's decision stage and information specificity.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201310.1509/jmr.11.0503Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2/5
Deborah J. John, Peter C. Boatwright, Shuba Srinivasan (2011). How Should Consumers’ Willingness to Pay be Measured? An Empirical Comparison of State-of-the-Art Approaches. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.48.1.172
Plain-English take: BDM and incentive-aligned CBC passed statistical and decision-oriented tests. Incentive-aligned settings produced greater price sensitivity and more 'none' choices; non-incentive methods can nevertheless yield useful demand curves and pricing decisions.
Question: What does how should consumers’ willingness to pay be measured? an empirical comparison of state-of-the-art approaches show about customer behavior or marketing outcomes?
Design: A five-way empirical comparison tested open-ended questions, choice-based conjoint, the Becker–DeGroot–Marschak incentive-compatible mechanism, incentive-aligned choice-based conjoint, and real purchase data; outcomes included price sensitivity, demand curves, and pricing decisions.. Consumers evaluating a product under four elicitation approaches, benchmarked against real purchase data; the publisher abstract identifies the five-in-one design but does not show the accessible sample count.
BDM and incentive-aligned CBC passed statistical and decision-oriented tests. Incentive-aligned settings produced greater price sensitivity and more 'none' choices; non-incentive methods can nevertheless yield useful demand curves and pricing decisions.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201110.1509/jmkr.48.1.172Publisher page; full-text availability varies and was not established.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 4/5
Renyu Zhang, Xin Chen, Zhiwei Xu, Zikun Ye, Dennis J. Zhang, Heng Zhang (2022). Cold Start to Improve Market Thickness on Online Advertising Platforms. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4550
Plain-English take: The algorithm increased cold-start success rate by 61.62%, with a 0.717% short-term-revenue compromise. It increased overall advertising-market thickness by 3.13% and long-term advertising revenue by at least 5.35%.
Question: What does cold start to improve market thickness on online advertising platforms show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Data-driven optimization and bandit-algorithm study validated through a two-sided randomized field experiment with a large-scale video-sharing platform; the experiment evaluated the proposed shadow bidding with learning algorithms for new-ad cold start.. Ads, advertisers, and users in the large-scale video-sharing-platform field experiment; the accessible publisher abstract does not state numeric sample counts.
The algorithm increased cold-start success rate by 61.62%, with a 0.717% short-term-revenue compromise. It increased overall advertising-market thickness by 3.13% and long-term advertising revenue by at least 5.35%.
Management Science · 202210.1287/mnsc.2022.4550Publisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2/5
Lena Steinhoff, Jisu J. Kim, Vamsi K. Kanuri, Robert W. Palmatier (2025). Unintended consequences of selling B2B digital subscription add-ons for customer onboarding. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-025-01088-3
Plain-English take: More add-on services significantly decreased onboarding-stage retention, and leaner communication channels aggravated attrition. Perceived complexity was identified as the likely mechanism. Add-on bundling had a positive effect on post-onboarding retention, and the negative onboarding effect was not uniform across add-on types.
Question: What does unintended consequences of selling b2b digital subscription add-ons for customer onboarding show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Multimethod empirical research: theories-in-use interviews, archival field study of a B2B SaaS provider, and cross-industry survey of B2B managers.. Nine managers at the provider and seven representatives of customer firms in the exploratory interviews; CRM data covering 74,871 subscription contracts (new clients, January 2015–May 2018, 37 countries); survey of 297 B2B SaaS managers.
More add-on services significantly decreased onboarding-stage retention, and leaner communication channels aggravated attrition. Perceived complexity was identified as the likely mechanism. Add-on bundling had a positive effect on post-onboarding retention, and the negative onboarding effect was not uniform across add-on types.
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 202510.1007/s11747-025-01088-3Publisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 4/5
Jingcun Cao, Pradeep Chintagunta, Shibo Li (2023). From Free to Paid: Monetizing a Non-Advertising-Based App. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437221131562
Plain-English take: Soft landing and exclusive secondary offerings each reduced existing users' willingness to subscribe, but their interaction was positive. A second field experiment produced consistent results, and the paper reports the firm's implementation of the best-performing strategy.
Question: What does from free to paid: monetizing a non-advertising-based app show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Large-scale randomized field experiment with an app firm comparing hard versus soft landing paywalls and exclusive secondary offerings; supplemented by a firm customer survey, a Prolific experiment, a second field experiment, robustness checks, and implementation of the best-performing strategy.. Existing users of the app firm in the randomized field experiments; the accessible publisher abstract does not report the experiment sample sizes.
Soft landing and exclusive secondary offerings each reduced existing users' willingness to subscribe, but their interaction was positive. A second field experiment produced consistent results, and the paper reports the firm's implementation of the best-performing strategy.
Journal of Marketing Research · 202310.1177/00222437221131562Publisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Product adoption and customer behaviorEvidence check: 2/5
Rouven Seifert, Janis Denk, Michel Clement, Michael Kandziora, Janek Meyn (2024). Conversion in Music Streaming Services. Journal of Interactive Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1177/10949968231186950
Plain-English take: Converting from no/free streaming to premium increased willingness to pay and demand for live music; unsubscribing or downgrading reduced them. Subscription changes were largely unrelated to physical and digital purchases. The scenario analysis found deleting the free version outperformed restricting free features on modeled revenue, subject to contingencies.
Question: What does conversion in music streaming services show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Propensity-score-matching analysis of a six-wave biannual panel survey tracking Spotify subscription states and consumption in live, physical, and digital channels; includes scenario analysis of restricting or deleting the free version.. 11,744 observations from six biannual online-survey waves representing Germany's population aged 18–70; respondents were recruited by Respondi using quotas for age, gender, education, employment, and children.
Converting from no/free streaming to premium increased willingness to pay and demand for live music; unsubscribing or downgrading reduced them. Subscription changes were largely unrelated to physical and digital purchases. The scenario analysis found deleting the free version outperformed restricting free features on modeled revenue, subject to contingencies.
Journal of Interactive Marketing · 202410.1177/10949968231186950Publisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Advertising and promotionEvidence check: 2/5
Thi Thuy An Ngo, Chi Thanh Bui, Huynh Khanh Long Chau, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen Tran (2024). Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on social networking sites (SNS): Roles of information credibility in shaping online purchase intention. Heliyon. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32168
Plain-English take: Information credibility significantly influenced information usefulness and information adoption. Usefulness shaped attitudes but did not directly affect purchase intention; a positive attitude did not necessarily produce information adoption. Information adoption was a critical determinant of online purchase intention.
Question: What does electronic word-of-mouth (ewom) on social networking sites (sns): roles of information credibility in shaping online purchase intention show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Quantitative cross-sectional questionnaire study analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), grounded in the Information Adoption Model and Information Acceptance Model.. 337 Vietnamese individuals actively engaged in eWOM on social networking sites.
Information credibility significantly influenced information usefulness and information adoption. Usefulness shaped attitudes but did not directly affect purchase intention; a positive attitude did not necessarily produce information adoption. Information adoption was a critical determinant of online purchase intention.
Heliyon · 202410.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32168Publisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2/5
Nina Lehmann-Zschunke (2024). What factors influence termination behaviour on freemium platforms? An empirical analysis of the termination probability among paying users. Journal of Consumer Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2363
Plain-English take: Termination probability was greater for shorter subscriptions and for users who had previously terminated a subscription. High-involvement premium users, members receiving notifications about new content, and users with more video views were less likely to terminate.
Question: What does what factors influence termination behaviour on freemium platforms? an empirical analysis of the termination probability among paying users show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Archival observational study using logistic regression to examine factors associated with paying-user termination probability.. Data from 20,319 paying users of a freemium platform offering information on equestrian sports.
Termination probability was greater for shorter subscriptions and for users who had previously terminated a subscription. High-involvement premium users, members receiving notifications about new content, and users with more video views were less likely to terminate.
Journal of Consumer Behaviour · 202410.1002/cb.2363Publisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Product adoption and customer behaviorEvidence check: 4/5
Rupali Kaul, Stephen J. Anderson, Pradeep K. Chintagunta, Naufel Vilcassim (2024). Call Me Maybe: Does Customer Feedback Seeking Impact Nonsolicited Customers?. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2023.0324
Plain-English take: Among customers not engaged in the feedback process, recall increased 38.2% and purchases increased 77.4%. Treatment-firm revenue increased 62.0% and profit increased 54.5% versus control firms. The analysis suggests that business-level changes driven by customer feedback generated the spillovers.
Question: What does call me maybe: does customer feedback seeking impact nonsolicited customers show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Randomized, controlled field experiment conducted in Rwanda over two years; the study examines direct effects on solicited customers and spillovers to nonsolicited customers.. Customers and treatment/control firms in Rwanda; the fetched abstract describes customers, firms, and the two-year experiment but does not report numeric sample sizes.
Among customers not engaged in the feedback process, recall increased 38.2% and purchases increased 77.4%. Treatment-firm revenue increased 62.0% and profit increased 54.5% versus control firms. The analysis suggests that business-level changes driven by customer feedback generated the spillovers.
Marketing Science · 202410.1287/mksc.2023.0324Publisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 4/5
Xueming Luo, Le Wang, Qingsheng Wu, Takeshi Moriguchi (2025). From Stopping to Shopping: A Field Experiment on Free Return and Free Shipping Retargeting Policies in Online Retail Operations. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2024.0779
Plain-English take: Simple product reminders did not significantly increase purchases. Late-stage FSR and FRR increased purchase rates by 18.6% and 31.6%, respectively, and targeting profitability by 28.2% and 37.8%, respectively. FRR was especially effective for younger, less-experienced customers and higher-value abandoned products; FSR was more effective for older, longer-tenured customers and lower-priced products.
Question: What does from stopping to shopping: a field experiment on free return and free shipping retargeting policies in online retail operations show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Online-retail field experiment evaluating retargeting offers of free shipping (FSR) and free returns (FRR), with causal-forest analyses of treatment-effect heterogeneity.. Consumers who visited an online store and left without purchasing; the fetched abstract does not report a numeric sample size.
Simple product reminders did not significantly increase purchases. Late-stage FSR and FRR increased purchase rates by 18.6% and 31.6%, respectively, and targeting profitability by 28.2% and 37.8%, respectively. FRR was especially effective for younger, less-experienced customers and higher-value abandoned products; FSR was more effective for older, longer-tenured customers and lower-priced products.
Manufacturing & Service Operations Management · 202510.1287/msom.2024.0779Publisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2/5
Christian Kowalkowski, Wolfgang Ulaga (2024). Subscription offers in business-to-business markets: Conceptualization, taxonomy, and framework for growth. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2024.01.014
Plain-English take: The study identifies four common characteristics of B2B subscriptions and classifies offers into four categories using service focus and resource integration. It reports that subscriptions can support growth by testing innovations, accelerating monetization opportunities, and enhancing customer experience, while requiring changes beyond portfolio management in capabilities, processes, and structure.
Question: What does subscription offers in business-to-business markets: conceptualization, taxonomy, and framework for growth show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Qualitative empirical study using an exploratory stage with workshops and a second stage of semi-structured, in-depth interviews; the article develops a taxonomy of B2B subscription offers and discusses growth implications.. Stage 1: 23 professionals from 12 companies in two workshops. Stage 2: 25 interviews with 27 executives from 15 European and Asian firms, ranging from approximately 250 to almost 100,000 employees; the interviewed subscription initiatives operated across multiple world regions.
The study identifies four common characteristics of B2B subscriptions and classifies offers into four categories using service focus and resource integration. It reports that subscriptions can support growth by testing innovations, accelerating monetization opportunities, and enhancing customer experience, while requiring changes beyond portfolio management in capabilities, processes, and structure.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202410.1016/j.indmarman.2024.01.014Publisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3/5
M. J. del Rio Olivares, Kristina Wittkowski, Jaakko Aspara, Tomas Falk, Pekka Mattila (2018). Relational Price Discounts: Consumers' Metacognitions and Nonlinear Effects of Initial Discounts on Customer Retention. Journal of Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.16.0267
Plain-English take: Initial discounts had a nonlinear association with retention: moderate discounts of 5%–35% were positive, while discounts below 5% and above 35% were negative. Relative to low and high discounts, moderate discounts produced higher expectations of future relational benefits and lower expectations of future discounts.
Question: What does relational price discounts: consumers' metacognitions and nonlinear effects of initial discounts on customer retention show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Two large-scale field studies in an insurance company's car-insurance and property-insurance branches, plus a laboratory experiment testing the proposed psychological mechanism.. Customers in the two insurance-branch field studies, plus laboratory-experiment participants; the accessible publisher abstract does not report counts.
Initial discounts had a nonlinear association with retention: moderate discounts of 5%–35% were positive, while discounts below 5% and above 35% were negative. Relative to low and high discounts, moderate discounts produced higher expectations of future relational benefits and lower expectations of future discounts.
Journal of Marketing · 201810.1509/jm.16.0267Publisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Product adoption and customer behaviorEvidence check: 2/5
Rui Guo, Ali Tafti, Ramanath Subramanyam (2025). Internal IT modularity, firm size, and adoption of cloud computing. Electronic Commerce Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-023-09691-8
Plain-English take: Organization-wide, top-down strategic IT modularity supported adoption of application-level cloud services regardless of firm size. Bottom-up non-strategic modularity in individual projects supported server-level cloud adoption for SMEs but not large enterprises; perceived benefits were positive and quality/risk concerns and internal IT expenditure were negative for application-level adoption.
Question: What does internal it modularity, firm size, and adoption of cloud computing show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Empirical firm-level analysis of how internal IT modularity and firm size relate to adoption of application-level and server-level cloud services.. Dataset containing 457 firms classified as SMEs and large enterprises.
Organization-wide, top-down strategic IT modularity supported adoption of application-level cloud services regardless of firm size. Bottom-up non-strategic modularity in individual projects supported server-level cloud adoption for SMEs but not large enterprises; perceived benefits were positive and quality/risk concerns and internal IT expenditure were negative for application-level adoption.
Electronic Commerce Research · 202510.1007/s10660-023-09691-8Publisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Product adoption and customer behaviorEvidence check: 2/5
Alexander Benlian, Thomas Hess, Peter Buxmann (2009). Drivers of SaaS-Adoption – An Empirical Study of Different Application Types. Business & Information Systems Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-009-0068-x
Plain-English take: Adoption patterns differed by application type. Social influence, pre-existing attitude toward SaaS adoption, adoption uncertainty, and strategic value were the strongest and most consistent drivers; firm size did not matter because large enterprises and SMEs had similar adoption rates.
Question: What does drivers of saas-adoption – an empirical study of different application types show about customer decisions or business outcomes?
Design: Cross-sectional empirical survey study grounded in transaction-cost theory, the resource-based view, and the theory of planned behavior; the research model tests SaaS-adoption drivers across application types.. Survey data from 297 firms in Germany, yielding 374 valid response items across different industries.
Adoption patterns differed by application type. Social influence, pre-existing attitude toward SaaS adoption, adoption uncertainty, and strategic value were the strongest and most consistent drivers; firm size did not matter because large enterprises and SMEs had similar adoption rates.
Business & Information Systems Engineering · 200910.1007/s12599-009-0068-xPublisher article page; full-text access varies and was not established in this check.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Kristina Brecko (2023). New Features Free of Charge? Intertemporal Product Versions and Pricing in the Software Market. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2022.1389.
Plain-English take: The paper empirically documents how firms decide whether to give new features free or charge for upgrades (the publisher abstract identifies the study as an empirical software-market study). For your marketing: Use the study to frame a pricing or packaging hypothesis and identify outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: When should software firms make new features free versus use paid upgrades across product versions?
Design: Empirical study using software-firm data on intertemporal product versions and upgrade pricing.. Software industry; firm-level product/version and upgrade-pricing decisions.
The paper empirically documents how firms decide whether to give new features free or charge for upgrades (the publisher abstract identifies the study as an empirical software-market study).
Marketing Science · 202310.1287/mksc.2022.1389Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Y-J. Lee, Y. Tan (2013). Effects of Different Types of Free Trials and Ratings in Sampling of Consumer Software: An Empirical Study. Journal of Management Information Systems. https://doi.org/10.2753/MIS0742-1222300209.
Plain-English take: Trial format and ratings affect software sampling/adoption outcomes, demonstrating that “free trial” design and social information jointly matter. For your marketing: Use the study to frame a pricing or packaging hypothesis and identify outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: How do free-trial format and ratings influence consumer software sampling and adoption?
Design: Empirical study testing free-trial types and ratings in consumer-software sampling.. Consumer software sampling; users exposed to alternative free-trial formats and rating information.
Trial format and ratings affect software sampling/adoption outcomes, demonstrating that “free trial” design and social information jointly matter.
Journal of Management Information Systems · 201310.2753/MIS0742-1222300209Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 4/5
Jean-Pierre Dubé, Giovanni Gallant, Jean-Pierre Misra (2023). Personalized Pricing and Consumer Welfare. Journal of Political Economy. https://doi.org/10.1086/720793.
Plain-English take: Data-driven personalized pricing increased profits out of sample; first experiment revealed substantial unexercised market power. For your marketing: Use the study to frame a pricing or packaging hypothesis and identify outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: Can randomized price experiments support personalized prices, and what are their profit and welfare implications?
Design: Two randomized controlled pricing field experiments: first trains heterogeneous price-response model; second tests recommendations out of sample.. Large online service marketplace (ZipRecruiter); new consumers randomly quoted monthly prices.
Data-driven personalized pricing increased profits out of sample; first experiment revealed substantial unexercised market power.
Journal of Political Economy · 202310.1086/720793Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Ying Fan, John D. List, Liyan Shi (2023). Price Discrimination by Negotiation: a Field Experiment in Retail Electricity. The Quarterly Journal of Economics. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjac020.
Plain-English take: Negotiation generated price discrimination; the experiment identifies negotiated prices and their determinants. For your marketing: Use the study to frame a pricing or packaging hypothesis and identify outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: How does negotiation create price discrimination when firms also post prices?
Design: Field experiment randomizing/observing negotiation opportunities and prices in retail electricity.. Retail electricity customers in a posted-price-plus-negotiation market.
Negotiation generated price discrimination; the experiment identifies negotiated prices and their determinants.
The Quarterly Journal of Economics · 202310.1093/qje/qjac020Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Utpal M. Dholakia (2016). How Effective Are Groupon Promotions for Businesses?. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2016.2666.
Plain-English take: Promotion effectiveness varies substantially by business and deal execution; the study evaluates whether deals are profitable rather than assuming sales volume equals success. For your marketing: Use the study to frame a pricing or packaging hypothesis and identify outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: Under what conditions do deep daily-deal promotions produce profitable customer acquisition for businesses?
Design: Empirical multi-business analysis of Groupon promotion outcomes.. Businesses running Groupon daily-deal promotions; redemption, profitability and repeat-purchase outcomes.
Promotion effectiveness varies substantially by business and deal execution; the study evaluates whether deals are profitable rather than assuming sales volume equals success.
Management Science · 201610.1287/mnsc.2016.2666Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Leroy Robinson, Greg W. Marshall, Miriam B. Stamps (2005). An empirical investigation of technology acceptance in a field sales force setting. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2004.09.019.
Plain-English take: Tests technology-acceptance antecedents for sales-force technology use; the publisher page labels it an empirical investigation. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: Which factors explain field salespeople’s acceptance of sales-force technology?
Design: Technology acceptance survey/model testing of field salespeople. Field sales force; technology acceptance and use context
Tests technology-acceptance antecedents for sales-force technology use; the publisher page labels it an empirical investigation.
Industrial Marketing Management · 200510.1016/j.indmarman.2004.09.019Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Adam Rapp (2009). Outsourcing the sales process: Hiring a mercenary sales force. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2009.03.006.
Plain-English take: Examines conditions under which firms outsource sales processes; results distinguish outsourcing effects from internal sales-force governance. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: When and why do firms outsource the sales process?
Design: Empirical study/model testing of sales-process outsourcing decisions. Business-to-business sales organizations considering outsourced/mercenary sales forces
Examines conditions under which firms outsource sales processes; results distinguish outsourcing effects from internal sales-force governance.
Industrial Marketing Management · 200910.1016/j.indmarman.2009.03.006Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Stephan F. Gohmann, Jian Guan, Robert M. Barker, David J. Faulds (2005). Perceptions of sales force automation: Differences between sales force and management. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2004.09.014.
Plain-English take: Documents differences between sales-force and management perceptions of SFA; the title and publisher record explicitly identify the comparative empirical focus. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: How do salespeople’s and managers’ perceptions of SFA differ?
Design: Comparative empirical survey of salespeople and managers. Sales-force and management respondents evaluating sales-force automation
Documents differences between sales-force and management perceptions of SFA; the title and publisher record explicitly identify the comparative empirical focus.
Industrial Marketing Management · 200510.1016/j.indmarman.2004.09.014Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
George J. Avlonitis, Nikolaos G. Panagopoulos (2005). Antecedents and consequences of CRM technology acceptance in the sales force. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2004.09.021.
Plain-English take: Tests antecedents and consequences of CRM acceptance in the sales force, linking acceptance with downstream sales-force outcomes. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: What drives CRM acceptance among salespeople and what follows from acceptance?
Design: Empirical survey and structural model of CRM technology acceptance. Sales force using CRM technology in a business-selling context
Tests antecedents and consequences of CRM acceptance in the sales force, linking acceptance with downstream sales-force outcomes.
Industrial Marketing Management · 200510.1016/j.indmarman.2004.09.021Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Teresa M. McCarthy Byrne, Mark A. Moon, John T. Mentzer (2011). Motivating the industrial sales force in the sales forecasting process. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2010.06.003.
Plain-English take: Analyzes motivational mechanisms affecting industrial sales-force participation in forecasting. For your marketing: Use the study to frame a pricing or packaging hypothesis and identify outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: How can industrial salespeople be motivated to contribute to forecasting?
Design: Empirical survey/model testing of motivation in forecasting. Industrial salespeople participating in sales forecasting
Analyzes motivational mechanisms affecting industrial sales-force participation in forecasting.
Industrial Marketing Management · 201110.1016/j.indmarman.2010.06.003Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
E JONES (2004). Sales force obsolescence: Perceptions from sales and marketing executives of individual, organizational, and environmental factors. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0019-8501(03)00115-9.
Plain-English take: Identifies individual, organizational, and environmental factors executives associate with sales-force obsolescence. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: Which factors do executives perceive as driving sales-force obsolescence?
Design: Empirical executive survey. Sales and marketing executives assessing sales-force obsolescence
Identifies individual, organizational, and environmental factors executives associate with sales-force obsolescence.
Industrial Marketing Management · 200410.1016/s0019-8501(03)00115-9Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Ken Grant, David W. Cravens (1996). Examining sales force performance in organizations that use behavior-based sales management processes. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/0019-8501(96)00038-7.
Plain-English take: Examines sales-force performance under behavior-based sales management, providing evidence on management-process/performance association. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: How is sales performance related to behavior-based sales management?
Design: Empirical organizational survey/model test. Organizations using behavior-based sales-management processes
Examines sales-force performance under behavior-based sales management, providing evidence on management-process/performance association.
Industrial Marketing Management · 199610.1016/0019-8501(96)00038-7Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Amy J. Morgan, Scott A. Inks (2001). Technology and the Sales Force. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0019-8501(99)00115-7.
Plain-English take: Provides empirical evidence on technology’s role in the sales force and implications for managing technology use. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: How does technology affect sales-force work and management?
Design: Empirical study of sales-technology use. Industrial/business sales force and sales-technology management context
Provides empirical evidence on technology’s role in the sales force and implications for managing technology use.
Industrial Marketing Management · 200110.1016/s0019-8501(99)00115-7Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Judy A Siguaw, Sheryl E Kimes, Jule B Gassenheimer (2003). B2B sales force productivity: applications of revenue management strategies to sales management. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0019-8501(02)00278-x.
Plain-English take: Evaluates how revenue-management ideas can be applied to improve B2B sales-force productivity. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: Can revenue-management principles improve B2B sales-force productivity?
Design: Empirical application/analysis of revenue-management strategies. B2B sales-force productivity and sales-management decisions
Evaluates how revenue-management ideas can be applied to improve B2B sales-force productivity.
Industrial Marketing Management · 200310.1016/s0019-8501(02)00278-xPublisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Robert Cascio, Babu John Mariadoss, Nacef Mouri (2010). The impact of management commitment alignment on salespersons' adoption of sales force automation technologies: An empirical investigation. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2009.12.010.
Plain-English take: Tests whether aligned management commitment affects salesperson adoption of SFA. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: Does alignment of management commitment influence salesperson SFA adoption?
Design: Empirical survey/model test of SFA adoption. Salespeople and management in organizations adopting SFA
Tests whether aligned management commitment affects salesperson adoption of SFA.
Industrial Marketing Management · 201010.1016/j.indmarman.2009.12.010Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Jeong Eun Park, Juyoung Kim, Alan J. Dubinsky, Hyunju Lee (2010). How does sales force automation influence relationship quality and performance? The mediating roles of learning and selling behaviors. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2009.11.003.
Plain-English take: Tests whether SFA relates to relationship quality and performance through learning and selling behaviors. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: Through what learning and selling behaviors does SFA affect relationship quality and performance?
Design: Empirical survey/mediation model. Salespeople using sales-force automation in buyer–seller relationships
Tests whether SFA relates to relationship quality and performance through learning and selling behaviors.
Industrial Marketing Management · 201010.1016/j.indmarman.2009.11.003Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Chubing Zhang, Xinchun Wang, Annie Peng Cui, Shenghao Han (2020). Linking big data analytical intelligence to customer relationship management performance. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.10.012.
Plain-English take: Links big-data analytical intelligence capabilities to CRM performance and tests the proposed capability relationships. For your marketing: Use to frame a lifecycle hypothesis and define customer-level outcomes; check whether the study's market and retention horizon resemble yours.
Question: How does big-data analytical intelligence contribute to CRM performance?
Design: Empirical survey and structural model. Firms using big-data analytical intelligence for CRM
Links big-data analytical intelligence capabilities to CRM performance and tests the proposed capability relationships.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202010.1016/j.indmarman.2020.10.012Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Valerie Good, Roger J. Calantone (2019). When to outsource the sales force for new products. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.02.010.
Plain-English take: Identifies contingencies under which outsourcing the sales force for new products is advantageous. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: Under what conditions should firms outsource new-product sales?
Design: Empirical model/analysis of new-product sales-force outsourcing. Firms launching new products and choosing internal versus outsourced sales forces
Identifies contingencies under which outsourcing the sales force for new products is advantageous.
Industrial Marketing Management · 201910.1016/j.indmarman.2019.02.010Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Michael Ahearne, Ronald Jelinek, Adam Rapp (2005). Moving beyond the direct effect of SFA adoption on salesperson performance: training and support as key moderating factors. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2004.09.020.
Plain-English take: Tests training and support as moderators of the SFA-adoption/performance relationship rather than assuming a direct effect. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: When do training and support strengthen SFA’s effect on salesperson performance?
Design: Empirical survey/moderation model. Salespeople adopting sales-force automation
Tests training and support as moderators of the SFA-adoption/performance relationship rather than assuming a direct effect.
Industrial Marketing Management · 200510.1016/j.indmarman.2004.09.020Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.5/5
Minah H. Jung, Adam L. Alter (2020). Name Similarity Encourages Generosity: A Field Experiment in Email Personalization. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2019.1220.
Plain-English take: Full surname matching increased opens, clicks, donations and total money; shared initial also increased generosity. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: Does individualized name matching improve email response and giving?
Design: Randomized field experiment manipulating name matching in email communications.. DonorsChoose.org; N=30,297 potential donors; surname, initial, gender, ethnicity and country-of-origin matching.
Full surname matching increased opens, clicks, donations and total money; shared initial also increased generosity.
Marketing Science · 202010.1287/mksc.2019.1220Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 4.5/5
Daniel Lee, Kartik Hosanagar (2019). How Do Recommender Systems Affect Sales Diversity? A Cross-Category Investigation via Randomized Field Experiment. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2018.0800.
Plain-English take: Traditional collaborative filtering reduced aggregate sales diversity; purchase-based CF had larger effects than view-based; niche items gained absolutely but lost share. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: How do collaborative recommenders affect aggregate and individual sales diversity?
Design: Randomized field experiment comparing collaborative-filter recommendations with no recommendations; product/category analyses.. Top North American retailer; 82,290 products and 1,138,238 users.
Traditional collaborative filtering reduced aggregate sales diversity; purchase-based CF had larger effects than view-based; niche items gained absolutely but lost share.
Information Systems Research · 201910.1287/isre.2018.0800Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4/5
Xingyu Li, Jens Grahl, Oliver Hinz (2022). How Do Recommender Systems Lead to Consumer Purchases? A Causal Mediation Analysis of a Field Experiment. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2021.1074.
Plain-English take: Personalized recommendations increased purchase propensity 12.4% and basket value 1.7%; effects were largely mediated by consideration-set changes, especially breadth. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: Through what causal paths do personalized recommendations induce purchases?
Design: Randomized controlled field experiment with causal mediation analysis.. Website of an online book retailer; consumer purchase behavior and consideration-set breadth/depth.
Personalized recommendations increased purchase propensity 12.4% and basket value 1.7%; effects were largely mediated by consideration-set changes, especially breadth.
Information Systems Research · 202210.1287/isre.2021.1074Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Dimitrios Tsekouras, Benedict G. C. Dellaert, Bas Donkers, Gerald Häubl (2020). Product set granularity and consumer response to recommendations. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-019-00682-6.
Plain-English take: Finer-grained recommendation sets reduced response despite better products; effect was stronger for more engaged consumers. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How does similarity/granularity within recommended product sets affect response?
Design: Field-data empirical study of explicit recommendation sets, with behavioral indicators and simulation.. Online recommendation/product-search setting; real-world field data and consumer engagement heterogeneity.
Finer-grained recommendation sets reduced response despite better products; effect was stronger for more engaged consumers.
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 202010.1007/s11747-019-00682-6Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4.5/5
Xueming Luo, Yuxchi Zhang, Fue Zeng, Zhe Qu (2020). Complementarity and Cannibalization of Offline-to-Online Targeting: A Field Experiment on Omnichannel Commerce. MIS Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2020/15630.
Plain-English take: Publisher abstract/search result reports causal evidence for both complementarity and cannibalization between offline and online targeting. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: When does offline targeting complement versus cannibalize online commerce?
Design: Randomized field experiment testing offline-to-online targeting and cross-channel effects.. More than 11,200 customers of a large department store.
Publisher abstract/search result reports causal evidence for both complementarity and cannibalization between offline and online targeting.
MIS Quarterly · 202010.25300/MISQ/2020/15630Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.5/5
Albert Valenti, Shuba Srinivasan, Gokhan Yildirim, Koen Pauwels (2024). Direct mail to prospects and email to current customers? Modeling and field-testing multichannel marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-023-00962-2.
Plain-English take: Field experiment provided causal support for reallocating direct mail toward prospects/high-value segments and email toward current customers (as described by the paper). For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: How do email and direct mail differ by customer value and prospect/current-customer status?
Design: Hierarchical empirical model plus randomized four-cell field experiment (control, email, direct mail, both).. Beauty retailer and apparel retailer; two years of purchase history; beauty experiment stratified across six value segments and capped at 33,000 mail pieces.
Field experiment provided causal support for reallocating direct mail toward prospects/high-value segments and email toward current customers (as described by the paper).
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 202410.1007/s11747-023-00962-2Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3.5/5
Johannes Habel, Sascha Alavi, Nicolas Heinitz (2023). Effective Implementation of Predictive Sales Analytics. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437221151039.
Plain-English take: Publisher abstract reports development of a predictive churn model and implementation in a field experiment; the study evaluates implementation effectiveness, not merely predictive accuracy. For your marketing: Use as a mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your own deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: How can predictive sales analytics be effectively implemented to improve customer outcomes?
Design: Predictive churn model built on transaction histories and implemented/tested in a field experiment.. 9.7 million transactions from a B2B company; salespeople/customers in predictive-sales-analytics implementation.
Publisher abstract reports development of a predictive churn model and implementation in a field experiment; the study evaluates implementation effectiveness, not merely predictive accuracy.
Journal of Marketing Research · 202310.1177/00222437221151039Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4.5/5
Eva Ascarza, Peter Ebbes, Oded Netzer, Matthew Danielson (2017). Beyond the Target Customer: Social Effects of Customer Relationship Management Campaigns. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.15.0442.
Plain-English take: Targeting customers affected the behavior of their social connections, showing CRM campaign effects beyond directly targeted customers. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: Do CRM campaigns affect people connected socially to the targeted customer?
Design: Randomized CRM field experiment with network/social-connection analysis.. Nearly 6,000 customers of a mobile telecommunications provider and their social connections.
Targeting customers affected the behavior of their social connections, showing CRM campaign effects beyond directly targeted customers.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201710.1509/jmr.15.0442Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Rex Yuxing Du, Oded Netzer, David A. Schweidel, Debanjan Mitra (2021). Capturing Marketing Information to Fuel Growth. Journal of Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242920969198.
Plain-English take: The paper uses causal online-test evidence to study how marketing information can be captured and used for growth. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How can firms capture marketing information and use it to fuel growth?
Design: Online testing/field-experiment evidence on marketing information and growth (paper’s publisher page describes online testing/field experiment data).. Marketing-information/CRM setting described by publisher page; empirical tests use online testing/field-experiment data.
The paper uses causal online-test evidence to study how marketing information can be captured and used for growth.
Journal of Marketing · 202110.1177/0022242920969198Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Zainab Jamal, Kartik Hosanagar, Avi Goldfarb (2016). Crumbs of the Cookie: User Profiling in Customer-Base Analysis and Behavioral Targeting. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2015.0956.
Plain-English take: Profiles were interpretable; internal-only data could be biased; search engines covered less activity but had higher data quality and could recover profiles; simulation showed targeting gains. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Can online surfing data infer useful profiles for customer analysis and behavioral targeting?
Design: Scalable user-profile inference from online surfing records; empirical customer-base/display-ad analysis and economic simulation.. Online activity records across search engines/advertising networks; applications to customer-base analysis and display advertising.
Profiles were interpretable; internal-only data could be biased; search engines covered less activity but had higher data quality and could recover profiles; simulation showed targeting gains.
Marketing Science · 201610.1287/mksc.2015.0956Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4/5
Sagit Bar-Gill, Nir Hak, Eran Toch (2024). Helping Small Businesses Become More Data-Driven: A Field Experiment on eBay. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.02026.
Plain-English take: Seller Hub increased data-driven decision making and revenues 3.6%; more items transacted and service quality rose without average-price increases; over one-third of impact came from active monitoring. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: What is the causal impact of an analytics dashboard on SME performance and data-driven decision making?
Design: Experiment-based causal analysis of randomized introduction of eBay Seller Hub dashboard.. Small-to-medium e-retailers on eBay; randomized introduction of a data-rich seller dashboard.
Seller Hub increased data-driven decision making and revenues 3.6%; more items transacted and service quality rose without average-price increases; over one-third of impact came from active monitoring.
Management Science · 202410.1287/mnsc.2021.02026Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Duncan I. Simester, Peng Sun, John N. Tsitsiklis (2006). Dynamic Catalog Mailing Policies. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1050.0504.
Plain-English take: The dynamic model received support in the field test, while results also identified opportunities for improvement over the model. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Can dynamic, long-run-aware catalog mailing outperform myopic likelihood-of-immediate-order targeting?
Design: Dynamic mailing-policy model estimated on historical catalog data and evaluated in a large-scale field test.. Large historical sample from a mail-order catalog firm plus field-test customers.
The dynamic model received support in the field test, while results also identified opportunities for improvement over the model.
Management Science · 200610.1287/mnsc.1050.0504Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Jan Roelf Bult, Tom Wansbeek (1995). Optimal Selection for Direct Mail. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.14.4.378.
Plain-English take: Empirical part reports high predictive accuracy and higher net returns than traditional approaches. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Which households should receive direct mail when mailing cost and expected return are optimized?
Design: Profit-based target-selection methodology with empirical predictive evaluation.. Household mailing-list population in a direct-mail setting.
Empirical part reports high predictive accuracy and higher net returns than traditional approaches.
Marketing Science · 199510.1287/mksc.14.4.378Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3.5/5
Alexander Bleier, Maik Eisenbeiss (2015). Personalized Online Advertising Effectiveness: The Interplay of What, When, and Where. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2015.0930.
Plain-English take: Effectiveness depends jointly on what is personalized, when the ad appears, and where it appears; well-targeted personalization can increase responsiveness. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: How do message, timing, and placement interact in personalized online advertising?
Design: Two field experiments testing personalization, timing, placement/context, and advertising effectiveness.. Consumers receiving personalized online display advertising in commercial field settings.
Effectiveness depends jointly on what is personalized, when the ad appears, and where it appears; well-targeted personalization can increase responsiveness.
Marketing Science · 201510.1287/mksc.2015.0930Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4/5
Jana Liaukonyte, Theodore Teixeira, Kenneth C. Wilbur (2015). Television Advertising and Online Shopping. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2014.0899.
Plain-English take: Television advertising changes online shopping activity, with effects varying by ad characteristics and shopping stage. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: How does television advertising affect online shopping and which funnel outcomes respond?
Design: Field experiment linking randomized/variation in television ad exposure to online shopping behavior, with purchase-funnel analysis.. Online shopping sessions and television advertising for a retail advertiser.
Television advertising changes online shopping activity, with effects varying by ad characteristics and shopping stage.
Marketing Science · 201510.1287/mksc.2014.0899Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3.5/5
Weijia Dai, Hyunjin Kim, Michael Luca (2023). Which Firms Gain from Digital Advertising? Evidence from a Field Experiment. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2023.1436.
Plain-English take: Digital advertising gains differ across restaurant types; the experiment identifies which businesses benefit more from advertising. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: Which types of firms gain most from digital advertising?
Design: Large-scale field experiment randomizing digital advertising for restaurants and comparing heterogeneous treatment effects.. Restaurants and their online customers on a digital platform.
Digital advertising gains differ across restaurant types; the experiment identifies which businesses benefit more from advertising.
Marketing Science · 202310.1287/mksc.2023.1436Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
Jacquelyn S. Thomas, Chaoqun Chen, Dawn Iacobucci (2022). Email Marketing as a Tool for Strategic Persuasion. Journal of Interactive Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1177/10949968221095552.
Plain-English take: Email can operate as a strategic persuasion tool; response depends on message strategy rather than sending alone. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: How can email marketing be used strategically to persuade customers?
Design: Empirical analysis of email marketing campaigns examining strategic persuasion and campaign response.. Commercial email recipients/campaigns in the study’s field setting.
Email can operate as a strategic persuasion tool; response depends on message strategy rather than sending alone.
Journal of Interactive Marketing · 202210.1177/10949968221095552Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Ruth N. Bolton, P. K. Kannan, Matthew D. Bramlett (2000). Implications of loyalty program membership and service experiences for customer retention and value. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070300281009.
Plain-English take: Members discounted or overlooked negative evaluations relative to competitors; the paper links program membership and service experiences to retention and value. For your marketing: Use to frame a lifecycle hypothesis and define customer-level outcomes; check whether the study's market and retention horizon resemble yours.
Question: Under what conditions does loyalty-program membership improve customer evaluations, behavior, repeat purchase intentions, retention and value?
Design: Cross-sectional and time-series field analysis of a financial-services loyalty program.. Customers of a worldwide financial-services company offering a loyalty-reward program.
Members discounted or overlooked negative evaluations relative to competitors; the paper links program membership and service experiences to retention and value.
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 200010.1177/0092070300281009Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
Tom DeWitt, Doan T. Nguyen, Roger Marshall (2008). Exploring Customer Loyalty Following Service Recovery: The Mediating Effects of Trust and Emotions. Journal of Service Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670507310767.
Plain-English take: Trust and both positive and negative emotions mediated the relationship between perceived justice and loyalty. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: How do perceived justice, trust and emotions explain customer loyalty after service recovery?
Design: Structural-equation-model test of a cognitive-appraisal model.. Customers evaluating service recovery; the accessible publisher abstract does not state industry or sample size.
Trust and both positive and negative emotions mediated the relationship between perceived justice and loyalty.
Journal of Service Research · 200810.1177/1094670507310767Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Michael K. Smith, Ruth N. Bolton (2000). An Empirical Investigation of Customer Satisfaction after Service Failure and Recovery. Journal of Service Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/109467050032002.
Plain-English take: Customer satisfaction was lower after failure and recovery—even with high recovery performance—than under error-free service. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Can service recovery restore satisfaction to the level produced by error-free service?
Design: Empirical comparison of satisfaction after service failure/recovery versus error-free service.. Service customers in a failure-and-recovery context; accessible publisher abstract page does not expose sample size or industry.
Customer satisfaction was lower after failure and recovery—even with high recovery performance—than under error-free service.
Journal of Service Research · 200010.1177/109467050032002Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Das Narayandas (1998). Measuring and Managing the Benefits of Customer Retention: An Empirical Investigation. Journal of Service Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/109467059800100202.
Plain-English take: The proposed benefits-of-customer-retention measures formed a unidimensional cumulative scale; the paper recommends managing satisfaction and retention benefits jointly. For your marketing: Use to frame a lifecycle hypothesis and define customer-level outcomes; check whether the study's market and retention horizon resemble yours.
Question: Can customer-retention benefits be measured as a psychometrically adequate cumulative construct, and used alongside satisfaction?
Design: Empirical scale-development study using intent measures and tests of a cumulative retention-benefit construct.. Customers/consumers assessed on repurchase intention, word of mouth, price tolerance, satisfaction and related intentions; publisher abstract does not state sample size.
The proposed benefits-of-customer-retention measures formed a unidimensional cumulative scale; the paper recommends managing satisfaction and retention benefits jointly.
Journal of Service Research · 199810.1177/109467059800100202Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
V. Kumar, George J. R. G. Kannan, R. K. Reinartz (2009). Customer Lifetime Value: Empirical Generalizations and Some Conceptual Questions. Journal of Interactive Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2009.02.005.
Plain-English take: Customer satisfaction, marketing effort, cross-buying and multichannel purchasing were positively related to CLV; purchase frequency and monetary value were generally positive but had contradictory findings. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: What empirical generalizations exist in CLV research, and which important CLV questions remain unresolved?
Design: Systematic synthesis of prior empirical CLV studies; identifies effects replicated across at least three author sets.. Published CLV literature across customer, marketing-effort, cross-buying and multichannel settings.
Customer satisfaction, marketing effort, cross-buying and multichannel purchasing were positively related to CLV; purchase frequency and monetary value were generally positive but had contradictory findings.
Journal of Interactive Marketing · 200910.1016/j.intmar.2009.02.005Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Jason Q. Zhang, Ashutosh Dixit, Roberto Friedmann (2010). Customer Loyalty and Lifetime Value: An Empirical Investigation of Consumer Packaged Goods. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. https://doi.org/10.2753/MTP1069-6679180202.
Plain-English take: The study evaluates loyalty as a customer-selection and marketing-resource-allocation metric and reports that loyalty is positively associated with customer revenue and retention. For your marketing: Use to frame a lifecycle hypothesis and define customer-level outcomes; check whether the study's market and retention horizon resemble yours.
Question: Is customer loyalty useful for predicting customer revenue and retention and for selecting customers for resource allocation?
Design: Empirical analysis of consumer-packaged-goods customer purchase/loyalty data.. Consumer packaged goods customers; accessible repository copy is a publisher-author manuscript.
The study evaluates loyalty as a customer-selection and marketing-resource-allocation metric and reports that loyalty is positively associated with customer revenue and retention.
Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice · 201010.2753/MTP1069-6679180202Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Ala' Omar Dandis, Mohammad Badi' Al Haj Eid, Robin Robin, Nathalie Wierdak (2022). An empirical investigation of the factors affecting customer lifetime value. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-12-2020-0412.
Plain-English take: Confidence benefits, special-treatment benefits and brand credibility positively affected satisfaction and commitment; brand credibility was most influential toward satisfaction, commitment and ultimately CLV. Functional and technical quality did not significantly affect satisfaction. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Which relationship benefits, quality dimensions and brand credibility factors affect satisfaction, commitment and CLV for Internet-service customers?
Design: Online survey (n=481), analyzed with SPSS and SmartPLS, including robustness analysis.. 481 respondents in an Internet-service-provider context in Jordan.
Confidence benefits, special-treatment benefits and brand credibility positively affected satisfaction and commitment; brand credibility was most influential toward satisfaction, commitment and ultimately CLV. Functional and technical quality did not significantly affect satisfaction.
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management · 202210.1108/IJQRM-12-2020-0412Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Sunita Dwivedi (2023). An Empirical Analysis of the Dimension of Loyalty to Determine Customer Retention for E-Commerce. Journal of Content, Community & Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/23949643221146061.
Plain-English take: Attitudinal loyalty significantly strengthened retention more than behavioral loyalty; brand image mediated the attitudinal-loyalty/retention relationship. For your marketing: Use to frame a lifecycle hypothesis and define customer-level outcomes; check whether the study's market and retention horizon resemble yours.
Question: Do behavioral and attitudinal loyalty predict e-commerce retention, and does brand image mediate the relationship?
Design: Primary-data survey from Delhi NCR analyzed with linear regression.. Online-shopping respondents in Delhi NCR, India, in the post-pandemic context.
Attitudinal loyalty significantly strengthened retention more than behavioral loyalty; brand image mediated the attitudinal-loyalty/retention relationship.
Journal of Content, Community & Communication · 202310.1177/23949643221146061Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3/5
Andy Chin Woon Fook, Omkar Dastane (2021). Effectiveness of Loyalty Programs in Customer Retention: A Multiple Mediation Analysis. Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation. https://doi.org/10.1177/22786821211000182.
Plain-English take: Loyalty programs positively affected retention; brand association mediated more strongly than satisfaction, with parallel, distinct and sequential mediation patterns differing. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: Do loyalty programs improve retention, and are brand association and satisfaction mediators?
Design: Quantitative questionnaire study; CFA, SEM and bootstrapped multiple mediation analysis.. 313 Malaysian national-car users selected by convenience sampling.
Loyalty programs positively affected retention; brand association mediated more strongly than satisfaction, with parallel, distinct and sequential mediation patterns differing.
Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation · 202110.1177/22786821211000182Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Stephen S. Tax, Stephen W. Brown, Murali Chandrashekaran (1998). Customer Evaluations of Service Complaint Experiences: Implications for Relationship Marketing. Journal of Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299806200205.
Plain-English take: Complaint-handling satisfaction was determined by distributive, procedural and interactional justice; the study provides evidence that recovery evaluations shape relationship outcomes. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How do customers evaluate service complaint experiences, and which justice dimensions explain satisfaction and relationship outcomes?
Design: Empirical survey study of customers reporting complaint experiences, testing perceived-justice dimensions.. Customers who had recently complained about a service; the publisher record describes complaint experiences.
Complaint-handling satisfaction was determined by distributive, procedural and interactional justice; the study provides evidence that recovery evaluations shape relationship outcomes.
Journal of Marketing · 199810.1177/002224299806200205Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Ruth N. Bolton, Katherine N. Lemon (1999). A Dynamic Model of Customers' Usage of Services. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224379903600203.
Plain-English take: Usage is dynamically related to prior usage and customer perceptions, offering evidence relevant to engagement and retention management. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How do prior usage, service experiences and customer perceptions dynamically shape subsequent service usage?
Design: Dynamic empirical model of service usage over time.. Customers using a continuous service; the publisher record identifies customer usage as the longitudinal outcome.
Usage is dynamically related to prior usage and customer perceptions, offering evidence relevant to engagement and retention management.
Journal of Marketing Research · 199910.1177/002224379903600203Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Lars Meyer-Waarden (2007). The Effects of Loyalty Program Membership on Customer Purchase Behavior. Journal of Consumer Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760610712939.
Plain-English take: Membership is associated with differences in purchase behavior, providing evidence for evaluating loyalty-program retention/value claims. For your marketing: Use to frame a lifecycle hypothesis and define customer-level outcomes; check whether the study's market and retention horizon resemble yours.
Question: Does loyalty-program membership change customer purchase behavior in a retail setting?
Design: Empirical analysis of loyalty-program membership and purchase behavior using customer transaction data.. Retail loyalty-program members and nonmembers in a customer database.
Membership is associated with differences in purchase behavior, providing evidence for evaluating loyalty-program retention/value claims.
Journal of Consumer Marketing · 200710.1108/07363760610712939Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4/5
Daniel Belanche, Luis V. Casaló, Marta Flavián, Sergio Ibáñez-Sánchez (2021). Understanding influencer marketing: The role of congruence between influencers, products and consumers. Journal of Business Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.03.067.
Plain-English take: Follower–product congruence produced more favorable product attitudes; attitude increased purchase and recommendation intentions. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: When and through what mechanism does congruence among influencer, product, and follower affect responses?
Design: Experiment with followers of a top fashion influencer; factorial manipulation of influencer/product/consumer congruence.. 372 followers of a famous fashion influencer; fashion-product setting.
Follower–product congruence produced more favorable product attitudes; attitude increased purchase and recommendation intentions.
Journal of Business Research · 202110.1016/j.jbusres.2021.03.067Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Daniel Belanche, Luis V. Casaló, Marta Flavián, Sergio Ibáñez-Sánchez (2021). Building influencers' credibility on Instagram: Effects on followers’ attitudes and behavioral responses toward the influencer. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102585.
Plain-English take: The study tests how influencer characteristics build credibility and how credibility relates to follower attitudes and behavioral responses toward the influencer. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Which influencer characteristics build credibility, and does credibility translate into favorable attitudes and behavioral responses?
Design: Quantitative survey/structural model of Instagram followers assessing influencer traits and responses.. Instagram users/followers in an influencer-marketing setting.
The study tests how influencer characteristics build credibility and how credibility relates to follower attitudes and behavioral responses toward the influencer.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · 202110.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102585Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Y.A. Argyris, A. Muqaddam, S. Miller (2021). The effects of the visual presentation of an Influencer's Extroversion on perceived credibility and purchase intentions—moderated by personality matching with the audience. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102347.
Plain-English take: The paper tests effects on perceived credibility and purchase intention, with personality matching as a moderator. For your marketing: Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Does visually presented influencer extroversion affect credibility and purchase intention, and for whom?
Design: Online experiment manipulating visual presentation of influencer extroversion; moderation by audience personality matching.. Social-media users exposed to influencer presentations and a promoted product.
The paper tests effects on perceived credibility and purchase intention, with personality matching as a moderator.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · 202110.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102347Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3/5
Keng-Boon Ooi, others (2023). Social media influencers: An effective marketing approach?. Journal of Business Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.113773.
Plain-English take: Mobile convenience, interactivity, and influencer credibility shape attitudes; product/service attitude fully mediates influencer-attitude effects on actual purchase behavior. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: How do mobile convenience, interactivity, and influencer credibility lead to actual purchase behavior?
Design: Cross-sectional questionnaire study using structural equation modeling; includes actual purchase behavior outcome.. Mobile users in a developing-country context; 100 usable respondents are reported in indexed study descriptions.
Mobile convenience, interactivity, and influencer credibility shape attitudes; product/service attitude fully mediates influencer-attitude effects on actual purchase behavior.
Journal of Business Research · 202310.1016/j.jbusres.2023.113773Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
K.Y. Koay, C.W. Teoh, P.C. Soh (2021). Instagram influencer marketing: perceived social media marketing activities and online impulse buying. First Monday. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v26i9.11598.
Plain-English take: The study estimates relationships between perceived social-media marketing activities and online impulse buying. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: Do perceived Instagram marketing activities by influencers predict online impulse buying?
Design: Empirical questionnaire/PLS-SEM study of perceived influencer marketing activities and impulse buying.. Instagram users in a consumer social-commerce context.
The study estimates relationships between perceived social-media marketing activities and online impulse buying.
First Monday · 202110.5210/fm.v26i9.11598Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 4.5/5
Suzanne Bies, Bart J.J.A.M. Bronnenberg, Els Gijsbrechts (2021). How push messaging impacts consumer spending and reward redemption in store-loyalty programs. International Journal of Research in Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2021.02.001.
Plain-English take: Push treatment yielded about twice as many stamp redemptions and about 14% higher average spending; effects were especially strong among heavy customers. For your marketing: Use to frame a lifecycle hypothesis and define customer-level outcomes; check whether the study's market and retention horizon resemble yours.
Question: What is the causal impact of mobile push messaging on loyalty engagement and spending?
Design: Large controlled 18-week randomized field experiment; treatment received push messages and control stopped after week 3.. Mobile store-loyalty-program panel, Fall 2016; app users, retailer setting.
Push treatment yielded about twice as many stamp redemptions and about 14% higher average spending; effects were especially strong among heavy customers.
International Journal of Research in Marketing · 202110.1016/j.ijresmar.2021.02.001Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3.5/5
Alexander Bleier, Maik Eisenbeiss (2015). The Importance of Trust for Personalized Online Advertising. Journal of Retailing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2015.04.002.
Plain-English take: Greater personalization depth increased click-through only for a more trusted retailer and reduced it for a less trusted retailer; trust also shaped usefulness/reactance in the lab. For your marketing: Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: Does retailer trust moderate the effectiveness and privacy/reactance consequences of personalized retargeting?
Design: Quasi-experimental retargeting field study followed by scenario-based online experiment.. Consumers exposed to retargeting banners from retailers; real-world field data plus lab participants.
Greater personalization depth increased click-through only for a more trusted retailer and reduced it for a less trusted retailer; trust also shaped usefulness/reactance in the lab.
Journal of Retailing · 201510.1016/j.jretai.2015.04.002Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Charles Zhechao Liu, Yoris A. Au, Hoon Seok Choi (2014). Effects of Freemium Strategy in the Mobile App Market: An Empirical Study of Google Play. Journal of Management Information Systems. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421222.2014.995564.
Plain-English take: Freemium strategy is evaluated empirically as a way to attract users and monetize mobile apps, with effects varying by app characteristics. For your marketing: Use this study to frame a pricing or packaging hypothesis and define outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: How does freemium pricing affect mobile-app adoption and monetization?
Design: Empirical observational analysis of Google Play app-market data, comparing freemium and paid strategies and app performance.. Google Play mobile apps; app-market rankings/download or revenue outcomes.
Freemium strategy is evaluated empirically as a way to attract users and monetize mobile apps, with effects varying by app characteristics.
Journal of Management Information Systems · 201410.1080/07421222.2014.995564Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Carolina Susilo, others (2021). An Empirical Study on the Impact of E-Commerce Live Features on Consumers’ Purchase Intention: From the Perspective of Flow Experience and Social Presence. Information. https://doi.org/10.3390/info12080324.
Plain-English take: Live features are examined as antecedents of flow experience and social presence, which are linked to purchase intention. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How do e-commerce live features influence purchase intention through flow and social presence?
Design: Empirical questionnaire study using mediation/model testing of live-commerce features, flow, social presence, and purchase intention.. Consumers/users of e-commerce live streams; live-shopping context.
Live features are examined as antecedents of flow experience and social presence, which are linked to purchase intention.
Information · 202110.3390/info12080324Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Ying-Chen Ma, others (2023). Live stream marketing and consumers’ purchase intention: An IT affordance perspective using the S-O-R paradigm. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1069050.
Plain-English take: Trust in products and sellers during live-stream shopping positively correlates with purchase intention; the model tests affordances through S-O-R mechanisms. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Which live-stream IT affordances build trust and purchase intention?
Design: Survey-based empirical SEM study of IT affordances, trust, and purchase intention.. 434 valid questionnaires from live-stream-shopping users; 192 male and 242 female respondents, multiple platforms.
Trust in products and sellers during live-stream shopping positively correlates with purchase intention; the model tests affordances through S-O-R mechanisms.
Frontiers in Psychology · 202310.3389/fpsyg.2023.1069050Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Dong Liu, Jing Yu (2022). Impact of perceived diagnosticity on live streams and consumer purchase intention: streamer type, product type, and brand awareness as moderators. Information Technology and Management. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10799-022-00375-7.
Plain-English take: Perceived diagnosticity is tested as a driver of purchase intention, with streamer type, product type, and brand awareness moderating effects. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Does perceived diagnosticity of a live stream increase purchase intention, and under which moderators?
Design: Empirical scenario/online experiment examining perceived diagnosticity with streamer, product, and brand-awareness moderators.. Consumers evaluating live-stream shopping presentations across streamer/product/brand conditions.
Perceived diagnosticity is tested as a driver of purchase intention, with streamer type, product type, and brand awareness moderating effects.
Information Technology and Management · 202210.1007/s10799-022-00375-7Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
R.S. Algharabat, N.P. Rana (2021). Social commerce in emerging markets and its impact on online community engagement. Information Systems Frontiers. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-020-10041-4.
Plain-English take: The study tests how social commerce affects online community engagement, a growth-relevant behavioral outcome. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How does social commerce generate engagement in online communities in emerging markets?
Design: Empirical survey-based structural model of social-commerce activity and community engagement.. Users/consumers in emerging-market social-commerce settings.
The study tests how social commerce affects online community engagement, a growth-relevant behavioral outcome.
Information Systems Frontiers · 202110.1007/s10796-020-10041-4Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Amy K. Smith, Ruth N. Bolton (1998). An Experimental Investigation of Customer Reactions to Service Failure and Recovery Encounters: Paradox or Peril?. Journal of Service Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/109467059800100106.
Plain-English take: The experiments show that failure/recovery outcomes depend on failure and recovery attributes and customer responses; recovery can improve evaluations, but superior recovery does not uniformly erase the damage of failure. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How do customers react to service failure and recovery encounters, and when does recovery repair evaluations?
Design: Scenario-based experiments manipulating service failure and recovery characteristics; post-encounter evaluations were measured.. Consumers responding to hypothetical service-failure/recovery encounters in two experiments.
The experiments show that failure/recovery outcomes depend on failure and recovery attributes and customer responses; recovery can improve evaluations, but superior recovery does not uniformly erase the damage of failure.
Journal of Service Research · 199810.1177/109467059800100106Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
James G. Maxham III, Richard G. Netemeyer (2002). Modeling Customer Perceptions of Complaint Handling over Time: The Effects of Perceived Justice on Satisfaction and Intent. Journal of Retailing. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(02)00100-8.
Plain-English take: Perceived justice affects satisfaction and behavioral intent following failure/recovery; satisfaction partially mediates effects of justice on word of mouth and intent. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How do perceived justice and satisfaction evolve after complaint handling, and how do they shape intent?
Design: Longitudinal/repeated-measures empirical model of customer perceptions following failure and recovery.. Customers evaluating service or product failures and organizational recovery over time.
Perceived justice affects satisfaction and behavioral intent following failure/recovery; satisfaction partially mediates effects of justice on word of mouth and intent.
Journal of Retailing · 200210.1016/S0022-4359(02)00100-8Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Paul Aurier, Blandine Siadou-Martin (2007). Perceived Justice and Consumption Experience Evaluations: A Qualitative and Experimental Investigation. International Journal of Service Industry Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/09564230710826241.
Plain-English take: The study tests how perceived justice shapes evaluations of consumption experiences, extending complaint/service-recovery justice logic to broader service encounters. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How does perceived justice affect consumers’ evaluations of service consumption experiences?
Design: Mixed qualitative and experimental investigation of perceived justice and consumption-experience evaluations.. Service consumers evaluating consumption experiences under experimentally varied justice conditions, informed by qualitative work.
The study tests how perceived justice shapes evaluations of consumption experiences, extending complaint/service-recovery justice logic to broader service encounters.
International Journal of Service Industry Management · 200710.1108/09564230710826241Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3/5
Haoyan Sun, Ming Fan, Yong Tan (2020). An Empirical Analysis of Seller Advertising Strategies in an Online Marketplace. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2019.0874.
Plain-English take: Both tools increased traffic; only sponsored search significantly increased sales. Sponsored search worked better for low-reputation traffic and high-reputation sales; endorsement sales effects appeared only for high-reputation sellers. For your marketing: Use it to shape a local channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: How do sponsored search and social-media endorsement affect seller traffic and sales, and how does reputation moderate effects?
Design: Observational marketplace study with controls for sellers’ self-selection into sponsored search/social endorsement.. Sellers at a retail e-commerce platform; traffic, sales, advertising tools, and seller reputation.
Both tools increased traffic; only sponsored search significantly increased sales. Sponsored search worked better for low-reputation traffic and high-reputation sales; endorsement sales effects appeared only for high-reputation sellers.
Information Systems Research · 202010.1287/isre.2019.0874Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Lingling Zhang, Doug J. Chung (2020). Price Bargaining and Competition in Online Platforms: An Empirical Analysis of the Daily Deal Market. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2019.1213.
Plain-English take: Larger platforms deliver larger customer bases but lower merchant margins; absent platform competition, merchants are worse off while consumers face lower prices and higher total demand. For your marketing: Use this study to frame a pricing or packaging hypothesis and define outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: How do platform competition and bargaining power affect merchant reach, margins, consumer prices and demand?
Design: Estimated two-stage supply-side model of platform–merchant bargaining using Nash-bargaining solutions and counterfactuals.. Comprehensive U.S. daily-deal market data; merchants, platforms, deals, wholesale prices and demand.
Larger platforms deliver larger customer bases but lower merchant margins; absent platform competition, merchants are worse off while consumers face lower prices and higher total demand.
Marketing Science · 202010.1287/mksc.2019.1213Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Yiting Deng, Christopher S. Tang, Wei Wang, Onesun Steve Yoo (2023). Can Third-Party Sellers Benefit from a Platform’s Entry to the Market?. Service Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2023.0324.
Plain-English take: After entry, similar third-party sellers charged higher prices, obtained higher demand and earned higher profit; the proposed explanation requires moderate platform potential and sufficient spillover. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Can platform entry benefit incumbent third-party sellers rather than harm them?
Design: Exploratory analysis of seller sales data plus a duopoly/sequential-game model explaining the observed pattern.. JD.com sales data for one product category in March 2018; third-party sellers before/after platform entry.
After entry, similar third-party sellers charged higher prices, obtained higher demand and earned higher profit; the proposed explanation requires moderate platform potential and sufficient spillover.
Service Science · 202310.1287/serv.2023.0324Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Aron Culotta, Ginger Zhe Jin, Yidan Sun, Liad Wagman (2025). Safety Reviews on Airbnb: An Information Tale. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2023.0552.
Plain-English take: Safety reviews and personal safety experiences reduced bookings; removing vicinity-safety reviews could increase Airbnb reservation revenue under unchanged beliefs, but highlighting/removing effects reverse under rational updating; review–crime correlation is stronger in low-income/minority neighborhoods. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How does visibility of vicinity-safety reviews affect bookings, revenue and neighborhood sorting?
Design: Empirical analysis joining Airbnb reviews with official crime data in five cities; counterfactual simulations of review visibility.. Airbnb listings/reviews and official crime data in five major U.S. cities.
Safety reviews and personal safety experiences reduced bookings; removing vicinity-safety reviews could increase Airbnb reservation revenue under unchanged beliefs, but highlighting/removing effects reverse under rational updating; review–crime correlation is stronger in low-income/minority neighborhoods.
Marketing Science · 202510.1287/mksc.2023.0552Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4/5
Lanfei Shi, Siva Viswanathan (2023). Optional Verification and Signaling in Online Matching Markets: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.1194.
Plain-English take: High-type men were more likely to verify, while medium-type women were most likely; verified users received more contacts from higher-type users, became more proactive, and voluntary verification facilitated desirable matching outcomes. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Who opts into optional verification, and does visible verification improve matching outcomes?
Design: Randomized field experiment introducing optional, visible verification on an online dating platform without ratings/reviews.. Users on both sides of a leading online dating platform; self-disclosed profiles and voluntary verification.
High-type men were more likely to verify, while medium-type women were most likely; verified users received more contacts from higher-type users, became more proactive, and voluntary verification facilitated desirable matching outcomes.
Information Systems Research · 202310.1287/isre.2022.1194Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Fred D. Davis (1989). Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008.
Plain-English take: Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were significant determinants of acceptance/usage intention; usefulness was especially influential. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Do perceived usefulness and ease of use explain acceptance of information technology?
Design: Laboratory and field survey studies testing TAM constructs and usage intentions.. Office-automation system users in two empirical studies (reported in the MISQ article).
Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were significant determinants of acceptance/usage intention; usefulness was especially influential.
MIS Quarterly · 198910.2307/249008Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
David Gefen, E. Karahanna, Detmar W. Straub (2003). Trust and TAM in Online Shopping: An Integrated Model. MIS Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.2307/30036519.
Plain-English take: Trust, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use jointly explained intended online-shopping behavior; trust complemented TAM. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Does trust add explanatory power to TAM for online shopping?
Design: Empirical questionnaire study using structural equation modeling.. Online shoppers evaluating an electronic-commerce website.
Trust, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use jointly explained intended online-shopping behavior; trust complemented TAM.
MIS Quarterly · 200310.2307/30036519Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Anol Bhattacherjee (2001). Understanding Information Systems Continuance: An Expectation-Confirmation Model. MIS Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.2307/3250921.
Plain-English take: Continuance intention was determined by satisfaction with use and perceived usefulness of continued use; confirmation influenced satisfaction and usefulness. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: What cognitive beliefs and affect explain continued rather than initial IS use?
Design: Field survey testing five hypotheses from an expectation-confirmation model.. Online banking users with experience of the system.
Continuance intention was determined by satisfaction with use and perceived usefulness of continued use; confirmation influenced satisfaction and usefulness.
MIS Quarterly · 200110.2307/3250921Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Moez Limayem, Sabine G. Hirt, Chun M. K. Cheung (2007). How Habit Limits the Predictive Power of Intention: The Case of Information Systems Continuance. MIS Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.2307/25148817.
Plain-English take: Habit moderated the intention–continuance relationship: as habit strengthened, intention became less predictive of continued use. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: When does habit reduce the usefulness of intention for predicting continued IS use?
Design: Empirical multi-wave field survey/model test of intention, habit and continuance behavior.. Information-system users in a field setting, observed across repeated measurement waves.
Habit moderated the intention–continuance relationship: as habit strengthened, intention became less predictive of continued use.
MIS Quarterly · 200710.2307/25148817Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
Anthony Burton-Jones, Gordon S. Hubona (2006). The Mediation of External Variables in the Technology Acceptance Model. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1060.0080.
Plain-English take: External variables influenced usage largely through perceived usefulness and ease of use, supporting mediation rather than treating external variables as direct usage drivers. For your marketing: Use it to shape a local channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: How do external variables enter TAM—directly or through usefulness/ease-of-use beliefs?
Design: Empirical survey study using structural equation modeling to compare direct and mediated effects.. Information-system users in an organizational usage context.
External variables influenced usage largely through perceived usefulness and ease of use, supporting mediation rather than treating external variables as direct usage drivers.
Information Systems Research · 200610.1287/isre.1060.0080Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Shirley Taylor, Peter A. Todd (1995). Understanding Information Technology Usage: A Test of Competing Models. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.6.2.144.
Plain-English take: The decomposed TPB model provided useful explanatory power for intention and usage; perceived usefulness and social/behavioral determinants were important. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Which competing behavioral models best explain IT usage?
Design: Empirical survey comparison of TAM, TPB and decomposed TPB models.. University students using a computer resource centre.
The decomposed TPB model provided useful explanatory power for intention and usage; perceived usefulness and social/behavioral determinants were important.
Information Systems Research · 199510.1287/isre.6.2.144Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Magid Igbaria, Tomas Guimaraes, Gordon B. Davis (1995). Testing the Determinants of Microcomputer Usage via a Structural Equation Model. Journal of Management Information Systems. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421222.1995.11518061.
Plain-English take: Individual, organizational and system-related factors were modeled as determinants of microcomputer usage; perceived usefulness/attitudes were important pathways. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: What individual, organizational and system factors determine microcomputer usage?
Design: Structural-equation analysis of a survey model of microcomputer use.. Microcomputer users in organizational settings.
Individual, organizational and system-related factors were modeled as determinants of microcomputer usage; perceived usefulness/attitudes were important pathways.
Journal of Management Information Systems · 199510.1080/07421222.1995.11518061Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Herlaug Nysveen, Per Egil Pedersen, Helge Thorbjørnsen (2005). Intentions to Use Mobile Services: Antecedents and Cross-Service Comparisons. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070305276149.
Plain-English take: The four-service empirical results supported motivational influences on intention; the relative importance of antecedents differed across services. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Which motivational, technology- and user-related antecedents explain intentions across mobile services?
Design: Empirical comparative studies testing a model of mobile-service intention across four services.. Consumers considering/using four mobile services.
The four-service empirical results supported motivational influences on intention; the relative importance of antecedents differed across services.
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 200510.1177/0092070305276149Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Niina Mallat (2007). Exploring Consumer Adoption of Mobile Payments – A Qualitative Study. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsis.2007.08.001.
Plain-English take: Relative advantage, situational factors and lack of broad merchant acceptance shaped adoption; mobile payment can be adopted when it solves a specific situational need. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: What factors and situations shape consumer adoption of mobile payments?
Design: Exploratory qualitative empirical study using consumer data/interviews about a new electronic payment service.. Consumers considering mobile payments in a Finnish/European service context.
Relative advantage, situational factors and lack of broad merchant acceptance shaped adoption; mobile payment can be adopted when it solves a specific situational need.
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems · 200710.1016/j.jsis.2007.08.001Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Gangseog Ryu, Lawrence Feick (2007). A Penny for Your Thoughts: Referral Reward Programs and Referral Likelihood. Journal of Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.71.1.084.
Plain-English take: Rewards can increase referral likelihood, but their effectiveness depends on the strength of the relationship between referrer and recipient; incentives are less useful for weak ties. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: When and for whom do referral rewards increase the likelihood of making a referral?
Design: Field and laboratory experiments plus survey analyses of referral reward framing and likelihood.. Consumers in referral-program contexts; experiments compare reward/no-reward and relationship-strength conditions.
Rewards can increase referral likelihood, but their effectiveness depends on the strength of the relationship between referrer and recipient; incentives are less useful for weak ties.
Journal of Marketing · 200710.1509/jmkg.71.1.084Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
David Godes, Dina Mayzlin (2004). Using Online Conversations to Study Word-of-Mouth Communication. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1040.0071.
Plain-English take: The geographic dispersion of online conversations is associated with subsequent television ratings; the paper demonstrates how online conversations can measure WOM and predict performance. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Can online conversations be used as a measurable predictor of WOM and market performance?
Design: Empirical analysis of online conversation data linked to market outcomes, comparing geographically dispersed versus concentrated conversations.. Online discussion/conversation records about television shows, linked to show-level ratings and geographic variation.
The geographic dispersion of online conversations is associated with subsequent television ratings; the paper demonstrates how online conversations can measure WOM and predict performance.
Marketing Science · 200410.1287/mksc.1040.0071Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3/5
Wenjing Duan, Bin Gu, Andrew B. Whinston (2008). Do Online Reviews Matter? An Empirical Investigation of Panel Data. Decision Support Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2008.04.001.
Plain-English take: Review volume is positively associated with box-office demand, while the relationship between review valence and sales is more nuanced; review activity can be a demand signal as well as influence. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Do online review volume and ratings affect sales, and how should firms interpret review metrics?
Design: Panel-data econometric study of review volume, ratings, and sales with product/time controls.. Movie-market panel data linking online reviews and movie box-office performance over time.
Review volume is positively associated with box-office demand, while the relationship between review valence and sales is more nuanced; review activity can be a demand signal as well as influence.
Decision Support Systems · 200810.1016/j.dss.2008.04.001Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Arnaud De Bruyn, Gary L. Lilien (2008). A Multi-Stage Model of Word-of-Mouth Influence Through Viral Marketing. International Journal of Research in Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2008.03.004.
Plain-English take: WOM influence differs across stages of recipient decision making; sender characteristics and tie strength affect opening, processing, and forwarding/response. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: At which stages and through which mechanisms does WOM influence viral-marketing recipients?
Design: Empirical survey/experimental test of a staged model of recipient response to viral messages, estimating antecedents at decision stages.. Recipients of viral-marketing communications; message, sender/recipient relationship, and forwarding/response outcomes are measured.
WOM influence differs across stages of recipient decision making; sender characteristics and tie strength affect opening, processing, and forwarding/response.
International Journal of Research in Marketing · 200810.1016/j.ijresmar.2008.03.004Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Andrew T. Stephen, Jeff Galak (2012). The Effects of Traditional and Social Earned Media on Sales: A Study of a Microlending Marketplace. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.09.0401.
Plain-English take: Both traditional and social earned media affect marketplace activity; social earned media’s greater frequency can make its cumulative effect important despite smaller reach per event. For your marketing: Use it as a sales-process or B2B mechanism reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: How do traditional versus social earned media affect sales/activity in a marketplace?
Design: Longitudinal time-series analysis of earned-media events and transaction activity, estimating dynamic effects.. A microlending marketplace; traditional press mentions and social media/blog/community activity linked to lending transactions.
Both traditional and social earned media affect marketplace activity; social earned media’s greater frequency can make its cumulative effect important despite smaller reach per event.
Journal of Marketing Research · 201210.1509/jmr.09.0401Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Content and sharingEvidence check: 2.5/5
Jason Y. C. Ho, Melanie Dempsey (2010). Viral Marketing: Motivations to Forward Online Content. Journal of Business Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2009.09.010.
Plain-English take: The need to belong, be individualistic, be altruistic, and seek personal growth are identified as motivations associated with forwarding; relative importance differs across users. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: What motivations lead consumers to forward online content?
Design: Survey-based empirical study using motivational constructs to predict forwarding of online content.. Online users who forward online content; measures cover belonging, individualism, altruism, and personal-growth motives.
The need to belong, be individualistic, be altruistic, and seek personal growth are identified as motivations associated with forwarding; relative importance differs across users.
Journal of Business Research · 201010.1016/j.jbusres.2009.09.010Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Sinan Aral, Lev Muchnik, Arun Sundararajan (2009). Distinguishing Influence-Based Contagion from Homophily-Driven Diffusion in Dynamic Networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0908800106.
Plain-English take: Naive methods overestimate peer influence by 300–700%; homophily explains more than 50% of perceived contagion in the analyzed adoption network. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How much apparent product-adoption contagion is true peer influence versus homophily?
Design: Observational dynamic-network analysis with matching/statistical controls for homophily and contemporaneous adoption.. A large online social network’s mobile-service adoption decisions and user demographic/behavioral similarity.
Naive methods overestimate peer influence by 300–700%; homophily explains more than 50% of perceived contagion in the analyzed adoption network.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 200910.1073/pnas.0908800106Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 4/5
Jaehwuen Jung, Ravi Bapna, Anil Gupta, Sudha Ram (2021). Impact of Incentive Mechanism in Online Referral Programs: Evidence from Randomized Field Experiments. Journal of Management Information Systems. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421222.2021.1870384.
Plain-English take: The incentive mechanism and allocation between referrer and referred customer materially affect online referral performance; incentive design is not one-size-fits-all. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How does the design/allocation of online referral incentives affect referral outcomes?
Design: Randomized field experiments manipulating online referral incentive mechanisms.. Customers participating in an online referral program; referral initiation and downstream referral outcomes under alternative incentive allocations.
The incentive mechanism and allocation between referrer and referred customer materially affect online referral performance; incentive design is not one-size-fits-all.
Journal of Management Information Systems · 202110.1080/07421222.2021.1870384Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Yong Liu (2006). Word of Mouth for Movies: Its Dynamics and Impact on Box Office Revenue. Journal of Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.70.3.74.
Plain-English take: WOM volume is positively related to box office and its effect varies over a movie’s life cycle; WOM is both an outcome of consumption and a predictor of later demand. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: What are the dynamics of movie WOM and how does it affect box-office revenue?
Design: Dynamic panel/time-series analysis of WOM measures and weekly box-office revenue.. Movies released in theaters; online WOM volume/valence and weekly box-office revenue across the movie life cycle.
WOM volume is positively related to box office and its effect varies over a movie’s life cycle; WOM is both an outcome of consumption and a predictor of later demand.
Journal of Marketing · 200610.1509/jmkg.70.3.74Publisher record and abstract retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3/5
Geng Cui, Hon-Kwong Lui, Xiaoning Guo (2012). The Effect of Online Consumer Reviews on New Product Sales. International Journal of Electronic Commerce. https://doi.org/10.2753/JEC1086-4415170102.
Plain-English take: Review quantity, rating, and review content are empirically related to new-product sales; the paper analyzes both numerical ratings and textual review effects. For your marketing: Use it as a sales-process or B2B mechanism reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: How do online consumer reviews affect sales of new products, and do numerical and textual review features matter?
Design: Nine-month product-level panel-data analysis with review ratings, review text/topics, and sales outcomes.. 332 new products on Amazon.com observed for nine months.
Review quantity, rating, and review content are empirically related to new-product sales; the paper analyzes both numerical ratings and textual review effects.
International Journal of Electronic Commerce · 201210.2753/JEC1086-4415170102Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Shiva Agarwal, Cameron D. Miller, Martin Ganco (2023). Growing platforms within platforms: How platforms manage the adoption of complementor products in the presence of network effects?. Strategic Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3487.
Plain-English take: Apps with direct network effects are more likely to receive an award. The likelihood rises with developer market share but falls in concentrated segments; in concentrated segments, challenger developers are more likely than leaders to receive the award. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How does a platform owner manage adoption of complementor products that have direct network effects, balancing user-growth benefits against the risk of complementor dominance?
Design: Large-scale observational empirical analysis of Apple's app-promotion decisions; the article tests predictions using app-level data and robustness/alternative specifications.. Apple iOS App Store game apps released during 60 months from 2012–2016; the resulting complete-data sample is 211,407 games across 20 categories. The outcome is receipt of Apple's Editors' Choice award; multiplayer games proxy direct network effects, with developer market share and segment concentration as contingencies.
Apps with direct network effects are more likely to receive an award. The likelihood rises with developer market share but falls in concentrated segments; in concentrated segments, challenger developers are more likely than leaders to receive the award.
Strategic Management Journal · 202310.1002/smj.3487Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3/5
Kevin J. Boudreau, Lars Bo Jeppesen, Milan Miric (2022). Competing on freemium: Digital competition with network effects. Strategic Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3366.
Plain-English take: Stronger network effects alone did not increase market leaders' revenues relative to followers. Where freemium was used, however, network effects greatly amplified leaders' advantage; the publisher describes this as increased revenue/market dominance for leaders only under freemium. For your marketing: Use this as a pricing or packaging hypothesis and define outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: When network effects strengthen in a competitive digital market, how do freemium strategies affect the revenue advantage of market leaders versus followers?
Design: Empirical comparative analysis of product sales/revenues around an Apple App Store policy that strengthened network effects, contrasting freemium and non-freemium products and market leaders versus followers; the publisher identifies Apple daily prod. Competing products on Apple's App Store, classified by freemium strategy and market-leader/follower position; product rankings were collected daily, with app categorization supplied by Priori LLC.
Stronger network effects alone did not increase market leaders' revenues relative to followers. Where freemium was used, however, network effects greatly amplified leaders' advantage; the publisher describes this as increased revenue/market dominance for leaders only under freemium.
Strategic Management Journal · 202210.1002/smj.3366Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4.5/5
Johannes Loh, Tobias Kretschmer (2023). Online communities on competing platforms: Evidence from game wikis. Strategic Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3442.
Plain-English take: A stronger platform competitive position is associated with higher activity, primarily through more contributors, which then triggers greater contributions by existing contributors; high-productivity contributors are especially active on the stronger platform. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Do volunteer online communities create competitive advantage for platforms, and how does platform competitive position affect the extensive and intensive margins of contributor activity?
Design: Quantitative quasi-experimental/event-study design resembling regression discontinuity in time: contributor activity is compared in four days before versus five days after exogenous game updates, with heterogeneous treatment effects by platform compe. 13 game-wiki communities on two competing platforms; the study hand-collected game updates and analyzes 443 distinct updates across games, focusing on volunteer contributors, activity, contributor counts, and productivity.
A stronger platform competitive position is associated with higher activity, primarily through more contributors, which then triggers greater contributions by existing contributors; high-productivity contributors are especially active on the stronger platform.
Strategic Management Journal · 202310.1002/smj.3442Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Javier Cenamor, Johan Frishammar (2021). Openness in platform ecosystems: Innovation strategies for complementary products. Research Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2020.104148.
Plain-English take: Performance outcomes differ across co-existing innovation strategies. The publisher reports that platform sponsors have an active role in complementary products and that outbound and inbound collaboration may lead to high performance; appropriate strategy depends on platform lifecycle rather than a simple open/closed or sponsor/third-party choice. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: What performance outcomes do alternative innovation and commercialization strategies for complementary products produce, and how do those outcomes evolve across a platform ecosystem's lifecycle?
Design: Panel-data empirical study comparing four complementary-product innovation strategies (proprietary, outbound, inbound, and third-party) and their evolution over time; the publisher page reports performance outcomes across the strategies.. Panel of 4,857 video games for seventh-generation video consoles in the United States; the context is platform ecosystems involving console sponsors and third-party game developers/publishers.
Performance outcomes differ across co-existing innovation strategies. The publisher reports that platform sponsors have an active role in complementary products and that outbound and inbound collaboration may lead to high performance; appropriate strategy depends on platform lifecycle rather than a simple open/closed or sponsor/third-party choice.
Research Policy · 202110.1016/j.respol.2020.104148Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Tommy Pan Fang, Andy Wu, David R. Clough (2021). Platform diffusion at temporary gatherings: Social coordination and ecosystem emergence. Strategic Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3230.
Plain-English take: Attending temporary hackathon gatherings serves as a social forum for platform diffusion: sponsorship, social learning, knowledge exchange, and social coordination help developers learn about and adopt platforms. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Does attending a temporary gathering such as a hackathon affect software developers' platform choices, and through which social mechanisms does platform adoption diffuse among attendees?
Design: Large-scale quantitative developer-platform-month panel study supported by qualitative research; platform adoption is identified from developers' software projects and analyzed around attendance at hackathons, with channels including sponsorship, soc. 1,302 software developers attending 167 hackathons; the main dataset is a developer-platform-month panel with 786,240 observations, covering January 2012–November 2017 and platform use detected through platform-specific API keywords in public GitHub projects.
Attending temporary hackathon gatherings serves as a social forum for platform diffusion: sponsorship, social learning, knowledge exchange, and social coordination help developers learn about and adopt platforms.
Strategic Management Journal · 202110.1002/smj.3230Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3/5
Munyaradzi W. Nyadzayo, Riza Casidy, Park Thaichon (2020). B2B purchase engagement: Examining the key drivers and outcomes in professional services. Industrial Marketing Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.11.007.
Plain-English take: Customization and loyalty to the account manager are salient drivers of purchase engagement. Engagement predicts consideration-set size, dependence and willingness to pay a premium; dependence mediates effects on consideration-set size and premium willingness to pay. For your marketing: Use it as a B2B mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: What drives purchase engagement in B2B professional services, and what transactional and relational outcomes does it produce?
Design: Cross-sectional survey analyzed with structural equation modeling.. CEOs and/or owner-managers of small and medium-sized enterprises in Australia, in a B2B professional-services context; the publisher’s data-collection section says 4,000 CEO/owner-manager email addresses were sourced from a professional database.
Customization and loyalty to the account manager are salient drivers of purchase engagement. Engagement predicts consideration-set size, dependence and willingness to pay a premium; dependence mediates effects on consideration-set size and premium willingness to pay.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202010.1016/j.indmarman.2019.11.007Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Sara Fraccastoro, Mika Gabrielsson, Ellen Bolman Pullins (2021). The integrated use of social media, digital, and traditional communication tools in the B2B sales process of international SMEs. International Business Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.101776.
Plain-English take: Social media and digital tools are used jointly with traditional sales communication, blending the traditional selling steps into three main phases: identifying new opportunities, persuasion and relationship management; follow-up interviews reported increased social-media use. For your marketing: Use it as a B2B mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: How do international B2B SMEs use social media, digital and traditional communication tools across the sales process, and how do these tools affect that process over time?
Design: Exploratory longitudinal, multi-country qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with knowledgeable informants, follow-up interviews and secondary-data triangulation; grounded-theory analysis.. International SMEs in service industries across Finland, Italy, Poland, Brazil and the United States; interviews involved sales directors, marketing managers, CEOs or the most knowledgeable available employee.
Social media and digital tools are used jointly with traditional sales communication, blending the traditional selling steps into three main phases: identifying new opportunities, persuasion and relationship management; follow-up interviews reported increased social-media use.
International Business Review · 202110.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.101776Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Banggang Wu, Gengxuan Guo, Peng Luo (2024). The effect of subscriptions on customer engagement. Journal of Business Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114638.
Plain-English take: After accounting for self-selection, subscriptions produced large, persistent increases in content consumption and content generation (lasting at least a month); the effect was stronger for less-engaged users. Subscription increased perceived lock-in, which increased engagement intention. For your marketing: Use this as a pricing or packaging hypothesis and define outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: How does joining an online-community subscription affect users’ content consumption and content generation, and does perceived lock-in explain heterogeneous effects by prior engagement?
Design: Quasi-experiment using propensity-score matching and difference-in-differences, supplemented by a lab experiment on perceived lock-in.. Users of a leading mobile music community; the observational data span two months and compare subscribers with non-subscribers. The publisher page also reports a lab experiment.
After accounting for self-selection, subscriptions produced large, persistent increases in content consumption and content generation (lasting at least a month); the effect was stronger for less-engaged users. Subscription increased perceived lock-in, which increased engagement intention.
Journal of Business Research · 202410.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114638Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Zainab Jamal, Randolph E. Bucklin (2006). Improving the diagnosis and prediction of customer churn: A heterogeneous hazard modeling approach. Journal of Interactive Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1002/dir.20064.
Plain-English take: Adding heterogeneity significantly improves churn prediction. Churn is significantly linked to customer-service experience, failure-recovery efforts, and payment equity, with important differences across latent classes. For your marketing: Use it to frame a lifecycle hypothesis and define customer-level outcomes; compare its market and retention horizon with yours.
Question: Can a heterogeneous hazard model improve diagnosis and prediction of customer churn, and how are churn rates related to service experience, recovery, and payment equity?
Design: Latent-class Weibull hazard model with time-varying covariates, allowing heterogeneity in baseline churn hazards and response parameters.. Customer-level churn data from a continuous-service provider: a direct-to-home satellite television firm in a South American country.
Adding heterogeneity significantly improves churn prediction. Churn is significantly linked to customer-service experience, failure-recovery efforts, and payment equity, with important differences across latent classes.
Journal of Interactive Marketing · 200610.1002/dir.20064Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Kichan Nam, Jeff Baker, Norita Ahmad, Jahyun Goo (2020). Determinants of writing positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth: Empirical evidence for two types of expectation confirmation. Decision Support Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2019.113168.
Plain-English take: Two distinct forms of expectation confirmation, satisfaction, and personal characteristics influence eWOM writing; antecedents differ for negative versus positive eWOM. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: What influences consumers to write positive versus negative eWOM, and do the antecedents differ by eWOM valence?
Design: Survey study extending the expectation-confirmation model; analysis of respondents who wrote hotel reviews on TripAdvisor.. 438 TripAdvisor hotel reviewers, as reported in the publisher highlights and abstract.
Two distinct forms of expectation confirmation, satisfaction, and personal characteristics influence eWOM writing; antecedents differ for negative versus positive eWOM.
Decision Support Systems · 202010.1016/j.dss.2019.113168Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Xiaoyue Wu, Liyin Jin, Qian Xu (2021). Expertise Makes Perfect: How the Variance of a Reviewer's Historical Ratings Influences the Persuasiveness of Online Reviews. Journal of Retailing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2020.05.006.
Plain-English take: Consumers are more willing to accept a reviewer’s recommendation when the reviewer’s historical ratings in a product domain show greater variance; the publisher reports consistent support across five experiments. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How does the variance of a reviewer’s historical ratings affect consumers’ acceptance of that reviewer’s online recommendations, and what role does perceived expertise play?
Design: Five experiments testing the effect of historical-rating variance on review persuasiveness, its mechanism, generalizability, and boundary conditions; the publisher page describes perceived expertise as an underlying process.. Consumers/participants evaluating online-review recommendations across product-review contexts in five experiments; the publisher page describes studies testing the effect, mediation by perceived expertise, another product category, and boundary conditions.
Consumers are more willing to accept a reviewer’s recommendation when the reviewer’s historical ratings in a product domain show greater variance; the publisher reports consistent support across five experiments.
Journal of Retailing · 202110.1016/j.jretai.2020.05.006Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 4/5
Liyin Jin, Bingyan Hu, Yanqun He (2014). The Recent versus The Out-Dated: An Experimental Examination of the Time-Variant Effects of Online Consumer Reviews. Journal of Retailing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2014.05.002.
Plain-English take: Recent reviews are more influential for near-future decisions, whereas outdated reviews become relatively more influential for distant-future decisions; temporal/construal fit drives engagement and influence on preferences. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: When and why do recent versus outdated online consumer reviews shift consumers’ preferences differently?
Design: Four controlled experiments comparing the effects of recent versus outdated online reviews under near- versus distant-future purchase timeframes, including different review valences.. Consumers making purchase decisions after exposure to online reviews posted at different times; four experiments, as reported in the publisher abstract and section headings.
Recent reviews are more influential for near-future decisions, whereas outdated reviews become relatively more influential for distant-future decisions; temporal/construal fit drives engagement and influence on preferences.
Journal of Retailing · 201410.1016/j.jretai.2014.05.002Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4/5
Daehyun Kim, Yongwook Paik, Namil Kim (2025). Digitizing Opportunity: Entrepreneurship in the Age of Platforms. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1538.
Plain-English take: Craigslist entry increases local entrepreneurial activity, especially in low-income regions; lower-income, Black, and immigrant individuals are more likely to create ventures afterward. Post-entry firms are smaller and mainly B2C rather than B2B. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Do digital peer-to-peer marketplaces reduce market-access barriers and increase entrepreneurial activity, and which people, communities, and venture types benefit?
Design: Quasi-experimental study exploiting the staggered entry of Craigslist across metropolitan markets, using Business Dynamics Statistics and supplemental online survey evidence from entrepreneurs.. U.S. metropolitan statistical areas and county-level income/community data; the primary outcome is new firms per 100,000 population per MSA-year. A supplemental survey initially covered 996 U.S. residents with current or past entrepreneurial experience.
Craigslist entry increases local entrepreneurial activity, especially in low-income regions; lower-income, Black, and immigrant individuals are more likely to create ventures afterward. Post-entry firms are smaller and mainly B2C rather than B2B.
Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal · 202510.1002/sej.1538Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 3/5
Jai-Yeol Son, Sung S. Kim, Frederick J. Riggins (2006). Consumer Adoption of Net-Enabled Infomediaries: Theoretical Explanations and an Empirical Test. Journal of the Association for Information Systems. https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00094.
Plain-English take: Intention to use the infomediary was a function of perceived efficiency, perceived effectiveness, and perceived ease of use. Shoppers low in asset specificity and high in uncertainty appreciated the infomediary benefits more than other shoppers. For your marketing: Use it to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: Why and how do online shoppers adopt a new infomediary website, and how do the infomediary's utilitarian benefits and the shopper's transaction environment shape adoption intention?
Design: Empirical test of a conceptual model using data from an online questionnaire; the publisher page says the model was tested with online shoppers.. 367 online shoppers evaluating adoption/use of a net-enabled infomediary website that searches and compares online retailers.
Intention to use the infomediary was a function of perceived efficiency, perceived effectiveness, and perceived ease of use. Shoppers low in asset specificity and high in uncertainty appreciated the infomediary benefits more than other shoppers.
Journal of the Association for Information Systems · 200610.17705/1jais.00094Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Dan J. Kim, Donald L. Ferrin, H. Raghav Rao (2008). A trust-based consumer decision-making model in electronic commerce: The role of trust, perceived risk, and their antecedents. Decision Support Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2007.07.001.
Plain-English take: Trust and perceived risk strongly affected purchasing decisions. Disposition to trust, reputation, privacy concerns, security concerns, website information quality, and company reputation strongly affected trust; a third-party seal did not strongly influence trust. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: What roles do trust and perceived risk play in B2C online purchasing decisions, and what antecedents affect a consumer's trust and risk toward an online transaction?
Design: Structural-equation-model test of a trust-based consumer decision model using Internet purchasing-behavior data collected through a Web survey.. Internet consumers making or considering a purchase from a given B2C Internet site; the publisher abstract identifies the Web-survey consumer context but does not state the sample size on the fetched page.
Trust and perceived risk strongly affected purchasing decisions. Disposition to trust, reputation, privacy concerns, security concerns, website information quality, and company reputation strongly affected trust; a third-party seal did not strongly influence trust.
Decision Support Systems · 200810.1016/j.dss.2007.07.001Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Alain Yee-Loong Chong, Felix T.S. Chan, Keng-Boon Ooi (2012). Predicting consumer decisions to adopt mobile commerce: Cross country empirical examination between China and Malaysia. Decision Support Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2011.12.001.
Plain-English take: For Malaysian consumers, age, trust, cost, social influence, and variety of services predicted adoption decisions; for Chinese consumers, trust, cost, and social influence predicted adoption. The publisher highlights that traditional TAM variables alone were unable to predict m-commerce adoption and that culture mattered. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Which factors predict consumer intention to adopt mobile commerce, and do the predictors differ between China and Malaysia's cultural settings?
Design: Cross-country quantitative study extending TAM and DOI with trust, cost, social influence, variety of services, and controls; hierarchical regression tested the proposed model.. 394 consumers: 172 Malaysian consumers and 222 Chinese consumers, in a mobile-commerce adoption context.
For Malaysian consumers, age, trust, cost, social influence, and variety of services predicted adoption decisions; for Chinese consumers, trust, cost, and social influence predicted adoption. The publisher highlights that traditional TAM variables alone were unable to predict m-commerce adoption and that culture mattered.
Decision Support Systems · 201210.1016/j.dss.2011.12.001Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 2.5/5
Qiang Yan, Shuang Wu, Lingli Wang, Pengfei Wu, Hejie Chen, Guohong Wei (2016). E-WOM from e-commerce websites and social media: Which will consumers adopt?. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2016.03.004.
Plain-English take: EC-eWOM usefulness and credibility positively influenced EC-eWOM adoption but negatively influenced SM-eWOM adoption. EC-eWOM adoption negatively affected SM-eWOM adoption and mediated usefulness/credibility effects; cognitive level and involvement moderated effects. For your marketing: Use it to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: When consumers encounter eWOM from e-commerce websites and social media simultaneously, how do they choose/adopt the two sources, and how do usefulness, credibility, cognition, and involvement shape that process?
Design: Empirical questionnaire-survey analysis of a conceptual model based on cognitive-cost theory; the publisher page says the questionnaire had demographic items and 30 construct items.. Consumers exposed to eWOM from e-commerce websites (EC-eWOM) and social media (SM-eWOM) in a social-commerce/online-shopping context; the fetched publisher page does not state the respondent count.
EC-eWOM usefulness and credibility positively influenced EC-eWOM adoption but negatively influenced SM-eWOM adoption. EC-eWOM adoption negatively affected SM-eWOM adoption and mediated usefulness/credibility effects; cognitive level and involvement moderated effects.
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications · 201610.1016/j.elerap.2016.03.004Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Yujong Hwang (2010). The moderating effects of gender on e-commerce systems adoption factors: An empirical investigation. Computers in Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.07.002.
Plain-English take: The influence of social norms on adoption intention was stronger for women, whereas the influence of enjoyment was stronger for men. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How do social norms and perceived enjoyment affect e-commerce-system adoption intention, and do gender differences moderate those effects?
Design: Empirical online-survey study testing social norms, perceived enjoyment, intention to adopt an e-commerce system, and gender moderation using theory of reasoned action and self-determination theory; students navigated Amazon in an Internet-connected . 322 undergraduate business students from a northern U.S. university; participants were approached in an introductory MIS course, used individual PCs, and were asked to navigate Amazon and go through purchasing a book.
The influence of social norms on adoption intention was stronger for women, whereas the influence of enjoyment was stronger for men.
Computers in Human Behavior · 201010.1016/j.chb.2010.07.002Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Thorsten Wiesel, Koen Pauwels, Joep Arts (2011). Marketing's Profit Impact: Quantifying Online and Off-line Funnel Progression. Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1100.0612.
Plain-English take: The study found extensive cross-channel effects, direct effects on early and later funnel stages, and substantially higher profit impact for online customer-initiated contacts than offline firm-initiated contacts. A budget-shifting field experiment produced net profit increases 14 times larger than the status-quo allocation. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: What are the effects of marketing communications on online/offline purchase-funnel metrics, and what are the magnitude and timing of profit effects from firm- versus customer-initiated contacts?
Design: Econometric modeling of marketing communication effects on online and offline funnel metrics, followed by a field experiment reallocating marketing budgets.. Inofec, a small-to-medium-sized B2B enterprise; outcomes include website visits, online/offline information activity, quote requests, and purchases, with firm- and customer-initiated contacts compared across channels.
The study found extensive cross-channel effects, direct effects on early and later funnel stages, and substantially higher profit impact for online customer-initiated contacts than offline firm-initiated contacts. A budget-shifting field experiment produced net profit increases 14 times larger than the status-quo allocation.
Marketing Science · 201110.1287/mksc.1100.0612Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Pei-Yu (Sharon) Chen, Lorin M. Hitt (2002). Measuring Switching Costs and the Determinants of Customer Retention in Internet-Enabled Businesses: A Study of the Online Brokerage Industry. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.13.3.255.78.
Plain-English take: Measured switching costs varied substantially (up to a factor of two). Demographics had little effect, while systems usage and quality were associated with reduced switching; product-line breadth and quality could reduce switching and attrition. For your marketing: Use it to frame a lifecycle hypothesis and define customer-level outcomes; compare its market and retention horizon with yours.
Question: How large are switching costs and brand loyalty for online service providers, and which usage, service-design, firm, and individual factors determine switching and retention?
Design: Empirical implementation of a random-utility approach to measure switching costs and brand loyalty, followed by analysis of how usage, service design, and firm and individual characteristics relate to switching and retention.. The online brokerage industry; the publisher page reports data from that industry and evaluates systems usage, systems quality, product-line breadth and quality, and customer demographics.
Measured switching costs varied substantially (up to a factor of two). Demographics had little effect, while systems usage and quality were associated with reduced switching; product-line breadth and quality could reduce switching and attrition.
Information Systems Research · 200210.1287/isre.13.3.255.78Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Frank M. Bass (1969). A New Product Growth for Model Consumer Durables. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.15.5.215.
Plain-English take: The model produced good predictions of the sales peak and its timing when applied to historical data, and provided a long-range color-television sales forecast. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Can the timing of consumers' initial purchases of new durable products be modeled from prior buyers, with innovation and imitation providing the behavioral rationale?
Design: Development and empirical testing of a new-product growth model against historical sales data, separating innovative and imitative purchase behavior; the model is also used for long-range forecasting.. Historical data for eleven consumer durables, with a long-range forecast specifically developed for color television sets.
The model produced good predictions of the sales peak and its timing when applied to historical data, and provided a long-range color-television sales forecast.
Management Science · 196910.1287/mnsc.15.5.215Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Viswanath Venkatesh, James Y. L. Thong, Xin Xu (2012). Consumer Acceptance and Use of Information Technology: Extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 1. MIS Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.2307/41410412.
Plain-English take: Adding hedonic motivation, price value, and habit to UTAUT substantially increased explained variance: behavioral intention from 56% to 74% and technology use from 40% to 52%; age, gender, and experience were modeled as moderators. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How can UTAUT be extended to explain consumers' acceptance and use of information technology, including the roles of hedonic motivation, price value, habit, and individual differences?
Design: Two-stage online survey: technology-use data were collected four months after the first survey; the study empirically tests the proposed consumer-context UTAUT2 model.. 1,512 mobile Internet consumers; the publisher abstract identifies the context as consumer acceptance and use of mobile Internet technology.
Adding hedonic motivation, price value, and habit to UTAUT substantially increased explained variance: behavioral intention from 56% to 74% and technology use from 40% to 52%; age, gender, and experience were modeled as moderators.
MIS Quarterly · 201210.2307/41410412Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Zhou Zhou, Lingling Zhang, Marshall Van Alstyne (2024). How Users Drive Value in Two-Sided Markets: Platform Designs That Matter. MIS Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2023/17012.
Plain-English take: Cross-period same-side network effects contribute to user stickiness, while within-period cross-side effects persist conditional on stickiness. Using Groupon data, the authors verify the model and identify platform-design choices that can enhance stickiness when cross-period same-side effects are weak. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: When is a user-growth strategy effective, and how do users drive value in a two-sided market?
Design: Dynamic model of within-period and cross-period network effects and a two-sided customer-lifetime-value model, estimated and tested with platform panel data; the article also uses an online survey to classify product categories as experience versus s. Groupon's largest 108 markets from January through December 2012, with LivingSocial used to control for competition; the publisher page also reports a category-classification survey of 818 respondents covering 78 categories.
Cross-period same-side network effects contribute to user stickiness, while within-period cross-side effects persist conditional on stickiness. Using Groupon data, the authors verify the model and identify platform-design choices that can enhance stickiness when cross-period same-side effects are weak.
MIS Quarterly · 202410.25300/MISQ/2023/17012Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Candy K. Y. Ho, Weiling Ke, Hefu Liu, Patrick Y. K. Chau (2020). Separate Versus Joint Evaluation: The Roles of Evaluation Mode and Construal Level in Technology Adoption. MIS Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2020/14246.
Plain-English take: In joint evaluation, higher construal level strengthened the effect of perceived ease of use but weakened perceived usefulness's effect on adoption; in separate evaluation these effects reversed. Thus, simply changing presentation mode can reverse technology choices and preferences. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How do joint versus separate evaluation contexts interact with construal level and technology factors (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness) to influence technology-adoption decisions?
Design: Two complementary participant studies (N=272 and N=112): Study 1 was conducted in two natural settings, while Study 2 randomly assigned participants to manipulated joint-versus-separate evaluation modes.. Participants evaluated two new e-learning systems, either jointly (JE) or separately (SE); the publisher page reports N=272 and N=112 for the two studies.
In joint evaluation, higher construal level strengthened the effect of perceived ease of use but weakened perceived usefulness's effect on adoption; in separate evaluation these effects reversed. Thus, simply changing presentation mode can reverse technology choices and preferences.
MIS Quarterly · 202010.25300/MISQ/2020/14246Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4/5
Miguel Godinho de Matos, Pedro Ferreira, David Krackhardt (2014). Peer Influence in the Diffusion of iPhone 3G over a Large Social Network. MIS Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2014/38.4.08.
Plain-English take: A subscriber's adoption propensity increased with the percentage of friends who had already adopted. The authors estimate that peer influence accounted for 14% of iPhone 3Gs sold by the carrier during the 11-month period; their policy experiments suggest traditional seeding for viral marketing would have yielded little benefit at this effect level. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How much does peer influence affect iPhone 3G adoption in a large social network, and would seeding the product produce useful viral-marketing benefits?
Design: Observational diffusion study using a large mobile-carrier dataset, tight-community identification, and instrumental variables to address correlation between unobserved subscriber heterogeneity and friends' adoption; the authors also report policy ex. Communities sampled from a large dataset supplied by a major European mobile carrier in one country, tracking iPhone 3G diffusion for 11 months; controls include social clustering, gender, prior mobile-Internet-plan adoption, advanced-handset ownership, and regional mobility.
A subscriber's adoption propensity increased with the percentage of friends who had already adopted. The authors estimate that peer influence accounted for 14% of iPhone 3Gs sold by the carrier during the 11-month period; their policy experiments suggest traditional seeding for viral marketing would have yielded little benefit at this effect level.
MIS Quarterly · 201410.25300/MISQ/2014/38.4.08Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4/5
Michael Rivera, Xue Guo, Guohou Shan, Liangfei Qiu (2026). Stimulating Feedback Contributions Using Digital Nudges: A Field Experiment in a Real-Time Mobile Feedback Platform. MIS Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2025/18920.
Plain-English take: Task-significance messaging generated more and higher-quality feedback than generic prompts. Timing amplified the effect only when task-significance messaging was present; the follow-up experiment linked timing to lower cognitive load and task significance to greater germane load and external motivation, with effects varying by role. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How do digital-nudge timing and task-significance messaging, separately and jointly, affect the quantity and quality of employee feedback in a real-time feedback application, and through what mechanisms?
Design: Field experiment on digital-nudge timing and task-significance messaging in a real-time feedback application, followed by a randomized online experiment to examine mechanisms.. Employees using a real-time mobile feedback platform; the publisher abstract distinguishes managers and associates as feedback givers and receivers but does not state sample sizes on the fetched page.
Task-significance messaging generated more and higher-quality feedback than generic prompts. Timing amplified the effect only when task-significance messaging was present; the follow-up experiment linked timing to lower cognitive load and task significance to greater germane load and external motivation, with effects varying by role.
MIS Quarterly · 202610.25300/MISQ/2025/18920Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3.5/5
Zhuoxin Li, Gang Wang (2024). On-Demand Delivery Platforms and Restaurant Sales. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.01010.
Plain-English take: Restaurants overall benefit: delivery platforms increase total takeout sales and create positive spillovers to dine-in visits. Effects are heterogeneous: the overall positive effect for fast-food chains is four times that for independent restaurants; platforms substitute for independent restaurants' own takeout but complement chain takeout, while increasing dine-in visits for both. The paper also reports evidence that platform price comparison intensifies competition and reduces independent restaurants' ability to differentiate through premium service/dine-in experience. For your marketing: Use it as a B2B mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: Do on-demand delivery platforms substitute for or complement restaurants' own takeout and dine-in channels, and what is their net effect on restaurant demand and revenue?
Design: Observational restaurant-panel study using linear regressions with fixed effects and matched treatment/control samples; the publisher page also reports instrumental-variables/two-stage least-squares analyses, a platform policy-change analysis, count-. Chicago metropolitan area (17 counties across Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin): 19,117 restaurants, about 48% on at least one of DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats by the end of 2019. The panel combines Yelp/YellowPages restaurant characteristics, platform-partnership data, SafeGraph weekly foot-traffic data, and anonymized aggregate bank-card transactions; reported main specifications include 603,244 observations.
Restaurants overall benefit: delivery platforms increase total takeout sales and create positive spillovers to dine-in visits. Effects are heterogeneous: the overall positive effect for fast-food chains is four times that for independent restaurants; platforms substitute for independent restaurants' own takeout but complement chain takeout, while increasing dine-in visits for both. The paper also reports evidence that platform price comparison intensifies competition and reduces independent restaurants' ability to differentiate through premium service/dine-in experience.
Management Science · 202410.1287/mnsc.2021.01010Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
M. Serkan Akturk, Haileab Hilafu, Paolo Letizia (2026). Linking Firm-Generated Social Media Content to Sales and Returns. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.01432.
Plain-English take: ISP posts are associated with increases in sales and returns, whereas ICP posts are associated with decreases in both. ISP associations with sales and returns are weaker when persuasive content accompanies them; persuasive content attenuates the ICP relationship with returns but not the ICP relationship with sales. For your marketing: Use it as a B2B mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: How does firm-generated Facebook content, particularly informative content about standard versus customizable product features and persuasive content, relate to product sales and returns?
Design: Empirical observational analysis linking transaction data to the firm's Facebook posts; posts are classified as informative or persuasive, with informative posts split into standard-product-feature (ISP) and customizable-product-feature (ICP) posts. . Online-channel transaction data from a luxury fashion accessory manufacturer, augmented with that firm's Facebook posts and product-feature/content classifications.
ISP posts are associated with increases in sales and returns, whereas ICP posts are associated with decreases in both. ISP associations with sales and returns are weaker when persuasive content accompanies them; persuasive content attenuates the ICP relationship with returns but not the ICP relationship with sales.
Management Science · 202610.1287/mnsc.2023.01432Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3/5
Prabuddha De, Yu (Jeffrey) Hu, Mohammad S. Rahman (2010). Technology Usage and Online Sales: An Empirical Study. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1100.1233.
Plain-English take: Information-technology usage significantly affects sales, but effects differ by technology and product. Directed search increases sales of promoted products but decreases sales of nonpromoted products; recommendation-system use increases sales of both; nondirected search has an insignificant effect on online sales. For your marketing: Use it as a B2B mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: How do online consumers use search and recommendation technologies, and how does that usage affect online sales and purchasing patterns?
Design: Empirical analysis of website server-log data matched to sales data, controlling for consumers' historical purchasing behavior. The design compares directed search, nondirected search, and recommendation-system usage and estimates their relationships. An online-shopping website's consumers and product transactions; the publisher page identifies a unique server-log/sales dataset but does not report the number of consumers or observations in the abstract/page metadata fetched.
Information-technology usage significantly affects sales, but effects differ by technology and product. Directed search increases sales of promoted products but decreases sales of nonpromoted products; recommendation-system use increases sales of both; nondirected search has an insignificant effect on online sales.
Management Science · 201010.1287/mnsc.1100.1233Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3/5
Matti Mäntymäki, A.K.M. Najmul Islam, Izak Benbasat (2020). What drives subscribing to premium in freemium services? A consumer value-based view of differences between upgrading to and staying with premium. Information Systems Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12262.
Plain-English take: For upgrading, enjoyment and perceived price value predict intention to move to premium. For retaining premium, ubiquity and discovery of new content predict intention; social connectivity has a small negative retention effect, while advertising intrusiveness does not significantly affect either outcome. For your marketing: Use this as a pricing or packaging hypothesis and define outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: Do the consumer values driving free/basic users' intention to upgrade differ from the values driving premium users' intention to retain a paid freemium subscription?
Design: Two-stage online survey of basic and premium users, analyzed with principal-components measurement validation and structural-equation modeling; the publisher page reports a two-week separation between survey waves.. Finnish Spotify users: 467 usable responses after cleaning (208 basic/free and 259 premium users), recruited from a Finnish university student database and university-related Facebook groups; the study also interviewed 11 active Spotify users to develop two measurement constructs.
For upgrading, enjoyment and perceived price value predict intention to move to premium. For retaining premium, ubiquity and discovery of new content predict intention; social connectivity has a small negative retention effect, while advertising intrusiveness does not significantly affect either outcome.
Information Systems Journal · 202010.1111/isj.12262Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Thomas Niemand, Robert Mai, Sascha Kraus (2019). The zero-price effect in freemium business models: The moderating effects of free mentality and price–quality inference. Psychology & Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21211.
Plain-English take: The study identifies two opposing intuitions—free mentality (expecting digital services at no cost) and price–quality inference (expecting higher price to signal higher quality)—and reports that their interplay shapes responses to freemium offers and can help explain low premium conversion. For your marketing: Use this as a pricing or packaging hypothesis and define outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: How do intuitive free-mentality and price–quality-inference processes, and their interaction, affect consumer response and premium conversion in freemium offers?
Design: Two empirical studies: an implicit-association test to identify intuitive responses to zero pricing, followed by a choice-based conjoint study testing free mentality and price–quality inference in freemium offers.. Digital-service consumers/users; the conjoint context is media streaming. The publisher abstract does not state participant counts on the fetched page.
The study identifies two opposing intuitions—free mentality (expecting digital services at no cost) and price–quality inference (expecting higher price to signal higher quality)—and reports that their interplay shapes responses to freemium offers and can help explain low premium conversion.
Psychology & Marketing · 201910.1002/mar.21211Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3/5
Stephan Curiskis, Xiaojing Dong, Fan Jiang, Mark Scarr (2023). A novel approach to predicting customer lifetime value in B2B SaaS companies. Journal of Marketing Analytics. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41270-023-00234-6.
Plain-English take: The publisher reports that the hierarchical ensemble improves practical CLV prediction over simpler heuristics and traditional CLV approaches, and that the predictions can be used to optimize marketing spend and ROI and generate managerial insights. For your marketing: Use it as a B2B mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: Can a hierarchical, ensembled machine-learning framework improve customer-lifetime-value prediction and marketing resource allocation in the heterogeneous, temporally constrained B2B SaaS setting?
Design: Empirical machine-learning study implementing a hierarchical ensembled customer-lifetime-value model; supervised models are compared with simpler heuristics, traditional CLV approaches, and time-series methods using a random 70% training/30% test spl. Data from a major B2B SaaS provider: customers with active licenses on 1 January 2021, using revenue/MRR, product-license, product-usage, and firmographic features. The two-year CLV label covers 2021–2022 and the longer-horizon model uses a five-year window ending 2022.
The publisher reports that the hierarchical ensemble improves practical CLV prediction over simpler heuristics and traditional CLV approaches, and that the predictions can be used to optimize marketing spend and ROI and generate managerial insights.
Journal of Marketing Analytics · 202310.1057/s41270-023-00234-6Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Juan Feng, Xin Li, Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang (2019). Online Product Reviews-Triggered Dynamic Pricing: Theory and Evidence. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2019.0852.
Plain-English take: The model predicts that firms can manipulate pricing to influence reviews and sales and can dynamically adjust prices in response to online word of mouth; the panel-data difference-in-differences study is presented as empirical support for those predictions. For your marketing: Use this as a pricing or packaging hypothesis and define outcomes to measure; estimate effects with your own customer mix and willingness-to-pay evidence.
Question: How do online product reviews interact with firm pricing strategy, and can firms use dynamic pricing in response to online word of mouth?
Design: The article combines an analytical model with a panel-data study of prices and reviews; the publisher abstract says the empirical analysis uses a difference-in-differences framework to address endogeneity.. Online product prices and user-generated product reviews; the publisher page does not specify the retailer, product categories, panel size, or observation period in the abstract.
The model predicts that firms can manipulate pricing to influence reviews and sales and can dynamically adjust prices in response to online word of mouth; the panel-data difference-in-differences study is presented as empirical support for those predictions.
Information Systems Research · 201910.1287/isre.2019.0852Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Elias Baumann, Jana Kern, Stefan Lessmann (2022). Usage Continuance in Software-as-a-Service. Information Systems Frontiers. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-020-10065-w.
Plain-English take: Several proactive activation measures positively affect usage penetration, while software and client characteristics do not display significant estimates; the authors emphasize proactive activation initiatives to raise usage penetration. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Which vendor activation measures and software/client characteristics increase continued usage (usage penetration) of SaaS applications after initial adoption?
Design: Longitudinal observational study using data from a SaaS vendor and a linear mixed model to analyze measures intended to improve continued usage over time.. A SaaS vendor's application usage over time, including vendor activation measures and software/client characteristics; the publisher abstract does not report the number of customers or observations.
Several proactive activation measures positively affect usage penetration, while software and client characteristics do not display significant estimates; the authors emphasize proactive activation initiatives to raise usage penetration.
Information Systems Frontiers · 202210.1007/s10796-020-10065-wPublisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 2.5/5
Young Kwark, Gene Moo Lee, Paul A. Pavlou, Liangfei Qiu (2021). On the Spillover Effects of Online Product Reviews on Purchases: Evidence from Clickstream Data. Information Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2021.0998.
Plain-English take: Mean ratings of substitutive products negatively affect focal-product purchase while ratings of complementary products have a positive effect; spillovers are stronger on mobile, across different brands for substitutive products, among less experienced consumers, and when rating variance is lower. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: How do online reviews of products viewed alongside a focal product spill over into focal-product purchases, and how do complementarity/substitution, device, brand, experience, and rating variance moderate the effect?
Design: Observational clickstream study of purchases and reviews, supplemented by supervised machine-learning models trained and validated with Amazon Mechanical Turk product-pair labels to identify complementary and substitutive products.. Clickstream data from a large retailer, examining reviews of covisited products and purchases of a focal product; moderators include device (mobile versus PC), brand relationship, consumer experience, and rating variance.
Mean ratings of substitutive products negatively affect focal-product purchase while ratings of complementary products have a positive effect; spillovers are stronger on mobile, across different brands for substitutive products, among less experienced consumers, and when rating variance is lower.
Information Systems Research · 202110.1287/isre.2021.0998Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3.5/5
Vamsi K. Kanuri, Johannes Habel, Nawar N. Chaker, Deva Rangarajan, Paolo Guenzi (2022). B2B online sales pushes: Whether, when, and why they enhance sales performance. Production and Operations Management. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.13927.
Plain-English take: Salespeople generally comply with online sales pushes because online adoption frees time for new selling opportunities; post-push effort reflects customers' prior online proclivity and potential, varies over time and by channel, and produces asymmetric carryover, cross-channel and synergistic effects on sales performance. For your marketing: Use it as a B2B mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Question: Whether, when and why do B2B online sales pushes change salesperson effort and improve sales performance during hybrid-channel adoption?
Design: Mixed empirical design combining transactional/field data from a B2B seller with a scenario-based experiment.. A B2B seller transitioning from an in-person field force to a direct online channel; the study examines salesperson communication effort, customer online proclivity and potential, and sales performance.
Salespeople generally comply with online sales pushes because online adoption frees time for new selling opportunities; post-push effort reflects customers' prior online proclivity and potential, varies over time and by channel, and produces asymmetric carryover, cross-channel and synergistic effects on sales performance.
Production and Operations Management · 202210.1111/poms.13927Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Acquisition and retentionEvidence check: 3/5
Marc-Andre Danatzis, Klaus-Peter Wiedmann, Stefan T. B. Baumgarth, Peter Kenning (2023). Disentangling the effects of lock-in and affective customer experience on retention. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-022-00898-z.
Plain-English take: When affective experience is poor, lock-in reduces churn by about 49.03%–47.86%; its effect becomes insignificant above an acceptable experience level. Both strategies matter more at low relationship depth and less in heavy relationships. For your marketing: Use it to frame a lifecycle hypothesis and define customer-level outcomes; compare its market and retention horizon with yours.
Question: How do lock-in and affective customer experience separately and jointly affect retention, and how does relationship depth moderate those effects?
Design: Empirical panel/archival customer-level analysis using multinomial logit models to test a framework integrating experiential learning and social exchange theory.. 13,761 customers covering all firms in one telecommunications market and two services (mobile and broadband), with retention/churn decisions and customer-experience measures.
When affective experience is poor, lock-in reduces churn by about 49.03%–47.86%; its effect becomes insignificant above an acceptable experience level. Both strategies matter more at low relationship depth and less in heavy relationships.
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 202310.1007/s11747-022-00898-zPublisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Reviews and reputationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Alisha Stein, B. Ramaseshan (2015). Customer Referral Behavior: Do Switchers and Stayers Differ?. Journal of Service Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670514563495.
Plain-English take: Positive changes in service quality and perceived value have stronger effects on referral behavior among switchers than stayers. Thus, investments in quality and value improvements generate higher referral returns among newly acquired customers. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Do recently acquired customers (switchers) and long-term customers (stayers) differ in how service quality and perceived value changes affect customer referrals?
Design: Two-wave empirical study testing moderation by customer tenure/acquisition status; it uses actual referral data and examines how changes in perceived service quality and value relate to referral behavior for switchers versus stayers.. 441 customers of an Internet Service Provider, observed in two waves; switchers are recently acquired customers who changed providers, while stayers are longer-term customers.
Positive changes in service quality and perceived value have stronger effects on referral behavior among switchers than stayers. Thus, investments in quality and value improvements generate higher referral returns among newly acquired customers.
Journal of Service Research · 201510.1177/1094670514563495Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4/5
Manpreet Gill, Shrihari Sridhar, Rajdeep Grewal (2017). Return on Engagement Initiatives: A Study of a Business-to-Business Mobile App. Journal of Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.16.0149.
Plain-English take: App adoption increased the manufacturer's annual sales revenue by 19.11%–22.79%; return on engagement remained positive after development costs, and was higher when buyers created more projects in the app. For your marketing: Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Question: Can a B2B mobile-app engagement initiative generate measurable sales returns, and how does customer participation intensity explain return on engagement?
Design: Quasi-experimental difference-in-differences study with selection on observables and unobservables, comparing buyer firms that adopted a manufacturer's free B2B mobile app with a non-adopting control group over 15 months.. A tool manufacturer's business buyers and their sales records; the app was offered free to engage buyers, and buyer participation intensity was measured through projects created in the app.
App adoption increased the manufacturer's annual sales revenue by 19.11%–22.79%; return on engagement remained positive after development costs, and was higher when buyers created more projects in the app.
Journal of Marketing · 201710.1509/jm.16.0149Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Paid media and measurementEvidence check: 4/5
Marcel Goic, Andrea Rojas, Ignacio Saavedra (2021). The Effectiveness of Triggered Email Marketing in Addressing Browse Abandonments. Journal of Interactive Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2021.02.002.
Plain-English take: Browse-abandonment emails increased online-channel sales and sales in the triggered category; longer navigation histories and wider-assortment recommendations were associated with larger conversions/revenues. For your marketing: Use it to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.
Question: How effective are triggered emails at converting customers who browse but leave without purchasing?
Design: Randomized experiment: approximately half of browse-abandoning customers received automated emails and the other half received no message.. Customers of a multichannel retailer who had browsed the website and abandoned before purchase.
Browse-abandonment emails increased online-channel sales and sales in the triggered category; longer navigation histories and wider-assortment recommendations were associated with larger conversions/revenues.
Journal of Interactive Marketing · 202110.1016/j.intmar.2021.02.002Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Liu Fan, Shanshan Li, Can Wang, Xiaoping Zhang (2026). Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research.
Plain-English take: Humans generally outperform chatbots for symbolic loss, where emotional support matters, while the difference diminishes for utilitarian loss. Recovery-agent effects depend on failure severity: for low-severity failures human recovery is more effective, whereas the paper reports different comparative effects under high severity. The results caution against treating chatbot recovery as universally superior. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do recovery agent (human versus chatbot), consumer-loss type (utilitarian versus symbolic) and service-failure severity interact to influence consumer forgiveness?
Design: Full-text empirical research; three scenario-based between-subjects experiments. Chinese online participants recruited through Wenjuanxing. Study 1: 270 recruited, 30 excluded, 240 valid (mean age 24.89; 59.7% female). Study 2: 566 recruited, 46 excluded, 520 valid (mean age 23.72; 65% female). The full paper reports Study 3's sample and setting separately.
Humans generally outperform chatbots for symbolic loss, where emotional support matters, while the difference diminishes for utilitarian loss. Recovery-agent effects depend on failure severity: for low-severity failures human recovery is more effective, whereas the paper reports different comparative effects under high severity. The results caution against treating chatbot recovery as universally superior.
Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research · 202610.3390/jtaer21010035Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3/5
Wagner Junior Ladeira, Syed Hasan Jafar, Fernando de Oliveira Santini (2025). International Journal of Bank Marketing.
Plain-English take: Risk perception negatively influences financial-services technology adoption; economic performance, business efficiency, and globalization amplify that effect. Older and more educated individuals are more risk-sensitive. Trust positively influences adoption, with government efficiency, infrastructure, and AI-driven solutions strengthening its influence; cultural dimensions and perceived control also shape trust effects. Heterogeneity varies across economic, technological, and methodological contexts. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: What are the overall effects of perceived risk and trust on technological adoption of financial services, and which contextual, practical, and methodological moderators shape those effects?
Design: Systematic literature review and meta-analysis. 55 studies and 2,104 effect sizes concerning risk perception, trust, and technological adoption across financial-services/banking contexts; the publisher abstract does not list the individual countries, technologies, or inclusion dates.
Risk perception negatively influences financial-services technology adoption; economic performance, business efficiency, and globalization amplify that effect. Older and more educated individuals are more risk-sensitive. Trust positively influences adoption, with government efficiency, infrastructure, and AI-driven solutions strengthening its influence; cultural dimensions and perceived control also shape trust effects. Heterogeneity varies across economic, technological, and methodological contexts.
International Journal of Bank Marketing · 202510.1108/IJBM-02-2025-0156Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Ning Ma, Ruslana Khynevych, Yunqiang Hao, Yahui Wang (2025). Frontiers in Computer Science.
Plain-English take: Direct effects of anthropomorphism and perceived intelligence on UX were nonsignificant in the abstract, while the full paper reports anthropomorphism improving UX through perceived empathy and trust and an interaction in which higher perceived intelligence helps when anthropomorphism is high but can reduce UX when anthropomorphism is low. The results emphasize emotional engagement rather than intelligence alone. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do visual anthropomorphism and perceived intelligence in chatbot avatars affect user experience, and do perceived empathy and trust mediate those effects?
Design: Full-text original research; 2×2 within-subjects experiment with mediation/structural equation modeling. In-person experiment at Beijing Institute of Technology. 179 people participated; after 19 exclusions, 160 valid participants remained (101 female, 59 male; mean age 26, SD 5). Recruitment required chatbot interaction at least five times daily for the prior three months; participants received approximately RMB 200 gift cards.
Direct effects of anthropomorphism and perceived intelligence on UX were nonsignificant in the abstract, while the full paper reports anthropomorphism improving UX through perceived empathy and trust and an interaction in which higher perceived intelligence helps when anthropomorphism is high but can reduce UX when anthropomorphism is low. The results emphasize emotional engagement rather than intelligence alone.
Frontiers in Computer Science · 202510.3389/fcomp.2025.1531976Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3/5
Pia Hautamäki, Minna Heikinheimo (2025). Journal of Business Research.
Plain-English take: The study links AI exploitation to three managerial capabilities: data-based human capital, social capital for a knowledge-sharing culture, and a transformative AI-positive mindset. These foster AI-integrated knowledge processes at individual, team, and organizational levels. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do sales managers support B2B sales teams in adopting and exploiting AI through managerial capabilities and organizational knowledge processes?
Design: Grounded-theory qualitative empirical study. 32 top-level managers in B2B sales organizations; organizational/geographic composition is not specified in the publisher abstract.
The study links AI exploitation to three managerial capabilities: data-based human capital, social capital for a knowledge-sharing culture, and a transformative AI-positive mindset. These foster AI-integrated knowledge processes at individual, team, and organizational levels.
Journal of Business Research · 202510.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115396Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
Marketing capability and growthEvidence check: 3.5/5
Sabato Nocera, Simone Romano, Massimiliano Di Penta, Rita Francese, Giuseppe Scanniello (2025). Journal of Systems and Software.
Plain-English take: SBOM adoption is low but rising. SBOMs are mostly generated through build-integration tools or GitHub Actions; fewer than half of analyzed projects include them in version control or public release artifacts. Only a limited fraction contain minimum/recommended information, and some are noncompliant with existing SBOM standards. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How widely are SBOMs adopted by open-source projects, how are they generated/distributed, and how complete and standards-compliant are they?
Design: Exploratory empirical mining study. 186 public GitHub software repositories using SPDX or CycloneDX generation tools. The publisher abstract does not report a human-participant sample.
SBOM adoption is low but rising. SBOMs are mostly generated through build-integration tools or GitHub Actions; fewer than half of analyzed projects include them in version control or public release artifacts. Only a limited fraction contain minimum/recommended information, and some are noncompliant with existing SBOM standards.
Journal of Systems and Software · 202510.1016/j.jss.2025.112540Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3.5/5
Fabio Oliveira, Maksim Belitski, Rodrigo Perez-Vega (2025). Technological Forecasting and Social Change.
Plain-English take: The paper identifies four pathways: digital skill endowment, marketing ownership of the sales process, strategic implications, and value creation. SEPs improve intra-firm collaboration and customer insight, reduce costs, increase flexibility, and align sales, marketing, and management. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How does adoption of sales enablement platforms influence stages of the B2B sales process and firm performance in medium-sized companies?
Design: Qualitative empirical study combining interviews and multiple case studies. 27 chief executive officers and sales directors plus three European medium-sized firms; case appendices cover Cynergy Bank, Kooth, and Optomed.
The paper identifies four pathways: digital skill endowment, marketing ownership of the sales process, strategic implications, and value creation. SEPs improve intra-firm collaboration and customer insight, reduce costs, increase flexibility, and align sales, marketing, and management.
Technological Forecasting and Social Change · 202510.1016/j.techfore.2025.124172Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Silvio Cardinali, Piyush Sharma, Elena Cedrola, Marta Giovannetti, Kishore Gopalakrishna Pillai (2024). Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.
Plain-English take: Collaboration and exchange among buying-center members are more effective than competition/power struggles. Virtual/hybrid relations require greater intra-group cooperation; diverse backgrounds and collaboration support flexibility and performance. Technology increases certainty and automation but can create overload and biases, requiring analytical ability and clear decision responsibility. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do emerging developments, including virtual/hybrid relations and technology, shape interactions, flexibility, and performance in SME buying centers?
Design: Qualitative multiple-case study. Five Italian manufacturing companies/SMEs and their buying-center stakeholders.
Collaboration and exchange among buying-center members are more effective than competition/power struggles. Virtual/hybrid relations require greater intra-group cooperation; diverse backgrounds and collaboration support flexibility and performance. Technology increases certainty and automation but can create overload and biases, requiring analytical ability and clear decision responsibility.
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing · 202410.1108/JBIM-03-2023-0157Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3/5
Christian Kowalkowski, Jochen Wirtz, Michael Ehret (2024). Journal of Service Management.
Plain-English take: IoT can turn physical resources into reconfigurable service products; intelligent automation can augment/automate service processes; and digital platforms provide technical/organizational infrastructure for integrating resources and stakeholders. The six proposed agenda themes are recurring revenue models, metaverse service innovation, scaling, ecosystem innovation, power/dependency and lock-in, and security/responsibility. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do IoT, intelligent automation, and digital platforms reshape the offering, process, and ecosystem dimensions of service innovation in B2B markets, and what research priorities follow?
Design: Conceptual paper / research synthesis and agenda. B2B markets broadly, including manufacturing and professional-service industries; no empirical respondent or organizational sample (not applicable to this conceptual paper).
IoT can turn physical resources into reconfigurable service products; intelligent automation can augment/automate service processes; and digital platforms provide technical/organizational infrastructure for integrating resources and stakeholders. The six proposed agenda themes are recurring revenue models, metaverse service innovation, scaling, ecosystem innovation, power/dependency and lock-in, and security/responsibility.
Journal of Service Management · 202410.1108/JOSM-12-2022-0403Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Kittiporn Sae-tae, Qian Wang (2024). Telematics and Informatics Reports.
Plain-English take: Perceived usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment positively related to perceived value; perceived value positively related to satisfaction, continuance intention, and purchase intention. Satisfaction and continuance intention did not significantly predict purchase intention. Content and users' emotional responses were important to use and subscription decisions. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do usefulness, ease of use, enjoyment, perceived value, satisfaction, and continuance intention relate to purchase intention for freemium and premium music-streaming users in Thailand?
Design: Quantitative survey study / structural equation modeling. 443 respondents reporting music-streaming use in Thailand; the publisher identifies the article as an open-access research article.
Perceived usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment positively related to perceived value; perceived value positively related to satisfaction, continuance intention, and purchase intention. Satisfaction and continuance intention did not significantly predict purchase intention. Content and users' emotional responses were important to use and subscription decisions.
Telematics and Informatics Reports · 202410.1016/j.teler.2024.100179Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Nishad Nawaz, Hemalatha Arunachalam, Barani Kumari Pathi, Vijayakumar Gajender (2024). International Journal of Information Management Data Insights.
Plain-English take: Accuracy, computing power/capacity, and personalization significantly influence time-saving and cost reduction; automation and real-time experience do not significantly influence that outcome. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: Which AI-technology characteristics—accuracy, automation, computing power/capacity, real-time experience, and personalization—affect time-saving and cost reduction in HRM practice adoption?
Design: Empirical quantitative survey study. 274 IT employees in Chennai City; online questionnaire. The abstract does not state organizational sectors, sampling method, demographics, or whether respondents were HR users.
Accuracy, computing power/capacity, and personalization significantly influence time-saving and cost reduction; automation and real-time experience do not significantly influence that outcome.
International Journal of Information Management Data Insights · 202410.1016/j.jjimei.2023.100208Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3/5
Ilaria Mancuso, Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli, Umberto Panniello (2024). Industrial Marketing Management.
Plain-English take: Clients, providers, and enablers relate through data acquisition and manipulation. Governance mechanisms and boundary resources (including APIs, SDKs, connectivity devices, interfaces, rulesets and data-sharing agreements) support transactions, complementary applications, data-driven matching/network effects, new data-enabled business models, and faster/better decisions. The model distinguishes transactional and innovation behaviors and mechanisms of value creation. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: Who manages data in data-centric B2B platforms, what data-acquisition/manipulation activities do they perform, and how are those relationships governed to create value?
Design: Qualitative multiple-case study. Three industrial B2B platforms: Siemens MindSphere, Airbus Skywise, and Eni Open-es. The source specifies three cases but does not report a respondent sample size.
Clients, providers, and enablers relate through data acquisition and manipulation. Governance mechanisms and boundary resources (including APIs, SDKs, connectivity devices, interfaces, rulesets and data-sharing agreements) support transactions, complementary applications, data-driven matching/network effects, new data-enabled business models, and faster/better decisions. The model distinguishes transactional and innovation behaviors and mechanisms of value creation.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202410.1016/j.indmarman.2024.04.001Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3/5
Linlan Zhang, Yu Zhang (2024). Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research.
Plain-English take: Adding the new product is better when the existing-subscriber percentage is below a threshold and the subscription price is above a threshold. The paper also derives how key variables affect profit and piracy rate and gives pricing/piracy-control implications. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: When should a digital-products platform add a newly released product to its subscription service rather than sell it only at retail, given piracy and existing subscribers?
Design: Analytical/theoretical pricing model with numerical analysis. No human sample; theoretical digital-products platform setting covering software, music, film, and e-books, with consumer valuation, piracy quality/cost, subscription fee, existing-subscriber share, and usage quantity as model variables.
Adding the new product is better when the existing-subscriber percentage is below a threshold and the subscription price is above a threshold. The paper also derives how key variables affect profit and piracy rate and gives pricing/piracy-control implications.
Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research · 202410.3390/jtaer19020048Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Marketing capability and growthEvidence check: 3/5
Sunil Chaudhary, Vasileios Gkioulos, Sokratis Katsikas (2023). Computer Science Review.
Plain-English take: SMEs often lack resources, expertise, and incentives to prioritize cybersecurity; SME-exclusive cybersecurity-awareness research is rare. The review maps gaps and provides directions for adapting awareness research to SME needs. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: Which cybersecurity-awareness aspects require further research specifically for SMEs, and what knowledge gaps should guide SME-focused awareness research?
Design: Systematic literature review / research-gap synthesis. Published research studies on cybersecurity awareness or related domains, with priority given to SME-focused studies; the publisher abstract does not state the number of included papers.
SMEs often lack resources, expertise, and incentives to prioritize cybersecurity; SME-exclusive cybersecurity-awareness research is rare. The review maps gaps and provides directions for adapting awareness research to SME needs.
Computer Science Review · 202310.1016/j.cosrev.2023.100592Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Lez Trujillo-Torres, Eda Anlamlier, Laetitia Mimoun, Lagnajita Chatterjee, Delphine Dion (2023). Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
Plain-English take: Access-based journeys are systemic, tightly coupled and vulnerable to circularity failures; customers act as prosumers and bypass, stretch or hack platform policies to personalize journeys. Job crafting can create individual value and collective problems, but can also reveal innovations that platforms may formalize. Managers therefore need agility and monitoring rather than assuming a fully controllable linear journey. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do customers shape access-based platform journeys through prosumption/job crafting, and what are the implications for managing digital platform journeys?
Design: Full-text qualitative longitudinal, multi-method customer-journey study. US access-based fashion-rental platform Rent the Runway. Interview participants were all women, average age 34, recruited through convenience/snowball sampling; most had Unlimited memberships. The study also analyzes bloggers and platform/marketplace documentary and social-media material; the publisher/open paper should be consulted for the complete corpus details.
Access-based journeys are systemic, tightly coupled and vulnerable to circularity failures; customers act as prosumers and bypass, stretch or hack platform policies to personalize journeys. Job crafting can create individual value and collective problems, but can also reveal innovations that platforms may formalize. Managers therefore need agility and monitoring rather than assuming a fully controllable linear journey.
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 202310.1007/s11747-023-00942-6Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Arpita Agnihotri, Saurabh Bhattacharya (2023). International Journal of Information Management.
Plain-English take: Perceived safety, empathy and anthropomorphism affect different components of chatbot trustworthiness; trustworthiness increases willingness to forgive after failure and reduces negative word of mouth. The paper highlights privacy concerns as a countervailing issue and finds chatbot traits work through trust-related mechanisms rather than as undifferentiated design features. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: Which chatbot traits make chatbot-led service recovery effective, and through what mechanisms do they reduce negative consumer responses after service failure?
Design: Mixed-method empirical research (scenario-based quantitative studies plus exploratory and qualitative work). The main final survey sample was 586 UK consumers (304 women; median age 31.02; median income £32,000) responding to an online-retailing delayed-order recovery scenario. The exploratory work included 28 postgraduate students; the paper also reports a separate qualitative study (the publisher page contains its method/results).
Perceived safety, empathy and anthropomorphism affect different components of chatbot trustworthiness; trustworthiness increases willingness to forgive after failure and reduces negative word of mouth. The paper highlights privacy concerns as a countervailing issue and finds chatbot traits work through trust-related mechanisms rather than as undifferentiated design features.
International Journal of Information Management · 202310.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2023.102679Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Marketing capability and growthEvidence check: 2.5/5
Domingos G. Silva, Carlos Coutinho, Carlos J. Costa (2023). Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity.
Plain-English take: The abstract reports significant relationships between FOSS adoption and low cost, performance expectation, social influence, and system quality; safety/security, interoperability, and usability are described as especially important in adoption decisions. The paper proposes a new adoption model. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: To what extent do cost, system quality, usability, interoperability, security, performance expectation, and social influence affect intention to adopt/use FOSS in developing-country organizations?
Design: Empirical survey study using SEM-PLS. Organizations/public-sector context in developing countries; the source describes a survey and developing-country FOSS organizations but does not report an exact respondent or organization count in the accessible abstract/record.
The abstract reports significant relationships between FOSS adoption and low cost, performance expectation, social influence, and system quality; safety/security, interoperability, and usability are described as especially important in adoption decisions. The paper proposes a new adoption model.
Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity · 202310.1016/j.joitmc.2023.01.002Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3.5/5
Muhammad Sabbir Rahman, Surajit Bag, Shivam Gupta, Uthayasankar Sivarajah (2023). Journal of Business Research.
Plain-English take: Technology readiness positively relates to ICT and AI-CRM capability; ICT capability positively relates to AI-CRM capability; relationship performance positively relates to social-sustainability performance. ICT capability mediates the technology-readiness/AI-CRM link, and industry dynamism moderates the ICT-capability/AI-CRM link. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How does B2B-firm technology readiness relate to ICT capability, AI-based CRM capability, relationship performance, and social-sustainability performance, and do mediation/moderation mechanisms apply?
Design: Empirical quantitative research article. 217 B2B-firm samples; the publisher abstract does not provide country, respondent role, sampling frame, or industry breakdown.
Technology readiness positively relates to ICT and AI-CRM capability; ICT capability positively relates to AI-CRM capability; relationship performance positively relates to social-sustainability performance. ICT capability mediates the technology-readiness/AI-CRM link, and industry dynamism moderates the ICT-capability/AI-CRM link.
Journal of Business Research · 202310.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113525Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3.5/5
Hea Sun Lee, Margaret Jekanyika Matanda (2026). Industrial Marketing Management.
Plain-English take: US providers benefited directly from both exploration and exploitation and indirectly through website interactivity; Asia-Pacific providers benefited solely through the indirect website-interactivity path. Higher technological turbulence intensified the positive mediation effect. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do exploration and exploitation capabilities, AI-enabled website interactivity and technological turbulence affect B2B SaaS performance across US and Asia-Pacific markets?
Design: Full-text open-access quantitative empirical study. 362 B2B SaaS providers in the United States and Asia Pacific.
US providers benefited directly from both exploration and exploitation and indirectly through website interactivity; Asia-Pacific providers benefited solely through the indirect website-interactivity path. Higher technological turbulence intensified the positive mediation effect.
Industrial Marketing Management · 202610.1016/j.indmarman.2026.03.019Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3/5
Jochen Wirtz, Christian Kowalkowski, Elina Jaakkola, Maria Holmlund, Wolfgang Ulaga, Tanvir Ahmed (2024). Journal of Business Research.
Plain-English take: Defines Relieving, Enabling and Enriching CX value propositions and four archetypical CXM strategies: Champion, Cherry Picker, Minimalist and Fashionista; supplies a four-step managerial guide. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: What customer goals and value propositions should guide B2B customer-experience management instead of a one-size-fits-all “more is better” approach?
Design: Full-text open-access conceptual research article. No original respondent sample reported; B2B customer-experience management literature and business-market contexts.
Defines Relieving, Enabling and Enriching CX value propositions and four archetypical CXM strategies: Champion, Cherry Picker, Minimalist and Fashionista; supplies a four-step managerial guide.
Journal of Business Research · 202410.1016/j.jbusres.2024.115165Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3/5
Hea Sun Lee, Margaret Jekanyika Matanda (2026). Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.
Plain-English take: Seven determinants were identified: marketing activities and website functionality/interactivity support sensing; customized innovation, security certifications, B2B partnerships and information sharing support seizing; the paper maps further determinants to transforming. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: Which organizational determinants align with sensing, seizing and transforming capabilities to explain SaaS-provider performance?
Design: Full-text open-access exploratory qualitative case study. Ten small and medium-sized SaaS providers headquartered in South Korea.
Seven determinants were identified: marketing activities and website functionality/interactivity support sensing; customized innovation, security certifications, B2B partnerships and information sharing support seizing; the paper maps further determinants to transforming.
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing · 202610.1108/JBIM-10-2024-0751Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Daniel Fehrenbach, Carlos Herrando (2026). Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.
Plain-English take: Buyer engagement depends on supplier-selection criteria, buyer role/readiness and project-specific factors; positive prior attitudes, perceived value and willingness predict co-creation intention. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How can co-creation be integrated into the B2B AI sales funnel, and what makes industrial buyers willing to co-create?
Design: Abstract-supported mixed-method empirical study. Industrial buyers involved with a manufacturing startup; the accessible abstract does not give the quantitative-stage n.
Buyer engagement depends on supplier-selection criteria, buyer role/readiness and project-specific factors; positive prior attitudes, perceived value and willingness predict co-creation intention.
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing · 202610.1108/JBIM-04-2025-0303Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
Bruno S. D. Santos, Luiz G. R. Antunes, Rafael F. Falcão, Luiz F. Lugoboni (2026). Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies.
Plain-English take: Startups did not follow a linear PMS trajectory; they reactively adjusted measurement systems around market expansion, product development and fundraising. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do SaaS startups structure and evolve performance-measurement systems across stages of venture funding?
Design: Abstract-supported qualitative empirical study. Nine SaaS startups at different stages of venture funding; founders and CEOs were interviewed.
Startups did not follow a linear PMS trajectory; they reactively adjusted measurement systems around market expansion, product development and fundraising.
Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies · 202610.1108/JEEE-06-2025-0319Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Samuel Godadaw Ayinaddis (2025). Journal of Innovation & Knowledge.
Plain-English take: The review addresses fragmented evidence and compares tools, implementation and outcomes across firm sizes; detailed synthesized results require the full paper. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do AI-adoption dynamics and knowledge differ between SMEs and large firms?
Design: Abstract-supported systematic review and bibliometric analysis. Published literature on SMEs and larger firms; the accessible publisher page does not state the final article count in the scraped excerpt.
The review addresses fragmented evidence and compares tools, implementation and outcomes across firm sizes; detailed synthesized results require the full paper.
Journal of Innovation & Knowledge · 202510.1016/j.jik.2025.100682Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Rafael Katz, Joon Jung (2026). Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance.
Plain-English take: Company size positively influenced AI adoption and use; digitized environments increased adoption likelihood through network effects; competition intensity had a nonlinear effect that initially stimulated adoption. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: Which firm and environmental factors predict AI adoption, diffusion within firms and intensity of use?
Design: Abstract-supported quantitative empirical study. Brazilian enterprises; the accessible abstract does not report the microdata sample size.
Company size positively influenced AI adoption and use; digitized environments increased adoption likelihood through network effects; competition intensity had a nonlinear effect that initially stimulated adoption.
Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance · 202610.1108/DPRG-05-2025-0135Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Dilupa Nakandala, Richard (Chunhui) Yang, Arun Elias, Rola Fanous (2024). Journal of Cleaner Production.
Plain-English take: The study empirically links managers’ digital expertise and environmental consciousness to technology-adoption intentions; the accessible abstract does not expose the complete coefficient pattern. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do managers’ digital expertise and environmental consciousness affect intentions to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies?
Design: Full-text open-access quantitative survey study. 172 managers; Industry 4.0 organizational context.
The study empirically links managers’ digital expertise and environmental consciousness to technology-adoption intentions; the accessible abstract does not expose the complete coefficient pattern.
Journal of Cleaner Production · 202410.1016/j.jclepro.2024.143558Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Chathurika S. Ahmad, A. S. Bali Mahomed, H. Hashim (2026). Business Process Management Journal.
Plain-English take: Information quality and service quality significantly enhanced perceived business-process performance; system quality did not have a meaningful direct effect; perceived AI usefulness amplified the effects of system and information quality. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How does cloud-computing quality affect perceived business-process performance in SMEs, and does perceived AI usefulness moderate those effects?
Design: Abstract-supported quantitative empirical study. 412 SMEs in Pakistan.
Information quality and service quality significantly enhanced perceived business-process performance; system quality did not have a meaningful direct effect; perceived AI usefulness amplified the effects of system and information quality.
Business Process Management Journal · 202610.1108/BPMJ-01-2025-0103Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3/5
Luana Ladu, Claudia Koch, Parsa Asna Ashari, Knut Blind, Pavel Castka (2024). Technology in Society.
Plain-English take: Develops an industry-specific maturity model and examines links between digital maturity and technology adoption in a globally regulated industry. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How should digital maturity be designed for the conformity-assessment industry, and how is maturity associated with technology adoption?
Design: Full-text open-access mixed qualitative/quantitative empirical study. Conformity-assessment industry across an international sample; the accessible excerpt does not expose the quantitative n.
Develops an industry-specific maturity model and examines links between digital maturity and technology adoption in a globally regulated industry.
Technology in Society · 202410.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102564Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
S. Kumar, B. Ramtiyal, G. Soni, L. Vijayvargy, C. Chandra, I. Dey (2026). Benchmarking: An International Journal.
Plain-English take: Optimism and innovativeness did not affect perceived ease of use or utility; behavioral intention was shaped by perceived utility, attitude and perceived behavioral control. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: Which technology-readiness, TAM and planned-behavior factors shape traceability adoption in perishable-product supply chains?
Design: Abstract-supported quantitative empirical study. Perishable-products supply-chain participants; accessible abstract reports an online survey but not the sample size.
Optimism and innovativeness did not affect perceived ease of use or utility; behavioral intention was shaped by perceived utility, attitude and perceived behavioral control.
Benchmarking: An International Journal · 202610.1108/BIJ-05-2024-0461Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
J. Kumar, G. Rani, M. Rani, V. Rani (2024). Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy.
Plain-English take: Relative advantage, top-management support, competitive pressure and market dynamics significantly influenced blockchain adoption; the paper also tests adoption’s relationship with SME market and financial performance. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: Which TOE/RBV factors predict blockchain adoption in SMEs, and how does adoption relate to market and financial performance?
Design: Abstract-supported quantitative empirical study. 407 SME responses from India.
Relative advantage, top-management support, competitive pressure and market dynamics significantly influenced blockchain adoption; the paper also tests adoption’s relationship with SME market and financial performance.
Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy · 202410.1108/JEC-02-2024-0034Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 2.5/5
H. Fatorachian, B. Mitchell, P. Boland, C. Petty, Z. Mughal, J. MCcoubrie (2025). SAM Advanced Management Journal.
Plain-English take: Social media and a strong online presence were reported to improve brand visibility, client engagement and sales; themes included digital presence and relationship building. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do social-media use and brand awareness influence sales for B2B consultancy firms in hospitality?
Design: Abstract-supported mixed-method empirical study. Five hospitality businesses in a B2B consultancy context.
Social media and a strong online presence were reported to improve brand visibility, client engagement and sales; themes included digital presence and relationship building.
SAM Advanced Management Journal · 202510.1108/SAMAMJ-06-2024-0028Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 3/5
V. Srivastava, R. Kumar (2026). Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.
Plain-English take: Job-related social-media use improved in-role performance, with online social capital strengthening the effect; its sales-performance effect was indirect through in-role performance. Personal-branding use improved customer-relationship performance. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do job-related and personal-branding social-media use affect salesperson in-role performance, customer-relationship performance and sales outcomes?
Design: Abstract-supported quantitative empirical study. 276 valid salesperson responses across sectors, collected using snowball and purposive sampling.
Job-related social-media use improved in-role performance, with online social capital strengthening the effect; its sales-performance effect was indirect through in-role performance. Personal-branding use improved customer-relationship performance.
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing · 202610.1108/JBIM-09-2024-0732Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Ranim Khojah, Mazen Mohamad, Philipp Leitner, Francisco Gomes de Oliveira Neto (2024). ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology.
Plain-English take: Practitioners more often sought guidance or learning than ready-to-use software artifacts; simple artifact generation and brainstorming were useful, complex tasks were harder; about two-thirds expressed high or moderate trust but none trusted outputs entirely, and lack of sources reduced trust. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do professional software engineers use ChatGPT in daily work, and what factors shape perceived usefulness and trust?
Design: Full-text observational qualitative empirical study. 24 professional software engineers at 10 companies in Europe, using GPT-3.5 over five business days.
Practitioners more often sought guidance or learning than ready-to-use software artifacts; simple artifact generation and brainstorming were useful, complex tasks were harder; about two-thirds expressed high or moderate trust but none trusted outputs entirely, and lack of sources reduced trust.
ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology · 202410.1145/3660788Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Ololade A. Shonubi (2025). Sustainable Futures.
Plain-English take: Emerging-technology integration was positively related to organizational, process and product/service innovation across both continents; African enterprises showed stronger process-innovation adaptability despite infrastructure limits; gender differences affected product/service-innovation perceptions. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How does emerging-technology integration relate to organizational, process and product/service innovation as organizations transition from legacy systems?
Design: Full-text open-access quantitative empirical study. Managers from enterprises across Asian and African contexts; accessible abstract does not report sample size.
Emerging-technology integration was positively related to organizational, process and product/service innovation across both continents; African enterprises showed stronger process-innovation adaptability despite infrastructure limits; gender differences affected product/service-innovation perceptions.
Sustainable Futures · 202510.1016/j.sftr.2025.100971Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Marketing capability and growthEvidence check: 3.5/5
Neeshe Khan, Steven Furnell, Maria Bada, Matthew Rand, Jason R. C. Nurse (2025). Computers & Security.
Plain-English take: Providers played an assistive role in education and implementation, but SME cyber hygiene and knowledge remained low; comprehension, capability, attitudes and resources constrained security; security-focused communities could improve support, collaboration and learning. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: What cybersecurity support do providers offer SMEs, what triggers requests, how effective is support, and how can it improve?
Design: Full-text qualitative empirical study. 12 participants from organizations providing cybersecurity advice or solutions in the UK; participants had cumulative exposure to numerous SMEs.
Providers played an assistive role in education and implementation, but SME cyber hygiene and knowledge remained low; comprehension, capability, attitudes and resources constrained security; security-focused communities could improve support, collaboration and learning.
Computers & Security · 202510.1016/j.cose.2025.104448Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Marketing capability and growthEvidence check: 3/5
Angelica Pigola, Priscila Rezende da Costa (2025). Information and Computer Security.
Plain-English take: “Doing” and “improving” dimensions were positively associated with cybersecurity intelligence; “enabling” and “managing” dimensions did not make significant contributions. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: Which dynamic capabilities contribute to organizational cybersecurity intelligence?
Design: Abstract-supported quantitative empirical study. 207 cybersecurity experts across diverse regions.
“Doing” and “improving” dimensions were positively associated with cybersecurity intelligence; “enabling” and “managing” dimensions did not make significant contributions.
Information and Computer Security · 202510.1108/ICS-08-2024-0185Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Justine Dima, Julie Dextras-Gauthier, Laurent Giraud (2024). Frontiers in Psychology.
Plain-English take: Synthesizes five main AI effects on HR activities and maps opportunities/challenges across the HR triad; highlights automation, decision support, bias/ethics, changing roles and need for multilevel research. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: What does the peer-reviewed literature show about AI’s effects on HR activities and the roles of employees, line managers and HR professionals?
Design: Full-text scoping review/evidence synthesis. 43 articles across 38 journals covering eight HR activity categories; 95.7% intercoder agreement on 20% of coded studies.
Synthesizes five main AI effects on HR activities and maps opportunities/challenges across the HR triad; highlights automation, decision support, bias/ethics, changing roles and need for multilevel research.
Frontiers in Psychology · 202410.3389/fpsyg.2024.1360401Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3/5
Meenal Arora, Amit Mittal (2025). Benchmarking: An International Journal.
Plain-English take: Perceptions of AI’s effects on talent acquisition, training/development, performance assessment and pay/rewards predicted adoption intention; AI-tech trust positively mediated the tested relationships. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do employees’ perceptions of AI-enabled changes in HR functions affect intention to adopt AI, and does AI-tech trust mediate the relationships?
Design: Abstract-supported quantitative empirical study. 264 HR professionals from Indian e-commerce organizations.
Perceptions of AI’s effects on talent acquisition, training/development, performance assessment and pay/rewards predicted adoption intention; AI-tech trust positively mediated the tested relationships.
Benchmarking: An International Journal · 202510.1108/BIJ-11-2023-0795Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Mohammad Pedrami, Seyed Kamal Vaezi (2026). Journal of Work-Applied Management.
Plain-English take: Five themes organize adoption factors: organizational/strategic, technological/operational, human-centric, challenges/opportunities, and environmental/economic; ethical and legal considerations were especially prominent. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: Which multidimensional factors influence AI adoption in HRM?
Design: Full-text open-access qualitative meta-synthesis/systematic review. Peer-reviewed AI-in-HRM studies published 2015–2023; the accessible article synthesizes the selected literature rather than a new respondent sample.
Five themes organize adoption factors: organizational/strategic, technological/operational, human-centric, challenges/opportunities, and environmental/economic; ethical and legal considerations were especially prominent.
Journal of Work-Applied Management · 202610.1108/JWAM-10-2024-0158Full text retrieved from publisher or linked open repository
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 2.5/5
Ying Sin Chin, Abang Azlan Mohamad, May Chiun Lo (2026). Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication.
Plain-English take: Three of five hypotheses were supported: AI adoption positively related to sustainable employee performance; HRM practices and digital culture also positively related to performance; AI did not moderate the HRM–performance link and AI adoption was not associated with digital culture. For a founder, use this as a question to test in your own context, not a universal playbook.
Question: How do AI adoption, organizational digital culture and HRM practices relate to sustainable employee performance in Malaysian luxury hotels?
Design: Abstract-supported quantitative empirical study. Luxury hotels in Malaysia; the accessible abstract does not report the respondent n.
Three of five hypotheses were supported: AI adoption positively related to sustainable employee performance; HRM practices and digital culture also positively related to performance; AI did not moderate the HRM–performance link and AI adoption was not associated with digital culture.
Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication · 202610.1108/GKMC-06-2024-0355Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text not reviewed
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4.5/5
Noy, S. & Zhang, W. (2023). Experimental evidence on the productivity effects of generative artificial intelligence. Science.
Plain-English take: In this study, ChatGPT reduced average time by 40% and raised output quality by 18%; inequality fell, and exposed workers were 2 times as likely to report real-job use two weeks later and 1.6 times as likely two months later. Founder use: Evaluate AI features with randomized task-level tests that include quality and time, then measure sustained adoption rather than assuming a novelty effect equals retention.
Question: What is the causal effect of ChatGPT access on productivity, quality, inequality, and subsequent workplace adoption in professional writing tasks?
Design: Preregistered online randomized experiment with incentivized, occupation-specific writing tasks.. 453 college-educated professionals performing midlevel professional writing tasks; half were randomly exposed to ChatGPT.
ChatGPT reduced average time by 40% and raised output quality by 18%; inequality fell, and exposed workers were 2 times as likely to report real-job use two weeks later and 1.6 times as likely two months later.
Science · 202310.1126/science.adh2586Publisher abstract or article landing page captured; full text access not established
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4.5/5
Brynjolfsson, E., Li, D., & Raymond, L. R. (2025). Generative AI at Work. The Quarterly Journal of Economics.
Plain-English take: In this study, Less-experienced and lower-skilled workers improved speed and quality more than experienced/high-skilled workers; AI assistance also improved customer sentiment and reduced requests to speak with a manager. The publisher search abstract reports a 15% average productivity increase. Founder use: Prioritize AI copilot deployment where onboarding and experience gaps are largest; track quality, customer sentiment, escalation, and retention together.
Question: What happens when a generative-AI conversational assistant is introduced into real customer-support work, and who benefits most?
Design: Quasi-experimental staggered introduction using workplace operational data.. 5,172 customer-support agents using a conversational assistant in their work.
Less-experienced and lower-skilled workers improved speed and quality more than experienced/high-skilled workers; AI assistance also improved customer sentiment and reduced requests to speak with a manager. The publisher search abstract reports a 15% average productivity increase.
The Quarterly Journal of Economics · 202510.1093/qje/qjae044Open working paper PDF captured from arXiv
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4.5/5
Dell'Acqua, F., III, E. M., Mollick, E., Lifshitz, H., Kellogg, K. C., Rajendran, S., Krayer, L., & Candelon, F. (2026). Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of Artificial Intelligence on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality. Organization Science.
Plain-English take: In this study, Within the AI capability frontier, AI users completed 12.2% more tasks, 25.1% faster, with higher quality; on an out-of-frontier managerial task they were 19% less likely to be correct. Founder use: Design AI product analytics around task-level success and verification, not aggregate usage; expose where the model helps and require review where it can degrade decisions.
Question: When does GPT-4 improve versus degrade the productivity and quality of complex knowledge work?
Design: Preregistered randomized controlled laboratory-in-the-field experiment, with realistic consulting tasks and a no-AI, GPT-4, and GPT-4-plus-prompt-engineering condition.. 758 knowledge workers performing 18 realistic management-consulting tasks developed with Boston Consulting Group, plus a separate out-of-frontier managerial task.
Within the AI capability frontier, AI users completed 12.2% more tasks, 25.1% faster, with higher quality; on an out-of-frontier managerial task they were 19% less likely to be correct.
Organization Science · 202610.1287/orsc.2025.21838Open full text captured directly
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 4.0/5
Benzell, S. G., Hersh, J., & Alstyne, M. (2023). How APIs Create Growth by Inverting the Firm. Management Science.
Plain-English take: In this study, Public API adopters grew an additional 38.7% over 16 years relative to similar nonadopters; growth was stronger with more complementors and network centrality. Internal-only API use had no significant effect, while public APIs increased breach risk. Founder use: Treat an API as an ecosystem product: measure active complementors, connected apps, centrality, and partner value—not only API calls—and budget for security controls.
Question: Do public APIs create firm growth by enabling third-party complementors, and what are the security trade-offs?
Design: Difference-in-differences, synthetic control, instrumental variables using API-network variation, and private API data.. Public firms adopting public APIs, API-network data from 2005 onward, and a private API development firm's data.
Public API adopters grew an additional 38.7% over 16 years relative to similar nonadopters; growth was stronger with more complementors and network centrality. Internal-only API use had no significant effect, while public APIs increased breach risk.
Management Science · 202310.1287/mnsc.2023.4968Open full text captured directly
Product adoption and customer behaviorEvidence check: 3.5/5
Weisz, J. D., Kumar, S. V., Muller, M., Browne, K., Goldberg, A., Heintze, K. E., & Bajpai, S. (2025). Examining the Use and Impact of an AI Code Assistant on Developer Productivity. Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Plain-English take: The assistant generally produced net perceived productivity increases, but benefits were not experienced equally; the study also surfaced motivations, expectations about speed/quality, and questions about ownership and responsibility for generated code. For a SaaS founder: For developer-tool founders, measure perceived and behavioral productivity together, segment by user, and make provenance, ownership, responsibility, and output-quality workflows explicit. Avoid assuming that aggregate positive sentiment means every team or task benefits.
Question: How does use of an AI code assistant affect developers' perceived productivity, usage choices, and concerns about generated-code responsibility?
Design: Mixed-methods case study of an IBM AI code assistant under development: surveys of two user cohorts and unmoderated usability testing.. IBM developer users of a general-purpose assistant supporting common programming languages; publisher abstract reports survey cohorts totaling N=669 and unmoderated usability testing N=15.
The assistant generally produced net perceived productivity increases, but benefits were not experienced equally; the study also surfaced motivations, expectations about speed/quality, and questions about ownership and responsibility for generated code.
Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · 202510.1145/3706599.3706670Publisher abstract directly retrieved; full-text access not established
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4.0/5
Alfaro-Serrano, D., Balantrapu, T., Chaurey, R., Goicoechea, A., & Verhoogen, E. (2021). Interventions to promote technology adoption in firms: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews.
Plain-English take: Some interventions produced positive technology-adoption effects, but results varied substantially by context and methodology. Effects on profits, productivity, employment, and farm yields were mixed; the review could not identify one universally superior intervention. For a SaaS founder: Use the review as a reason to run context-specific experiments: compare guided onboarding, training, incentives, peer learning, and support while measuring activated accounts and sustained usage. Do not assume a successful intervention in one customer segment transfers to another.
Question: Which types of intervention have been evaluated to promote technology adoption in firms, and how consistent are their effects?
Design: Campbell systematic review of experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations of exogenous incentives/interventions affecting firm technology adoption; standardized effects were synthesized across included studies.. Firms in manufacturing, services, and agriculture across varied countries and contexts; the review reports 1,108 regression coefficients from selected studies and separately analyzes sectors. It does not describe one single pooled SaaS sample.
Some interventions produced positive technology-adoption effects, but results varied substantially by context and methodology. Effects on profits, productivity, employment, and farm yields were mixed; the review could not identify one universally superior intervention.
Campbell Systematic Reviews · 202110.1002/cl2.1181Open full text directly retrieved
B2B growth and salesEvidence check: 4.5/5
Bommaraju, R. & Hohenberg, S. (2018). Self-Selected Sales Incentives: Evidence of their Effectiveness, Persistence, Durability, and Underlying Mechanisms. Journal of Marketing.
Plain-English take: Compared with equivalent quota systems, allowing employees to select a goal–reward combination increased sales performance substantially. Effects were larger for employees with highly variable past performance and lower past performance; effects persisted when the scheme was discontinued and were durable when offered again. For a SaaS founder: A founder could cautiously pilot employee-selected quota/reward menus in a randomized or phased rollout, tracking revenue quality and retention as well as bookings. Do not assume the observed effects transfer across roles or that self-selection is always superior to a well-designed fixed plan.
Question: What happens when sales employees choose their own goal–reward incentive combination?
Design: Two field experiments at Fortune 500 companies, plus two online experiments testing mechanisms.. Sales employees at two Fortune 500 companies; the publisher page does not state the field-experiment sample sizes in the fetched abstract.
Compared with equivalent quota systems, allowing employees to select a goal–reward combination increased sales performance substantially. Effects were larger for employees with highly variable past performance and lower past performance; effects persisted when the scheme was discontinued and were durable when offered again.
Journal of Marketing · 201810.1509/jm.17.0002Publisher abstract directly retrieved; full-text access not established
Pricing and product adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Cheng, H. K., Li, S., & Liu, Y. (2015). Optimal Software Free Trial Strategy: Limited Version, Time-locked, or Hybrid?. Production and Operations Management.
Plain-English take: The optimal trial format depends on network externalities, consumer uncertainty and product characteristics; the paper derives conditions under which limited, time-locked or hybrid trials are preferred. For a SaaS founder: Treat trial format as a product-design choice, not merely a duration choice; map whether collaboration/network value and uncertainty favor feature limits, time limits or a hybrid, then test empirically.
Question: Under what product and network conditions should a software company use a feature-limited, time-limited, or hybrid free trial?
Design: Analytical model of software free-trial design incorporating network externalities and consumer uncertainty; compares limited-version, time-locked and hybrid trials.. Theoretical software-product market; no human or firm sample.
The optimal trial format depends on network externalities, consumer uncertainty and product characteristics; the paper derives conditions under which limited, time-locked or hybrid trials are preferred.
Production and Operations Management · 201510.1111/poms.12248Publisher abstract directly retrieved; full-text access not established
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Cachon, G. P. & Feldman, P. (2011). Pricing Services Subject to Congestion: Charge Per-Use Fees or Sell Subscriptions?. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management.
Plain-English take: Subscription pricing can earn more revenue than per-use pricing even when congestion is costly; its relative appeal rises with high potential utilization, fixed capacity and sufficiently different heavy/light usage rates. For a SaaS founder: Use as a pricing hypothesis: compare seat/usage subscriptions with metered pricing while stress-testing capacity and heavy-user economics; validate with controlled pilots because real SaaS marginal costs and network effects differ.
Question: When do subscriptions outperform per-use fees for services with limited capacity and congestion?
Design: Analytical queueing/pricing model comparing per-use fees with subscriptions under congestion, consumer heterogeneity and fixed capacity.. Theoretical service-pricing setting; no human or firm sample.
Subscription pricing can earn more revenue than per-use pricing even when congestion is costly; its relative appeal rises with high potential utilization, fixed capacity and sufficiently different heavy/light usage rates.
Manufacturing & Service Operations Management · 201110.1287/msom.1100.0315Publisher abstract directly retrieved; full-text access not established
Customer behavior and adoptionEvidence check: 4.0/5
Blut, M., Chowdhry, N., Mittal, V., & Brock, C. (2015). E-Service Quality: A Meta-Analytic Review. Journal of Retailing, 91(4), 679-700.
Plain-English take: E-service-quality dimensions have meaningful relationships with customer evaluations and behavioral outcomes, but effects depend on measurement and context. Founder-use interpretation: Use as a measurement/design checklist for onboarding and support, then validate which service-quality dimensions predict SaaS activation, expansion, and renewal in your segment.
Question: Which dimensions of e-service quality relate to customer evaluations and behavioral outcomes across online-service research?
Design: Peer-reviewed empirical study or research synthesis. Meta-analytic review synthesizing empirical e-service-quality research across online service settings.
E-service-quality dimensions have meaningful relationships with customer evaluations and behavioral outcomes, but effects depend on measurement and context.
Journal of Retailing, 91(4), 679-700 · 201510.1016/j.jretai.2015.05.004Publisher abstract or article landing page captured; full-text access not established.
Pricing and monetizationEvidence check: 4.0/5
Cheng, H. K. & Liu, Y. (2012). Optimal Software Free Trial Strategy: The Impact of Network Externalities and Consumer Uncertainty. Information Systems Research, 23(2), 488-504.
Plain-English take: The value and optimal form of a free trial depend on network effects and uncertainty; a one-size-fits-all trial policy is not optimal. Founder-use interpretation: Use to frame trial-design experiments; do not infer that longer, unlimited, or time-locked trials universally win for SaaS.
Question: How do network effects and consumer uncertainty affect the optimal free-trial strategy for software?
Design: Peer-reviewed empirical study or research synthesis. Formal analytical model of software free-trial strategy incorporating network externalities and consumer uncertainty; compares time-locked, limited-version, and related trial choices.
The value and optimal form of a free trial depend on network effects and uncertainty; a one-size-fits-all trial policy is not optimal.
Information Systems Research, 23(2), 488-504 · 201210.1287/isre.1110.0348Publisher abstract or article landing page captured; full-text access not established.
Developer productivity and AIEvidence check: 3.5/5
Meyer, A. N., Fritz, T., Murphy, G. C., & Zimmermann, T. (2014). Software developers' perceptions of productivity. Proceedings of the 22nd ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE 2014).
Plain-English take: Developers perceive days as productive when completing many or large tasks without significant interruptions/context switches, although substantial task/activity switching can coexist with feeling productive. Founder-use interpretation: Useful for product/engineering workflow hypotheses and user research, not proof that a tool improves delivery metrics; pair perceived productivity with cycle time, quality, and wellbeing measures.
Question: How do professional software developers perceive productive and unproductive work?
Design: Peer-reviewed empirical study or research synthesis. Two studies, including a survey and an observational study, examining professional developers' perceptions of productive and unproductive work.
Developers perceive days as productive when completing many or large tasks without significant interruptions/context switches, although substantial task/activity switching can coexist with feeling productive.
Proceedings of the 22nd ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE 2014) · 201410.1145/2635868.2635892Publisher abstract or article landing page captured; full-text access not established.
SaaS adoption and onboardingEvidence check: 3.5/5
Adenuga, O. A., Kekwaletswe, R. M., & Adenuga, O. T. (2020). A Systematic Literature Review to Uncover SaaS Adoption Issues by SMEs – Reasons and Solutions to the Adoption Problem. International Journal of Data and Information Systems (IJDIS).
Plain-English take: The review coded 58 issues, 32 causal associations, and 26 treatments; security and operational/support problems were especially frequent and important. Founder-use interpretation: Useful as a risk and onboarding checklist, not as an estimate of SaaS conversion or churn effects; validate locally by segment, geography, and product category.
Question: Which issues are reported in research on SaaS adoption by small and medium enterprises, and what responses are proposed?
Design: Peer-reviewed empirical study or research synthesis. Systematic literature review across six academic databases: 682 records retrieved and 42 SaaS-adoption articles selected, focused on SME adoption.
The review coded 58 issues, 32 causal associations, and 26 treatments; security and operational/support problems were especially frequent and important.
International Journal of Data and Information Systems (IJDIS) · 202010.20533/ijds.2040.2570.2020.0205Publisher abstract or article landing page captured; full-text access not established.
Developer productivity and AIEvidence check: 4.5/5
Peng, S. & Demirer, M. (2026). The Effects of Generative AI on High-Skilled Work: Evidence from Three Field Experiments with Software Developers. Management Science (Articles in Advance).
Plain-English take: Pooling the experiments, AI access increased completed tasks by 26.08% (SE 10.3%); less-experienced developers adopted more and had larger gains, while individual experiments were noisy and heterogeneous. Founder-use interpretation: Strong evidence for testing AI-assisted engineering productivity, not a promise of proportional headcount or SaaS growth; run a controlled rollout with quality, security, rework, and customer outcomes.
Question: What effect did access to generative AI have on software developers’ task completion in three company field experiments?
Design: Peer-reviewed empirical study or research synthesis. Three randomized field experiments run in ordinary business operations at Microsoft, Accenture, and an anonymous Fortune 100 company; 4,867 software developers received randomized access or no access to an AI coding assistant.
Pooling the experiments, AI access increased completed tasks by 26.08% (SE 10.3%); less-experienced developers adopted more and had larger gains, while individual experiments were noisy and heterogeneous.
Management Science (Articles in Advance) · 202610.1287/mnsc.2025.00535Publisher abstract or article landing page captured; full-text access not established.
SaaS adoption and monetizationEvidence check: 3.5/5
Choi, A. A., Rhee, K. E., Yoon, C., & Oh, W. (2023). The Cost of Free: The Effects of “Wait-for-Free” Pricing Schemes on the Monetization of Serialized Digital Content. MIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems.
Plain-English take: Wait-for-free pricing generated new demand and increased serialized-content sales, with sustained long-run profits in the reported setting. As users accumulated free episodes, conversion to instant purchase rose up to a threshold and then declined; one free episode could raise purchase likelihood by up to 13%. Founder-use interpretation: Use this as a question to test in your own product context, not as a universal benchmark. The publisher describes digital entertainment rather than B2B software and does not disclose the platform/sample count in the record. Thus transfer to SaaS trial design, usage limits, and enterprise pricing is an open empirical question.
Question: The Cost of Free: The Effects of “Wait-for-Free” Pricing Schemes on the Monetization of Serialized Digital Content?
Design: Peer-reviewed empirical study or research synthesis. Serialized digital entertainment content on online platforms, where users can wait to obtain an episode free or pay immediately. The publisher record does not disclose the platform identity or a respondent count.
Wait-for-free pricing generated new demand and increased serialized-content sales, with sustained long-run profits in the reported setting. As users accumulated free episodes, conversion to instant purchase rose up to a threshold and then declined; one free episode could raise purchase likelihood by up to 13%.
MIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems · 202310.25300/MISQ/2022/17196Publisher article or abstract page directly retrieved with Firecrawl; full methods access varies.
Customer acquisition and trustEvidence check: 3.5/5
Konya-Baumbach, E., Schuhmacher, M. C., Kuester, S., & Kuharev, V. (2019). Making a first impression as a start-up: Strategies to overcome low initial trust perceptions in digital innovation adoption. International Journal of Research in Marketing.
Plain-English take: Customer ratings, benefit communication, and revenue model were effective design signals for increasing adoption of digital innovations by improving initial trust. Revenue model also affected privacy concerns, which mediated its relationship with initial trust; the publisher discussion reports that positive-rating quantity itself did not significantly affect initial trust/adoption in one test. Founder-use interpretation: Use this as a question to test in your own product context, not as a universal benchmark. The article’s discussion notes that negative ratings were not tested, alternative revenue models such as freemium/subscription/advertising remain for future work, and additional mediators/moderators may exist. Simulated digital-innovation presentations and mostly European samples limit direct evidence about long-run real-product usage.
Question: Making a first impression as a start-up: Strategies to overcome low initial trust perceptions in digital innovation adoption?
Design: Peer-reviewed empirical study or research synthesis. Digital-innovation launch scenarios including an augmented-reality city-guide app, a smart-insurance app, and an interior-design planner; publisher methods report final samples of 174, 90, 91, 173, and 200 across the experiments, using European online-panel participants and business-school students.
Customer ratings, benefit communication, and revenue model were effective design signals for increasing adoption of digital innovations by improving initial trust. Revenue model also affected privacy concerns, which mediated its relationship with initial trust; the publisher discussion reports that positive-rating quantity itself did not significantly affect initial trust/adoption in one test.
International Journal of Research in Marketing · 201910.1016/j.ijresmar.2019.01.008Publisher article or abstract page directly retrieved with Firecrawl; full methods access varies.
Developer ecosystems and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Stewart, K. J., Ammeter, A. P., & Maruping, L. M. (2006). Impacts of License Choice and Organizational Sponsorship on User Interest and Development Activity in Open Source Software Projects. Information Systems Research.
Plain-English take: License restrictiveness and organizational sponsorship interacted: users were most attracted to projects sponsored by nonmarket organizations and using nonrestrictive licenses. Licensing and sponsorship also addressed complementary developer motivations, so licensing’s relationship with development activity depended on sponsor type. Founder-use interpretation: Use this as a question to test in your own product context, not as a universal benchmark. The publisher abstract does not provide an explicit limitations section or a causal identification strategy. Because the evidence is observational and tied to Freshmeat.net/project-home-page listings, representativeness and causal interpretation beyond those projects remain uncertain.
Question: Impacts of License Choice and Organizational Sponsorship on User Interest and Development Activity in Open Source Software Projects?
Design: Peer-reviewed empirical study or research synthesis. Open-source software projects listed on Freshmeat.net, with project-home-page information; outcomes are user interest and development activity. The publisher abstract does not report a project count.
License restrictiveness and organizational sponsorship interacted: users were most attracted to projects sponsored by nonmarket organizations and using nonrestrictive licenses. Licensing and sponsorship also addressed complementary developer motivations, so licensing’s relationship with development activity depended on sponsor type.
Information Systems Research · 200610.1287/isre.1060.0082Publisher article or abstract page directly retrieved with Firecrawl; full methods access varies.
Developer ecosystems and adoptionEvidence check: 3.5/5
Setia, P., Rajagopalan, B., Sambamurthy, V., & Calantone, R. (2012). How Peripheral Developers Contribute to Open-Source Software Development. Information Systems Research.
Plain-English take: Peripheral developers made significant contributions to product quality and diffusion, especially when projects were in more mature product-development stages. Founder-use interpretation: Use this as a question to test in your own product context, not as a universal benchmark. The publisher abstract does not report a dedicated limitations section. The study is observational and its sample consists of 147 open-source products, so representativeness, measurement validity, and causal interpretation beyond the sampled projects cannot be established from the publisher record alone.
Question: How Peripheral Developers Contribute to Open-Source Software Development?
Design: Peer-reviewed empirical study or research synthesis. 147 open-source software products; peripheral developers are external volunteers whose contributions include product-quality work and word-of-mouth advocacy/diffusion.
Peripheral developers made significant contributions to product quality and diffusion, especially when projects were in more mature product-development stages.
Information Systems Research · 201210.1287/isre.1100.0311Publisher article or abstract page directly retrieved with Firecrawl; full methods access varies.