B2B growth and sales · Conceptual synthesis and framework
B2B Customer Journeys: Conceptualization and an Integrative Framework
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.
How much weight to give this
2.5/5 Limited or context-dependent evidence
The 1–5 evidence-check score is a practical reading aid, not a formal peer review or a probability that a conclusion is true. It combines design strength (2 points), sample reporting (1), comparison/control clarity (1), and how much of the paper could be checked (1). Access affects how confidently this directory can assess a study, not the study's underlying quality. Blinding is reported separately because it is not relevant to every design.
This is theory or a framework, not a direct empirical test of the marketing outcome.
A usable sample size is not stated in the profile's accessible source.
No participant control group; conclusions are conditional on the model or synthesis assumptions.
This profile could be checked against an abstract or metadata, not the full paper.
Double-blind? Not applicable in the same way as a participant-treatment experiment.
Research question
What the authors investigated
How should the B2B customer journey be conceptualized across buying and usage stages, decision makers, and touchpoints?
Design
Conceptual synthesis connecting customer-journey research, B2B buying processes, buying centers, and business relationships; includes a hypothetical case illustration.
Sample and setting
Theory paper without primary empirical data.
Reported result
What the study found
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.
This is a paraphrase of the source. Check the original paper for definitions, estimates, statistical uncertainty and analysis details.
Scope and transfer
Limitations to keep in view
The key limitation is lack of primary empirical data; the framework needs testing in specific B2B categories and customer contexts.
Possible founder application
A useful map for planning acquisition content and post-sale education together. Follow the buyer through deployment and reassessment rather than stopping the journey at the contract.
Evidence access
Publisher abstract and full article page; access may vary
ScienceDirect publisher abstract and article page retrieved with Firecrawl; framework and stated limitation were reviewed.
If only an abstract or metadata was available, the profile is limited to claims supported there. A paper's paywall does not change its evidentiary status, but it limits what we can substantiate from accessible text.