Marketing capability and growth · Multiyear randomized field experiment
Do Marketers Matter for Entrepreneurs? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Uganda
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.
How much weight to give this
4.5/5 Strong design for its specific question
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.
Random assignment provides a strong comparison for effects in the tested setting.
A usable sample size is not stated in the profile's accessible source.
Randomized comparison; confirm the control condition and analysis in the paper.
An accessible full paper or manuscript is linked, making methods easier to check.
Double-blind? Blinding is not reported in the source reviewed; that does not establish whether blinding was or was not used.
Research question
What the authors investigated
Can marketing expertise help small entrepreneurs improve business performance?
Design
A multiyear field experiment randomly matched entrepreneurs in Uganda with volunteer marketers who helped them address marketing challenges.
Sample and setting
Entrepreneurs and small firms in Uganda participating in a volunteer-marketer program; the abstracted sources emphasize firm growth outcomes.
Reported result
What the study found
Entrepreneurs randomly matched with volunteer marketers significantly increased firm growth. The paper evaluates how practical marketing assistance affects business outcomes in this context.
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 study is based on a specific program, country, participant pool and period. Volunteer assistance may not replicate the effect of hiring a marketer or using the same practices in a software startup.
Possible founder application
Evidence that applied marketing expertise can affect small-firm growth, while underscoring the importance of implementation context. For a startup, define the intervention and measure firm outcomes rather than activity alone.
Evidence access
Publisher abstract and author-hosted paper
Journal publisher abstract and accessible author-hosted paper; the profile avoids assigning unverified effect sizes or sample counts.
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.