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J·BJon BishopIndependent growth marketer

A curated scientific evidence directory

Buyer behavior studies

Explore peer-reviewed field experiments and meta-analyses on SaaS trials, email, paid search, referrals, content sharing and choice design. Compare methods, context and limits.

357 studies19 topics

60 studies match your filters

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Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 4.5/5

Can There Ever Be Too Many Options? A Meta-Analytic Review of Choice Overload

Journal of Consumer Research · 2010

For your marketing

Avoid blanket advice to remove pricing plans or features just to reduce option count. Define the decision task and test whether complexity, preference uncertainty or decision goals create friction for your own users.

Plain-English take

The study found a mean effect size close to zero, with substantial variation across conditions.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3.5/5

Choice Overload: A Conceptual Review and Meta-Analysis

Journal of Consumer Psychology · 2015

For your marketing

Use the moderators to form testable questions about pricing and product choice: Are plans meaningfully complex? Does the visitor know what they need? Is the decision goal clear? Validate with behavioral evidence from your own audience.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 4.0/5

Can Marketing Campaigns Induce Multichannel Buying and More Profitable Customers? A Field Experiment

Marketing Science · 2016

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.

Plain-English take

The experiment tests whether campaign design can cause multichannel buying and more profitable customer behavior, distinguishing communication content from financial incentives.

Buyer behaviorContent marketingProduct adoption
Evidence check: 3.5/5

Digital Content Marketing on Social Media Along the B2B Customer Journey: The Effect of Timely Content Delivery on Customer Engagement

Industrial Marketing Management · 2024

For your marketing

Map content to the reader's current task and test different sequences rather than enforcing one universal funnel. Measure meaningful downstream B2B outcomes along with engagement.

Plain-English take

Content judged relevant to a particular customer-journey stage increased engagement with both the selling firm and its content.

Buyer behaviorPricing
Evidence check: 3.5/5

The Impact of Subscription Programs on Customer Purchases

Journal of Marketing Research · 2022

For your marketing

When studying a paid plan or membership, distinguish benefit-driven usage from behavioral effects of the upfront commitment. Segment responses and evaluate retention and margin alongside purchase volume.

Plain-English take

Subscription increased customer purchases, with economically meaningful and persistent effects that varied across customers.

AdvertisingBuyer behavior
Evidence check: 4.0/5

Effects of Internet Display Advertising in the Purchase Funnel: Model-Based Insights from a Randomized Field Experiment

Journal of Marketing Research · 2015

For your marketing

Measure how campaigns affect more than the final conversion event, while preserving the experimental control that supports causal estimates. Check the paper's full results before mapping its model to a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behaviorSearch
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Search Engine Optimization: The Long-Term Strategy of Keyword Choice

Journal of Business Research · 2022

For your marketing

Evaluate organic-search investments over an appropriate time window and distinguish durable qualified demand from transient ranking or click changes. Consult the full paper before applying its model or effect estimates.

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.

Buyer behaviorSearch
Evidence check: 4.5/5

How Does Prepopulating Search Bars with Keywords Affect Online Consumer Behavior? A Field Experiment

Marketing Science · 2025

For your marketing

Useful for designing search suggestions and content discovery on a site or product. Test whether suggested paths help visitors find what they need without suppressing valuable self-directed exploration.

Plain-English take

Trending keywords increased chance of buying by 10.4% and spending by 8.8% versus an empty search bar.

Buyer behaviorContent marketing
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Digital Content Marketing in Business Markets: Activities, Consequences, and Contingencies Along the Customer Journey

Industrial Marketing Management · 2022

For your marketing

An operational map for B2B content: understand buying jobs, build problem-framing and problem-solving assets, and distribute them when buyers need them. Treat the proposed performance relationships as hypotheses to test.

Plain-English take

The authors organize the work into journey intelligence, a portfolio of valuable content, and timely sharing matched to buyer needs.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

B2B Customer Journeys: Conceptualization and an Integrative Framework

Industrial Marketing Management · 2023

For your marketing

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.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Digitalizing Customer Journeys in B2B Markets

Journal of Business Research · 2023

For your marketing

A reminder to design digital touchpoints for the full B2B relationship, including customer use and service. Transfer cautiously because the studied offerings are large, complex industrial products.

Plain-English take

The study identifies changes to digital touchpoints, customer and supplier roles, and the journey process.

Buyer behaviorReviews
Evidence check: 3.5/5

How Online Reviews Affect Purchase Intention: A Meta-analysis Across Contextual and Cultural Factors

Data and Information Management · 2024

For your marketing

A broad synthesis of review signals and trust factors. Use it to form hypotheses for SaaS proof and reputation pages, while measuring actual qualified conversion rather than intention alone.

Plain-English take

All analyzed review antecedents were significantly related to purchase intention; review valence had the largest reported association (r = 0.563).

Buyer behaviorProduct adoptionWebsite design
Evidence check: 2/5

App Adoption: The Effect on Purchasing of Customers Who Have Used a Mobile Website Previously

Journal of Interactive Marketing · 2019

For your marketing

Use this paper as evidence about app adoption: the effect on purchasing of customers who have used a mobile website previously in the stated context; compare its population, treatment and outcome with your own decision.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2/5

B2B relationships on the fast track: An empirical investigation into the outcomes of solution provision

Industrial Marketing Management · 2019

For your marketing

Use this paper as evidence about b2b relationships on the fast track: an empirical investigation into the outcomes of solution provision in the stated context; compare its population, treatment and outcome with your own decision.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2/5

Customer Lifetime Value Measurement

Management Science · 2008

For your marketing

Use this paper as evidence about customer lifetime value measurement in the stated context; compare its population, treatment and outcome with your own decision.

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.

Buyer behaviorPlatformsProduct adoption
Evidence check: 2/5

Stimulating data marketplace adoption in manufacturing: The impact of perceived control on willingness to share data

Technovation · 2025

For your marketing

Use this paper as evidence about stimulating data marketplace adoption in manufacturing: the impact of perceived control on willingness to share data in the stated context; compare its population, treatment and outcome with your own decision.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2/5

Dynamic Customer Management and the Value of One-to-One Marketing

Marketing Science · 2009

For your marketing

Use this paper as evidence about dynamic customer management and the value of one-to-one marketing in the stated context; compare its population, treatment and outcome with your own decision.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2/5

Evaluating the drivers of B2B performance: An empirical analysis based on Alibaba

PLoS ONE · 2024

For your marketing

Use this paper as evidence about evaluating the drivers of b2b performance: an empirical analysis based on alibaba in the stated context; compare its population, treatment and outcome with your own decision.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2/5

Mobile App Introduction and Online and Offline Purchases and Product Returns

Marketing Science · 2019

For your marketing

Use this study as a bounded example related to mobile app introduction and online and offline purchases and product returns; evaluate whether its customers, intervention and outcome match your own context.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2/5

A Dynamic Model of the Duration of the Customer’s Relationship with a Continuous Service Provider: The Role of Satisfaction

Marketing Science · 1998

For your marketing

Use this study as a bounded example related to a dynamic model of the duration of the customer’s relationship with a continuous service provider: the role of satisfaction; evaluate whether its customers, intervention and outcome match your own context.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2/5

How Should Consumers’ Willingness to Pay be Measured? An Empirical Comparison of State-of-the-Art Approaches

Journal of Marketing Research · 2011

For your marketing

Use this study as a bounded example related to how should consumers’ willingness to pay be measured? an empirical comparison of state-of-the-art approaches; evaluate whether its customers, intervention and outcome match your own context.

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.

Buyer behaviorReferrals
Evidence check: 2/5

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on social networking sites (SNS): Roles of information credibility in shaping online purchase intention

Heliyon · 2024

For your marketing

Use this study as a bounded example of electronic word-of-mouth (ewom) on social networking sites (sns): roles of information credibility in shaping online purchase intention; assess whether its population, intervention and outcome match your own decision.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 4/5

How Do Recommender Systems Lead to Consumer Purchases? A Causal Mediation Analysis of a Field Experiment

Information Systems Research · 2022

For your marketing

Use to shape a locally controlled channel or message test; account for audience, timing and attribution limits before reallocating budget.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Product set granularity and consumer response to recommendations

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 2020

For your marketing

Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

Plain-English take

Finer-grained recommendation sets reduced response despite better products; effect was stronger for more engaged consumers.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3.5/5

Capturing Marketing Information to Fuel Growth

Journal of Marketing · 2021

For your marketing

Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

Plain-English take

The paper uses causal online-test evidence to study how marketing information can be captured and used for growth.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Crumbs of the Cookie: User Profiling in Customer-Base Analysis and Behavioral Targeting

Marketing Science · 2016

For your marketing

Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 4/5

Helping Small Businesses Become More Data-Driven: A Field Experiment on eBay

Management Science · 2024

For your marketing

Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Dynamic Catalog Mailing Policies

Management Science · 2006

For your marketing

Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

Plain-English take

The dynamic model received support in the field test, while results also identified opportunities for improvement over the model.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Customer Lifetime Value: Empirical Generalizations and Some Conceptual Questions

Journal of Interactive Marketing · 2009

For your marketing

Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3/5

An empirical investigation of the factors affecting customer lifetime value

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management · 2022

For your marketing

Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behaviorRetention
Evidence check: 2.5/5

The Effects of Loyalty Program Membership on Customer Purchase Behavior

Journal of Consumer Marketing · 2007

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.

Plain-English take

Membership is associated with differences in purchase behavior, providing evidence for evaluating loyalty-program retention/value claims.

Buyer behaviorContent marketing
Evidence check: 3.5/5

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 · 2021

For your marketing

Use as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

Plain-English take

The paper tests effects on perceived credibility and purchase intention, with personality matching as a moderator.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3.5/5

Impact of perceived diagnosticity on live streams and consumer purchase intention: streamer type, product type, and brand awareness as moderators

Information Technology and Management · 2022

For your marketing

Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

Plain-English take

Perceived diagnosticity is tested as a driver of purchase intention, with streamer type, product type, and brand awareness moderating effects.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Social commerce in emerging markets and its impact on online community engagement

Information Systems Frontiers · 2021

For your marketing

Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

Plain-English take

The study tests how social commerce affects online community engagement, a growth-relevant behavioral outcome.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3.5/5

An Experimental Investigation of Customer Reactions to Service Failure and Recovery Encounters: Paradox or Peril?

Journal of Service Research · 1998

For your marketing

Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Modeling Customer Perceptions of Complaint Handling over Time: The Effects of Perceived Justice on Satisfaction and Intent

Journal of Retailing · 2002

For your marketing

Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3.5/5

Perceived Justice and Consumption Experience Evaluations: A Qualitative and Experimental Investigation

International Journal of Service Industry Management · 2007

For your marketing

Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

Plain-English take

The study tests how perceived justice shapes evaluations of consumption experiences, extending complaint/service-recovery justice logic to broader service encounters.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 4/5

Optional Verification and Signaling in Online Matching Markets: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Information Systems Research · 2023

For your marketing

Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Trust and TAM in Online Shopping: An Integrated Model

MIS Quarterly · 2003

For your marketing

Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

Plain-English take

Trust, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use jointly explained intended online-shopping behavior; trust complemented TAM.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Intentions to Use Mobile Services: Antecedents and Cross-Service Comparisons

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 2005

For your marketing

Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

Plain-English take

The four-service empirical results supported motivational influences on intention; the relative importance of antecedents differed across services.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3/5

Distinguishing Influence-Based Contagion from Homophily-Driven Diffusion in Dynamic Networks

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2009

For your marketing

Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

Plain-English take

Naive methods overestimate peer influence by 300–700%; homophily explains more than 50% of perceived contagion in the analyzed adoption network.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3/5

B2B purchase engagement: Examining the key drivers and outcomes in professional services

Industrial Marketing Management · 2020

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.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

A trust-based consumer decision-making model in electronic commerce: The role of trust, perceived risk, and their antecedents

Decision Support Systems · 2008

For your marketing

Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3.5/5

Predicting consumer decisions to adopt mobile commerce: Cross country empirical examination between China and Malaysia

Decision Support Systems · 2012

For your marketing

Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3.5/5

Marketing's Profit Impact: Quantifying Online and Off-line Funnel Progression

Marketing Science · 2011

For your marketing

Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

A New Product Growth for Model Consumer Durables

Management Science · 1969

For your marketing

Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3/5

Consumer Acceptance and Use of Information Technology: Extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 1

MIS Quarterly · 2012

For your marketing

Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behaviorReviews
Evidence check: 2.5/5

On the Spillover Effects of Online Product Reviews on Purchases: Evidence from Clickstream Data

Information Systems Research · 2021

For your marketing

Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 4/5

Return on Engagement Initiatives: A Study of a Business-to-Business Mobile App

Journal of Marketing · 2017

For your marketing

Use it as a product, platform or behavior mechanism reference rather than a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Buying centers and emerging developments: the SME perspective

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing · 2024

For your marketing

Treat this as evidence for the specific b2b growth and sales question studied. Compare the setting and sample to your company before changing a growth decision; use a local experiment where the paper does not match your context.

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.

Buyer behaviorRetention
Evidence check: 3.5/5

Satisfied but no payment: The impact of perceived value on continuance intention and purchase intention in music streaming services

Telematics and Informatics Reports · 2024

For your marketing

Treat this as evidence for the specific pricing and monetization question studied. Compare the setting and sample to your company before changing a growth decision; use a local experiment where the paper does not match your context.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3.5/5

Access-based customer journeys

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 2023

For your marketing

Treat this as evidence for the specific customer behavior and adoption question studied. Compare the setting and sample to your company before changing a growth decision; use a local experiment where the paper does not match your context.

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.

AIBuyer behaviorSales
Evidence check: 2.5/5

Co-creation in B2B AI sales: buyers’ perspectives from a mixed-method study

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing · 2026

For your marketing

Treat this as evidence for the specific b2b growth and sales question studied. Compare the setting and sample to your company before changing a growth decision; use a local experiment where the paper does not match your context.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 3/5

Innovation challenges of digital transformation: Transitioning legacy to the future

Sustainable Futures · 2025

For your marketing

Treat this as evidence for the specific customer behavior and adoption question studied. Compare the setting and sample to your company before changing a growth decision; use a local experiment where the paper does not match your context.

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.

Buyer behavior
Evidence check: 4.0/5

E-Service Quality: A Meta-Analytic Review

Journal of Retailing, 91(4), 679-700 · 2015

For your marketing

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.

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.

Buyer behaviorDeveloper experience
Evidence check: 3.5/5

Impacts of License Choice and Organizational Sponsorship on User Interest and Development Activity in Open Source Software Projects

Information Systems Research · 2006

For your marketing

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.

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.

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