MSU has positioned itself as a global thought leader, producing insightful research that delivers an impact. Another milestone has just been achieved in the Broad College’s Department of Marketing to further this reputation: being ranked as the top university for B2B marketing research, according to two prominent marketing journals.
B2B marketing — also known as business-to-business marketing — is exactly what it sounds like. It’s an important branch of marketing that focuses on the buying and selling of products and services from one business to another.
R. Dale Wilson, professor of marketing, explained that “the buying firm uses goods to produce products and services that are ultimately sold to the end consumer.” For instance, “a variety of sellers produce and market steel and component parts to Ford Motor Company for the purpose of manufacturing automobiles. These companies develop a marketing approach to encourage buying from them rather than another seller.”
B2B marketing research can branch out into many topics, such as innovation and new product development, international dimensions of B2B marketing and uses of technology. Wilson explained that research from MSU’s marketing department faculty members and doctoral students, in collaboration with colleagues from other departments and universities, have made significant contributions to each of these areas and more.
More than 2,300 citations
An article in the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing uncovered the most influential countries and universities that have contributed to science in the field of industrial marketing research from 1990 to 2015. Overall, the U.S. and the U.K. rank highest among the 30 countries examined and MSU dominated among the 30 universities, ranked No. 1 with more than 2,300 total citations.
The journal’s findings illustrate that the research produced by the Broad College at MSU is being referenced in publications more often than research from other universities for this topic.
“The very large number of citations shows we are not only prolific publishers, but that this research is having a strong impact on the field of B2B marketing by being cited by other scholars,” said Richard Spreng, interim department chair of marketing.
Victory for MSU
Similarly, an article in Industrial Marketing Management — the leading journal in B2B marketing — examined citations from 1971 to 2017 to determine the most influential countries, most relevant authors, most prominent institutions supporting research and highest number of citations for B2B marketing.
The article reported the U.S. as the most influential country and MSU at No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 3 globally for total publications, No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 4 globally for most productive and influential institutions, and No. 1 globally for total citations.
Additionally, a few Broad College faculty members were highlighted among the top 50 leading authors in Industrial Marketing Management. Tomas Hult, Byington Endowed Chair and professor of marketing; Roger Calantone, Eli Broad Chaired University Professor of Business; and Tamer Cavusgil, a former faculty member in marketing, were among the most cited authors, with a combined number of citations totaling 2,872 over the studied time period.
Spreng said, “The top ranking in these two publications has come about as a result of the impactful scholarship of marketing department faculty over many years. We expect our dominance to continue, as currently a new group of young faculty are continuing this research excellence in their scholarly work.”
With these two findings, the Broad College continues to solidify its reputation at MSU with considerable expertise and thought leadership. As it was summed up in the conclusion of the article in the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, these findings “provide a more comprehensive picture regarding the relevant performers within research development in industrial marketing.”
