Marketing Science Institute
Encyclopedia
Founded in 1961, the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) is a corporate-membership-based organization dedicated to bridging the gap between marketing theory and business practice. Leading researchers from universities worldwide participate in MSI research programs.
As a nonprofit institution, MSI financially supports academic research for the development—and practical translation—of marketing knowledge on topics of importance to business performance. Issues of key importance are identified by the Board of Trustees, which represents MSI corporations and the academic community. MSI supports studies by academics on these issues and disseminates the results through conferences and workshops, as well as through its publications series.
Record of MSI output approaches a thousand working papers and books, many of which have garnered the marketing field’s most prestigious awards. In the past 10 years, MSI has sponsored 60+ conferences in the U.S., and has sponsored or co-sponsored conferences in 13 countries.
MSI headquarters are located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The primary governing body of MSI is the Board of Trustees. MSI Executive Directors oversee the quality and content of MSI-sponsored research.
founded the “Institute for Science in Marketing” with input from leading thinkers John Howard, Albert Wesley Frey, and Wroe Alderson
. Twenty-nine companies responded to his membership appeal, establishing MSI as a nonprofit organization that would “contribute to the emergence of a definitive science of marketing
” and “stimulate increased application of scientific techniques to the understanding and solving of current marketing problems.” Offices were established in Philadelphia near the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and Wendell Smith became its first president.
MSI's founding coincided with a period of booming growth in the U.S. marketing systems, fueled by pent-up demand from war-years restrictions on production of consumer goods, and an explosion in population growth. Key marketing concepts, such as the “4 Ps”
(product, price, place, promotion) of marketing were introduced. Management science theory, methods, and tools were infused into marketing, and consumer behavior emerged as an area of study within marketing.
In its first decade, MSI supported the development of new tools for marketers, such as multidimensional scaling
, stochastic modeling, causal modeling, and decision calculus marketing. It also provided the foundation for advances in new product development
.In 1968, MSI moved to Cambridge and began a 15-year association with the Harvard Business School.
In the early 1970s, MSI launched and managed the Profit Impact of Marketing Strategy
project which, in conjunction with General Electric, created and analyzed a cross-sectional database that described marketing strategies and profitability across hundreds of business units. The results, widely reported, demonstrated the value of a scientific approach to marketing.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, MSI assembled teams to shape policy at the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. MSI also played an important role in introducing qualitative consumer research methods, including the Consumer Behavior Odyssey, a summer-long road trip in 1986 that laid the foundation for the field of consumer ethnography
.
By the 1980s, MSI research on services marketing reflected a growing awareness that consumer service businesses required a reappraisal of marketing approaches originally developed in the packaged goods context. In 1986, a consortium of MSI member companies contributed funding and data to support a stream of research that culminated in SERVQUAL
, a scale for measuring customer perceptions of service quality that has been widely adopted by service businesses. During this time, the role of marketing in strategic planning received increased attention. MSI research introduced key concepts such as market orientation
and marketing capabilities.
The conceptualization and measurement of brand equity
originated in MSI-sponsored research in the early 1990s. The impact of marketing activities on firm performance and shareholder value (termed marketing ROI, marketing accountability, and return on marketing investment
) has been an area of sustained MSI research interest. Through the '90s and 2000s, product innovation has remained at or near the top of MSI research agenda; and research interest has broadened to address service innovation as well as innovation in business models and processes.
and user-generated content
: How can marketing develop compelling value propositions that leverage new technologies? What is the role of traditional advertising vehicles (TV, print) in this new landscape? How should marketers manage brands in a transformed landscape? What conceptual frameworks from other disciplines—behavioral economics, neuroscience, anthropology, network analysis, psychology, history—enhance traditional methods of understanding consumer behavior?
Over time, changes in topics of key marketing importance have been evolutionary. Likewise, MSI's 2010-12 research priorities, while they are framed by the challenges of this transformed landscape, continue to align with marketing concerns articulated over five decades: using market information, understanding customers, developing marketing capabilities, innovation, marketing metrics, brand and product management, allocating marketing resources, and leveraging research tools and data.
The Alden G. Clayton Dissertation Proposal Competition recognizes the best doctoral dissertation proposals on important marketing subjects. Each year, MSI grants up to five awards of $5,000 each for the best proposals.
The MSI H. Paul Root Award is given by members of the Journal of Marketing editorial review board to a paper that has made a significant contribution to the advancement of the practice of marketing. It is cosponsored by the American Marketing Association
.
The Robert D. Buzzell MSI Best Paper Award honors the authors of the MSI working papers that have made the most significant contribution to marketing practice and thought. The award serves to signal the kind of writing and research that is of lasting value to corporate marketing executives. Each year it is given for the best MSI paper issued during the calendar year two years previous.
George S. Day
, University of Pennsylvania
Rohit Deshpandé, Harvard Business School
John U. Farley, Dartmouth College
Stephen A. Greyser,Harvard Business School
Dominique Hanssens, UCLA
Donald R. Lehmann, Columbia University
Leigh McAlister
, University of Texas at Austin
David B. Montgomery, Stanford University
David J. Reibstein, University of Pennsylvania
Richard Staelin, Duke University
Louis W. Stern, Northwestern University
Frederick E. Webster, Jr., Dartmouth College
Russell S. Winer, New York University
As a nonprofit institution, MSI financially supports academic research for the development—and practical translation—of marketing knowledge on topics of importance to business performance. Issues of key importance are identified by the Board of Trustees, which represents MSI corporations and the academic community. MSI supports studies by academics on these issues and disseminates the results through conferences and workshops, as well as through its publications series.
Record of MSI output approaches a thousand working papers and books, many of which have garnered the marketing field’s most prestigious awards. In the past 10 years, MSI has sponsored 60+ conferences in the U.S., and has sponsored or co-sponsored conferences in 13 countries.
MSI headquarters are located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The primary governing body of MSI is the Board of Trustees. MSI Executive Directors oversee the quality and content of MSI-sponsored research.
History
In 1961, Scott Paper Company President Thomas B. McCabeThomas B. McCabe
Thomas Bayard McCabe , a graduate of Swarthmore, served as the chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1948-1951. He was president and CEO of Scott Paper Company 1927–1967.-Biography:...
founded the “Institute for Science in Marketing” with input from leading thinkers John Howard, Albert Wesley Frey, and Wroe Alderson
Wroe Alderson
Wroe Alderson is widely recognized as the most important marketing theorist of the twentieth century and the “father of modern marketing”.-Background:...
. Twenty-nine companies responded to his membership appeal, establishing MSI as a nonprofit organization that would “contribute to the emergence of a definitive science of marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
” and “stimulate increased application of scientific techniques to the understanding and solving of current marketing problems.” Offices were established in Philadelphia near the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and Wendell Smith became its first president.
MSI's founding coincided with a period of booming growth in the U.S. marketing systems, fueled by pent-up demand from war-years restrictions on production of consumer goods, and an explosion in population growth. Key marketing concepts, such as the “4 Ps”
E. Jerome McCarthy
Edmund Jerome McCarthy was an American marketing professor at Michigan State University and others such as the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of the influential book Basic Marketing. A Managerial Approach . Professor E...
(product, price, place, promotion) of marketing were introduced. Management science theory, methods, and tools were infused into marketing, and consumer behavior emerged as an area of study within marketing.
In its first decade, MSI supported the development of new tools for marketers, such as multidimensional scaling
Multidimensional scaling
Multidimensional scaling is a set of related statistical techniques often used in information visualization for exploring similarities or dissimilarities in data. MDS is a special case of ordination. An MDS algorithm starts with a matrix of item–item similarities, then assigns a location to each...
, stochastic modeling, causal modeling, and decision calculus marketing. It also provided the foundation for advances in new product development
New product development
In business and engineering, new product development is the term used to describe the complete process of bringing a new product to market. A product is a set of benefits offered for exchange and can be tangible or intangible...
.In 1968, MSI moved to Cambridge and began a 15-year association with the Harvard Business School.
In the early 1970s, MSI launched and managed the Profit Impact of Marketing Strategy
Profit impact of marketing strategy
The Profit Impact of Market Strategy database "yields solid evidence in support of both common sense and counter-intuitive principles for gaining and sustaining competitive advantage": Tom Peters and Nancy Austin. It was developed with the intention of providing empirical evidence of which...
project which, in conjunction with General Electric, created and analyzed a cross-sectional database that described marketing strategies and profitability across hundreds of business units. The results, widely reported, demonstrated the value of a scientific approach to marketing.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, MSI assembled teams to shape policy at the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. MSI also played an important role in introducing qualitative consumer research methods, including the Consumer Behavior Odyssey, a summer-long road trip in 1986 that laid the foundation for the field of consumer ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
.
By the 1980s, MSI research on services marketing reflected a growing awareness that consumer service businesses required a reappraisal of marketing approaches originally developed in the packaged goods context. In 1986, a consortium of MSI member companies contributed funding and data to support a stream of research that culminated in SERVQUAL
SERVQUAL
SERVQUAL or RATER is a service quality framework. SERVQUAL was developed in the mid eighties by Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Berry.-Concept:SERVQUAL was originally measured on 10 aspects of service quality: reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security,...
, a scale for measuring customer perceptions of service quality that has been widely adopted by service businesses. During this time, the role of marketing in strategic planning received increased attention. MSI research introduced key concepts such as market orientation
Market orientation
Market orientation perspectives include the decision-making perspective , market intelligence perspective , culturally based behavioural perspective , strategic perspective and customer orientation perspective .The two most prominent conceptulizations of market orientation are those...
and marketing capabilities.
The conceptualization and measurement of brand equity
Brand equity
Brand equity is the marketing effects and outcomes that accrue to a product with its brand name compared with those that would accrue if the same product did not have the brand name. Fact of the well-known brand name is that, the company can sometimes charge premium prices from the consumer . And,...
originated in MSI-sponsored research in the early 1990s. The impact of marketing activities on firm performance and shareholder value (termed marketing ROI, marketing accountability, and return on marketing investment
Return on marketing investment
Return on marketing investment is the contribution attributable to marketing , divided by the marketing “invested” or risked. ROMI is a relatively new metric. It is not like the other “return-on-investment” metrics because marketing is not the same kind of investment...
) has been an area of sustained MSI research interest. Through the '90s and 2000s, product innovation has remained at or near the top of MSI research agenda; and research interest has broadened to address service innovation as well as innovation in business models and processes.
Current Research
In the past decade, web-based and mobile technologies have radically altered marketing's role. Current MSI research addresses marketing questions emerging in a culture informed by social mediaSocial media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
and user-generated content
User-generated content
User generated content covers a range of media content available in a range of modern communications technologies. It entered mainstream usage during 2005 having arisen in web publishing and new media content production circles...
: How can marketing develop compelling value propositions that leverage new technologies? What is the role of traditional advertising vehicles (TV, print) in this new landscape? How should marketers manage brands in a transformed landscape? What conceptual frameworks from other disciplines—behavioral economics, neuroscience, anthropology, network analysis, psychology, history—enhance traditional methods of understanding consumer behavior?
Over time, changes in topics of key marketing importance have been evolutionary. Likewise, MSI's 2010-12 research priorities, while they are framed by the challenges of this transformed landscape, continue to align with marketing concerns articulated over five decades: using market information, understanding customers, developing marketing capabilities, innovation, marketing metrics, brand and product management, allocating marketing resources, and leveraging research tools and data.
Research Competitions
MSI research competitions support the development of new conceptual frameworks and avenues for marketing thought. Academic researchers submit proposals that address a novel problem with a balance of rigor and relevance. These are reviewed by a set of academic thought leaders, guided by an advisory committee of industry experts. Findings from competitions are reported in publications and at conferences. Recent competitions include:- Ideas Challenge
- Communication and Branding in a Digital Era
- Innovation
- Modeling ‘Multichannel’ Customer Behavior, co-sponsored by the Wharton Interactive Media Initiative
- Shopper Marketing, co-sponsored by the Association for Consumer Research
Awards
The Marketing Science Institute sponsors three major marketing awards annually.The Alden G. Clayton Dissertation Proposal Competition recognizes the best doctoral dissertation proposals on important marketing subjects. Each year, MSI grants up to five awards of $5,000 each for the best proposals.
The MSI H. Paul Root Award is given by members of the Journal of Marketing editorial review board to a paper that has made a significant contribution to the advancement of the practice of marketing. It is cosponsored by the American Marketing Association
American Marketing Association
The American Marketing Association is a professional association for marketers. As of 2008 it had approximately 40,000 members. There are 76 professional chapters and 250 collegiate chapters across the United States....
.
The Robert D. Buzzell MSI Best Paper Award honors the authors of the MSI working papers that have made the most significant contribution to marketing practice and thought. The award serves to signal the kind of writing and research that is of lasting value to corporate marketing executives. Each year it is given for the best MSI paper issued during the calendar year two years previous.
Executive Directors Council
Ruth N. Bolton, Marketing Science InstituteGeorge S. Day
George S. Day
George S. Day is the Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor, Professor of Marketing and co-Director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania...
, University of Pennsylvania
Rohit Deshpandé, Harvard Business School
John U. Farley, Dartmouth College
Stephen A. Greyser,Harvard Business School
Dominique Hanssens, UCLA
Donald R. Lehmann, Columbia University
Leigh McAlister
Leigh McAlister
Leigh McAlister is an Executive Director of the Marketing Science Institute and is currently a professor of business marketing at The University of Texas at Austin. Her published works include The Grocery Revolution, a joint project with Barbara E. Kahn....
, University of Texas at Austin
David B. Montgomery, Stanford University
David J. Reibstein, University of Pennsylvania
Richard Staelin, Duke University
Louis W. Stern, Northwestern University
Frederick E. Webster, Jr., Dartmouth College
Russell S. Winer, New York University