ÂÜÀòÉç¹ÙÍø

 : : : Posting

: : call

---

Marketing Science Institute
Emory Brand Institute

Call for Research Proposals and Papers

Marketing Strategy Meets Wall Street
Connecting marketing actions and brand, customer, and channel equity with financial performance and firm value.

With off-balance-sheet assets representing over 75% of the value of Fortune 500 companies, it is imperative to develop a better understanding of the role of product-market based assets, such as brand, customer, and channel equity, and marketing actions, such as innovation, advertising, and pricing, in driving financial performance and shareholder value.

The Marketing Science Institute (MSI) and the Emory Brand Institute (EmoryBI) have allocated resources to fund high-quality empirical research on several critical questions in this area. These research topics were prioritized in a multi-disciplinary discussion session of leading accounting, finance, and marketing faculty, as well as representatives from corporations and investment banks.

PRIORITY RESEARCH TOPICS

1. How informed are stock prices relative to important customer, brand, and marketing developments?
    
   What are the conditions under which short-term vs. long-term financial performance and top-line vs. bottom-line performance impact stock prices?
    
   Do quarterly earnings forecasts and subsequent performance receive the appropriate weight in valuation? Should firms be influenced by quarterly earnings targets when determining their marketing spending levels?
    
   Should market-based assets (such as brand, customer, and channel equity) be on the balance sheet? Does Wall Street recognize the long-term importance of such intangible assets?
    
   Why are movements in customer satisfaction not immediately reflected in stock prices, even though a long-run relationship between the two exists?
    
2. Understanding brand valuation
    
   We need rigorous methodological research on brand valuation methods that incorporate the impact of brands on the major drivers of shareholder value. For example, what is the impact of branding on the level, the growth and the sustainability of cash flows?
    
   The ranking of brands by specialized suppliers needs more transparency. What would be an interdisciplinary, theoretically sound approach to evaluate and rank brands?
    
3. Marketing spending and firm value

   Critically evaluate the hypothesis that “better utilization of what is under marketing’s control is more important than communicating with capital markets. If marketing resources are well utilized, that will trickle down to the capital markets.”

   Demonstrate the relationship between optimal marketing resource allocation and stock returns. Under what conditions are “suboptimal” marketing practices reflected in stock returns?

   Many marketing strategies are focused towards segmentation and differentiation and hence “making markets imperfect.” The success of these actions is reflected in, for example, brand loyalty and customer retention. Under what conditions are these strategies reflected in stock returns?
    

4. The investor community as a customer
    
   Are the right marketing metrics communicated to the investor community? As an example, should firm revenue be broken down between new and existing customers?
    
   How do analysts’ interpretation of marketing events such as product-price changes impact stock prices?

   How is the investor community influenced by public relations efforts?
    
   Do stock prices of analyzed firms behave differently from those of non-analyzed firms? Are analysts’ recommendations more positive or “sticky” for firms with higher corporate brand equity?

PROPOSALS

MSI and EmoryBI invite proposals for original, scientifically rigorous research projects on these priority topics. Research proposals are due by September 1, 2007, and will be evaluated upon receipt, in 30-40 days or less. We recommend proposals follow the MSI guidelines in .

The following expense categories are acceptable for funding: research assistance, data acquisition and analysis, travel among co-authors. Awarded funds may be used only for out-of-pocket expenses of the research (i.e., they may not be used for university overhead, researcher’s salary or course relief, tuition remission, etc.). Research awards are expected to be in the $5,000 to $15,000 range.

We especially encourage cross-disciplinary projects involving researchers in accounting, finance, and marketing.

The members of the advisory committee are:

• Dominique Hanssens, UCLA and MSI
• Donald Lehmann, Columbia University
• Roland Rust, University of Maryland and Journal of Marketing
• Raj Srivastava, Emory University and EmoryBI
• Joel Steckel, New York University
• Russ Winer, New York University

DISSEMINATION

The deadline for submission of completed papers is May 1, 2008. We will also consider completed papers for which no prior proposal was received, using the same deadline.

The findings of accepted papers will be disseminated in three ways:

1. The publication of a special report, jointly issued by MSI and EmoryBI, in Fall 2008.
2. Presentation at a conference, jointly sponsored by MSI and EmoryBI, to be held in Fall 2008. Travel and conference expenses will be paid for one speaker per accepted paper.
3. Review for possible inclusion in a Special Issue of the , co-edited by Dominique Hanssens, Roland Rust, and Raj Srivastava. All papers will undergo the normal review process at the . The publication of the Special Issue is anticipated for Fall 2009.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS AND PAPERS

Please send (e-mail preferred) to:

Ross Rizley
Research Director
Marketing Science Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
USA

Telephone: (617) 491-2060
Email: Ross@msi.org

Copyright © 2007 Marketing Science Institute

The Marketing Science Institute is a non-profit research institute
dedicated to advancing the science of world-class marketing.

Marketing Science Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138

---