Message from the President: January

 From time to time, those of us in academia hear the familiar critique that we conduct research in an “ivory tower,” far removed from real-world challenges and of limited relevance to practice. Here is a small, telling anecdote:

Recently, I gave a short talk at my children’s elementary school. Through simple behavioral experiments, such as whether identical chips taste better when believed to come from a known brand, the children quickly grasped classic marketing effects. When we discussed packaging, the children expected jam, which came from a jar that looked “homemade, like grandma’s,” to be tastier.

Ironically, just hours earlier I had read a newly published article in one of our top journals demonstrating precisely this effect, supported by extensive (and costly) experiments. It is understandable that practitioners sometimes question marketing science’s relevance.

Yet the critique cuts both ways. From the academic side, we often observe that practice can be slow to abandon persistent myths, despite a far more nuanced or even contradictory scientific evidence base. Especially in times of hype, such as around large language models, marketing science plays a critical role in separating promise from reality.

Of course, navigating an ever-growing body of research is challenging, and not every article is written for easy consumption. This is precisely where collaboration between scholars and practitioners creates value. Some organizations have institutionalized this bridge through dedicated behavioral science roles and researchers frequently seek to translate their findings into application.

In this spirit, the AMS Sparks series helps bridge research and practice by translating findings from AMS journals into actionable insights through short videos and infographics. If you haven’t done already, make sure to check out the latest episodes on cobotic service teams, personalized email marketing in loyalty programs, and building consumer digital trust: https://www.ams-web.org/sparks

Marko Sarstedt
President of the Academy of Marketing Science