ISBM Research Newsletter - Volume 18, Issue 1 - April 2025
Table of Contents
In This Issue . . .
With 2025 well underway, ISBM has much research news to share!
In this Newsletter’s Feature, the new ISBM Distinguished Research Fellows (Werner Reinartz, Venky Shankar, Hari Sridhar, and Stefan Wuyts) share their perspectives on the future of B2B Marketing.
We are happy to announce three new winners of the ISBM Doctoral Support Award Competition: Arpit Agrawal (University of Houston), Aritra Bhattacharya (Indian School of Business), and Amir Hassanzadegan (University of Melbourne). Each will receive $5-7.5K in financial support for their research and they join a group of 130 winners since the inception of this Competition. Congratulations Arpit, Aritra, and Amir!
In this Newsletter, we also share the 2025-2027 ISBM Research Priorities, based on qualitative research and a trend study conducted last year, involving >150 B2B marketing experts. Priorities include Climate Change, Marketing Analytics, Digitized Exchange, Artificial Intelligence, Value Creation, and Growth.
As a new initiative, we plan to launch an annual call for research proposals on a specific priority in need of extra nudges. Today, we call for B2B marketing research on “Coping with Climate Change”, a challenge that is becoming more critical by the day. Abstracts are due by June 30; select finalists will be invited to submit full proposals by September 30; winners will receive $5-10K in financial support to complete their B2B marketing research.
ISBM Executive Director Lynn Yanyo shares the latest from the Membership, including a look forward to what promises to be an exciting ISBM Corporate Members meeting in May on AI and innovation!
We end the Newsletter with a note on the ISBM Founders Fund. Thanks to the generous support of ISBM donors (specifically, Emeritus Directors Gary Lilien, Irv Gross, and Ralph Oliva), we intensify our efforts at ISBM. In addition to all the above, ISBM also sponsors the 2025 AMA-Sheth Doctoral Consortium and the 2ndedition of the 2025 B2B Connect Research Symposium at EMAC (May 27!). We now also offer 80% scholarships for IPSS PhD seminars (as we speak, >20 PhD students from 19 universities in 6 countries are taking Vivek Astvansh’ course “Establishing Causality: A Multi-Method Approach”).
We hope you’ll enjoy reading this Newsletter. We look forward to working with you in 2025 as you tackle new B2B Marketing research challenges!
Warm greetings,
Stefan and Andrew
Stefan Wuyts
Director, ISBM
Email: suw282@psu.edu
J. Andrew Petersen
Associate Director, ISBM
Email: jap57@psu.edu
Feature: Perspectives on the Future of B2B Marketing from ISBM's Newest Research Fellows
The Transformative Impact of the Industrial Metaverse on the Future of B2B Marketing (Werner Reinartz)
While the discussions about the role and importance of the metaverse (AR/VR) in consumer markets have largely vanished because of lack of real relevance, the situation is entirely different in business-to-business (B2B), markets. Unrecognized by many, the industrial metaverse holds truly transformative potential in the domain of B2B operations and marketing. Historically, B2B marketing has progressed from transaction-focused approaches to relationship-based and network-oriented models. The industrial metaverse marks the next evolutionary step by fostering virtualized business ecosystems, where companies interact, strategize, and create value in cyber-physical environments.
What does this, amongst other things, concretely mean? First, businesses will virtualize. For example, the industrial metaverse enables virtual simulations of B2B interactions, shifting from physical prototypes to digital twins and immersive collaboration platforms. Also, B2B transactions are moving towards machine-to-machine exchanges, reducing the role of human intermediaries. Second, businesses will dynamically strategize. For example, the metaverse facilitates real-time strategy updates, allowing businesses to simulate different market scenarios before implementation. Also, the rise of distributed marketing platforms will redefine traditional marketing roles, with companies transitioning from individual brand marketing to orchestrating industry-wide platforms. Third, businesses will shift to greater stakeholder centricity. For example, technology-augmented selling (via VR/AR and AI-driven analytics) will transform customer interactions, enabling personalized virtual experiences in B2B sales. Furthermore, companies will transition from mass marketing to hyper-personalized engagement, utilizing AI to tailor messaging and optimize sales strategies.
Thus, the industrial metaverse is set to be one of the most significant disruptions in B2B marketing, fostering an era of virtualization, dynamic strategizing, and stakeholder engagement. Businesses and researchers must proactively explore these developments to maintain competitiveness and academic relevance.
The Future of B2B Marketing: Innovation, Intelligence, and Impact (Venkatesh Shankar)
B2B marketing is at an inflection point. The convergence of AI, predictive analytics, and hyper-personalization is transforming how businesses engage with one another. Today, I am most excited about how data-driven intelligence can enhance strategic decision-making, streamline buyer journeys, and foster long-term relationships in ways previously unimaginable.
From AI-powered content generation to real-time customer insights, B2B firms now have the tools to anticipate client needs with remarkable precision. The shift from traditional sales-led approaches to digital-first, account-based marketing strategies is already redefining the field. The next frontier lies in harnessing AI to move beyond automation into the realm of truly adaptive, agent-driven, and human-centric engagement.
Another game-changer is the evolution of B2B branding. No longer confined to rational decision-making, brands are embracing storytelling, emotional connection, and purpose-driven differentiation. This shift aligns with the increasing expectation that businesses stand for more than just their products—creating new opportunities for meaningful partnerships.
Looking ahead, I see a world where B2B marketing becomes even more predictive, agentic, immersive, and frictionless. The integration of AI with augmented reality, blockchain-enabled trust, and deep personalization will reshape how businesses discover, evaluate, and commit to solutions. My work sits at this intersection of innovation and impact—helping organizations navigate and capitalize on these transformations.
For companies looking to stay ahead, now is the time to rethink the boundaries of B2B marketing. I look forward to collaborating with visionary leaders to drive the next wave of growth.
The AI-Driven B2B Marketer: Balancing Efficiency and Authenticity (Shrihari Sridhar)
One of the most enduring truths in B2B marketing is the quintessential role of relationships. Whether in customer acquisition, expansion, or retention, relationships are not just enablers but force multipliers, amplifying the impact of marketing investments. The depth of trust, reciprocity, and strategic alignment between firms often determines long-term success. With the advent of AI, we stand at a fascinating crossroads—both an extraordinary opportunity and a formidable dilemma. AI-driven tools can enhance efficiency, allowing firms to manage the multiplex of B2B relationships at scale. Predictive analytics, automated engagement, and AI-driven personalization can help firms anticipate customer needs and streamline interactions. However, the essence of human connection—built on authenticity, equipoise, and nuance—cannot be sacrificed.
How will humanity and the B2B marketer navigate this complex tension? Early observations reveal distinct strategic responses. Some firms take the “Fools Rush In” approach, over-automating and losing relational depth. Others adopt a “Wait and Conquer” strategy, cautiously learning before making AI-driven shifts. The right path, however, depends on a range of factors—industry norms, deal complexity, relationship intensity, and organizational culture.
Striking this balance will define the next era of B2B marketing. Companies like Salesforce and HubSpot are already experimenting with AI to enhance, rather than replace, human interactions. Those who master AI-driven efficiency while preserving the authenticity of human relationships will create lasting competitive advantages. For researchers and executives alike, this evolution presents an exciting frontier to explore.
The B2B Marketer’s New Role: Shaping Winning Marketing Ecosystems (Stefan Wuyts)
B2B marketing frameworks change along with the changing tides and times. Before the turn of the century, B2B marketing research focused on individual buyer-supplier relationships. In the 2000s, focus shifted to a firm’s position in interorganizational networks. Today, we need another shift. Fueled by digital technologies, B2B marketers are shaping networks, designing marketing ecosystems around business solutions and developing new exchange platforms. B2B market structures and the nature of competition are in a constant state of flux, raising intriguing questions for B2B marketing scholars.
How can B2B marketers design successful ecosystems to create and capture value? Marketing ecosystems for digitalized B2B offerings come with formidable control and coordination challenges. Intelligent systems that rely heavily on data exchange between components are vulnerable to adversarial cyberattacks that can compromise the customer’s operations. Meanwhile, legal risks and IP-related challenges might erode ecosystem benefits.
How can B2B marketers develop winning customer value propositions when value is created in multi-partner ecosystems? Winning value propositions should ensure superior value delivery to the customer and fair value appropriation by ecosystem partners.
Can we predict industry network dynamics? Understanding why network structures change might help B2B marketers navigate, anticipate, and shape the industrial landscape. Predicting change in collaborative and competitive structures requires new marketing frameworks and models. Advanced modeling techniques to study network formation are available but are not yet part of the marketing scholar’s toolkit.
Time for interorganizational scholars and B2B practitioners to realign along with these changing tides!
Werner Reinartz
University of Cologne
Email: werner.reinartz@uni-koeln.de
Venkatesh (Venky) Shankar
Southern Methodist University
Email: vshankar@smu.edu
Shrihari (Hari) Sridhar
Texas A&M University
Email: ssridhar@mays.tamu.edu
Stefan Wuyts
Penn State
Email: suw282@psu.edu
2024 Doctoral Support Award Competition Winners Announced
Winners have been named in the thirty-forth annual Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) Doctoral Support Award Competition. Via the competition, the ISBM provides financial support for PhD dissertations for candidates in accredited doctoral programs.
This year there were three winners, named ISBM Doctoral Fellows. Each will receive a cash award to support their research. The winning proposals illustrate the breadth of the B2B marketing domain.
Award Winners
Outstanding Submission:
Amir Hassanzadegan of the University of Melbourne won the award for the outstanding submission with his dissertation proposal, Governance in Technology Licensing: Cultivating Effective Collaboration. His Ph.D. Advisors are Erik A. Mooi and Jan B. Heide.
Other Winners:
Aritra Bhattacharya of Indian School of Business won with his dissertation proposal, Incentive Design for Sales Managers: Impact on Performance and Resource Allocation. His Ph.D. Advisors are Raghu Bommaraju and Andre Bonfrer.
Arpit Agrawal of the University of Houston won with his dissertation proposal, So Near Yet So Far: The Unexpected Role of Near Misses for Salesperson Turnover. His Ph.D. Advisor is Michael Ahearne.
This year there were seventeen entrants from which eight finalists were selected. Dissertation entries are judged on the rigor of the proposed work and the relevance of that work to business-to-business marketing practice. For more information about the competition, email the ISBM at ISBM@psu.edu or visit our website (https://isbm.org/doctoral-support-award-competition) for current information.
Headquartered in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State, the ISBM has been supporting business-to-business marketing research and practice since 1983. To date, ISBM has supported 130 doctoral students. Funding for this competition comes from the generous support of the ISBM Corporate Members.
2025-2027 ISBM Research Priorities
The ISBM Research Priorities for the coming three years, 2025 – 2027, are based on data collected via a trend study in 2024. The trend study included an elaborate qualitative phase followed by a quantitative survey and focused on the challenges, skills and capabilities, and knowledge gaps considered critical for the next 3-5 years (i.e., for 2025-2029).
To help B2B marketing scholars and B2B marketing educators adapt their research priorities and educational offerings, the ISBM runs trend studies every three years. Formulating clear priorities for the coming years contributes to fulfilling the ISBM’s mission of playing a leadership role in advancing the theory and practice of business-to-business (industrial) marketing and advancing business marketing as a specialized field within the broader marketing discipline.
It is important to recognize that a trend study is essentially exploratory. Qualitative and quantitative research methods are used to explore what practitioners and academics find important, and to derive a corresponding set of key research priorities. The set of research priorities is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather, to give a clear snapshot of what the B2B marketing field today considers critical for the coming 3-5 years.
Figure 1 summarizes the ISBM Research Priorities for B2B Marketing in 2025-2027.
These priorities will guide future ISBM activities, inform ISBM educational offerings, and, hopefully, inspire B2B Marketing students, scholars, and educators.
Figure 1 – ISBM 2025-2027 Research Priority Domains based on the 2024 Trend Study.
Note: CVP = Customer Value Proposition; HR = Human Resources; NPD = New Product Development; AI = Artificial Intelligence.
Follow this link for the complete 2025-2027 ISBM Research Priorities white paper.
Call for Research Proposals on "Coping with Climate Change in Business Markets"
Climate change affects industries, economies, and livelihoods. Conversations with Business-to-Business (B2B) marketers suggest that they are acutely aware of the issue, but coping with climate change in business markets remains clouded with uncertainty. Challenges include the use of fossil fuels, changing buyer expectations, and stakeholder pressures (value chain, investors, regulators). Climate change also creates opportunities for market development, innovation, and differentiation.
Climate change is one of the 2025-2027 ISBM Research Priorities. An ISBM trend study showed that young B2B marketers consider climate change far more important than their older colleagues do, suggesting that the topic will only grow in importance in the coming years. Yet, climate-related marketing research reported to date has largely focused on consumer markets. Hence, the ISBM calls for research in this neglected domain providing new theory, new frameworks, and rigorous empirical testing.
Possible topics include but are not limited to:
- Transitioning from fossil fuels to alternative fuels
- Minimizing climate impact across the value chain
- Turning climate change into profitable business opportunities
- Coping with value chain, institutional, investor, and regulatory pressures
- Helping business customers reach their climate goals
Further details:
- Support: ISBM will award grants ranging from $5,000 – $10,000 (depending on the need for monetary support and the number of top-quality submissions)
- Target: Research teams across the globe and across disciplines (marketing, supply chain, risk management, strategy, climatology, earth and mineral sciences, industrial engineering…)
- Eligibility: Research proposals showing clear implications for business markets, in alignment with the ISBM mission to advance the theory and practice of B2B marketing.
- Procedure: The competition consists of two rounds, with the following deadlines:
- June 30 – Abstracts are due
- July 15 – Selected finalists are invited to submit full research proposals
- Sept 30 – Finalists’ full proposals are due
- Oct 31 – Winners are announced
For more details visit https://isbm.org/research-competition-coping-with-climate-change. This research competition is made possible thanks to the generous support of the ISBM Founders Fund.
Greetings from the ISBM Membership
Welcome to 2025! We held our first Member event very early this year. We expected a lot of interesting activity early in this year with the start of the new administration. The implications of some of the changes proposed by the new administration might have sweeping effects across the enterprise from HR to supply chain.
By our Jam Session on Jan 30th, we certainly had seen a lot. With this rapid change in the business climate, our members’ strategies and processes needed a refresh.
To help our members ready for action, we asked three world-class experts in pricing, immigration, and strategic planning for the unexpected to join us for our first Jam Session of 2025.
B2B Pricing Expert and ISBM Practice Fellow Joanne Smith discussed how B2B businesses can build strong, flexible pricing strategies, even in the face of uncertainty.
Nancy Morowitz and Scott Leeb from Fragomen explored the implications of recent global elections and what Trump 2.0 means for business’s immigration and mobility strategies.
Paul Drees of Market Edge introduced the VUCA Framework, equipping us to navigate volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous market conditions with confidence.
Similar to our first webinars of the pandemic in 2020, we had lots of interest with nearly 200 registrants. These presentations and discussions were recorded and are available on the Member Website, isbm.com, in the Library, Featured Presentations.
When you go to isbm.com, we hope you’ll let us know what you think of our updated website. It officially launched just last month.
Looking forward we are excited to announce our next Member’s Meeting will be May 20-22 and hosted by member company DuPont at their Experimental Station. The theme is Changes in the Early Stages of Innovation – the Role of Marketing and AI.
We look forward to a continued exciting 2025 in this new era. Best wishes to everyone.
Lynn
ISBM Support and Founders Fund
Many ongoing ISBM activities are possible thanks to the continued support of ISBM Corporate Members ( isbm.com). Additional support comes from the recently formed ISBM Founders Fund. The goal of the fund, created by ISBM founders Gary Lilien, Irv Gross and Ralph Oliva, is to support the ISBM in its mission to provide B2B thought leadership globally. Follow these links to learn more or to make a contribution.