TY  - JOUR
AB  - A theory-first paradigm tends to be the dominant approach in much academic marketing research. In this approach, a theory is borrowed, refined, or developed and then tested empirically. In this challenging-the-boundaries article, the authors make a case for an empirics-first approach. ?Empirics-first? refers to research that (1) is grounded in (originates from) a real-world marketing phenomenon, problem, or observation, (2) involves obtaining and analyzing data, and (3) produces valid marketing-relevant insights without necessarily developing or testing theory. The empirics-first approach is not antagonistic to theory but rather can serve as a stepping-stone to theory. The approach lends itself well to today?s data-rich environment, which can reveal novel research questions untethered to theory. The present article describes the underlying principles of an empirics-first approach, which consists of exploring a domain purposefully without preconceptions. Using a rich set of published examples, the authors offer guidance on how to implement empirics-first research and how it can lead to valuable knowledge development. Advice is also offered to scholars on how to report empirics-first research and to reviewers and to editorial teams on how to evaluate it. The ultimate objective is to pave a way for the empirics-first approach to enter the mainstream of academic marketing research.
AU  - Golder, P
AU  - Dekimpe, M
AU  - An, J
AU  - van Heerde, H
AU  - Kim, D
AU  - Alba, J
DA  - 2023/01/01
DO  - 10.1177/00222429221129200
EP  - 336
JO  - Journal of Marketing
PB  - SAGE Publications
PY  - 2023/01/01
SP  - 319
TI  - Learning from Data: An Empirics-First Approach to Relevant Knowledge Generation
VL  - 87
Y1  - 2023/01/01
Y2  - 2026/05/04
ER  -