Developing Original, Courageous Ideas

Despite evidence of meticulous business-to business marketing research efforts, and the pleas of editors for truly original, ground-breaking research, there is still a shortage of original, courageous research ideas. To provide guidance to researchers and address this problem, we apply the OBC model (observe the world, bridge disciplines, and challenge assumptions and theories). We discuss the three main and four blended strategies recommended by this model, and illustrate each of these strategies with examples drawn from the marketing literature. Our application of the OBC model offers actionable guidelines for generating original research ideas, as well as theoretical grounding for each element of the model. Given the publication pressure felt by young academic researchers, we hope that our discussion provides encouragement and guidance, which will result in original, courageous business-to-business marketing research.