Barriers to practical use of academic marketing knowledge

It is commonly assumed that a prime purpose of developing research‐based marketing knowledge is that it should be useful to marketing managers and other practitioners. However, evidence suggests that academic marketing knowledge is only to a limited degree utilised in practical life. It is thus important to understand why this is the case, as well as how use of academic knowledge can be enhanced. This paper focuses on scientific knowledge about market orientation and explores a range of factors, which might impair its practical application. More specifically, it examines what types of knowledge marketing practitioners might perceive as useful and discusses a range of potential barriers to successful transfer of market orientation knowledge from academia to practitioners. Substantial barriers are identified which relate to attributes of market orientation knowledge itself and characteristics of both academics and practitioners. Findings are discussed and implications highlighted.