The Texas A&M University – Mays Business School recently hosted the Annual Theory and Practice in Marketing (TPM) conference at the Mays CityCentre in Houston. The event brought together more than 85 academic experts and industry professionals from eight different countries.
Launched in 2010, TRM has grown today to a three-day event in which 45 research papers are presented in rapid succession. After just 20 minutes of review, presenters receive feedback regarding their topic’s application in the business world. According to TRM co-founder Don Lehmann, the event began as a way to urge marketing research to “pay more attention to what was going on in the industry.”
Each presented paper was divided into a group depending on its content and theme. Such groups included marketing leadership and relevance; mobile, shopping and gaming; social effects and online communities; and digital marketing, among others. One paper by first-year Mays PhD candidate Unnati Narang, “Do Mobile Apps Influence Shopper Behavior? Evidence from Omnichannel Retailing,” cited preliminary findings indicating that app usage can increase the frequency and value of purchases, as well as return rates.
An array of practitioners from industry were also involved with the conference, serving as panelists discussing the importance of bridging academics and practice and keynote speakers expounding on the relevancy of such topics. Mays undergraduate students, executive MBA graduates and frequent classroom speakers also took part.
The top papers presented at this year’s conference will be published in the Journal of Marketing Research. Planned international expansion for TPM was also announced during the conference: TPM Asia is planned for June 2016 in Seoul, Korea.