Abstract
There is much hype associated with the term ‘Big Data’ (BD), and much opportunity in the data that are associated with that term, along with the tools and techniques in existence and being developed to leverage it for decision making and improving the condition of living beings, firms and society. However, many are not clear on what are, or what is meant by the term, ‘Big Data’. The focus of this research was to explore the meaning of BD and to identify important paths of research on BD. As part of this process, we called upon a diverse set of marketing scholars who possess expertise and special insights. We discovered that different communities have different perspectives. It could be argued that they are all correct as they reflect the preferred perspectives of different communities. We find it helpful to think of BD as a term that represents a period of time or era, a process, and data that are from a variety of sources, of various structures or forms, and in a variety of locations. Important research questions and issues related to BD are discussed.
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2received her doctorate in 2001 from the University of Cincinnati. Dr Davis also has an MBA from Xavier University, Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Tuskegee University. She has been awarded multiple research and teaching grants including the prestigious Marketing Science Institute grant. She has published research in the areas of sales, ecommerce, services and logistics. Dr Davis has been published in the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of Retailing and Psychology and Marketing. Her article, ‘The WOW factor: A model of customer reacquisition’, was a finalist for Best Article in the Journal of Retailing’s special issue on Services. Her current research interests include strategic use of social media in creating profitable exchanges, sales channels and customer relationships. Dr Davis is the founding director of the University of Alabama Sales program and its certification process. The sales lab role play software and taping process she co-developed with Cenergy IT is sold commercially and has been adopted by 14 other universities, including the University of Georgia, University of Houston, and Baylor.
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Weinberg, B., Davis, L. & Berger, P. Perspectives on Big Data. J Market Anal 1, 187–201 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/jma.2013.20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jma.2013.20