Introduction to the Marketing Science Institute Special Section on Academic and Practitioner Collaborative Research

Abstract

In Spring 2003, just before Dick Wittink became editor of Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) and I became executive director of the Marketing Science Institute (MSI), Dick visited the University of Texas at Austin to participate in our annual research camp. During his visit, Dick and I decided to act on our shared interest in academicpractitioner collaborative research as soon as we took up our responsibilities at JMR and MSI. The result of that decision was a research competition, a conference, and this special section of JMR. Because Dick passed away before we could complete work on this special section, I would like to include his voice in motivating this special section by quoting from the research competition announcement that he helped craft: