Peter Verhoef, Lisan Lesscher and Lara Lobschat win the 2022 Marketing Science Institute Best Paper Award

Peter Verhoef, along with co-authors Lisan Lesscher (NHL Stenden University of Applied Research) and Lara Lobschat (Maastricht University) have won the 2022 Robert D. Buzzell Marketing Science Institute (MSI) Best Paper Award. They received the award for their working paper ‘Do Offline and Online Go Hand in Hand? Cross-Channel and Synergy Effects of Direct Mailing and Display Advertising’.

The effect of direct mailing

In their paper, Lesscher, Lobschat and Verhoef study the effectiveness of direct mailing in the online environment. They consider two key questions: how direct mailings affect different online and offline consumer activity metrics throughout the purchase funnel and how they interact with digital marketing communication tools. The authors investigated these two questions by conducting two studies.

First, they focused on the effect of direct mailing on zip-code level upper, middle, and lower funnel performance metrics over time by analyzing quasi-experimental data from a large European insurance firm. The results revealed that direct mailing significantly influences consumer activity metrics in the online channel (namely online search and clicking behavior), in support of cross-channel effects of direct mailing. Moreover, direct mailing proofs to be effective throughout the purchase funnel, both directly and indirectly, with a positive net sales effect.

Second, they studied the joint effect of direct mailing and display advertising by analyzing field experiment data from the same insurance firm. The results showed positive synergy between direct mailing and display advertising. Therefore, despite the rise of digital, direct mailing still serves as an effective marketing tool, both by itself and in combination with digital marketing.

Verhoef: "This research also shows that more classic instruments, still are effective in driving purchase behavior despite te strong presence of online marketing."

About the award

The Robert D. Buzzell MSI Best Paper Award was instituted in 1993 to honor the authors of the MSI working papers that have made the most significant contribution to marketing practice and thought. The award also serves to signal the kind of writing and research that is of lasting value to corporate marketing executives. Each year the award is given for the best MSI paper issued during the calendar year two years previous.

About the authors

Lisan Lesscher obtained her PhD at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) in 2021 and is currently a lecturer and researcher at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences. Lara Lobschat is an assistant professor in the field of marketing and supply chain management at Maastricht University. Peter Verhoef is Professor of Marketing and Dean of FEB.

More information:

Lesscher, L., Lobschat, L., & Verhoef, P. C. (2021). Do offline and online go hand in hand? cross-channel and synergy effects of direct mailing and display advertising. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 38(3), 678-697. doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2020.11.003