Marketing research is often not relevant enough to marketing practice. The use of design science research might increase the managerial relevance of research contributions. Academic literature provides various explanations for design science’s managerial relevance. For example, active collaboration with practitioners is commonly regarded as a crucial factor for providing value. However, such explanations typically originate from conceptual research papers and scientific evidence seems to be lacking. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the reason for design science’s increased relevance. The results of an experiment with marketing and sales professionals indicate that collaboration and emphasizing may be crucial factors for providing value to practice.