JOURNAL OF MARKETING ANALYTICS SPECIAL ISSUE

Digitalization and Its Impact on

Contemporary Marketing Strategies
and Practices

Guest Editors:

1) Cham Tat Huei, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia

2) Cheah Jun Hwa, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
3) Mumtaz Ali Memon, Air University, Pakistan
4) Kim-Shyan Fam, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
5) Laszlo Józsa, University of Selye, Komárno, Slovakia

Contact Person: Cham Tat Huei (PhD)

Email: jaysoncham@gmail.com; chamth@utar.edu.my

Paper submission deadline: 31 August 2021

Aim of the Special Issue

Evolving technologies continue to transform marketing activities executed by business

organizations across industries. The emergence of new technologies, such as the Internet of
Things, virtual reality, blockchain, robots, artificial intelligence, and smartphones,
continues to create new marketing paradigms and pave ways for innovations in marketing
practices (Salminen et al., 2019; Yadav & Pavlou, 2014; Zahay et al., 2019). From the
suppliers’ standpoint, technologies revolutionize the manner they do business, especially
with respect to the activities related to communication with customers, products/services
promotions, and market analysis (Calabretta & Kleinsmann, 2017; Petrescu & Krishen,
2018; Wang & Kim, 2017). As for consumers, the advancement of technologies changes
their behavior in terms of product involvement, interaction, purchase, and consumption.
Digital technology allows customers to work with businesses, as co-creators in
product/service development, marketing activities, and value creation (Berezan et al., 2018;
Fine, Gironda, & Petrescu, 2017; Grewal, Roggeveen, & Nordfält, 2017; Leung, Paolacci
& Puntoni, 2018; Raab et al., 2016; Sugathan, Ranjan, & Mulky, 2017).

Recent developments in communication and information technology (IT) perpetuate new

marketing archetypes - digital content marketing. The growth of digital content marketing
has become a catalyst in the marketing arena, and it has been prioritized by many marketers
across industries (Hollebeek & Macky, 2019; Järvinen & Taiminen, 2016; Malthouse et al.,
2019; Valos et al., 2017). The emphasis on digital content marketing by marketers and
business practitioners is attributed to its capability in creating brand value without having
to sell products. Moreover, digital content marketing is considered as one of the most
effective channels to develop brand awareness, reach consumers, expand markets, and
ultimately provide higher returns (Muninger, Hammedi & Mahr, 2019; Taiminen &
Ranaweera, 2019). Although digital content marketing has been a growing marketing trend
among practitioners, content marketing continues to be under-researched by academics and
thus requires further investigation (Hollebeek & Macky, 2019; Järvinen & Taiminen,
2016).

The progression of content marketing and social media, in particular, has expanded beyond
its original purpose as a platform for social networking. It has become a platform that
enables businesses to communicate with their customers instantaneously and allows
consumers to become more involved in marketing activities (Cham, Lim, Aik, & Tay,
2016; Krishen et al., 2016; Krishen, Berezan & Raab, 2019; Krishen et al., 2018; Krishen,
Trembath & Muthaly, 2015; Lin, Yang, Ma, & Huang, 2018; Wakefield & Wakefield,
2018). The participation of consumers has been further reinforced via influencer marketing
and selfie-marketing; a new and emerging marketing communication trend. Influencer
marketing is an extension of word-of-mouth marketing as it allows marketers to connect
with their customers via influencers who are individuals with a strong base of followers on
social media platforms (Hughes, Swaminathan & Brooks, 2019; Khamis, Ang & Welling,
2017). On the other hand, selfie-marketing allows marketers to leverage social media in an
effective, viral, and hyper-engaged way by getting individuals to post photos or videos of
themselves with their product, brand or concept (Cheah, Ting, Cham, & Memon, 2019;
Fox, Bacile, Nakhata, & Weible, 2018; Hackley, Hackley, & Bassiouni, 2018). Both
influencer and selfie-marketing are widely used across various sectors because of the
capability to attract high level of online traffic, build consumer trust, drive engagement,
and generate profit (Malthouse et al., 2016; Tafesse & Wien, 2018).

In addition, it is undeniable that the use of digital and social media marketing by businesses
as part of their online marketing strategies plays a critical role in contributing to the domain
of marketing analytics (Peltier, Zahay, & Krishen, 2013; Petrescu & Krishen, 2017).
However, the revolution and potentially disruptive aspect of digital marketing and social
media with the subsequent consumer involvement could either be beneficial or destructive
to market positioning and values of companies (Hofacker & Belanche, 2016; Zaki, 2019;
Zhang et al., 2018). Further investigation concerning the impact of digital and social media
on marketing strategies and practices from both business and consumer’s perspectives are
necessary. As such, this special issue's topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the
 following:
 Revolution of digital marketing and its practices;
 The impact of user-generated content in digital marketing;
 Consumers as co-creators of content, influencer, and selfie-marketing;
 The strategies and practices of content, influencer, and selfie-marketing in various
sectors;
 The effect of content, influencer, and selfie-marketing in consumer behavior and
business activities,
 The role of the Internet and social media in facilitating content, influencer, and
selfie marketing;
 The use of the content, influencer, and selfie marketing by organizations to create
and capture customer value;
 Digital marketing, multi-channel, omnichannel, and customer decision making;
 Comparison of culture in digital marketing consumption;
 Marketing analytics to explain and predict consumer behavior in the digital age;
 The impact of digital marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic;
 Advanced methodology to generate more robust analysis to assess the impact of
digitalization on businesses and consumers.

This special issue welcomes conceptual and empirical papers that address any of these
themes, using quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches.

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