Using the Internet as a platform, researchers are finding that companies are able to connect with their consumers directly. They can collect data about consumer purchasing behavior and use it in marketing campaigns. In fact, in recent years, online retail spending has become more common. Companies may also be able to use their consumers’ online purchasing histories for research purposes.
One of the biggest challenges in studying Internet marketing research is that the sample size is too small. This makes it difficult to make trends. However, a comprehensive literature review may be able to provide a picture of the state of the art in Internet marketing research. The research aims to provide a large-scale overview of the Internet marketing research literature and offer suggestions for future research efforts. The findings reveal that the amount of research on Internet marketing has increased significantly since the advent of the Internet Age. Nevertheless, it also points out some gaps in the literature.
To perform the literature review, researchers searched Google Scholar and the Thomson Reuters Web of Science citation database for articles on Internet marketing. They also identified publications in top tier marketing journals. They found a total of 411 articles published over the past 18 years. The researchers classified articles by research strategy. They identified three strategies that are commonly used by Internet marketers. These strategies include Formal Theory/Literature Review, Sample Survey, and Field Study/Secondary Data. The authors believe that these strategies are appropriate at early stages of research. They also found that these strategies have been underused.
Several other strategies were found to be underused. This may be because researchers are avoiding some unorthodox research strategies. Nevertheless, these strategies also represent a small percentage of articles. The authors suggest that future studies should employ a wider range of research strategies. The use of sample survey research, for example, indicates the exploratory nature of the research.
Researchers also discovered a number of topics that could be explored further. In particular, the use of virtual worlds, social media, and mobile banking would likely increase in the near future. Using a cross-disciplinary team to explore these topics could potentially be useful. However, in many cases, the use of these technologies has not yet caught up with business reality. As a result, future studies should also look into the role that research plays in the real world.
A special call for papers identified several topics, including the commercial exploitation of Web 2.0 in consumer marketing, the internet advertising landscape, and future search strategies. These topics are likely to be useful for researchers, and may also be of interest to practitioners. The researchers found a number of other topics, including consumer behaviour, that should be studied.
In addition, the study found that the use of a sample survey was the most appropriate research strategy for early stages of research. This type of research, which involves an iterative process of brainstorming and discussion sessions, can help researchers to find common themes and identify areas of research interest.