Citation
(2013), "Special issue on the past, present and future of interactive marketing", Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. 7 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim.2013.32507baa.002
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Special issue on the past, present and future of interactive marketing
Special issue on the past, present and future of interactive marketing
Article Type: Call for papers From: Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Volume 7, Issue 2
The Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing announces the call for papers for a special issue addressing “The past, present and future of interactive marketing”. The deadline for submission is August 30, 2013 for publication in Vol. 8 No. 1, 2014. Special attention will be given to the top-rated papers submitted from the review process of the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation 2013 Direct/Interactive Marketing Research Summit sponsored by the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) held on October 12-13, 2013 in Chicago, IL, with an additional $500 awarded to the top-rated submission from that conference. To be eligible for the award, papers must first be submitted to the conference and meet conference requirements. All other submissions may be sent directly to the journal.
Purpose of the special issue
Interactive marketing, the basic principle of which is that marketing becomes a conversation, represents the immediate past, the challenging present and, arguably, the entire future of marketing. Since the term was formalized by Deighton (1996), technological changes, including improvements in data storage and collection capabilities, have fueled the expansion of search, social media, e-mail marketing, and mobile marketing. Improvements in web capabilities and response measurement have created an explosion of new marketing channels and a host of new marketing challenges. For example, while the internet created new and more personal ways of interacting with customers, it also created its own set of problems related to internet privacy and security.
However, as we take a look at nearly 20 years of interactive marketing fueled by technology, now is a good time to take a step back and acknowledge that the process of interactive marketing is still underresearched. Schibrowksy et al. (2007) in their seminal review article of internet marketing, at that time estimated only 5.5 per cent of the top marketing journals published internetrelated articles. I noted in my first editorial for our journal and in my AMSQ column in 2012 that there is a disconnect between the narrow topics researched in our field and the broader concerns of practice. In the same regard, digital marketing is still under-funded by corporations; Mary Meeker from KPCB notes that advertisers in 2011 were not allocating spending proportionally to where customers spend their time (mobile and the internet), and estimates this gap to be a $20 billion ad spend opportunity for the digital marketing industry (mostly at the expense of print advertising).
Corporations are starting to realize this gap may be caused by executives' lack of comfort with the new media employed by interactive marketing techniques. Firms are seeking out CMOs who understand digital marketing and big data. In a similar way, academia has yet to grapple with how to educate marketers in this area when the majority of its faculty lacks skills to teach courses such as internet marketing.
The goal of this special issue is to further develop our understanding of past research in the area, where we are at present and to develop both research agendas and suggested course of action for the next 20 years of interactive marketing. Authors are encouraged to tackle difficult issues and provide innovative responses to these challenges for both academia and practice.
Review articles, meta analyses, broad research agendas and boldly prescriptive plans of action are particularly called for in this issue. Attention will be given to articles of a strategic nature, such as how marketing technology and strategy can be fused to create competitive advantage, the skills and competencies necessary to manage interactive marketing processes and the role of digital marketing methods in the firm or NGO. Research articles as well as thought pieces will be welcomed.
Examples of appropriate research fitting the aim of this special issue are:
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Branding challenges and opportunities
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Business to business marketing developments
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Communications and new media channels
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Consumer behavior theories and applications
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Educational issues/challenges
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Internet strategy formation/implementation
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Linguistic issues related to the changing vocabulary of marketing
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Mobile marketing implications
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Marketing communications channels
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Measurement and attribution issues
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Other managerial aspects of internet marketing, such as product, distribution and pricing
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Organizational aspects of interactive marketing
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Political/legal issues and agendas
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Social network marketing.
Certainly other topic areas fit with the aims of the special issue and any questions as to the suitability of the topic should be addressed to the Guest Editor.
Format and submission information
Submitted manuscripts should follow the format as indicated in the author guidelines on the journal web site: www.emeraldinsight.com/jrim.htm As a guide, papers should be between 4,000 to 6,000 words. Papers are reviewed by the Editor and if they are judged as suitable for this publication, the manuscripts are sent to two referees for doubleblind peer review. Submissions should be made via the journal's ScholarOne site at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jrim If you would be interested in reviewing other papers which have been submitted to this issue of the journal please indicate so on step 4 of the ScholarOne submission process in the “Cover letter” box and an account will be created for you.
Others interested in reviewing should contact the Editor-in-Chief.
Submission deadline
The deadline for electronic submission is 30 September, 2013.
Special issue Guest Editor
For more information, please contact the Editor-in-Chief: Debra Zahay, PhD (zahay@niu.edu)
References
Deighton, J. (1996), “The future of interactive marketing”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 74 No. 6, November-December, pp. 151-60.
Schibrowsky, J.A., Peltier, J.W. and Nill, A. (2007), “The state of internet marketing research: a review of the literature and future research directions”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 41 No. 7/8, pp. 722-33.