Significance of Digital Technology in Transforming Marketing: Findings from a Qualitative Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11365584Keywords:
marketing, digital transformation, customer engagement, market analytics, marketing skills, marketing organizationAbstract
Markets and society today depend heavily on digital technology, and digital transformation is quickly emerging as a major area of corporate innovation. But since digital transformation is so complicated, businesses are still unable to properly recognize and take advantage of its prospects. This research looks into how businesses are presently using digital technology. The essay examines how digital transformation affects traditional marketing, including its function, structure, and tools, as it has the potential to alter the conventional value-creation process, which is largely engaged in marketing. The research employed a qualitative methodology by conducting in-depth interviews with managers employed by several Italian enterprises. The findings indicate that businesses utilize digital technology extensively, even if they frequently fall within the category of conventional tools, and that businesses are more "digitalized" than "digitally transformed." Digital technologies have an influence on marketing by enhancing the capabilities of pricing, channel management, market analytics, and client connection building to facilitate value co-creation. Through the use of varied knowledge and cross-functional experiences, organizational processes are becoming more effective and adaptable, while professional abilities are enhanced in numerous ways. The primary challenges and dangers associated with implementing digital transformation are examined in relation to research and management consequences.
Downloads
References
Abrate, G., Fraquelli, G., & Viglia, G. (2012). Dynamic pricing strategies: evidence from european hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(1), 160–168.
Akhavannasab, S., Dantas, D. C., & Senecal, S. (2018). Consumer empowerment in consumer–firm relationships: conceptual framework and implications for research. AMS Review, 8(3), 214–227.
Ancillai, C., Marinelli, L., & Pascucci, F. (2022). Digital-driven business model innovation: the role of data in changing companies’ value logic. In M. Ratajczak-Mrozek, & P. Marszałek (Eds.), Digitalization and firm performance. Palgrave Macmillan.
Anderson, C. (2008). The end of theory: The data deluge makes the scientific method obsolete. Wired Magazine, 16(7).
Anitec-Assinform e Confindustria Digitale (2021). Il digitale in Italia.
Auh, S., Menguc, B., Katsikeas, C. S., & Jung, Y. S. (2019). When does customer participation matter? An empirical investigation of the role of customer empowerment in the customer participation–performance link. Journal of Marketing Research, 56(6), 1012–1033.
Caliskan, A., Ozen, Y., & Ozturkoglu, Y. (2021). Digital transformation of traditional marketing business model in a new industry area. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 34(4), 1252–1273.
Checchinato, F., Hinterhuber, A., & Vescovi, T. (2021). Our roadmap to digital transformation. in A. Hinterhuber, T. Vescovi, & F. Checchinato (Eds.), Managing Digital transformation: Understanding the strategic process. Routledge.
Collins, H. K. (2022). When listening is spoken. Current Opinion in Psychology, 101402.
Dash, G., Kiefer, K., & Paul, J. (2021). Marketing-to-millennials: marketing 4.0, customer satisfaction and purchase intentions. Journal of Business Research, 122, 608–620.
De Luca, L. M., Herhausen, D., Troilo, G., & Rossi, A. (2020). How and when do big data investments pay off? The role of marketing affordances and service innovation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1–21.
Denzin, N. (1984). The research act. Prentice Hall.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. The Academy of Management Review, 144, 532–550.
Eller, R., Alford, P., Kallmunzer, A., & Peters, M. (2020). Antecedents, consequences, and challenges of small and medium-sized entreprise digitalization. Journal of Business Research, 112, 119–127.
European Investment Bank (2021). Digitalisation in Europe 2020–2021: Evidence from the EIB investment survey.
Fernandez-Rovira, C., Valdés, J. A., Mollevì, G., & Nicolas-Sans, R. (2021). The digital transformation of business: towards the datafication of the relationship with customers. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 162, 1–12.
Flavián, C., Ibáñez-Sánchez, S., & Orús, C. (2019). The impact of virtual, augmented and mixed reality technologies on the customer experience. Journal of Business Research, 100, 547–560.
Frank, A. G., Mendes, G. H., Ayala, N. F., & Ghezzi, A. (2019). Servitization and industry 4.0 convergence in the digital transformation of product firms: a business model innovation perspective. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 141, 341–351.
Gebauer, H., Paiola, M., Saccani, N., & Rapaccini, M. (2021). Digital servitization: Crossing the perspectives of digitization and servitization. Industrial Marketing Management, 93, 382–388.
Gebauer, H., Fleisch, E., Lamprecht, C., & Wortmann, F. (2020). Growth path for overcoming the digitalization paradox. Business Horizons, 63, 313–323.
Gensler, S., Völckner, F., Liu-Thompkins, Y., & Wiertz, C. (2013). Managing brands in the social media environment. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 27(4), 242–256.
Gong, C., & Ribiere, V. (2021). Developing a unified definition of digital transformation. Technovation, 102, 102217.
Graesch, J. P., Hansel-Borner, S., & Hensler, J. (2021). Information technology and marketing: an important partnership for decades. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 121(1), 123–157.
Grandinetti, R., Ciasullo, M. V., Paiola, M., & Schiavone, F. (2020). Fourth industrial revolution, digital servitization and relationship quality in italian B2B manufacturing firms: an exploratory study. The TQM Journal, 32(4), 647–671.
Grewal, D., Hulland, J., Kopalle, P. K., & Karahanna, E. (2020). The future of technology and marketing: A multidisciplinary perspective. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48, 1–8.
Hansen, R., & Sia, S. K. (2015). Hummel’s digital transformation toward omnichannel retailing: key lessons learned. MIS Quarterly Executive, 14(2), 51–66.
Hausberg, J. P., Liere-Netheler, K., Packmohr, S., Pakura, S., & Vogelsang, K. (2019). Research streams on digital transformation from a holistic business perspective: A systematic literature review and citation network analysis. Journal of Business Economics, 89, 931–963.
Herhausen, D., Miocevic, D., Morgan, R. E., & Kleijnen, M. H. P. (2021). The digital marketing capabilities gap. Industrial Marketing Management, 90, 276–290.
Hinterhuber, A., Vescovi, T., & Checchinato, F. (2021). Digital transformation: an overview. In A. Hinterhuber, T. Vescovi, & F. Checchinato (Eds.), Managing digital transformation: understanding the strategic process. Routledge.
Hoyer, W. D., Kroschke, M., Schmitt, B., Kraume, K., & Shankar, V. (2020). Transforming the customer experience through new technologies. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 51, 57–71.
Homburg, C., Vomberg, A., Enke, M., & Grimm, P. H. (2015). The loss of the marketing department’s influence: is it really happening? And why worry?. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 1–13.
Jara, A. J., Parra, M. C., & Skarmeta, A. F. (2012). Marketing 4.0: A new value added to the marketing through the Internet of Things. in 2012 Sixth International Conference on Innovative Mobile and Internet Services in Ubiquitous Computing, pp. 852–857. IEEE.
Leeflang, P. S. H., Verhoef, P. C., Dahlstrom, P., & Freundt, T. (2014). Challenges and solutions for marketing in a digital era. European Management Journal, 32, 1–12.
Kartajaya, H., Kotler, P., & Setiawan, I. (2016). Marketing 4.0: Moving from traditional to digital. John Wiley & Sons.
Krishen, A. S., Dwivendi, Y. K., Bindu, N., & Kumar, K. S. (2021). A broad overview of interactive digital marketing: a bibliometric network analysis. Journal of Business Research, 131, 183–195.
Kumar, V., Ramachandran, D., & Kumar, B. (2021). Influence of new-age technologies on marketing: A research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 125, 864–877.
Matarazzo, M., Penco, L., Profumo, G., & Quaglia, R. (2021). Digital transformation and customer value creation in made in Italy SMEs: A dynamic capabilities perspective. Journal of Business Research, 123, 642–656.
Mazzei, M. J., & Noble, D. (2017). Big data dreams: a framework for corporate strategy. Business Horizons, 60(3), 405–414.
Mourtzis, D., & Doukas, M. (2012). A web-based platform for customer integration in the decentralised manufacturing of personalised products. Procedia CIRP, 3, 209–214.
Nasir, S. (2015). Customer relationship management strategies in the digital era. IGI Global.
Pallant, J., Sands, S., & Karpen, I. (2020). Product customization: a profile of consumer demand. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 54, 102030.
Pascucci, F., Nardi, L., Marinelli, L., Paolanti, M., Frontoni, E., & Gregori, G. L. (2022). Combining sell-out data with shopper behaviour data for category performance measurement: The role of category conversion power. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jretconser.2021.102880.
Pascucci, F. (2017). Lo stato della trasformazione digitale nelle PMI italiane e sfide emergent. in F. Pascucci, & V. Temperini (Eds.), Trasformazione digitale e sviluppo delle PMI: Approcci strategici estrumenti operativi. Giappichelli Editore.
Patton, M. Q. (2005). Qualitative research. In B. S. Everitt, & H. Howell (Eds.), Encyclopedia of statistics in behavioral science. Wiley.
Quinn, L., Dibb, S., Simkin, L., Canhoto, A., & Analogbei, M. (2016). Troubled waters: the transformation of marketing in a digital world. European Journal of Marketing, 50(12), 2103–2133.
Savelli, E., Murmura, F., & Pierli, G. (2021). Growth strategies and diversification processes as a response to the pandemic crisis: An Italian multiple case study. 4th PISB Conference, Beyond the Crisis: What is the Future for Small Businesses? Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons Learned. Urbino, Italy.
Shah, D., & Murthi, B. P. S. (2021). Marketing in a data-driven digital world: implications for the role and the scope of marketing. Journal of Business Research, 125, 772–779.
Shah, D., Rust, R. T., Parasuraman, A., Staelin, R., & Day, G. S. (2006). The path to customer centricity. Journal of Service Research, 9(2), 113–124.
Sheth, J. (2021). New areas of research in marketing strategy, consumer behavior, and marketing analytics: The future is bright. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 29(1), 3–12.
Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research (15 vol.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage publications.
Tabesh, P., Mousavidin, E., & Hasani, S. (2019). Implementing big data strategies: a managerial perspective. Business Horizons, 62(3), 347–358.
Varaldo, R., Dalli, D., & Resciniti, R. (2006). January 20–21). Marketing-non-marketing all’italiana: Virtù, limiti e prospettive [Conference presentation]. Congresso Internazionale ‘Le Tendenze del Marketing’, Venice, Italy.
Verhoef, P. C., Broekhuizen, T., Bart, Y., Bhattacharya, A., Qi Dong, J., Fabian, N., & Haenlein, M. (2021). Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 122, 889–901.
Verhoef, P. C., & Leeflang, P. S. H. (2009). Understanding the marketing department’s influence within the firm. Journal of Marketing, 73(2), 14–37.
Verhoef, P. C., Kannan, P. K., & Inman, J. J. (2015). From multi-channel retailing to omni-channel retailing: Introduction to the special issue on multi-channel retailing. Journal of Retailing, 91, 174–181.
Wedel, M., & Kannan, P. K. (2016). Marketing analytics for data-rich environments. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), 97–121.
Wirtz, B. W., Göttel, V., & Daiser, P. (2017). Social networks: usage intensity and effects on personalized advertising. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 18(2), 103–123. Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: design and methods (4th ed.). Sage.
Zhang, C. B., & Lin, Y. H. (2015). Exploring interactive communication using social media. The Service Industries Journal, 35(11–12), 670–693.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Mohammed Samiuddin Sahem
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.