Digital marketing communication

Media usage behaviour in society is subject to constant change driven by technological progress. The widespread availability of the Internet to large sections of the population from the turn of the millennium, the spread of smartphones since 2007 and digitalisation in almost all areas of life mark significant turning points that have permanently changed the consumption of media and advertising and will continue to do so in the future. The annually increasing number of internet-enabled devices for mobile and stationary consumption of information and the ubiquitous availability of the internet are further important drivers of changing media usage behaviour. In the battle for consumers' attention, communication and advertising measures must therefore be increasingly adapted to the new framework conditions.

This development is giving rise to exciting and important new fields of research for marketing communication: Which devices and channels are used to receive information? What factors do consumers use to select external influences in order to absorb relevant information? What mechanisms are at work in the distribution of cognitive resources? Which factors influence the sharing and virality of content?

Recommended starting literature:

  • Akpinar, E., & Berger, J. (2017). Valuable Virality. Journal of Marketing Research, 54(2), 318-330.
  • Berger, J., & Milkman, K. L. (2012). What makes online content go viral? Journal of Marketing Research, 49(5), 192-205.
  • de Haan, E., Kannan, P. K., Verhoef, P. C., & Wiesel, T. (2018). Device Switching in Online Purchasing: Examining the Strategic Contingencies. Journal of Marketing, 82(5), 1-19.
  • Jayasinghe, L., & Ritson, M. (2013). Everyday advertising context: An ethnography of advertising response in the family living room. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(1), 104-121.

  • Kazakova, S., Cauberghe, V., Hudders, L., & Labyt, C. (2016). The impact of media multitasking on the cognitive and attitudinal responses to television commercials: The moderating role of type of advertising appeal. Journal of Advertising, 45(4), 403-416.

  • Moldovan, S., Steinhart, Y., & Lehmann, D. R. (2019). Propagators, Creativity, and Informativeness: What Helps Ads Go Viral. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 47(1), 102-114.
  • Nikolinakou, A. & King, K. W. (2018). Viral video ads: Emotional triggers and social media virality. Psychology & Marketing, 35 (1), 715-726.
  • Segijn, C. M., Voorveld, H. A., Vandeberg, L., & Smit, E. G. (2017). The battle of the screens: Unravelling attention allocation and memory effects when multiscreening. Human Communication Research, 43(2), 295-314.
  • Tellis, G. J., MacInnis, D. J., Tirunillai, S., & Zhang, Y. (2019). What Drives Virality (Sharing) of Online Digital Content? The Critical Role of Information, Emotion, and Brand Prominence. Journal of Marketing, 83(4), 1-20.