Alexander Nill

The state of internet marketing research

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the internet marketing literature to determine how internet marketing research has evolved in terms of quantity, content, and publication outlets. In addition, the paper identifies important trends in the internet marketing literature and provides a view of the research gaps and expected topical areas of interest.Design/methodology/approach – A content analysis was performed on approximately 1,400 internet‐related marketing articles identified by searching the ABI/INFORM database. A total of 902 peer‐reviewed internet marketing articles appearing in nearly 80 different journals were identified. The study revealed that 60 percent of the internet research had been published in the last three years. The three most researched internet marketing areas were consumer behavior, internet strategy, and internet communications. The topics with the highest growth over the past two years were research issues and consumer search. Over the past 15 years, 14 articles appe...

Global Marketing Ethics: A Communicative Approach

Due to the globalization of markets and businesses, an everincreasing number of marketers have to deal with ethical issues in cross-cultural settings. This article extends the macromarketing ethics literature by describing the need and search for normative ethics in global markets, reviewing conventional frameworks for ethical analysis and decision making in international settings, and introducing a communicative approach for purposes of framing ethical decisions without the assumption of core values as the ultimate reference point of ethical analysis. Using illustrative examples, potential implications and applications of the suggested communicative approach are provided by juxtaposing it to conventional frameworks.

A review of internet marketing research over the past 20 years and future research direction

Purpose – The 20‐year review of marketing and selected business journals examines the internet marketing literature to determine how the literature has evolved in terms of quantity, content, and publication outlets. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review of the internet marketing literature. It offers a big picture view of the current state of the internet marketing literature and gives readers a sense of the quantity of internet marketing articles published, the scope of this research, and how this research has evolved in terms of content.Design/methodology/approach – Consistent with Schibrowsky et al., a content analysis was performed on 1,957 internet‐related marketing articles identified by searching the business source premier database. The paper reviews the internet marketing literature that has been published in the time period 2005‐2012 in marketing journals.Findings – The study revealed that 68.5 percent of the internet marketing research had been published in the last eight years. T...

Consumer behavior in the online context

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to review the consumer behavior and social network theory literature related to the online and e-commerce context. Design/methodology/approach – To conduct the review, the authors draw on a sample of 942 articles published from 1993 to 2012 addressing consumer behavior or social network issues in the online or social media context. The sample is analyzed by both era (incubation, expansion and explosion) and primary topic. Findings – Eight categories of online consumer behavior research are described. In the order from largest to smallest, these are: cognitive issues, user-generated content, Internet demographics and segmentation, online usage, cross cultural, online communities and networks, strategic use and outcomes and consumer Internet search. Originality/value – The literature has been summarized in each category and research opportunities have been offered for consumer behavior and social network scholars interested in exploring the online context.

The Societal Conundrum of Intellectual Property Rights: A Game Theoretical Approach to the Equitable Management and Protection of IPR

Observes that variances in standards for and interpretations of intellectual property rights (IPR) around the globe remain one of the great challenges for marketers and stakeholders of the marketing paradigm. Attempts to distil the issues surrounding IPR and its protection, and to examine the phenomenon of IPR violations within a framework of social dilemmas. In so doing, describes and provides examples for some of the problems associated with IPR violations. Contends that much work is still to be done, if it is hoped to implement a global system for IPR protection that serves the best long‐term interests for the largest number of society’s stakeholders. Concludes with opportunities for further research.

Legal and Ethical Challenges of Online Behavioral Targeting in Advertising

Online behavioral targeting (OBT), the tracking of a consumers online activities in order to develop a behavioral profile of the consumer, is a rapidly growing technique that enables advertisers to deliver relevant messages. While OBT provides many advantages to shoppers and advertisers alike, the practice has the technological potential to violate consumers’ privacy rights to a dangerous and unprecedented degree. Still, OBT is poorly understood by most consumers, is often nontransparent and deceptive, and in many cases does not even provide a reasonable chance to opt out. Due to OBTs relative newness, few laws, regulations, and policies, as well as in-depth ethical analyses of the practice, exist. Actions by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), however, provide a notable exception. In a series of reports, in particular since 2009, the agency has engaged in dialogs with various stakeholders about OBT and the dangers it poses to consumers. Its efforts have also included legal enforcement activities. Within the context of these developments our article presents the evolution of the broader legal environment, including an ethical analysis of the FTCs efforts. Our objective is to shed light on the issue from a normative perspective and to assist online advertisers as well as regulators searching for guidelines and policies on how to use OBT in a responsible manner.

The Impact of Competitive Pressure on Students’ Ethical Decision-Making in a Global Setting

This study analyzes the ethical decision-making of students from the United States and Europe under different levels of competitive pressure in a global setting. Findings indicate that business majors are more likely than non-business students to make ethically questionable choices when competitive pressure increases. The results suggest that marketing/business educators might be unknowingly contributing to unethical decision-making by business graduates by emphasizing the importance of reacting to competitive pressure to accomplish business goals. Potential implications to teaching marketing/business ethics are discussed.

Sharing and Owning of Musical Works Copyright Protection from a Societal Perspective

Markets for musical works are based on a compromise between sharing and owning. By empowering consumers and aspiring artists, new digital technology and the Internet threaten to change this compromise. The new technologies allow consumers to make and to disseminate—legally and illegally—copies of musical works that are virtually the same in quality as the original. Facing falling or stagnant sales, established entities of the music industry—recording companies, producers, and distributors— are fighting back with increased lobbying for ever tighter copyright laws and stricter enforcement. The authors analyze contemporary copyright protection for musical works by illuminating the interplay of new technologies, public policy, protection awarded to artists, and outcomes for all stakeholders in markets for musical works throughout history from a societal, jurisprudential, and ethical perspective. Little support has been found for the music industry’s call for more legal protection of the status quo. A new balance between sharing and owning that shifts power from the industry and its established stars to consumers and aspiring artists is not likely to translate ‘‘to the day the music died.’’

Family Policy in Germany: Is the Romanticized Idealization of the Male Breadwinner Losing its Relevance?

The authors examine interactions among public policy, family values, and family living in Germany, a unique and evolving marketing system. A brief historical synopsis of family policy and family matters in Germany is presented. Then, the traditional normative framework underlying most family matters—the paradigm of the male breadwinner—is discussed. For many Germans, the values behind the male breadwinner paradigm do not provide guidelines for daily decisions. Rather, they reflect a romanticized abstraction of idealized family living. The article concludes with a call for an open dialogue about the normative foundations of family policy in Germany, eventually to establish agreed upon norms and guiding principles for public policy aimed at family, with implications for the marketing system and societal well-being.

Male Breadwinner Ideology and the Inclination to Establish Market Relationships Model Development Using Data from Germany and a Mixed-Methods Research Strategy

A pattern found in many marketing systems, “male breadwinning,” is contingent upon overlapping and shared ideologies, which influence the economic organization and thus the type and number of relationships in those systems. Implementing a mixed-methods research methodology, this article continues and extends previous work in macromarketing on the interplay of markets, ideology, socio-economic organization, and family. A qualitative study illuminated the main ideologies behind male breadwinning and a model was developed to advance the theoretical analysis of the phenomenon of male breadwinning. An experiment in the form of a vignette study was subsequently designed and administered. The qualitative study and the vignette study both show ideologies interact in the way individuals make sense of them or allow them to influence their decisions. The results have implications for the way families and markets are organized, such as the supply of labor of men and women and the offerings of care-related public and private services in a broader marketing system.