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Electron Markets (2013) 23:177204 DOI 10.1007/s12525-012-0118-y
SPECIAL THEME
Internet marketing: a content analysis of the research
J. Ken Corley II & Zack Jourdan & W. Rhea Ingram
Received: 8 November 2011 /Accepted: 14 September 2012 /Published online: 31 January 2013 # Institute of Information Management, University of St. Gallen 2013
Abstract The amount of research related to Internet marketing has grown rapidly since the dawn of the Internet Age. A review of the literature base will help identify the topics that have been explored as well as identify topics for further research. This research project collects, synthesizes, and analyses both the research strategies (i.e., methodologies) and content (e.g., topics, focus, categories) of the current literature, and then discusses an agenda for future research efforts. We analyzed 411 articles published over the past eighteen years (1994-present) in thirty top Information Systems (IS) journals and 22 articles in the top 5 Marketing journals. The results indicate an increasing level of activity during the 18-year period, a biased distribution of Internet marketing articles focused on exploratory methodologies, and several research strategies that were either underrepresented or absent from the pool of Internet marketing research. We also identified several subject areas that need further exploration. The compilation of the methodologies used and Internet marketing topics being studied can serve to motivate researchers to strengthen current research and explore new areas of this research.
Keywords Internet marketing . Business models . Internet advertising . E-commerce . Literature review . Content analysis
JEL classification M15 . M31
Introduction
In the early years of the Internet Age, the potential of using the Internet as a distribution channel excited business managers who believed this tool would boost sales and increase organizational performance (Hansen 1995; Westland and Au 1997). These believers suspected an online presence could offer advantages to their customers, while providing a shopping experience similar to the traditional bricks-and-mortar store (Jarvenpaa and Todd 1996). The advantages included providing around the clock access for customers, reducing geographic boundaries to provide access to new markets, and enabling immediate communication with customers.
The prediction of an explosion of online shopping became a marriage between information technology experts and marketing professionals. Most would believe the information technology researchers were studying the Internet technology and its advantages,...