Internet marketing research has been growing in popularity in recent years. As businesses have become more internet-focused, new concepts have been developed and implemented to support marketing on the net. New technologies include virtual worlds, mobile banking, and social media. A review of the research literature shows that the number of articles on the subject has been steadily increasing over the last 18 years. However, much of this research has been unfocused and insufficient to explain fundamental issues in Internet research. Until there are more detailed measures and a more comprehensive understanding of the Internet marketing landscape, trends and predictions are difficult to make.
The study conducted a survey of the Internet marketing research literature, analyzing 411 articles published between 1995 and 2009. The results show a steady increase in activity during the 18-year period. While the sample size was small, the data suggests that Internet marketing research is still in exploratory stages, and several subject areas need further exploration. Despite its early stage, research is still relevant to both researchers and practitioners, and should be encouraged.
In addition to its role as a source of information, Internet marketing research supports traditional qualitative methods by offering new ways of obtaining information. One approach is to conduct a private group blog to obtain deep insight into the opinions and behaviors of individual respondents. Another is to use real-time online focus groups to understand consumer awareness and purchasing behavior. Online focus groups are convenient and fast, and can provide a wealth of information about a product’s perceived value. Various types of online focus groups are available, and can be used in concept testing and product evaluation.
To conduct the study, Webster and Watson gathered and analyzed a representative sample of Internet marketing articles. They then categorized the articles by year, journal, and research strategy. These categories were used to map the topics of the research. This was done in the Web of Science (WoS) citation database, and the literature was then reviewed by the researchers.
The top five IS journals published the most research articles on the Internet. Research articles on these three topics accounted for over four out of every ten articles. Other top journals may have used other keywords to classify the Internet. Although none of the studies found in this literature review were classified as “Internet Marketing”, other marketing journals may have also used other keywords to classify their Internet content.
To analyze the Internet marketing research literature, researchers searched for articles in the top 30 IS journals. Articles were selected from both WoS and Google Scholar, and the search parameters were constrained by specific time ranges and key search terms. Both search engines returned similar results.
The Internet marketing research literature contained many interesting and important findings. The findings are interesting because they suggest that some of the most popular strategies have not been applied to Internet marketing research to date. Moreover, the gaps in the literature are at the intersection of domains that are less explored. Therefore, future research should employ a wide array of research strategies.