Digital Marketing Research Cluster

DIGITAL MARKETING RESEARCH CLUSTER

Introduction:

Rapid advances in information and communications technologies are transforming how businesses conduct their marketing. Significant proportions of marketing budgets are increasingly being devoted to online activities such as search engine marketing, social media marketing and ‘big data’ analysis. There is also greater recognition that consumer decision processes are changing with, for example, more information search being conducted online in advance of visits to retail outlets. The nature of consumer-consumer and firm-consumer online interaction has significantly evolved in response to developments in the digital marketplace. The growing importance and pace of change of digital marketing combined with the lack of a strong theoretical and empirical foundation makes it a fruitful arena for research projects.

Research Team

Professor John Fahy,

Dr. Deirdre O’Loughlin,

Dr. Conor Carroll,

Ms. Michelle Killian (PhD Student)

Research Themes & International Linkages

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) Motivations

Project Theme: The role of altruism in eWOM

UL Research Team: Professor John Fahy, Dr. Deirdre O’Loughlin, Ms. Michelle Killian (PhD student)

International Partner: Joint research grant application with Professor Werner Kunz, University of Massachusetts under review

Social Media Engagement Behaviour

Project Theme: An analysis of engagement behavior on Facebook adopting a uses and gratifications (UGT) perspective.

UL Research Team: Professor John Fahy

International Partner: Dr. Jodie Conduit, Ms. Rebecca Dolan (PhD student), University of Adelaide.

Participant Involvement in Online Brand Communities

Project Theme: An exploration of the nature and evolution of participant involvement in online brand communities

International Partner: Prof. Isabelle Szmigin, Ms Mary Loonam (PhD student), University of Birmingham.

The Use of Netnography within Different Consumer Research Contexts

Project Theme: Applying the Netnography methodology in greater understanding of online sub-cultures and internet behavior.

Publications:

Rebecca Dolan, Jodie Conduit, John Fahy and Steve Goodman (2015), Social Media Engagement Behaviour: A Uses and Gratifications Perspective, Journal of Strategic Marketing, (forthcoming).

Dolan, Rebecca, Jodie Conduit and John Fahy (2015). Social Media Engagement: A Construct of Positively and Negatively Valenced Engagement Behaviours. In R. Brodie, L. Hollebeek, & J. Conduit (Eds.), Customer Engagement: Contemporary Issues and Challenges, Routledge, (forthcoming).

Michelle, Killian, John Fahy and Deirdre O’Loughlin (2015), The Case for Altruism in eWOM Motivations. In J. Conduit & C. Plewa (eds.), Making a Difference Through Marketing: A Festschrift in Honour of Pascale Quester, Springer (forthcoming).

Mary Loonam, Isabelle Szmigin and Deirdre O'Loughlin (2015), An In-depth Study of the Participant Involvement Journey in Online Brand Communities, Proceedings from the Academy of Marketing conference, University of Limerick, 7-9th July.

Killian O’Leary, and Conor Carroll (2013) “The Online Poker Sub-Culture: Dialogues, Interactions and Networks” Journal of Gambling Studies, Vol. 29, No.4, pp. 613-630.