New frontiers and future directions in interactive marketing: Inaugural Editorial

TLDR: In this paper, the authors define interactive marketing as the bi-directional value creation and mutual-influence marketing process through active customer connection, engagement, participation and interaction, which is a two-way communication with mutual influences in social and business ecosystems.

Abstract: Introduction Since interactive marketing evolved from a traditional form of direct marketing and e-commerce around three decades ago (Deighton, 1996), it has grown dramatically to be the fastest developing business field with mobile applications and interactive content. While the term interactive marketing often has diverse definitions and usages among marketing professionals and practitioners, it is defined here as the bi-directional value creation and mutual-influence marketing process through active customer connection, engagement, participation and interaction. Such a definition characterizes interactive marketing in terms of the following aspects, namely, first, it is a two-way communication with mutual influences in social and business ecosystems; second, it focuses on customer responsiveness and often proactive behaviors in value creation and exchange; and third, its interactivity involves customer participation and engagement in controlling and modifying the environment in real-time (Steuer, 1992). The advent of interactive marketing has been accompanied by the declining influence of passive broadcast advertising and one-way persuasive communication. Contemporary interactive marketing has also moved beyond the scope of direct marketing, as the market is becoming a forum for conversations and interactions among connected actors or participants via digital and mobile activities in platform ecosystems. The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) further facilitates marketers to deliver convenience, personalized content and exceptional experiences.