International Journal of Technology Marketing (9 papers in press)

Regular Issues

• Challenges in sales: a multinational study  
  by Thomas Berger, Timo Holopainen, Pentti Korpela, Poul Von Wowern 
  Abstract: Previous research on attitudes toward challenges faced in the future roles of sales professionals has focused on one or a few countries or a specific change in technology. In this study, we wanted to look at the phenomenon more comprehensively from a global perspective and without being limited to any predetermined change. To identify major challenges for success in a changing market environment this study sampled a total of 1,247 salespersons and sales managers in 21 countries. The purpose was that the results would help marketing and sales managers more accurately create and implement sales strategies their teams. We found that digitalisation was the most frequently mentioned challenge, followed by challenges from changing competitive forces. The concerns mentioned seemed to be independent of the work experience, education, or management level of the respondents. The study provides insights into country differences in the importance of the challenges.
  Keywords: international sales; sales challenges; digitalisation; technology; international marketing management; cross-country differences.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2025.10071254
   
  
• SME digital marketing tools importance and usage: the impact on printing firm performance  
  by W. Randy Clark, Scott C. Manley, Ralph I. Williams Jr. 
  Abstract: Digital marketing has become more prevalent over the last 15 years. However, for SMEs, research often only examines the usage of digital versus traditional marketing techniques. We investigate the importance of digital marketing and its adoption in influencing SME firm performance in the USA printing industry. Our results show that many SMEs are not heavy users of digital marketing tools, but the value they place and their use impact firm performance. We found that digital marketing usage completely mediates the relationship between the perceived importance of the tools and firm performance. Additionally, post hoc analysis shows that high-performing printing industry SMEs place greater importance on and are more likely to use LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and online videos than low-performing SMEs. We employed PLS-SEM and post hoc mean comparisons of high-performing versus low-performing firms to examine these relationships.
  Keywords: social media marketing; digital marketing; small to medium-sized enterprise; SME; firm performance.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2025.10071767
   
  
• Life lessons: how mothers teaching their children about shopping has moved online  
  by Cara Peters, Jane Boyd Thomas, Ann Hackert 
  Abstract: Online shopping is increasingly popular among young consumers. Yet, this demographic group is the most likely to be victimised by cybercrimes. Understanding consumer socialisation can help identify ways to teach children about shopping safely in todays online world. Using consumer socialisation and social change theory as the theoretical foundation, this study aimed to describe how parents socialise their children as consumers. Data were collected via 36 semi-structured interviews with mothers of children aged 318 years. The findings highlight the mothers mixed feelings about shopping with their children, particularly how the childs age impacted what and how they learned certain lessons, such as impulse control. Technological factors (e.g., calculating item value, specifying shipping information and handling digital money and payments) also appeared to drive changes in how mothers orient their children to the online shopping process. Theoretical, managerial, and social implications of this consumer socialisation are discussed.
  Keywords: consumer socialisation; technology; mothers teaching children; online shopping; young consumers; children shopping online; shopping lessons; vulnerable population shopping; shopping safety; online shopping concerns.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2025.10071915
   
  
• Empathy in robots: the impact on responsibility attribution in service encounters  
  by Jeonghyeon Choi, Gho Kim 
  Abstract: This study examines how empathic responses from service robots influence customers attribution of responsibility in service encounters. Based on attribution theory and the idea that people favour entities perceived as similar to themselves, we hypothesised that robot empathy would affect responsibility attribution depending on service outcomes. A 2 (service outcome: success vs. failure) x 2 (robot empathy: present vs. absent) between-subjects experiment using a restaurant scenario revealed a significant interaction. When the robot was empathic, customers attributed more responsibility for success than failure, and significantly less responsibility to empathic robots than to non-empathic ones in failure conditions. For service managers, empathy increased responsibility attribution only in successful service. These findings suggest that empathic robots not only enhance perceived human-likeness but also influence responsibility attribution based on outcome valence. The study contributes to research on human-robot interaction and provides insight into designing service robots with socially interactive characteristics.
  Keywords: service robot; empathy; responsibility; human-robot interaction; attribution theory.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2025.10071917
   
  
• Impact of ad-evoked nostalgia and intensity of nostalgia on intention to buy fashion products  
  by Ashok Kumar, Ashwani Kumar Yadav, Ruchi Srivastava, Pawan Kumar, Bhoopendra Bharti, Bijay Prasad Kushwaha 
  Abstract: This study examines the influence of advertising-induced nostalgia and the level of nostalgia on the desire to buy fashion items. Data was collected using a questionnaire utilising scales adapted and adjusted from prior research. The questionnaire consisted of 18 scale items evaluating five constructs: advertising-induced nostalgia, perceived continuity of self, attitude towards the brand, intensity of nostalgia, and intent to purchase. A group of 441 ordinary shoppers was chosen using purposive sampling. Results demonstrate a meaningful and favourable effect of advertising-induced nostalgia on perceived self-continuity, brand attitude, and intensity of nostalgia regarding the purchase of fashion items. Moreover, perceived self-continuity, brand attitude, and intensity of nostalgia positively and significantly impact the intent to purchase fashion products. These outcomes underscore the vital role of nostalgia in influencing consumer conduct in the fashion sector and propose that marketers can efficiently utilise nostalgic appeals to improve brand perception and stimulate purchase intentions.
  Keywords: ad-evoked nostalgia; nostalgia intensity; brand attitude; perceived self-continuity; fashion products.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2025.10070663
   
  
• Updates in the evolution of AI-driven digital marketing practices: a literature review with bibliometric analysis  
  by Mohammad Faruk, Md. Masudur Rahman, Riduanul Mustafa, Ishita Roy 
  Abstract: This study aims to present an update on the evolution of AI-driven digital marketing practices by determining the thematic development and identifying research clusters that have been developed over time. Adopting an objectivist research philosophy, this study employs the bibliometric analysis method on 206 identified research papers from the Scopus database based on the PRISMA framework from 2000 to 2024. The findings identify that the most contributing author is Dwivedi, while the Journal of Business Research is the most contributing journal and the USA is the most contributing country in the research related to AI-driven digital marketing practices. Furthermore, the findings reveal that the research in AI-driven digital marketing practices is grouped into four clusters. In addition, the evolutionary trends are moving toward integrating the Metaverse and generative AI in digital marketing practices for providing immersive (phygital) experiences to customers and building competitive advantage, leading to an exponential growth of research on these topics. This study contributes to the existing knowledge by providing updated AI-driven digital marketing practices in nine categories.
  Keywords: artificial intelligence; digital marketing; machine learning; bibliometric analysis; literature review; systematic literature review; online marketing; update; evolution.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2025.10070673
   
  
• Retail supply chain digitalisation process in the Sub-Saharan countries, a Cameroon case study: from digitisation to digital transformation  
  by Hapsatou 
  Abstract: This paper aims to analyse and evaluate retail company digitalisation process in the supply chain in Cameroon. A case study of six retail companies in two major cities (Yaoundé and Douala) in Cameroon enabled to assess their level of digitalisation. The aim was to put forward various scenarios for the digitalisation of their supply chain. This paper assessed the level of digitalisation of retail companies supply chain and proposes various scenarios for the digitalisation of their supply chain. This paper is a research work focused on the digitalisation of supply chains. The literature studied indicates that only one study was carried out in Cameroon, as opposed to the numerous publications on this topic in developed countries.
  Keywords: digitisation; digitalisation; digital transformation; retail supply chain; information flow management.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2025.10070665
   
  
• Consumer vulnerability: its impact on ethical perceptions and brand love towards online retail from a stimulus-organism-behaviour-consequence perspective  
  by Dheeraj Sharma, Neha Bhardwaj, Naman Sreen 
  Abstract: Ethics in e-commerce becomes essential, especially in crisis situations such as COVID-19. However, few e-commerce platforms adopt unethical practices to benefit in these vulnerable times. An online survey is conducted for respondents who have bought medical products online during COVID-19. The data is analysed using PLS-SEM for 400 respondents. This study utilises the stimulus-organism-behaviour-consequence (SOBC) perspective by presenting resource scarcity and distinguishing ability as the stimulus, different facets of consumers' perceived ethics of online retail (CPEOR) as the organism, trust, and brand love as behavioural and consequential outcomes, respectively. The results of the study support the SOBC framework. Findings indicate that resource scarcity and distinguishing ability influence facets of CPEOR, which impacts trust towards online retail, finally impacting brand love for online retail and products. The study contributes to the literature by offering new perspectives on managing ethical perceptions of online retailers.
  Keywords: stimulus-organism-behaviour-consequence; SOBC; resource scarcity; distinguishing ability; consumers' perceived ethics of online retail; CPEOR; trust; brand love.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2025.10070669
   
  
• A correlation study of CRM resources and retailer omnichannel strategy performance  
  by Victoria C. Hailey 
  Abstract: As consumer shopping preferences shift and evolve from a single shopping channel to multichannel demands, retailers need to understand how to deliver improved performance of omnichannel strategy: a seamless customer experience that aligns a retailer's brand, product assortment, and marketing initiatives across all channels. The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative correlational study was to examine relationships between three customer relationship management (CRM) resources: 1) customer orientation; 2) customer-centric organisational system; 3) CRM technology - and US retailer omnichannel strategy performance. A sample responded to a CRM capabilities questionnaire and an omnichannel maturity questionnaire. Spearman's rho and ordinal logistics regression were used to examine the relationships and the predictive value in testing the hypotheses. A positive, significant relationship was found between CRM resources and retail omnichannel strategies offering a rigorous, relevant theoretically relevant and in practical contribution to scholars and retailers.
  Keywords: customer relationship management; CRM; omnichannel; retail strategy; multichannel; customer experience; customer-centric; consumer behaviour; competitive advantage; RBT; loyalty.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2025.10070667