Title: Optimising organisational e-marketing efforts: lessons from the foraging paradigm?

Authors: Emmanuel Adu-Mensah

Addresses: Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), P.O. Box AH 50, Achimota, Accra, Ghana

Abstract: This study explores how businesses can optimise their e-marketing efforts by drawing parallels from the optimal foraging theory (OFT) and information foraging theory (IFT). OFT, widely applied across fields, predicts animal behaviour in food-seeking, inspiring insights into technology optimisation. IFT extends this concept to digital information seeking, where users, referred to as 'informavores' make decisions on information exploration, site navigation, and search termination. This paper connects these theories to e-marketing, investigating how firms can use foraging traits to enhance customer outreach and conversion. It introduces a conceptual model for testing, offering rich insights and suggestions for practical application. Again, the study has created 'customavore' as designated vocabulary representing a hypothetical firm that strategically applies insights from foraging theories to its e-marketing endeavour, aiming to achieve maximum results in terms of customer acquisition, engagement, and conversion. This research extends foraging principles to a broader business audience and provides directions for future studies, emphasising the evolving potential of the customer foraging model.

Keywords: e-marketing; optimal foraging; customavore; information foraging; customer foraging model.

DOI: 10.1504/IJECRM.2025.149888

International Journal of Electronic Customer Relationship Management, 2025 Vol.15 No.4, pp.249 - 279

Received: 14 Sep 2023
Accepted: 24 Dec 2024
Published online: 17 Nov 2025 *

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