International Journal of Sales & Marketing Management

Research and Development (IJSMMRD)

ISSN (P): 2249-6939; ISSN (E): 2249-8044
Vol. 8, Issue 3, Aug 2018, 1-8
© TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

A STUDY ON LITERATURE REVIEW FOR IDENTIFYING THE FACTORS

IMPACTING DIGITAL MARKETING

DARSHANA BHAGOWATI1 & DEV MALYA DUTTA2

1
Faculty Member of IIBS Kolkata and Student, Department of Business Administration,
Burdwan University, Burdwan, West Bengal, India
2
Professor, Department of Business Administration, Burdwan University, Burdwan, West Bengal, India
ABSTRACT

In today’s era, digital marketing has an extensive utilization in various sectors. The impact of digital media
has been very much visible among the young aspirants especially in higher education and it has become an inherent
part of the decision-making process of the young students. A couple of years back we found that the integration of
digital marketing strategy and a well-defined business plan was something which was rarely heard of. But in recent
years statistics reveal that India has over 360 million internet users and approximately 85% of the population is mostly
active through the smartphone devices. And almost 49% of the companies though they have no well-defined plan as
such are investing in digital marketing. The proposed article will be an overview of the various literature reviewed on

Original Article
digital marketing and factors impacting digital marketing. The objective of the paper is to find out the gap between
various existing literature on digital marketing and factors impacting digital marketing particularly in the education
sector. Literature shows that the world of digital marketing is constantly in a flux to accommodate both the rising
number of e-users and the latest innovations that are coming up every day.

KEYWORDS: Digital Marketing, Higher Education, Business Plan & Decision Making

Received: Jun 03, 2018; Accepted: Jun 23, 2018; Published: Jul 17, 2018; Paper Id.: IJSMMRDAUG20181

INTRODUCTION

The world of marketing has experienced a notable transformation, with the advent of digitalization.
Now marketing and promotion is no longer limited to the traditional sources. The term ‘digital marketing’
comprises various marketing processes, utilizing various digital channels in order to build a brand image and
promote a product or service in its best possible way. The various channels which are mostly utilized by digital
marketing include websites, social media platforms, email marketing, mobile marketing, WebTv, video marketing,
SEO, pay per click campaigns (Webtech, 2018). Thus, the term “digital marketing” had evolved with the passage
of time from a specific term which described the marketing of goods and services through digital channels to an
umbrella term which describes the process of utilizing digital technologies to acquire and retain clients and thereby
increase sales (Financial Times, lexicon.ft.com).

The term digital marketing is very often used interchangeably with the term internet marketing.
It is difficult to find an exact definition of digital marketing. It has a similar meaning in electronic marketing.
Hamid and Noor (2008) stated that the internet offers immense opportunities to companies by providing them a
platform for their marketing activities and spread information and attract new customers, retain existing ones and

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2 Darshana Bhagowati & Dev Malya Dutta

even to improve the relationship with existing customers by online customer relationship management.

Digital marketing refers to a type of marketing that transmits information in digital form and could be featured as
computers, smartphones, or any other form of digital devices in order to promote the brand image, deliver the message of
the brand, and increase the sales through advertising of the product. A brand helps to establish a distinctive company
uniqueness and emergence, in turn, enabling the company to pull their target customers for repeating purchases and
attracting their interest in a long-run business alliance (Erkollar & Oberer, 2010; Ghachem, 2011).

In the past few years, the Philippines have seen to make great strides in embracing the various digital marketing
innovations and the most important is the fact that there are no signs of slow down. The growing e-usage in the country has
driven all these and report from ‘We Are Social’s Digital’ shows that Filipinos spend approximately an average of 9 hours
on the internet and 4 hours and 17 minutes on social media per day, and it is the most in the world. (Viray, 2018) In this
context, it is worthwhile to take the names of the countries like China, Japan, and South Korea along with that of the
European nations and the USA where the e-users are showing a growing trend.

In today’s world, digital marketing has become an inseparable part of everybody’s life. Digital marketing provides
a platform for people to keep lives updated and provides a network of potential clients which help the business to grow.
Statistics show that India is the second largest country in the world with approximately 462 million internet users.
The opportunity for business owners increases many-fold to network potential clients with the massive e-users.
This is one crucial reason behind digital marketing being emerged as one of the most sought-after profession in the country
and globally as well. (Timespro, 2018)

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to identify the factors impacting digital marketing through reviewing the various
literatures and thereby find out the gap in the researches done on the factors impacting digital marketing with reference to
the education sector.

LITERATURE ON FACTORS IMPACTING DIGITAL MARKETING

Over 200 items were seen on a preliminary scan and over 60 quality research papers appeared relevant for the
purpose. These papers were gone through in a detailed way so that the list of literature could be taken in a structured way.

The paper (Jena, 2017) found that most of the respondents were largely found to be satisfied with their online
purchase experience. It was mentioned by both the student’s respondents and the private sector employees that the
existence of the wide variety of products and brands is the most important attribute of an online retail store for making a
purchase. Moreover, the web has primarily used an instrument for information searching rather than as a route to purchase
products (Weisman, 2001). Customers mostly prefer searching for product information and thereby, compare alternatives
online, but it is seen in most of the cases that they choose the conventional stores to make the purchases (Bellman, 2001;
Dobie et al, 2001).

This research paper (Das, 2016) found that the demographic variables like age, gender, income have a significant
impact or influence on Digital and Social Media Marketing (DSMM) engagements. For constructing the DSMM strategies,
the social media marketing conceptual model can be very much beneficial to provide practical propositions on the major
components and the various aspects of engagement pattern. A detailed examination shows thatfactor analysis method was

Impact Factor (JCC): 7.0894 NAAS Rating: 3.37

A Study on Literature Review for Identifying the Factors 3
Impacting Digital Marketing

used and the findings established that there is a positive relationship between Internet Savvy and Innovativeness with their
Internet utilization and the Internet utilization shows a positive relationship with sales performance as identified by them.

The article (Goel, 2016) brings to light few factors affecting digital marketing from the marketer’s perspective.
These factors are the target market, channels, technology, content, social media, talent, and budget. For instance, the first
and foremost factor from the marketer’s point of view is to decide the target market. Moreover, the content should form an
alliance with the interests of the target market.

The study (Vachani & Vallabhbhai, 2014) analyzes the various distinctions between the traditional marketing and
e-Marketing effectiveness. The e-Marketing preferences and usefulness among the customers are measured.
The study highlights the online consumer’s level of satisfaction and the various drawbacks of the online businesses.
There is a shift in the marketing trend all over the world from a purely traditional store format to a mix of both physical
and virtual stores. A crucial part of the range of services that a marketer has to offer is through the web. Over the world, the
number of people using the internet as a medium is growing exponentially, and India is no exception.
Customer satisfaction plays a predominant role in the success and sustenance of any business organization.
Hence, the study examines the critical success factors in digital purchases, marketing and retailing from the perspective of
the customers.

The study (Guru, 2013) stresses on the fact that to enhance the credibility is very important for vendors in -order
to excel in an e-commerce environment where transactions are mostly objective and anonymous. Greater tailor-made
products, services, and promotional messages are enabled by the digital technologies than the traditional marketing tools.
These digital technologies allow marketers to adopt the various elements of the marketing mix to consumer’s needs more
rapidly and efficiently, and thereby build and maintain cordial relationships with clients on a much greater scale.

The study (Phang, 2013) shows that there is excessive competition in the higher education sector.
The countries like Sweden are actively engaged in international student recruitment and various factors influence the
decision-making process of the young aspirants in the international arena. The study reveals that the number of analysis
into the process that influences international student’s decision for higher education abroad had increased due to extensive
proliferation and a rising competition in the higher education sector (Soutar & Turner, 2002; Petruzzellis & Romanazzi,
2010).

The paper (Dashaputre, 2012) intends to study the various phenomena related to the growth and the recent trends
in e-marketing. The study focused on various aspects like the user privacy and propensity and consumer personalization.

The paper (Hee- Woong Kim, 2011) highlights six factors from the following three dimensions of customer value:
functional, social and emotional. The findings show that the effect of valueon the buying intention of members plays a
significant role from the emotional and social perspective. The results should assist the social networking community
service providers to enhance their sales of the digital items.

The banking industry shows various trends and innovative ideas for the betterment of the customers (Kumbhar,
2011). The impact of the non- traditional means of banking has been very much felt on client perception of the service
quality offered, perceived value and the degree of satisfaction, which includes loyalty as well. The modernized market is
mainly operated by two categories of customers i. e. offline customer and e-customers. E-customer is the online purchaser,
marketer or seller who can be an individual or corporate. E-commerce and marketing literature defines e-customers as

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4 Darshana Bhagowati & Dev Malya Dutta

individuals or corporate who uses various e-portals for purchasing, ordering, selling, receiving or delivering information
and paying or receiving payments or charges for various services/ goods purchased or sold through various e-channels like
ATM, debit cards, credit cards, fax, cell phone and other electronic devises. Every financial institution, now- a- days,
emphasizes more on client satisfaction in order to retain the satisfied clients through improved quality of their services.
Therefore, financial institutions are making it more user-friendly for its customers to do business with the e-banking
(Brimpong, 2008).

The exploratory research by Chi (2011) was done through the questionnaire survey method. This research was
carried out in Taiwan in order to find out the diverse needs of e-customers for online social capital and psychological
benefits towards various brands and their advertising and marketing. This research work emphasizes two important aspects
of e-users: perception and motivation towards social media marketing and brand community advertising.

In today’s digital world the importance of Web 2.0 for building various marketing strategies has been examined in
the paper (Efthymios Constantinides, 2008). The most important advantage of Web 2.0 application is the users have the
ultimate power to determine the transparency of the application (Urban, 2003). The key factors which make Web 2.0 more
popular are interactivity, trust, website usability and online marketing mix which influences the decision-making process of
young aspirants (Kotler, 2003; Constantinides, 2006).

Davidson Alistair et al (2006) in his paper vividly describe how users would respond to online purchases.
Various key factors such as price, feature, technology etc which influenced the decision-making process of the users.
The customers, in turn, seek advice from web mavens which provide product information. In many situations, the users
would utilize the internet for purchase with the web maven and in this way they can review the factors that would impact
their mindset.

The paper (Ruby Roy Dholakia, 2004) reports the factors impacting Small and Medium Enterprises’ inclination
towards the internet. An empirical study was conducted in order to identify the factors impacting SMEs’ involvement with
the internet. The level of involvement can be gauged by various internal and external factors such as firm size, personal
efficacy, prior technology use etc.

George Joey F (2002) explains the factors which could actually influence the consumer’s behavior in taking the
purchase decision. The study found that certain factors like purchase intention, previous experience and attitude of
consumer largely influence their behavior. The study extensively focused on the privacy concerns and thereby, provided
valuable propositions on the same. A few purchases made helps to add confidence amongst the users and in many
instances, the users are conscious about their privacy and hence they are reluctant to share their private information without
their consent. The amount of confidence in the company boosts them to take the online purchase decision.

Traditionally the extent of customer satisfaction was largely determined by the quality of services offered, price
and purchasing process. Subsequently, the extent of e-satisfaction is also determined by the quality of e-services being
offered, the price level and e-purchasing processes (Ming Wang, 2003). Schaupp and Bélanger (2005) identified a few
important attributes for online client satisfaction. They are-- the technological factors which include privacy, relevance or
the usability and the design of the site, the shopping factors which include comfort, relevance or the usability, trust and
delivery of trustworthiness and the product factors which include promoting or publicizing, quality of the product, product
value, and the tailor-made products.

Impact Factor (JCC): 7.0894 NAAS Rating: 3.37

A Study on Literature Review for Identifying the Factors 5
Impacting Digital Marketing

Adam (2004) had pointed out that there are nine distinct consumer perceptions that impacts or influences e-
satisfaction. They are --- Design of the Web, price, promotion, delivery-on-time, product availability, return policy,
expectations that are met, customer service and tracking of the order. These nine perceptions are mostly seen to occur in
the two purchase or buying phases like pre-order and post-order. Schefter and Reichheld (2000) had stated that e-
satisfaction is the attitude of the customers about the quality, it adopts customer support, on-time delivery, clear and
trustworthy privacy policies and reasonably priced shipping and handling.

Marcel Gommans, et al. (2001) highlighted that e-customer adherence depends upon various factors such
as- Usage of the website and technology, value to be delivered, branding, customer service and trust and security.
These broad factors embrace various other factors such as speed, customized features, easy payment methods, quick
delivery, trust, and authentication etc.

DISCUSSIONS

From the above literature, it is seen that the impact of digital marketing is immense in various sectors such as
banking, tourism, health, and education. Digital and social media has been impacting the young aspirants of the higher
education and it had become an integral part of the decision-making process of the young students seeking higher
education. It is found that education plays a pivotal role and is regarded to be the backbone of a nation which is directly
related to its development in the global context. The higher education comprises a part of services offered, thus all the
marketing concepts related to services can be applied to higher educational institutions. In the present scenario, the students
are regarded as the customers of the higher education sector. India, with its growing population, has the significant number
of youth, which increases opportunity in the higher education sector of the country and in turn, increases the competition
among different players.

Thus, the sector had observed a longing for quality higher education both among the rustic and the urban
population (Abbas, 2014). Higher education, as a part of the service industry, is based on the human resources and it
necessitates an effective and efficient delivery of services to its clients(Brown & Oplatka, 2007) (Mazzarol & Soutar,
1999). Marketing communications represent the "voice" of the various services and the branding of a business organization
which enables to build a strong alliance with its clients (Kotler et al, 2012).

With the emergence of digital communication and high-level technologies, organizational changes and new
developments are being accelerated to a next level. The 21st-century witnesses the growing demand for learning along with
the technical advances which are in fact, a critical point for challenging the presiding assumptions and characteristics of
existing traditionally organized universities and institutes. The combination of demand, along with costs and application of
content and new technologies has opened the door to emerging competitors and organizations to compete directly with
traditional universities and institutes for aspiring students and learners. (Hanna, 1998)

The literature review on digital marketing shows that considerable work has been done on digital marketing in
various countries but the study factors impacting digital marketing in the education sector in West Bengal is scarce.
Digitalization has replaced the traditional retail shopping to a remarkable extent. Consumers nowadays browse the internet
to know about various products and services offered which is less time to consume and cost-effective. The consumers avail
of various products online where big players like Amazon, Flipkart etc cater their needs. In the recent scenario, the
customers prefer various services online viz, banking, healthcare sector, education etc.

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6 Darshana Bhagowati & Dev Malya Dutta

This transition from traditional marketing to the digital world is very much commendable in the educational
sector, where digitalization is introduced right from the primary level to the higher education. Nowadays, a lot of schools
and colleges are introducing digital classrooms, which, in turn, is a boon to the modernized and high-tech education
industry. The factors such as functional, social, emotional, self- efficacy, prior technology usage and firm size are
identified in the literature from the consumer’s point of view. Whereas from the marketer’s viewpoint the factors such as
the target market, channels, technology, content, social media, and budget are being highlighted. Literature shows that the
online customer satisfaction is depended on certain factors such as- the technological factors which include privacy,
usability and site design, the shopping factors which include convenience, usability, trust and trustworthiness, delivery and
the product factors which include merchandising, product quality, product value and product customization.

CONCLUSIONS

The key objective of this study is to set an agenda for research related to digital marketing. After an extensive
literature review, digital marketing has been defined in its broadest sense and a framework has been developed, which
indeed, has helped to identify the factors impacting digital marketing in different sectors. However, the literature shows
that a study on digital marketing in the education sector in West Bengal is scarce and it opens a scope for future researches
to be done in this sector.

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