The paradox of digital marketing: Sustainable framework for effective strategies and regulatory challenges

Abstract

This research aims to explore the digital marketing paradox in the context of a sustainable framework. It investigates the relationship between usability, customer behavior, and the sustainable digital performance of effective strategies, as well as the regulated usability of e-commerce as a digital platform (including ethics, regulations, and practices). A qualitative research design was employed to develop a sustainable digital framework for these industries. This was followed by a quantitative descriptive analysis to provide triangulated results. This research collected and analyzed primary and secondary data from four case studies. The data were sourced from multiple industries, focusing on the perspectives of marketing professionals. Primary data were gathered through interviews with marketing professionals from various sectors, while secondary data were obtained through literature reviews and sustainability reports. The empirical findings identified two key types of sustainable digital-influencing themes: internally-focused and externally-focused digital marketing drivers integrated within digital platforms. These drivers demonstrate how they leverage improvements in sustainability digital performance, including digital platform approaches and governance structures. The findings highlight an innovative digital marketing paradox integrated into digital platform approaches, which contributes a novel empirical perspective to enhancing the industry's decision-making processes for creating successful sustainability-focused digital performance, encompassing ethics, regulations, and best practices. This research represents one of the few attempts to explore the integration of digital marketing into digital platforms for improved sustainability digital performance by addressing effective strategies and regulatory challenges. Thus, this study contributes to both the theoretical and practical knowledge of digital platforms, especially within emerging economies such as Jordan.