The First 25 Years of Digital Marketing Education Research: A Thematic Exploration and an Agenda for Future Inquiry

Abstract

The internet has changed marketing education and disrupted the traditional approach to teaching marketing. Digital marketing as a field of study is a dynamic discipline that requires educators to evaluate their curricula and teaching methods constantly. This research reviews the digital marketing education research over the past 25 years to gauge the current standing of the extant literature. A multi-step process with specific research goals was implemented to assess the current state. First, a thematic review of the literature based on the modules of capabilities developed by the Digital Marketing Institute and the American Marketing Association contributed to identifying four eras of digital marketing education research. Next, the authors assess areas of research coinciding with the topical review to assess relevant research in each area. We conclude with recommendations for research to fill the gaps, including calls for work in search engine optimization, analytics, and email marketing, as well as greater attention when submitting article keywords, as finding papers when searching EBSCO or Web of Science depends on relevant keywords.