The how, who, and why behind new marketing practices

Principal Investigator: Aron Darmody, Marketing
Project Title: Understanding Marketer Behaviour, Technology Use and the Digital Marketing Process
Funder: SSHRC Insight Grant

Digital marketing giants Google, Facebook, and Amazon now rank among the least trusted companies in Canada (see Gustavson Brand Trust Index) due to public concern about privacy intrusions, unscrupulous use of personal data, and increasing concentration of power, among other factors. But these companies are not unique in their reliance on surveillant marketing practices. On the contrary, the ongoing evolution of marketing and consumer engagement has seen practitioners across the board rely increasingly on technological, digital, and even conceptual shifts to engage with customers in “genuine” and “real” ways (see Darmody and Zwick).

When it comes to the myriad technological advancements that have facilitated this “marketing that barely seems like marketing,” scholars have tended to focus on the effect of these new technologies on consumers, the ethical challenges they present, or the marketing outcomes and opportunities they facilitate. This research project takes a different approach, focusing on how these technologies come to be employed in marketing, who employs them, and how they function and are used. Ultimately, it will contribute to the field by

1. identifying how digital marketers perform the work of marketing within digital marketing firms
2. examining the role and influence of various technologies that are increasingly central to the practice of digital marketing
3. exploring the ethical considerations related to digital marketing from the viewpoint of those who are involved in the decisions and processes that influence consumers—sometimes in negative ways