EFFECTIVE AVENUE OF ONLINE AND OFFLINE MARKETING IN CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR

Over the past decade, businesses have either integrated or replaced their traditional marketing with digital marketing. For some, however, the question remains: Should offline marketing be abandoned, or does it still hold value in the age of the Internet? The divide between offline and online marketing has even led to companies hiring wholly separate teams to handle print, Web and social media projects. This leads to campaigns that are disconnected and may even directly compete with one another. Businesses must keep in mind that, in the mind of the customer, brand consistency is key. Consumers don’t differentiate between marketing channels, so why should businesses? It is common for companies to neglect the connections between offline and online marketing, but an integrated approach is required to achieve a cohesive, successful brand. Organizations have the chance to capitalize on the wide variety of marketing channels available today, both on the Web and in more traditional formats. This article reviews recently published research about consumers in Online and Offline marketing settings. Five themes are identified: (i) consumer digital culture, (ii) responses to digital advertising, (iii) effects of digital environments on consumer behavior, (iv) mobile environments, and (v) online word of mouth (WOM). Collectively these articles shed light from many different angles on how consumers experience, influence, and are influenced by the digital environments in which they are situated as part of their daily lives. Much is still to be understood, and existing knowledge tends to be disproportionately focused on WOM, which is only part of the digital consumer experience. Several directions for future research are advanced to encourage researchers to consider a broader range of phenomena.