Special Issue "Digital Markets and the Consumer"

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Inma Rodríguez-Ardura
Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

Prof. Dr. Maria del Mar Pàmies
Department of Business Management, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain

Special Issue Information

The digital market landscape is already in transformation mode by consumers’ use of conventional and social e-commerce tools, the growing importance of online recommendation agents in purchase decision processes, and consumers’ engagement in omnichannel communication and distribution environments. However, even more disruption is in sight. The marketing applications of big data and predictive analytics, as well as more recent digital advances (artificial intelligence assistants, 3D printing, robots, blockchain, etc.), suggest that consumption experiences in digital markets are on the verge of radical change. For example: It is expected that consumers, by way of digital mechanisms and a service dominant logic, will be increasingly empowered in their interplay with brands; they will progressively appreciate multisensorial, highly hedonic, and compelling consumption experiences when they look for experience products; and they will be expecting to go through very efficient, convenient, and frictionless consumption experiences—if they search for functional, frequently purchased products. Furthermore, consumer behavior is likely to be omnichannel, highly fragmented, and show diverse levels of engagement, so the notion of lineal consumer journeys might not be useful anymore, and consumers’ willingness to engage with value propositions will vary across product categories and brands. Paradoxically, the more heartily consumers adopt digital technologies in their consumption experiences and the more interconnected they are, the more willing they will be to express their personal identities, engage in social interactions and humanized purchase contexts, and benefit from individualized solutions and highly personalized customer service.

This Special Issue welcomes a diversity of disciplinary approaches, sectorial views, and methodological frameworks that bring new knowledge about the transformative dynamics of consumers in digital markets and the new business opportunities available to brands to improve the value and the interplay they provide to consumers.

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2019.

Full information available at

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/digital_markets_consumer

 

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