Context sensitive digital marketing - A conceptual framework based on the service dominant logic approach

Abstract

The “Service Dominant Logic” (SDL) approach suggests that value for the consumer is generated only while using a product (value in use). Extending this perspective, the concept “value in context” considers the impact of the specific usage situation. We shall develop a classification of context dimensions with respect to their relevance in influencing the value for the customer. While technology today provides innumerous systems to measure context factors, it is highly important to develop suitable algorithms to transform data into knowledge allowing real time reactions as there are presentation of information, automated execution of functions and services and tagging of customer data for future use. While presentation of information is already used in smart online marketing we see a lot of potential for innovations in context-sensitive online services and will provide some ideas in this paper. We will focus on two key challenges for digital brand management: brand integration and customer integration into the context of the usage situation. To this end we introduce the term “brand viscosity” describing the capability of the brand to adjust to a specific context situation. E.g. it should be possible to select and combine context-relevant brand attributes out a set of predefined brand-specific symbols, language styles and stories and digitally display those that promise the highest value in context. In such way, the brand substance, the brand image and its relationship with the customer, who is considered as “value (co) creator”, are designed so that they can adapt to the specific context conditions without losing its basic identity. This paper is addressed to marketers by giving guidelines for the design of a context-sensitive digital marketing approach as well as to researchers by providing a framework to link the theoretical concepts of SDL, digital brand management and the concept of context-sensitivity.