Digital Marketing Research Articles

Management of Inclusive Education Based on Special Classes and Entrepreneurship at Politeknik Negeri Jakarta

The implementation of inclusive education at Politeknik Negeri Jakarta (PNJ) through a special class model based on entrepreneurship has not been thoroughly studied. This research aims to: (i) describe the management of inclusive education at PNJ through a special class model, and (ii) analyze strategies to strengthen students' entrepreneurial capacity. The research employed a descriptive qualitative approach, involving interviews with the Head of the Marketing Management D-3 Study Program for PNJ Special Needs Citizens, observation at PNJ, a literature study, and a documentation study. The data were then analysed qualitatively, including domain analysis, taxonomy analysis, componential analysis, and the drawing of conclusions. The results showed that: (i) the management of inclusive education is carried out through the use of special buildings and classes, with students with special needs grouped based on disability categories - including physical disabilities, sensory disabilities, and intellectual-mental-developmental disabilities, and (ii) strengthening entrepreneurship is carried out through sales practices based on conventional and digital marketing models. This research emphasises the importance of adaptive curriculum development and entrepreneurship integration as part of the strategy to empower students with special needs in higher education.

Business Going Concern: Encourage and Raise the Competitiveness of Small Businesses Through Digital Marketing Strategies

Small businesses face challenges in maintaining going concern, especially amid today’s disruptive era. An innovative digital marketing mix strategy is key to building competitive advantage and enhancing marketing performance. This study examines how small businesses adapt to complex environments. Findings show that a modern, technology-driven marketing mix significantly improves sustainable marketing performance. Among the four dimensions, digital-based promotion contributes the most. These results highlight that small businesses embracing digital innovation in their marketing strategies are more likely to sustain and compete effectively in the evolving market.

Digital Marketing Strategies in Introducing Sports Products to the Millennial Generation

This study examines digital marketing strategies for introducing sports products to the millennial generation, focusing on social media, influencer marketing, and interactive content. Millennials, known for their strong digital engagement, require targeted and innovative marketing approaches to drive purchasing decisions. This research employs a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative surveys (n=300 respondents) and qualitative in-depth interviews (n=10 digital marketing professionals and influencers) to analyze the impact of these strategies. Findings indicate that Instagram (45%) and TikTok (30%) are the most effective platforms for engaging millennials, with interactive features such as Reels, Stories, and short-form videos enhancing consumer interest. Additionally, 75% of respondents acknowledge the influence of trusted influencers, emphasizing their role in building consumer trust and increasing purchase intent. The study also reveals that tutorial videos (35%) and live streaming (20%) significantly boost engagement, underscoring the importance of educational and real-time content in digital marketing. These insights provide practical guidance for marketers, suggesting that brands should prioritize Instagram and TikTok for social media campaigns, strategically collaborate with influencers, and leverage engaging content formats such as tutorials and live streaming. Future research should explore the long-term impact of influencer marketing on brand loyalty and investigate emerging technologies such as virtual and augmented reality to further enhance digital marketing strategies.

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ON CELKEKU PURCHASE DECISION THROUGH BRAND IMAGE AND BRAND AWARENESS

Along with the rapid progress in digital business, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are required to adapt to market dynamics, especially in digital marketing strategies. Despite having a great contribution to the Indonesian economy, many MSMEs still experience obstacles in optimizing Social media marketing (SMM) as a tool to increase their market visibility. This study aims to analyze the influence of SMM on Brand image (BI), Brand awareness (BA), and Purchase Decision (KP), with Celkeku which is an online cake shop as the object of the research. Data was collected through a survey of 150 Celkeku customers and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to evaluate the relationships between variables. The results revealed that SMM had a positive impact on BI and BA, but BA did not have a significant influence on KP. Instead, BI acts as a mediating variable that strengthens the influence of SMM on KP, confirming that brand image plays a key role in consumer purchasing decisions. The results of this study strengthen the relevance of Theory of Planned Behavior and Consumer Decision-Making Theory in the context of digital marketing for MSMEs. In addition, the study emphasizes that increasing brand awareness alone is not enough; MSMEs must focus more on strengthening brand image and providing quality customer experiences to build trust and satisfaction, as well as product differentiation which then influences purchasing decisions.

Engineering hyper-personalization: Software challenges and brand performance in AI-driven digital marketing management: An empirical study

In this empirical study, we delve into engineering hyper-personalization within AI-driven digital marketing management. We focus specifically on the software challenges encountered and their impact on brand performance. AI technologies are truly transforming marketing, offering capabilities like precise customer segmentation, personalized content delivery, and real-time analytics – essential tools for achieving hyper-personalization. While AI holds significant promise for creating highly relevant and effective campaigns, implementing it for hyper-personalization brings distinct software-related challenges. These include navigating data privacy, ensuring algorithmic transparency, and addressing biases. Overcoming these engineering obstacles becomes essential for leveraging AI effectively to enhance customer experiences, optimize campaign results, and ultimately build stronger brand loyalty and visibility. Our study offers insights into these specific challenges and their implications for businesses aiming to maximize brand performance through advanced AI personalization.

The Application of Digital Marketing Strategies to Increase Organizational Profits

Abstract: This paper examines the application and impact of digital marketing strategies on increasing the profitability of organizations, with a specific focus on the Indian context. Drawing upon a master's thesis, this study analyzes the evolving digital landscape in India, the adoption of various digital marketing tools and techniques by businesses, and their subsequent effect on revenue generation and cost efficiency. The research incorporates case study insights from a prominent Indian consumer electronics brand, boAt, and findings from an applied research study on Indian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and startups. The findings highlight the significant potential of strategically implemented digital marketing initiatives in driving substantial profit growth and reducing customer acquisition costs for Indian businesses across different scales. Key challenges and emerging trends within the Indian digital marketing ecosystem are also discussed, providing valuable insights for practitioners and researchers. Keywords: Digital Marketing, Profitability, Organizational Growth, Indian Market, SMEs, Startups, E-commerce, Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Content Marketing, Customer Acquisition Cost.

Enhancing User Experiences in Digital Marketing Through Machine Learning: Cases, Trends, and Challenges

Online marketing environments are rapidly being transformed by Artificial Intelligence (AI). This represents the implementation of Machine Learning (ML) that has significant potential in content personalization, enhanced usability, and hyper-targeted marketing, and it will reconfigure how businesses reach and serve customers. This systematic examination of machine learning in the Digital Marketing (DM) industry is also closely examined, focusing on its effect on human–computer interaction (HCI). This research methodically elucidates how machine learning can be applied to the automation of strategies for user engagement that increase user experience (UX) and customer retention, and how to optimize recommendations from consumer behavior. The objective of the present study is to critically analyze the functional and ethical considerations of ML integration in DM and to evaluate its implications on data-driven personalization. Through selected case studies, the investigation also provides empirical evidence of the implications of ML applications on UX/customer loyalty as well as associated ethical aspects. These include algorithmic bias, concerns about the privacy of the data, and the need for greater transparency of ML-based decision-making processes. This research also contributes to the field by delivering actionable, data-driven strategies for marketing professionals and offering them frameworks to deal with the evolving responsibilities and tasks that accompany the introduction of ML technologies into DM.

Principles and obligations of the Digital Markets Act in regulating the economic power of gatekeepers: Positive, negative or trade-off effects?

The European Union’s (EU’s) Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a milestone in the entangled path of regulating the increasing economic power of gatekeepers (e.g. Google, Amazon.com, Microsoft); however, it poses blind spots about its effectiveness with reference to two aspects. The first blind spot consists of not considering that the economic power of gatekeepers comes from multiple sources involving different levels of competition (i.e. within and between platforms). The second blind spot descends from the first one; each source of gatekeepers’ economic power is linked to rents of a different nature: monopolistic, Ricardian or Schumpeterian. However, the DMA does not distinguish the different natures of rents, instead treating all rents extracted by gatekeepers as homogeneous. These intertwined blind spots may provoke paradoxical effects on the main goal pursued by the DMA itself—namely, promoting contestable, fair and innovative digital markets. In contrast with works emphasising the strengths of the DMA in protecting competition in digital markets, the present research unveils these two blind spots affecting the DMA. First, this research analyses the different sources of economic power wielded by gatekeepers and the respective levels of competition to which the DMA refers. Second, it adopts the theoretical lens of the nature of rents to assess the effects of the DMA’s obligations on the effectiveness of its principles: contestability, fairness and innovativeness. Third, it provides implications for policymakers and theoretical insights for investigating the gap between the DMA’s intentions and results.

Navigating the dark side of metaverse adoption in healthcare: ethical challenges, risks, and strategic interventions

Purpose This paper aims to examine the ethical, technological and behavioral risks of metaverse adoption in health care. It highlights the dual potential of the metaverse to transform health-care delivery, while simultaneously exposing users to psychological, informational and regulatory vulnerabilities. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual approach is adopted to develop an expanded 2 × 2 risk framework, categorizing threats by their origin (human vs technological) and level of impact (individual vs systemic). This framework is grounded in interdisciplinary insights from health care, digital marketing and human−computer interaction. Findings The findings reveal that immersive health-care environments can intensify cyberbullying, biometric surveillance and misinformation, especially in unregulated virtual spaces. The paper emphasizes how platform design, marketing strategies and algorithmic systems must be recalibrated to uphold patient autonomy, data privacy and informational integrity. Practical implications Health-care providers, regulators and pharmaceutical marketers must implement artificial intelligence-driven content moderation, real-time privacy dashboards and international governance protocols. The proposed matrix offers a blueprint for mitigating platform-enabled harms and enhancing ethical adoption. Originality/value This paper offers a sector-specific framework with actionable solutions for pharmaceutical and health-care stakeholders. It extends existing scholarship by integrating sociotechnical perspectives with empirical risks, thereby advancing discourse on responsible and ethical metaverse integration in health care.

Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Single Market for Digital Content

The paper deals with the provision of digital content in the Digital Single Market with particular attention to the protection of creators’ rights. The issue is examined in the context of the new phenomenon of artificial intelligence. The research focuses on the legal assessment of the input used to train an AI system and the output obtained from it with regard to the legality of the source and copyright protection. The use of exceptions and limitations, especially text and data mining, appears to be essential. It is also important to assess the legal nature of AI-generated output from a copyright perspective. Innovative solutions to protect authors’ rights against unauthorized use of AI training works and to exclude them from the training data (e.g. “Have I Been Trained” website, DRM, data poisoning) are discussed. The paper polemics over the introduction of sui generis protection for AI creations.

Village 24x7 – (E-Commerce Website)

Abstract- The global surge in demand for organic food is driving innovation in agriculture and retail, especially through the use of digital platforms. Village 24x7 is a tech-enabled e- commerce initiative designed to connect rural organic farmers with urban consumers, promoting sustainability, transparency, and ethical consumption. The platform is engineered using the MERN stack and features secure payment integration, intelligent chatbot assistance powered by AI, and voice-enabled functionalities, all aimed at enhancing a seamless and personalized e-commerce experience. Studies show that consumer preferences for organic food are largely influenced by health awareness, environmental concerns, and trust in organic labeling [10], [19]. Digital marketing strategies such as storytelling and influencer engagement play a vital role in enhancing brand credibility and consumer outreach [11], [14]. Village 24x7 incorporates these insights through curated content, verified certifications, and educational resources to build consumer trust. The platform also addresses challenges in the organic sector, such as supply chain inefficiencies and lack of market access, by enabling direct-to-consumer transactions and fair pricing for farmers [13]. Features like gamified rewards, AI-based product recommendations, and community forums aim to increase user retention and support conscious buying behavior [15], [20]. By integrating technology with social responsibility, Village 24x7 serves as a model for sustainable commerce. It empowers rural economies, fosters health-conscious urban lifestyles, and supports the global shift toward eco-friendly consumption. The study demonstrates that digital solutions, when ethically designed and strategically implemented, can play a pivotal role in shaping the future of organic food retail in developing countries like India. Keywords: Organic Products, personalized recommendations, e-commerce, sustainability, health- conscious consumers, product discovery, traceability, consumer engagement, organic brands, consumer retention, sustainability practices

Integrative analysis of antecedents and consequences of TikTok impulse buying behavior: the moderating role of trust propensity and self-congruence

PurposeThis study investigates impulse buying behavior in the TikTok environment by examining four motivational antecedents – hedonic gratification, sexual attractiveness, loneliness and utilitarian gratification – as well as the moderating roles of trust propensity and self-congruence. It further explores how impulse buying contributes to adverse outcomes, specifically personal financial problems and diminished self-esteem.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 666 active TikTok users in the United States. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the relationships among the antecedents, moderators and consequences of impulse buying.FindingsResults demonstrate that sexual attractiveness, loneliness and utilitarian gratification positively predict impulse buying, while hedonic gratification exerts a negative influence. Trust propensity intensifies the positive effects of sexual attractiveness and loneliness on impulse buying, whereas self-congruence amplifies the influence of sexual attractiveness. Furthermore, impulse buying is linked to increased personal financial problems and lower self-esteem, underscoring its detrimental implications for consumer well-being.Originality/valueBy grounding its framework in organismic integration theory, this research extends the conventional view of impulse buying beyond the intrinsic–extrinsic motivation dichotomy. It highlights lower-autonomy motivations (e.g. sexual attractiveness, loneliness and utilitarian benefits) as powerful drivers of impulsive consumption on social media, particularly TikTok. Additionally, the findings illuminate how trust propensity and self-congruence shape these relationships, offering practical insights for marketers aiming to design more effective influencer campaigns. Finally, the identified negative outcomes – financial strain and lower self-esteem – underscore the broader societal and psychological ramifications of impulse buying, thereby guiding stakeholders toward more responsible digital marketing strategies.

The Influence of Digital Marketing on the Financial Performance of Laos’ Hospitality Enterprises

The hospitality industry in Laos is experiencing remarkable growth, presenting an array of opportunities for businesses to flourish and cater to an increasing number of visitors. However, despite this positive trend, many enterprises are still struggling to effectively implement and leverage digital marketing strategies, which are essential for enhancing their visibility and competitiveness in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. This research thoroughly investigates the significant impact of digital marketing on the financial performance of a sample comprising 218 hospitality enterprises in Laos. Employing Smart PLS4 Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the study analyzes relationships between independent variables—online advertising, social media marketing, content marketing, and mobile marketing—and their effect on the dependent variable, financial performance. Results reveal that online advertising, social media marketing, and content marketing significantly enhance financial performance; however, mobile marketing does not exhibit a notable influence. The findings suggest that low-cost online platforms like Facebook and YouTube are vital revenue sources for these enterprises. To improve financial outcomes, it is recommended that hospitality enterprises prioritize digital marketing strategies and online advertising efforts. Furthermore, it is recommended that government initiatives focus on bolstering digital marketing efforts by enhancing digital security measures, establishing monitoring systems for policy improvement, providing education to remote enterprises, and developing a comprehensive nationwide high-speed internet infrastructure.

Revitalizing Traditional Markets Through Digital Marketing: PKM Intervention Model in The E-Commerce Era

The development of digital technology has changed people's consumption patterns, encouraging a shift from conventional transactions to digital platforms. This phenomenon threatens the existence of traditional markets which are increasingly marginalized due to low adoption of digital technology, limited digital literacy, and minimal infrastructure and regulatory support. This study aims to analyze the understanding and utilization of digital marketing among traditional market traders, and to evaluate the role of the Student Creativity Program (PKM) as an intervention model in revitalizing the local economy. Using a descriptive quantitative approach, data was collected through a survey of traditional market traders. The results showed that WhatsApp Business (35%) was the most widely used digital platform, followed by Facebook Marketplace (22%) and Instagram (18%), while TikTok Shop was still low (10%). As many as 15% of traders have not used digital media at all. The level of digital literacy also varies, with 35% of traders in the "less" and "very less" categories. These findings underscore the urgency of ongoing training and mentoring through PKM, which has been proven to be effective in increasing digital promotion capabilities by up to 60%. Therefore, collaboration between the world of education, local government, and market communities is crucial to create traditional markets that are inclusive, adaptive, and highly competitive in the digital era.

The Effective Strategies in Developing Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Business Actors in Umbul Sari District Jember Regency

Entrepreneurship develops economic growth for business actors, especially MSMEs, in strengthening economic growth and creating added value in various industrial sectors. Entrepreneurship development strategies and competitive dynamics in creating an economy, especially for business actors, especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Effective strategies for developing entrepreneurship for MSMEs, especially novice entrepreneurs, to provide practical solutions to these problems. The research method used is a qualitative method. The development of effective strategies for MSME businesses for novice entrepreneurs in marketing their products is carried out by improving business management, digital marketing and product innovation. The results of these activities show an increase in understanding of the strategy for developing and using digital technology among MSME actors. In addition, the socialization carried out also found that there was an increase in understanding related to marketing strategies and also the development of MSMEs for entrepreneurs, especially beginners in Umbul Sari District, Jember Regency

How four aspects of narcissism prompt tourists to make landmark check-in: the mediating role of perceived enjoyment and perceived status attainment

PurposeThis study aims to explore how four aspects of narcissism influence tourists’ landmark check-in behaviour on social media, utilising self-verification theory to assess the roles of perceived enjoyment and perceived status attainment.Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted through a survey, collecting data from 326 tourists in China to measure the impact of different types of narcissism on their landmark check-in behaviours.FindingsThe findings indicate that vulnerable narcissism, rivalrous narcissism and communal narcissism significantly impact perceived enjoyment, while vulnerable narcissism, communal narcissism and admirative narcissism significantly influence perceived status attainment. Both perceived enjoyment and perceived status attainment were found to affect tourists’ landmark check-in behaviours.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited by its data collection focused solely on Chinese tourists and by examining only two mediating variables and the effects of four types of narcissistic personalities on landmark check-in behaviour during travel; future research should conduct cross-cultural comparisons and investigate additional mediating variables to understand better the complex relationship between narcissistic personality and landmark check-in behaviour.Practical implicationsThe research provides practical marketing insights and digital marketing strategies for tourist destinations, suggesting ways to promote attractions through platform-based engagement with narcissistic tourists.Social implicationsThis study underscores the implications of the digital identity of narcissistic tourists on social media, reflecting how personal psychological traits can influence social interactions on social media in tourist settings.Originality/valueThis study enriches the application of self-verification theory in tourism research and provides new insights into the nexus between various forms of narcissism and landmark check-in behaviour, which is a relatively underexplored area in tourist behaviour research. It broadens tourism research in narcissistic trails by examining the multidimensional framework of narcissism, providing researchers with a narcissistic research framework to design their further research in digital marketing in tourism contexts.

The EU’s FIMI Turn: How the European Union External Action Service Reframed the Disinformation Fight

This article critically examines the strategic decision of the European Union External Action Service (EEAS) to reframe the concept of misinformation as Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference. The EEAS, particularly its Strategic Communications Division, has been at the forefront of combating disinformation within the EU. Initially mandated by the European Council in 2015 to counter Russian disinformation campaigns, the EEAS pioneered the framing of this complex phenomenon as an external threat, significantly shaping subsequent European perceptions and policies. While the Covid-19 pandemic and the surge of accompanying disinformation originally shifted the EU focus towards a more regulatory approach, culminating in the approval of the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine soon after prompted a return to geopolitical considerations, reinstating both the disinformation-as-external-threat dimension and, therefore, the prominent role of the EEAS. This research argues that the EEAS, which recognizes the limitations of the EU in effectively countering the phenomenon of misinformation, adopted the framing of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference to both make the problem more manageable and align it with its mandate. Through this reframing, the EEAS has addressed disinformation similarly to traditional security threats, such as cyberattacks, thereby aligning with existing security paradigms and the competencies and limitations granted by the EU.

Overlapping community-based fair influence maximization under a multi-transformation optimization algorithm

Fair Influence Maximization (FIM) aims to ensure an equitable spread of influence across different groups in a social network while maximizing overall reach. By incorporating fairness constraints and leveraging community structures, FIM mitigates bias and enhances the effectiveness of influence propagation. Despite its importance, optimizing FIM objectives is computationally challenging, and existing methods often neglect the overlapping nature of community structures. Also, selecting the most suitable transformation in advance is challenging, as different transformations lead to varying search behaviors for evaluating influence spread. To address these issues, this study introduces Overlapping Community-based FIM under a Multi-Transformation Optimization algorithm (OCMTO). OCMTO considers both overlapping and non-overlapping nodes within communities to balance influence spread and fairness. It employs a multi-transformation evolutionary framework that optimizes multiple transformations simultaneously, ensuring scalability and convergence. The algorithm adapts to different transformations without the need for manual selection, allowing it to efficiently explore the solution space. Meanwhile, OCMTO estimates relationships between transformations based on individual overlap. Experimental results on real-world datasets show that OCMTO outperforms state-of-the-art methods in scalability and fairness, demonstrating its practical potential for applications such as digital marketing campaigns, public health interventions, and political influence dissemination. Specifically, the proposed algorithm demonstrates a 9.2% improvement in average influence spread over the best existing method, while effectively addressing the trade-offs between influence, fairness, and complexity.

The Impact of Behavioral Economics on Consumer Decision-Making in the Digital Era

With the rapid development of digital technologies, the consumer decision-making process has undergone significant changes in the digital environment. This paper, from the perspective of behavioral economics, explores the irrational characteristics of consumer decision-making in the digital era and the underlying psychological mechanisms. The study shows that digital technologies such as information overload, personalized recommendations, social media group effects, and digital payments not only profoundly influence consumer choices but also exacerbate the manifestation of behavioral economic phenomena such as bounded rationality and mental accounting. By analyzing key concepts in behavioral economics, such as reference dependence and loss aversion, the paper reveals how consumers make “good enough” decisions rather than optimal ones on digital platforms. Finally, the paper offers policy recommendations and practical insights aimed at providing theoretical support for the healthy development of digital marketing and the digital economy.

Influence of Seasonal Price Discounts on Online Impulsive Buying Decisions on the Steam Gaming Platform (Study on Generation Z in Bandung)

The rapid growth of the digital gaming industry has intensified the use of seasonal price discounts as a marketing strategy to boost consumer purchasing interest. This study aims to examine the influence of seasonal discounts on impulsive buying decisions among Generation Z users in Bandung, Indonesia, on the Steam platform. A quantitative approach with a survey method was adopted, involving 111 respondents selected through purposive sampling. The collected data were analyzed using simple linear regression. The results reveal a significant and positive influence of seasonal discounts on impulsive buying behavior, with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.744 and a coefficient of determination (R²) of 55.4%. These findings suggest that seasonal discounts substantially drive impulsive purchase behavior among Gen Z users on Steam. The study offers practical insights for digital marketing practitioners to design more effective and consumer-focused promotional strategies.