Researching the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in contemporary marketing practices

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a review of how the role of information and communications technology (ICT) within marketing practice has developed over the past decade and to develop a research agenda to meet future challenges. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a theoretical approach and reviews the historical and current deployment of ICT into marketing practice. It focuses on the CMP framework of marketing practice and, within that, on the original conceptions of e‐marketing within the framework and the corresponding empirical results from various CMP research projects.. Findings – The paper concludes that, regardless of the dominant focus of marketing within an organisation, marketing practitioners increasingly have an ICT requirement within their marketing practice. Practical implications – The paper develops the argument for academic research to focus more on ICT practice and implementation to provide a deeper understanding of ICT deployment. Originality/value – Despite the emphasis on ICT deployment in the late 1990s marketers have struggled to embrace ICT within their organisations due in part to a lack of academic clarity and study. This paper extends the Contemporary Marketing Practice framework to examine this issue.