Do adhocracy and market cultures facilitate firm-wide integrated marketing communication (IMC)?

Abstract

The conceptualization of integrated marketing communication (IMC) has evolved from the marketing communications-centered approach (in the early 1990s) to a broader, firm-wide organizational perspective. The latter is adopted in this research to define IMC as a multidimensional concept. This study was conducted to develop a measurement instrument to assess IMC and examine the role of organizational culture in IMC implementation. Data were gathered via an online survey conducted among CEOs and other senior managers. The findings provide evidence of the reliability and validity of the proposed IMC scale and demonstrate that the dominance of an adhocracy (vs. market) culture contributes to building a more IMC-friendly organizational environment.

Keywords:

• integrated marketing communication
• IMC
• organizational culture
• adhocracy culture
• market culture
• measurement
• scale

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Charles Ray Taylor, Martin Eisend and three anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and useful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Andalusian Program for R&D [grant number P12-SEJ2592].

Notes on contributors

Lucia Porcu

Lucia Porcu is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Granada (Spain). She has previous experiences as visiting scholar at Brock University (Canada), Northwestern University (USA), and University of Bologna (Italy). Her research interests are integrated corporate communication (ICC), integrated marketing communication (IMC), cross-cultural marketing, and digital humanities. She has participated to several international conferences (EMAC, ICORIA, CMC, Academy of Marketing, AMS World Marketing Conference) and has published in prestigious journals, such as International Journal of Advertising and Computers in Human Behavior, among others.

Salvador del Barrio-García

Salvador Del Barrio-García is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Granada (Spain). His areas of specialization are the integrated marketing communication (IMC), marketing online, cross-cultural marketing, and marketing for higher education. He has published several books as author and co-author on these matters. He has also published various peer-reviewed papers in prestigious journals such as International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Public Relations Review, European Journal of Marketing, Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, Computers in Human Behaviour, Business Services, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, among others.

Juan Miguel Alcántara-Pilar

Juan Miguel Alcántara-Pilar is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Granada, Campus of Ceuta (Spain). His areas of specialization are marketing online, cross-cultural marketing, language effect on consumer behavior and behaviors in multi-racial communities. He has participated in relevant international conferences (EMAC, ICORIA, CMC, AMS World Marketing Conference) and he has published several books and peer-reviewed papers in prestigious journals, such as Computers in Human Behavior and Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, among others.

Esmeralda Crespo-Almendros

Esmeralda Crespo-Almendros is an associate professor of marketing and market research at the University of Granada (Spain). Her areas of specialization are marketing communication, online consumer behavior, and online marketing. She has participated in relevant international conferences (EMAC, ICORIA, CMC, Academy of Marketing, AMS World Marketing Conference) and she is co-author of several books and peer-reviewed papers published in top journals, such as the Journal of Advertising Research, Services Business, and Journal of Air Transport Management, among others.