Digital Business Models
Introduction
EMAC announces that the special issue of IJRM is fully open access
Announcement Special Issue of Digital Business Models
Fully Open Access
Edited by Peter C. Verhoef and Tammo H. A. Bijmolt of the University of Groningen
Approximately 25 years ago, we were ordering the first books online via Amazon. At that time we could never have imagined that Amazon would be one of the most valuable firms worldwide. Amazon is not the only digital firm that has grown enormously. In fact, according to brand equity rankings of Interbrand in 2018, the top three firms are all digital and relatively young—namely Apple, Google, and Amazon—compared with firms such as Coca Cola, General Motors, and Exxon Mobile. Moreover, digitalization occurs across the globe and is not solely a European or US development. New digital giants, such as Alibaba and JD, have arisen in China.
The strong rise of digital in today’s business urged us to edit a special issue on digital business models for the International Journal of Research in Marketing. The objective of this special issue is to stimulate research on digital business models and digital transformation and their effects on market and firm outcomes. The special issue consists of nine papers covering multiple aspects of digital business and markets. It is a diverse issue in terms of content and methodologies. We have contributors across the globe, such as Jan-Benedict Steenkamp of the University of North-Carolina, Werner Reinartz of the University of Cologne, Michel Clement of the Hamburg University and Ernst Osinga of the Singapore Management University. We are also excited that we have two conceptual papers on digital business models and marketing, which will stimulate theory development and research on digital business models. In addition, two empirical papers study new digital business models of Spotify and Blendle. The issue is complemented with an introduction by the editors in which they discuss the need for the special issue, develop a conceptual model on digital business models, and provide some avenues for future research focused on these models from a marketing perspective.
All articles are available as open access due to a generous gift of the Groningen Digital Business Centre. We strongly believe that this will increase the diffusion of the published paper and recommend all of you to share the articles in the digital sphere.