Scientific Inquiry: The Philosophical, Methodological and Theoretical Debates to the Study of Digital Marketing

The ubiquitous adoption of technological devices and the attendant inquiry of how these devices influence consumer behavior have given prominence to the emerging discipline of digital marketing. Unfortunately, the integration of this discipline in the curriculum has remained a daunting task among curriculum planners in the developing countries. Part of the reason is that the philosophical pillars and methodological approaches are not well understood. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to provide a conceptual explication of the philosophical, methodological and the theoretical characterizations of the digital marketing research stream. The study also highlights the theory building process and gave examples of dominant theories in the discipline.