The Antecedents and Consequences of Real-time Marketing

Abstract

Real-time marketing is emerging as a new type of marketing which is suitable for meeting customers' needs in real time with flexible modular product architectures. This study developed a real-time marketing framework for implementing the strategy. This framework included four antecedents (modular marketing process, information technology availability, flexibility of organization structure, and market-based orientation), two mediators (real-time responsive product architecture and market-related speed), and SBU performance. Ten hypotheses were tested with path analysis, and the results were as follows: First, modular marketing process, information technology availability, and market-based orientation indirectly influenced a company’s market-related speed through the mediation of real-time responsive product architecture. Second, information technology availability, flexibility of organization structure, and market-based orientation directly influenced the company’s market-related speed. Finally, real-time responsive product architecture influenced SBU performances through mediation of a company’s market-related speed.