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Marketing machines at work : performing e-commerce by assembling, adjusting, and maintaining a complex market device

Fuentes, Christian LU orcid and Stoopendahl, Patrik LU (2025) In Journal of Marketing Management
Abstract
This paper aims to explore and conceptualise the marketing work of e-commerce managers. It draws on an ethnographically inspired study involving 21 e-commerce managers and approaches marketing work as a set of socio-material practices. The analysis shows that the marketing work of e-commerce managers centres on assembling, adjusting, and maintaining ‘marketing machines’ – complex market devices designed to perform marketing work. These heterogeneous arrangements comprise digital technologies, staff and their competencies, and organisational procedures. When put together, these marketing machines work to calculate demand, develop a product assortment, advertise and promote products, sell and deliver products, and provide customer service.... (More)
This paper aims to explore and conceptualise the marketing work of e-commerce managers. It draws on an ethnographically inspired study involving 21 e-commerce managers and approaches marketing work as a set of socio-material practices. The analysis shows that the marketing work of e-commerce managers centres on assembling, adjusting, and maintaining ‘marketing machines’ – complex market devices designed to perform marketing work. These heterogeneous arrangements comprise digital technologies, staff and their competencies, and organisational procedures. When put together, these marketing machines work to calculate demand, develop a product assortment, advertise and promote products, sell and deliver products, and provide customer service. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the device-focused analysis of marketing work for our understanding of the digitalisation of marketing. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
in
Journal of Marketing Management
pages
25 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:105002711804
ISSN
0267-257X
DOI
10.1080/0267257X.2025.2492191
project
Service Studies Consumption
E-commerce managers: understanding the formation of a new market actor
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
22bbd723-c1c9-4366-93bd-eadb30a3dc66
date added to LUP
2025-04-16 14:56:33
date last changed
2025-07-04 04:01:16
@article{22bbd723-c1c9-4366-93bd-eadb30a3dc66,
  abstract     = {{This paper aims to explore and conceptualise the marketing work of e-commerce managers. It draws on an ethnographically inspired study involving 21 e-commerce managers and approaches marketing work as a set of socio-material practices. The analysis shows that the marketing work of e-commerce managers centres on assembling, adjusting, and maintaining ‘marketing machines’ – complex market devices designed to perform marketing work. These heterogeneous arrangements comprise digital technologies, staff and their competencies, and organisational procedures. When put together, these marketing machines work to calculate demand, develop a product assortment, advertise and promote products, sell and deliver products, and provide customer service. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the device-focused analysis of marketing work for our understanding of the digitalisation of marketing.}},
  author       = {{Fuentes, Christian and Stoopendahl, Patrik}},
  issn         = {{0267-257X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Journal of Marketing Management}},
  title        = {{Marketing machines at work : performing e-commerce by assembling, adjusting, and maintaining a complex market device}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2025.2492191}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/0267257X.2025.2492191}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}