ABSTRACT
A set of foundational Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) concepts has been with us in one form or another from IMC’s earliest days, although as Kitchen and Schultz (2009) suggest, most of those concepts and constructs have changed as the field of IMC has matured. Thus, rather than a single concept, IMC represents a group of concepts. The challenge to scholars is to understand the interrelationships between and among them. Because these concepts work together, it is difficult to arrive at one single explanation, or even definition, of IMC. However, this chapter proposes four general theoretical frameworks that we believe are central to IMC. This chapter will also outline the underlying, supporting concepts that are basic to understanding how contemporary IMC works:
Interactive Communication
Schultz, Tannenbaum, and Lauterborn (1993, p. 45) recognized the importance of the communication foundation of IMC: “If we think for a moment about traditional marketing, we begin to realize that almost all the marketing techniques and approaches that we have used over the years are essentially some form of communication.” IMC focuses, however, on interactive communication, that is, from source to receiver and from receiver back to source. The idea of ongoing dialogue between consumers and marketers is now a central marketing theme and one of the most important IMC paradigm shifts. That trend increases with the growing emphasis on word-of-mouth and social media. Duncan and Moriarty (1997) explored the notion that exchange is both a communication and a business process and that interactivity supports both by enhancing brand relationships.
