Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC): Conceptual and Theoretical Lacunae, Foundational Premises, and Framework

Abstract

Over the last four decades, several researchers have investigated the concept of integrated marketing communication (IMC). Particularly, in the last decade, IMC as a research area has generated a lot of debate, led to intellectual discourse, and overall, contributed to the evolution of IMC. This is reflected in about 150 research articles, 400 books, three special issues by Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, and Journal of Business Research, and a journal entitled International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications. Furthermore, several universities (e.g., Florida State University, Northwestern University, University of Denver, and West Virginia University) have instituted undergraduate and graduate IMC programs. In fact, 31 universities across the world offer IMC programs (Kerr et al. 2008). However, these developments notwithstanding, IMC remains a controversial and theoretically underdeveloped domain within the marketing literature.