TREND OF INTERNET-RELATED RESEARCH: 1994 TO 2003

Abstract

Based upon increasing significance and proliferation of the Internet in our fields, it is important to explore the state of research about the Internet, for the purpose of assessing the development of Internet-related research and grasping its future directions in our fields. This study

focuses on three disciplines (communication, marketing and advertising) and provides a detailed outline of Internet research for each discipline in terms of topical, theoretical and methodological endeavors. We analyzed trends, patterns and rigors of research studies about the Internet through a content analysis of published Internet-related articles in 15 major journals in communication, marketing and advertising between 1994 and 2003. We included both leading and Internet-specific journals in each discipline. In the field of communication, five leading (Communication Research: Human Communication Research; Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media; Journal of Communication; Journalism and Mass communication Quarterly) and two Internet-specific journals (Journal of ComputerMediated Communication; New Media & Society) were selected. In the field of advertising, we included three leading journals: Journal of Advertising; Journal of Advertising Research; and Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising. Journal of Interactive Advertising was included because it focuses on Internet advertising. In the field of marketing, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research and Journal of Consumer Research were selected as leading journals. Journal of Interactive Marketing was included because it has the longest history of publishing Internet marketing research.

Five hundred thirty seven articles of 4,160 total articles in the 15 journals were about the Internet. Each Internetrelated article was coded for year of publication, name of journal, name and affiliation of authors, research topics, theoretical applications, research questions/hypotheses, research methods, sampling methods, sample size, response rates, unit of analysis, and statistical analysis. For each coded variable, we first report overall frequency based on all 15 journals, which is followed by cross-tabulation of each coded variable, by discipline (communication, marketing, and advertising), by time frame (the first and second five years), by journal type (leading vs. Internet-specific journals), and by individual journals. Implications of the study findings are discussed in detail.

This study demonstrates a definite pattern of increase in terms of the number of Internet-related research studies in the fields of communication, marketing and advertising. It also shows the existence of a wide dispersion of individual and institutional contributors, not highly concentrated in, or exclusively dominated by, certain institutions and individuals. Even Ph.D. students frequently appeared as contributors to Internet-related research. The findings of topical analyses indicate that Internet-focused scholars have diverse interests in a variety of topics, covering communication, marketing, advertising, and social, economic, cultural, regulatory, technological issues, etc. Among such topics, scholars have put more emphasis on "Internet usage, perception and attitudes," "Internet as a communication medium," "websites design, content and perception," "e-business" and "Internet advertising effectiveness." The findings of this study also reveal that communication, marketing and advertising research regarding the Internet relatively lacks an explicit theoretical framework. In terms of methodological rigor of Internet-related research, this study reveals that qualitative research (e.g., critique/essay, content-analysis, in-depth interview, ethnography, etc.) is more prevalent than quantitative research (e.g., survey and experiment). With regard to sampling rigor of Internet-related research, the results suggest that we need to have more scientific sampling (probability sampling), more representative samples (general population rather than student samples), and more accountability (i.e., report of response rates). The analysis of statistical methods employed in Internet-related research reveals that many Internet-related studies have used the basic descriptive statistical analyses such as frequency, mean, and correlation. Our study was limited to 15 journals in the field of communication, marketing and advertising. Therefore, it would be valuable to replicate the current study, using more journals covering other important social science disciplines.

AUTHOR_AFFILIATION

Chang-Hoan Cho, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

HyoungKoo Khang, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL