Digital content marketing in business markets : Activities, consequences, and contingencies along the customer journey

Fundamental shifts in business-to-business (B2B) buying behavior make digital content marketing (DCM) a strategic priority for vendors, though firms struggle to achieve its full potential, as a customer-centric marketing approach. To address important knowledge gaps in extant research, this study identifies key activities for realizing customer-centric DCM in B2B markets and key contingencies that influence its performance outcomes. A theories-in-use approach, building on 56 interviews with managers at 36 B2B companies that have invested heavily in DCM, advances current literature by developing an activity-based conceptualization, grounded in relevant marketing research streams (customer en…