Marketing Agility: Conceptualization, Research Propositions, and a Research Agenda

The objective of this paper is to introduce the emergent concept of marketing agility and develop an organizing framework that systematically captures the antecedents and consequences of marketing agility. Given the sparse literature on the topic, we use a grounded theory approach to tap into the mental models of managers. Synthesizing insights from 22 interviews with senior managers in diverse industries, we first define marketing agility, discuss its importance to various stakeholders in the field of marketing, and distinguish the concept from related constructs in the domains of strategy, information systems and marketing. Following this, we develop an organizing framework to guide the systematic study of marketing agility. We offer propositions related to organizational culture, organizational structure and marketing technology (martech) characteristics as antecedents of marketing agility. As regards consequences, we offer propositions related to marketing agility’s impact on growth and predictability of returns. Based on this framework, we identify several research questions and provide a roadmap to guide future empirical research.