an overview of systematic literature reviews in social media marketing

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An overview of systematic literature reviews in social media marketing

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Published  December  01, 2020

Article Information

Volume: 46 issue: 6, page(s): 725-738

Article first published online: December 01, 2020;Issue published:  December 01, 2020;

DOI：10.1177/0165551519866544

Jennifer Rowley , Brendan James Keegan , Manchester Metropolitan University, UK , Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

Jennifer Rowley, Department of Languages, Information and Communications, Manchester Metropolitan University, Rosamund St. West, M15 6LL. Email: [email protected]

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• 1. Introduction
• 2. Literature review
• 3. Methodology
• 4. Findings
• 5. Discussion
• 6. Reflection and recommendations
• 7. Conclusion
• Figures & Tables

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Jennifer Rowley, Brendan James Keegan

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Setting the future of digital and social media marketing research: Perspectives and research propositions

A comparison study of topic modeling based literature analysis by using full texts and abstracts of scientific articles: a case of covid-19 research, emotional appeals effectiveness in enhancing charity digital advertisements, covid-19 pandemic: why does it matter for consumer research, the impact of social network marketing and customer engagement on purchase intentions in wedding service business, preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the prisma statement, preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the prisma statement [in spanish], towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review, a multi‐dimensional framework of organizational innovation: a systematic review of the literature, what we know and don't know about online word-of-mouth: a review and synthesis of the literature, related papers (5), systematic literature searching in social work: a practical guide with database appraisal:, social media research in the context of emerging markets, evidence for policy making: some reflections on the application of systematic reviews to housing research, the relevance of systematic reviews to educational policy and practice, the art of crafting a systematic literature review in entrepreneurship research, frequently asked questions (10), q1. what have the authors contributed in "rowley, jenny orcid logoorcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3437-6914 and keegan, brendan orcid logoorcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002- 8441-3763 (2019) an overview of systematic literature reviews in social me-" .

By undertaking an overview of SLRs in the field of social media ( SM ) marketing, this article undertakes a critical evaluation of the SLR purposes and processes in a set of recent SLRs and presents a future research agenda for social media marketing.   This article offers a resource to inform practice and acts as a platform for further critical debate regarding the nature and value of SLRs.  

Q2. What future works have the authors mentioned in the paper "Rowley, jenny orcid logoorcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3437-6914 and keegan, brendan orcid logoorcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002- 8441-3763 (2019) an overview of systematic literature reviews in social me-" ?

This article contributes to research by performing an overview of recent literature reviews in a specific area, social media marketing.   Nevertheless, whilst there are some commonalities in their approach to an SLR, and common themes emerging regarding future research agendas, there is also a surprising level of disparity in both of these areas.   Leadership, supported by future research into the purpose, processes and contribution of SLRs would have the potential to develop good practice in the conduct of SLRs, and thereby improve the processes whereby researchers ground their research in previous knowledge and theory.  

Q3. What are the categories used to distil the literature?

These categories are: antecedents, mediators, moderators, and outcomes; they are used as the basis of a causal chain framework for social media research.  

Q4. What is the role of leadership in the development of authoritative SLR protocols?

supported by future research into the purpose, processes and contribution of SLRs would have the potential to develop good practice in the conduct of SLRs, and thereby improve the processes whereby researchers ground their research in previous knowledge and theory.  

Q5. What are the commonly mentioned purposes of the meta-analytic review?

The most commonly mentioned purposes are: making sense, developing a conceptmatrix or taxonomy, and helping researchers and practitioners.  

Q6. What are the main drivers for interest in and use of SLRs?

In recent years, there have been two major drivers for interest in, and increased use,of SLRs: concern regarding the quality of traditional narrative literature reviews, and the increased focus on underpinning research and practice with a strong evidence base.  

Q7. What are the four areas for future research of social media in an industrial marketing context?

Salo [25] delineates four areas for the future research of social media in an industrial marketing context: influence, supplier customer acquisition andcustomers, business relationship and networks, business outcomes, and competition.  

Q8. What is the need for research into social media?

Baethege et al [26] suggest the need for research into the extent to different security instruments and privacy protection strategies, promote user’s positive perceptions of a social commerce platform, and are effective in fostering trust and engagement.  

Q9. What are some of the SLRs that suggest that research should be more qualitative?

Other SLRs identify specific theories that could be applied in future research, such as co-creation of value [28, 32], Resource Based Theory [25], Service Dominant Logic ([28], mobile marketing theory [22] and Information Systems theories [24],Social media research approaches:  

Q10. What is the main difference between qualitative and quantitative SLRs?

At the heart of a quantitative SLR typically lies an analysis and integration of the quantitative data reported in the SLR, whereas for qualitative SLRs the review process involves a more iterative surfacing of research questions, searching and protocol development [12].  

Trending Questions (2)

The paper does not provide information about whether systematic literature reviews limit the date of used literature.

The paper provides an overview of recent literature reviews in the field of social media marketing, covering topics such as social media marketing, social commerce, and online communities.

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An overview of systematic literature reviews in social media marketing

Rowley, Jennifer and Keegan, Brendan James (2020) An overview of systematic literature reviews in social media marketing. Journal of Information Science, 46 (6). pp. 725-738. ISSN 0165-5515

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Systematic literature reviews (SLRs) adopt a specified and transparent approach in order to scope the literature in a field or sub-field. However, there has been little critical comment on their purpose and processes in practice. By undertaking an overview of SLRs in the field of social media (SM) marketing, this article undertakes a critical evaluation of the SLR purposes and processes in a set of recent SLRs and presents a future research agenda for social media marketing. The overview shows that the purposes of SLRs include the following: making sense (of research in a field), developing a concept matrix/taxonomy and supporting research and practice. On SLR processes, while there is some consensus on the stages of the process, there is considerable variation in how these processes are executed. This article offers a resource to inform practice and acts as a platform for further critical debate regarding the nature and value of SLRs.

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Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Literature review; social media marketing; social media user behaviour; systematic literature review;
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Date Deposited:	17 May 2022 14:08
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Political social media marketing: a systematic literature review and agenda for future research

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• Aman Abid 1 , 2 ,
• Sanjit K. Roy 3 ,
• Jennifer Lees-Marshment 4 ,
• Bidit L. Dey 5 ,
• Syed S. Muhammad 5 &
• Satish Kumar   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5200-1476 6  

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We focus on political marketing and conduct a systematic literature review of journal articles exploring political marketing on social media. The systematic literature review delineates the current state of political social media marketing literature. It spans six databases and comprises sixty-six journal articles published between 2011 and 2020. We identify and categorize the variables studied in the literature and develop an integrative framework that links these variables. We describe the research themes that exist in the literature. The review demonstrates that the field is growing. However, the literature is fragmented, along with being predominantly based in the US context. Conceptual and theoretical shortcomings also exist. Moreover, the literature ignores pertinent contemporary topics such as co-creation, influencer marketing, and political advertising on social media. Nevertheless, a nascent domain with growing practical significance, political social media marketing provides various exciting avenues for further research, which we outline in this study.

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1 Introduction

Social media have ushered in an era of significant changes in the political, social, and commercial spheres of life. Consequently, social media attract academics from numerous disciplines, which is especially true for politics and marketing. Social media marketing’s role in politics will continue to rise [ 11 ]. The recent US election cycle (2020) saw political candidates and their PACs spend $1.6 billion on digital marketing [ 47 ]. This figure was $22 million in 2008 when Barack Obama won the presidential election. Allocation of vast resources necessitates a deeper understanding of politics from the marketing perspective [ 66 ]. Like the disruptive technologies preceding them, such as the printing press, radio, and TV, social media have changed political marketing [ 27 ]. Unlike prior communication technologies, social media allow voters to interact with political brands and other citizens. This makes them distinct from earlier media and more consequential.

Political marketing is a dynamic and relatively young field [ 7 , 81 ]. It is complex because of its diverse origins in marketing and political science. Political marketing is under-researched, fragmented, and in its nascent stages [ 89 ]. Despite the high scholarly activity in recent years, political marketing still adheres to frameworks borrowed from other disciplines. Moreover, the discipline requires a stronger effort towards theory building [ 89 ]. Systematic literature reviews are pertinent in this scenario as they synthesize literature, consolidate knowledge, offer a holistic understanding, and steer a discipline towards theory building [ 36 , 84 ].

Like political marketing, political social media marketing (PSMM) has also seen an expansion in literature. Presently, it is the dominant stream of research in political marketing. Perannagari and Chakrabarti’s [ 89 ] bibliometric analysis of political marketing (1996–2018) shows that ‘social media’ is the most common keyword besides ‘political marketing’ itself. Figure  1 demonstrates a significant rise in publication activity over the last five years, including a special issue dedicated to the topic [ 122 ]. Moreover, PSMM has crossed the threshold of forty articles that are required for a literature review [ 84 ]. Hitherto, there is no systematic review article that synthesizes the literature in the domain.

Political social media marketing (2011–2020)

It is important that the literature is revisited periodically due to the everchanging landscape of social media marketing and the interdisciplinary nature of PSMM. PSMM has attracted the attention of twenty-one journals in the period between 2016 and 2020 (Table 3 ). The resulting literature is scattered and requires organization so that it can be observed in its entirety. PSMM can only advance if prior studies are structured and presented logically [ 64 ]. Review articles provide a structured approach, which is the need of the hour. This will prevent repetition and facilitate the discovery of research gaps. Moreover, PSMM’s profound effect on political campaigning and the financial resources dedicated to it mandate a comprehensive understanding to aid practitioners. We aim to contribute to the advancement of the political marketing discipline by providing future PSMM researchers with a holistic view of the domain.

In summary, the review is motivated by various factors. Our review aims to assist future researchers in theory-building. Political marketing is a young discipline and scholars need to engage in theory-building. We aim to bring together and structure the scattered literature in the field of PSMM [ 89 ]. By doing so, systematic literature reviews can steer a discipline towards theory building [ 36 ]. Moreover, our review shall provide a starting point for young researchers who are studying the complex topic of political social media marketing that spans multiple academic domains such as marketing, political sciences, and information systems. We believe that social media marketing holds a pivotal place in the political arena. From American Presidents to leaders across South Asia, many world leaders and politicians owe a great deal of their success to effective social media marketing. Therefore, a broader understanding of PSMM is mandatory. Lastly, there is limited guidance to practitioners. Through our integrative framework and Appendix A, we intend to ease practitioners’ access to relevant findings. Our review has the following objectives.

Describe the current state of research in political social media marketing.

Explore the themes that dominate the current literature.

Identify and categorize the variables investigated in the literature and devise an integrative framework.

Prescribe avenues for further research.

To achieve our first objective, we rely on content analysis to extract and present relevant information such as theories, methodologies, data sources, contexts, and publication activity associated with the selected studies. Thematic analysis is utilized to identify the themes that exist in the literature. The third objective is achieved through a content analysis of the literature, which identifies and categorizes the numerous variables that are explored in the literature. Subsequently, we construct an integrative framework that links these variables [ 100 ]. Finally, a research agenda that considers the contemporary focus of social media marketing and analyzes the gaps in the literature is proposed. Overall, the review shows that:

Political social media marketing has attracted significant attention since 2016. The integration of contemporary marketing concepts, although limited, is underway.

From a methodological perspective, there is limited qualitative research that relies on primary data. Conceptual studies are also scant. The number of comparative studies across multiple countries, voter segments, and platforms is limited, which inhibits our understanding of universal findings. More than two-thirds of the studies are based in the US and the UK, which do not represent the political environment of many countries.

Conceptually, political social media marketing is lacking a unified direction and the literature is fragmented. Overall, this reflects a weak effort towards systematic theory building. Subsequently, less than a third of the studies are underpinned by established theories and few studies rely on theories that originate in marketing and consumer research. The domain is overtly focused on campaigns and elections, which shows that it is yet to shun the marketing mix paradigm.

Distinct themes are beginning to emerge in the literature. These themes, to a certain degree, align with the recent research in social media marketing. However, several timely and relevant topics such as influencer marketing, customer engagement, value creation, and co-creation remain unchartered in the political context, which provides a great opportunity for future researchers.

Our review identified sixty-six relevant articles and spanned five social media platforms. It contributes to the field of political social media marketing:

To the best of our knowledge, the review is the first systematic literature review of the domain.

It dissects the literature from various angles to provide a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the current state of research in the field.

It offers a description of the various themes that exist in the literature.

It provides a framework that integrates the frequently studied variables in PSMM.

It identifies academic gaps in the literature and offers an agenda for future research.

The article is organized as follows. First, we describe our conceptual boundaries: social media marketing, political marketing, and political social media marketing. Second, we explain the systematic review process, which is built upon the best practices that are highlighted in the literature (e.g., [ 97 , 112 ]. The subsequent section comprises the findings of our first research objective. It includes chronological, contextual, theoretical, and methodological analyses of the literature. This is followed by the findings of the thematic analysis, our second research objective. The subsequent section addresses the third research objective. It identifies and categorizes the variables that are explored in the literature and devises a framework that integrates these categories. The following section comprises the proposed research agenda. The penultimate section highlights the study’s theoretical contributions. Limitations are highlighted in the conclusion.

2 Conceptual boundaries

2.1 social media marketing.

Social media hold a central position in modern marketing [ 5 , 36 ]. Social media are ‘a group of internet‐based applications that build on the ideological and technical foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content’ [ 59 ], p. 61). In our study, we focus on five popular social media platforms: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. However, the latter does not feature in our review despite its utility as a political marketing tool [ 21 ]. Social media marketing research covers many topics such as advertising, branding, eWOM, user-generated content, relationship marketing, and customer behavior [ 5 ]. It is because social media provide diverse benefits to marketers. A significant body of literature establishes the positive effects of social media marketing on desirable business outcomes (e.g., [ 35 , 37 , 30 ].

Social media marketing is widely used by businesses and non-profit organizations, including public bodies [ 60 ]. Although it is used to promote products and services, the underlying goal of social media marketing is to cultivate long-term relationships with the consumers and relevant stakeholders [ 103 ]. Social media facilitate consumer-to-consumer interactions in addition to brand-to-consumer interactions, allowing brands to benefit from e-WOM, which is considered more credible than brand-generated content. In the era of social media, commercial dynamics have undergone substantial changes. Social media have shifted the power to the consumers but have also provided marketers with new opportunities in the form of micro-targeting of consumers and listening abilities through data mining. Particularly in the post-covid world, social media has gained a stronger foothold in the life of the consumers [ 73 ].

2.2 Political marketing

Political marketing is an old tradition. ‘Codifying political marketing could take the discussion back to Aristotle’s writings on Politics and Rhetoric’ [ 26 ], p. 152). The modern discipline has origins in Kotler and Levy’s [ 63 ] expansionary view of marketing. Political marketing is ‘a set of activities, processes, or institutions used by political organizations, candidates and individuals to create, communicate, deliver, and exchange promises of value with voter consumers, political party stakeholders, and society at large’ [ 48 ], p. 244).

In simpler terms, political marketing is the use of marketing concepts and techniques to achieve political goals. As a fundamental part of modern politics, political marketing is practiced by politicians, political parties, and political movements. These entities engage in various marketing activities such as market research, segmentation and targeting, branding, internal marketing, marketing communications, advertising, and relational marketing [ 65 ]. Additionally, political brands need to choose between different political marketing approaches, which are selling, transactional, relational, and experiential.

Notably, political marketing has permeated the popular culture, becoming the topic of several movies and TV shows. Similarly, political marketing has appreciably grown as an academic discipline [ 89 ]. Therefore, it is important that marketing and political science scholars appreciate the role of political marketing in contemporary politics and its impact on democracy. A sub-discipline that draws on politics and marketing, political marketing needs to continually evolve to reflect changes in its parent disciplines [ 48 ]. Researchers note that this is not the case, and a second wave of research is needed since political marketing does not reflect the dynamism and evolution of marketing [ 81 , 80 , 45 ]. Political marketing literature is nascent and fragmented [ 89 ]. Finding common grounds between two distinct academic traditions is not an easy task [ 65 , 81 ]. The diversity of political marketing requires a systematic approach to future research to prevent duplication of research, build theory, assist young researchers, and identify research gaps [ 84 ].

2.3 Political social media marketing

Social media hold a prominent place in politics [ 22 , 57 ]. Political social media marketing, or political marketing on social media, refers to the use of social media to create, communicate, and deliver value for stakeholders [ 114 ]. The academic domain gained traction following Barack Obama’s online presidential campaign (2008) [ 79 , 76 ]. Along similar lines, Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign had a significant impact on the research in the field, as demonstrated by our systematic literature review. However, it was Howard Dean who was the first to effectively integrate social media during his 2004 nomination bid [ 65 ].

Unlike prior media, social media provide political brands with an unfiltered and direct communication channel. They allow political brands to keep the voters updated, interact with their followers and general public, promote their brand via social media ads, mobilize voters, solicit campaign donations, and engage voters through relevant content. Moreover, social media provide political brands with an effective mechanism to co-brand and co-create. Donald Trump’s #MAGA challenge and Bernie Sanders’ #MyBernieStory are prime examples of such co-creation and co-branding. Importantly, social media marketing allows politicians to reduce their psychological distances with the voters [ 116 ]. Literature shows that political social media marketing has an impact on voters’ attitudes and behaviors [ 19 , 49 ].

Social media are interactive and voters are influential on social media. Consequently, social media require a different approach to political marketing than the one utilized on traditional media. Specifically, political marketing on social media demands an interactive and relational approach [ 27 , 44 , 65 ]. Recent research shows that social media require politicians to adopt a personal and social approach, which is built upon the politician’s and constituent’s shared values [ 1 ]. However, a considerable body of literature shows that politicians and political parties, in general, have been unable to embrace the orientation that social media require or are reluctant to do so [ 83 ].

3 Methodology

Systematic literature reviews (SLRs) are appropriate to synthesize or provide an overview of an academic domain, develop themes, create conceptual models or integrative frameworks, and propose a research agenda for the future [ 84 , 108 , 100 ]. The methodology is frequently utilized in marketing and management research [ 64 , 94 , 112 ]. SLRs are especially valuable to social media marketing. The interdisciplinary perspectives, wide-ranging research questions, variety of theories, diversity of research methods, and the rapidly changing social media landscape mandate regular SLRs in social media marketing [ 5 , 36 ]. Similar concerns hold for political marketing. However, SLRs are infrequent in political marketing (e.g., [ 89 , 123 ]. Specifically, our SLR is a domain-based review that can be further classified as a structured theme-based review [ 84 ]. These reviews document the various theories, constructs, methods, contexts, and research themes that exist in the literature, along with offering conceptual frameworks and future research agendas (e.g., [ 54 , 96 ].

Our review process follows the best practices that are highlighted in the literature (e.g., [ 95 , 84 , 97 , 112 ]. In the planning stage, the need for such a review was ascertained. Paul et al. [ 85 ] recommend that a research domain warrants a systematic literature review if forty or more articles are dedicated to that domain. PSMM, therefore, meets this condition as there are more than sixty articles that fall in the domain of PSMM. Furthermore, the review is valuable since political social media marketing will continue to increase in significance and consequence [ 11 ]. Following this, the research aim, criteria, and guidelines were established. These included decisions concerning the timeframe, search terms, databases, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and social media platforms [ 84 , 97 ]. We limited the review to articles from academic journals that have an impact factor, choosing to exclude conference papers and book chapters (e.g., [ 62 , 100 ]. Table 1 presents the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

The selected period (2011–2020) reflects the evolution of social media in politics. The time frame is appropriate since social media were not a significant medium fifteen years ago. Facebook was not open to the general public and Twitter and Instagram did not exist. Ten years is an acceptable time frame for SLRs [ 84 ]. One generic and five platform-specific search terms were included to extract relevant articles. We used the following Boolean search term: “political marketing” AND (“social media” OR Facebook OR Twitter OR YouTube OR Instagram OR Snapchat). Using predefined keywords to extract literature is a common practice in SLRs [ 97 ]. The selected platforms are widely used and are relevant to politics. The selection of databases was driven by prior literature in the field of marketing and management (e.g., [ 64 , 108 ]. The six databases (ProQuest, EBSCO, Web of Science, Emerald, Science Direct, and Scopus) represent a significant fraction of the marketing literature.

In the second stage, the search was conducted [ 85 , 62 ]). The search results are presented in Table 2 . In the initial phase, the titles, abstracts, and keywords were read to ascertain the study’s relevance. Full-text screening was undertaken when needed. Since our aim was to identify political marketing articles, we ensured that the articles from non-marketing journals adopted a marketing perspective. Subsequently, studies from journals having an impact factor were isolated. These articles were read and articles from academic domains of political campaigning and political communication were excluded (e.g., [ 13 ]. The final count after applying our inclusion and exclusion criteria and removing duplicates was sixty-six. These studies were read and coded for the country, theory (or literature review), context, publication information, focus, methodology, and data among other categories. Additionally, a thematic analysis was undertaken. Notably, we excluded a guest editorial (e.g., [ 122 ]. Table 3 lists the sources of the selected articles.

Thematic analysis reveals the patterns or themes that are present in the literature [ 23 ]. An inductive approach was utilized to identify broad themes. An inductive approach reflects the fundamental concepts and topics that are present in the domain [ 56 ]. Since the present study is the first review on the topic, it is important that it highlights the actual state of the literature. Two authors were involved in the process. Articles were read and coded independently before checking for consistency. The inter-coder agreement was high. The few differences in coding judgments were resolved through discussion. Further discussion was undertaken to finalize the number and scope of themes [ 93 , 112 ]. For example, certain themes (social media’s role in protests) were merged into others (social media’s effect on voters’ behavior) due to the limited number of articles investigating the former theme.

We did not use a pre-determined conceptual framework to identify themes [ 97 ], however, a marketing dominant approach meant that some of our themes reflect broad marketing concepts such as branding, marketer-generated content, voter behavior, user-generated content, and relationship marketing. Similar themes are reported in prior systematic reviews of social media marketing [ 5 ]. Several articles researched multiple topics and thus featured more than one theme. In such cases, the article was categorized into more than one theme. For example, Buccoliero et al. [ 25 ] touched upon three themes since it explores the differences in the social media orientation of politicians during the US presidential race in 2016, along with a discussion on political marketer-generated content and followers’ responses. Similarly, Abid et al. [ 2 ] was included in both political marketer-generated content (MGC) and political relationship marketing since the article examines the impact of political marketer-generated content on online relationship quality.

In the third stage, we present the findings from the review. The literature is dissected from various angles, a standard practice in systematic reviews. Tables and figures are included to assist in the presentation of results [ 85 ]. In line with prior literature, we propose an integrative framework and a research agenda [ 97 , 100 ]. Appendix A provides a brief overview of the studies included in the review.

4.1 Objective 1: the current state of research in political social media marketing

To achieve our first objective, extensive codification of the studies was undertaken. We review the chronological evolution of the domain. Subsequently, we discuss the geographic and political settings, social media platforms, voter segments, theories, sources of data, and research methods associated with our selected corpus.

4.1.1 A chronological review

Figure  1 highlights the number of articles published yearly. A special issue on the topic explains the high article frequency in 2017 [ 122 ].

2011–2015 (13 studies) : PSMM gained prominence following Barack Obama’s presidential bid in 2008. Consequently, Obama’s campaign featured in several studies during this time (e.g., [ 31 , 76 ]. Studies primarily relied on the case-study methodology to explore the role of social media in elections or campaigns (e.g., [ 44 , 43 , 107 ]. Few studies tested relationships between variables during this time [ 40 , 75 , 109 ]. Trust and political participation interested scholars during these years (e.g., [ 40 , 105 , 112 ].

2016–2020 (53 studies): Sophisticated methodologies, reliance on big data (e.g., [ 17 ], dependence on theory (e.g., [ 33 ], and integration of marketing concepts (e.g., [ 91 ] has increased over the last five years. Publication outlets have increased from two journals in 2015 to twenty-two journals in 2020 (Table 3 ). Donald Trump and the US presidential election (2016) have revived the interest in the domain.

4.1.2 Geographic distribution

Figure  2 exhibits the geographic settings of the studies. The focal point of the literature is the US, which features in thirty-six studies. This is followed by studies based in the EU (9), UK (7), Asia (4), Australia/New Zealand (3), and Africa (2). Two studies explore the US in relation to the EU and Egypt, whereas one study compares the behavior of the UK and US voters. The distribution shows that there is room to explore PSMM across diverse geographic contexts. The political environment varies across countries. Consequently, the concentration of research in the US limits the applicability of PSMM. For instance, the personalization of politics associated with the US and the two-party presidential system might not be relevant elsewhere.

Geographic context of the studies

4.1.3 Social media platforms

Table 4 presents the frequency with which various platforms appeared in the literature. Most studies discussed social media in general. Specifically, Twitter is the preferred platform among PSMM researchers, particularly since 2016. Although this might signify Twitter’s rising influence in the political arena and the US, the ease of access to data is another possible explanation for Twitter’s preference among researchers. Social media platforms that are comparatively new are yet to be explored. Surprisingly, research exploring YouTube and Instagram, popular mediums for political marketing, is also limited. Although a few studies explore multiple platforms, these are not comparative in nature (Table 5 ).

4.1.4 Comparative perspective

Several studies in our selection adopt a comparative perspective. These studies focus on various comparisons such as that between different media [ 8 , 102 ], young and old voters [ 50 ], American and British voters, [ 71 ], political and commercial brands [ 20 ], political candidates and campaigns (e.g., [ 25 , 90 , 117 ], brand communities of candidates [ 69 ], social media followers of politicians and regular citizens [ 19 ], characteristics of user-generated content during and after political events [ 17 ], and the US and EU laws governing political marketing on social media [ 16 ].

4.1.5 Political and electoral contexts

Roughly three-fourths of the articles are embedded in campaigns, lead-up to elections, and elections. Particularly, the US presidential elections of 2016 (14), 2008 (7), 2012 (5), and the UK general election of 2010 (3) are researched frequently. Most studies focus on the national or presidential level and an understanding of how parliamentary, state, and local candidates utilize social media marketing is limited (see Table 6 ). Similarly, Table 5 shows that candidates are explored more frequently, with the US research almost exclusively focusing on candidates barring odd exceptions (e.g., [ 2 ].

4.1.6 Voter segments studied in the literature

Young voters are the most studied subjects. As per the literature, they have low trust in government and politicians [ 102 , 109 ] but hold favorable perceptions of minor political parties’ and local politicians’ use of social media marketing [ 3 ]. Political marketing on social media leads to stronger relationships with young voters and increases their political efficacy [ 7 , 49 ]. They prefer brief political eWOM [ 50 ] and desire personal and social content from politicians [ 1 ]. They are generally less engaged in traditional elections [ 91 ]. Other segments investigated in the literature include minority voters [ 38 , 40 ], aged voters [ 50 , 109 ], female voters [ 43 ], bloggers [ 87 ], and followers of politicians [ 19 ].

4.1.7 Research methods and data collection

Quantitative studies dominate the literature (number of quantitative studies = 44; Appendix A lists the quantitative studies). However, only twenty-nine studies test relationships between variables (see Appendix A). Content analysis of social media pages is the most frequently utilized research method in PSMM (see Table 7 ). The use of case-study methodology, which dominated literature till 2015 (e.g., [ 44 ], is declining, whereas surveys, social network analysis, online content analysis, and experiments are being used more frequently (e.g., [ 15 , 20 , 49 , 69 ]. Remarkably, the number of studies relying on interviews and focus groups comprise a small fraction of the literature. Longitudinal research is also absent in the literature. Similarly, conceptual papers are scarce in the literature.

Expectedly, social media pages are the favored source of data in the literature (see Table 8 ). Less than a third of the literature relies on primary data that was collected from the voters. Similarly, data from party officials and political candidates constitute a small fraction of the literature. Few studies integrate offline sources of data. These are Berman et al. [ 17 ] and Peres et al. [ 90 ], which integrate data from presidential debates and press articles in their studies of user-generated content and world leaders’ use of social media respectively. Various forms of secondary data are utilized in the literature. These include the use of publicly available information such as news, electoral results, existing survey data, and author’s personal data (political consultant), among others (e.g., [ 31 , 40 , 76 ].

4.1.8 Theoretical foundations of PSMM

Less than a third of the studies are underpinned by established theories and models. Theories from the field of psychology, particularly social psychology, are used most frequently. Among these, social identity theory is the most utilized theory, featuring in three studies. Other theories originating in psychology like theories of Self-Concept, Planned Behavior, Self-Presentation, and the Elaboration-Likelihood Model are also engaged in the literature, with each appearing in two studies. Additionally, theories from the fields of communication and mass communication form the basis of several studies. These include the Two-Step Flow of Information Theory (n = 2), Symbolic Convergence Theory, Framing Theory, and Transmission Model of Communication. Besides these two disciplinary underpinnings, few studies rely on theories from the fields of media (e.g., Uses and Gratification Theory and Connective Action (n = 2)), information systems (e.g., Technology Acceptance Model), consumer research (e.g., Reference-group influence and Persuasion Knowledge Model), and behavioral economics (e.g., Reference Dependence Theory). The theoretical underpinnings of the studies are highlighted in Appendix A.

4.1.9 Summary of findings: objective 1

The key findings from the preceding analysis are stated below.

The research on PSMM is on the rise.

The US and the UK dominate PSMM research.

Twitter and Facebook dominate PSMM research.

There are limited studies that offer a cross-country comparison between voters.

Candidates are studied more frequently than political parties.

Presidential and national politics dominate the literature.

Young voters are the most frequently explored segment.

Sophisticated research methods such as experimentation, big data analysis, and social network analysis are replacing the case-study methodology.

Social media pages are the preferred source of data.

PSMM’s theoretical foundations need to be strengthened.

4.2 Objective 2: What are the themes that exist in the PSMM literature?

To identify the themes that exist in the literature, we conducted a thematic analysis. Our analysis revealed ten themes. The themes are presented in Table 9 . The themes vary in their presence over the last decade. For instance, the last five years have seen diminished interest in the adoption of social media for political activity and an increased focus on branding, relationship marketing, and social media content. Similarly, certain themes like ‘political marketer-generated content’, ‘political brands’ approach towards PSMM’, and ‘adoption of social media for political activities’ are more popular among researchers. This is also evidenced in Tables 10 and 11 , which reveal the high number of variables associated with these themes. Consequently, a few themes can also be traced in the integrative framework, which is derived from the variables that are studied in the literature. Besides identifying themes, we include a brief synopsis of these themes.

4.2.1 Political social media marketing during elections/campaigns

Studies in this theme dissect the social media strategies of political parties and candidates or the extent and manner of their social media use during elections. Several articles explore Barack Obama’s groundbreaking use of new media in 2008 [ 31 , 79 , 110 ] and Donald Trump’s Twitter-savvy strategy [ 25 , 33 , 53 , 101 ]. While Obama executed a grassroots movement that connected like-minded voters via social media and his website, Trump was able to use social media to bypass party elites and cultivate an authentic brand. Studies outside the US explore social media marketing during the UK [ 44 , 43 , 107 ] and Indian elections [ 6 , 52 ], with social media playing a consequential role in the Indian context where Prime Minister Modi and his Bhartiya Janta Party were able to use social media effectively. The UK general election (2010), however, showed that Obama’s campaign did not trigger an instant adoption of PSMM in the UK.

4.2.2 Approach towards political social media marketing

Our review shows that politicians do not adopt an interactive or relational approach to social media and utilize them in a traditional manner, i.e., for political broadcasting, self-promotion, and self-advocacy [ 41 , 44 , 61 , 98 ]. Politicians tend to inform and mobilize through political marketing [ 117 ]. Their posting frequencies increase or decrease based on campaign needs [ 98 ]. Moreover, the distinctions between politicians are diminishing as social media mature, with a vast majority of politicians adopting similar communication styles, self-presentation strategies, visual framing, and emotional appeals [ 41 , 78 , 86 , 90 ].

Few studies acknowledge differences also [ 25 , 82 ]. For instance, Clinton’s social media marketing was professional compared to Trump’s spontaneous ‘amateurism’ [ 25 ]. Furthermore, candidates are increasingly turning to social media for political marketing during government [ 55 ]. For example, Obama’s innovative use of social media during government benefitted him domestically [ 31 ] and internationally [ 113 ].

4.2.3 Adoption of social media for political activities

Candidates: Factors such as the candidate’s age, the target market’s age, and the type of election dictate the adoption and usefulness of social media marketing [ 76 ]. Further, a candidate’s adaptation, relationship-building, leadership, and innovation capabilities influence their adoption of social media [ 9 , 10 ]. Other factors that are pertinent to the adoption of social media include the digitalization of national politics and the candidate’s education and understanding of social media [ 42 , 99 ]. Besides politicians’ general adoption of social media, their adoption of social media for eliciting inbound communications is also investigated in the literature [ 75 ].

Voters: Political interest, gender, race, and party identification determine the general political use of social media [ 40 , 111 ]. Specific social media activities, however, vary in the factors driving them. Following political brands, for instance, is driven by gender (male), higher income, race, and college education, whereas political tweeting is driven by low education, disagreements, political ideology, and political motivations [ 19 ]. Sharing political videos is primarily driven by personal motivations, political motivations, and political ideology [ 87 , 121 ]. Finally, the research shows that some factors (e.g., visibility of likes) inhibit engagement with political content [ 71 ].

4.2.4 Social media’s effect on voters’ behavior

Research demonstrates that PSMM has an impact on online and offline political participation (e.g., [ 7 , 34 , 40 , 111 ]. Although, the effect is more pronounced when voters are active followers (liking and sharing) rather than passive followers [ 34 ]. Social media also facilitate grassroots activism and political protests, which was witnessed during the Arab Spring [ 58 ].

4.2.5 Social media’s ability to predict elections

The predictive capabilities of social media have also received attention [ 104 , 29 , 68 , 99 ]. These studies show that various social media-based indicators such as the number of Facebook friends, pre-election changes in the numbers of Facebook friends, retweets, account type, and verification badge can be used to predict electoral results [ 104 , 29 , 68 ].

4.2.6 Political marketer-generated content

The content posted by politicians and political parties is the subject of several studies in our review. Whereas some studies attempt to understand the characteristics of the content posted by politicians or political parties, such as the level of personalization, production techniques, emotional appeals, themes, word count, communication styles, and credibility cues used in the content [ 90 , 41 , 86 , 87 , 82 , 98 , 78 ], other studies explore the effects of various content characteristics on content virality and voter outcomes. The virality of tweets, for instance, is dependent upon various structural elements of the tweet, source characteristics, sentiment of the tweet, and its content [ 120 ]. Emotional content drives favorable attitudes and behavioral intentions [ 72 ]. Lastly, certain factors affect the composition of political marketer-generated content. Gender [ 86 ], country or culture [ 90 ], and party or individual characteristics are a few variables that are discussed in the literature [ 2 , 25 ].

4.2.7 Social media and political relationship marketing

Relationship marketing is the only feasible orientation towards political marketing on social media [ 44 ]. It increases political participation among citizens [ 7 ]. Qualitative studies in the domain explore the extent to which politicians practice relationship marketing on social media [ 3 , 44 ], the factors hampering the application of relationship marketing [ 83 ], and the nature of social media-enabled voter relationships [ 1 ]. The latter study finds that young voters desire a personal and social relationship with political brands, whereas the former studies conclude that politicians and political parties do not adopt a relational orientation to social media. However, local politicians and minor parties enjoy a positive perception [ 3 ]. Quantitative studies confirm that certain social media marketing activities and content cues influence relationship equity and relationship quality respectively [ 2 , 49 ].

4.2.8 Social media and political branding

Donald Trump’s branding strategy has received substantial attention [ 18 , 79 , 101 ]. Studies highlight that social media are transforming political branding, which is becoming a co-created, technology-driven phenomenon as demonstrated by the rise of Donald Trump and ‘cyber political brands’ in the EU [ 18 , 70 ]. The research on political brand communities shows that communities devoted to lower-tier candidates are dense and exhibit greater reciprocity [ 70 ]. Further, brand communities play an important role in political co-branding [ 18 ]. Other studies demonstrate that the behavior towards political brands on social media is different from that towards commercial brands [ 20 , 71 ].

4.2.9 User-generated content

Like marketer-generated content, user-generated content (UGC) is also examined in the literature. The virality of user-generated content is determined by certain content characteristics such as the tweet’s surface features, linguistic style, emotion, and topic [ 17 ]. Studies show that young voters prefer brief user-generated content on social networking sites [ 50 ].

The nature of user-generated content is affected by a politician’s gender, party, and the nature of marketer-generated content itself [ 53 , 84 ]. For instance, Congresswomen receive more comments with joy, whereas Republican candidates prompt more disgust and anger. Emotional MGC leads to emotional UGC [ 87 ]. Studies examining political brand’s responses to user-generated content recommend proactive behavior [ 15 , 27 ]. Besides user-generated content, the user’s roles as citizen marketer [ 87 ] and gatekeeper of citizen-led Facebook newsgroups [ 6 ] are also discussed in the literature.

4.2.10 Digitalization and professionalization

Lastly, a few studies highlight that modern politics is becoming professionalized and digitalized. This is the case in the US [ 27 ] and Europe [ 42 ]. Political consultancy is becoming tech-driven, creating an immense need for specialist consultants. In India, political parties are creating IT cells and hiring advertising agencies to train and assist politicians or post content on their behalf [ 99 ].

4.3 Objective 3: Variables investigated in the literature and framework development

To achieve our third objective, we identified and categorized the variables that are studied in the literature (see Table 10 and Table 11 ). The first author read the articles and listed the variables studied in these articles. The categorization of variables was undertaken by the first author. The variables are categorized as per the antecedents-consequences model. Mediators and moderators are also incorporated [ 119 ]. Tables 10 and 11 show that official channels of political brands interest scholars. Scholars are particularly interested in voter, profile, content, and situational variables that amplify the effect of political MGC that is generated by the official channels of political brands. Similarly, the drivers of PSMM adoption and variations in politicians’ use of social media are topics of significant interest. Beyond this, the literature is lacking. For instance, there is limited literature devoted to brand communities, political advertisements, and user-generated content (e.g., [ 17 , 20 , 88 ], the other mechanisms through which voters are influenced besides official channels.

Considering this skew in the literature, we devise an integrative framework that focuses on the topics of scholarly interest and not the entire literature. Integrative frameworks are valued by practitioners and academics alike [ 119 , 74 ]. The framework elaborates on the manner in which official social media channels of political brands influence voters. It allows readers to understand the linkages between different categories of variables that prevail in the literature. To ensure objectivity in our framework, we only include variables that are studied quantitatively. The absence of an integrative, discipline-specific framework is a shortcoming of the current research that our framework rectifies. Figure  3 illustrates this framework, which adheres to the antecedents and consequences model, with the inclusion of moderators, mediators, and contextual factors, as done by Vrontis et al. [ 119 ]. The framework is derived from Tables 10 and 11 .

Integrative framework

Our framework highlights two types of antecedents. These are factors that drive political brands and voters to adopt and consume PSMM respectively. The former is motivated by macro trends like digitalization and personalization, along with politicians’ individual characteristics (e.g., [ 42 , 9 ]. Voters, on the other hand, are driven by demographic factors and personal motivations and knowledge (e.g., [ 40 , 111 ]. The framework highlights two consequences of PSMM, which are categorized as online and offline outcomes. The factors that are categorized as antecedents and consequences are presented in Table 10 .

Moreover, we identify two sets of moderators. The first set comprises variables that influence the way politicians use PSMM and explain the variations between different politicians that occur due to their strategy, gender, tier, or country [ 53 , 69 , 87 , 98 ]. The second set of moderators constitutes variables that influence PSMM’s impact on online and offline voter outcomes. These include political MGC cues, profile cues, and voter characteristics [ 72 , 71 , 90 ]. Besides identifying the moderators, we identify the variables that mediate the relationship between PSMM and voter outcomes. These mediators include factors such as candidate image, emotional reactions, and persuasion knowledge [ 20 , 49 , 72 ]. The moderators and mediators are presented in Table 11 . Although the framework is not comprehensive, since it ignores certain topics that have yet to attract substantial academic interest, political marketers can benefit from it since it highlights the factors that magnify the effect of PSMM.

4.4 Objective 4: future research agenda

Through the first three objectives, we offer researchers a structured and comprehensive view of the domain and the extent of current knowledge, which can help avoid duplication of research and facilitate the discovery of research gaps. The review identified various academic gaps in the literature, along with conceptual and methodological shortcomings. In light of these inadequacies and contemporary social media marketing literature, we propose an agenda for further research in the field.

4.4.1 Methodological directions

From a methodological perspective, PSMM requires exploration across diverse geographic contexts, with an emphasis on how differences in the political climate, democratic forms, and voter participation levels influence PSMM. For instance, is political content with negative valence less effective in countries where polarization levels are low? Similarly, comparative studies like Marder et al. [ 72 ], which found variations in the social media responses of American and British voters, are rare. These studies shed light on how political and cultural factors influence voters’ engagement with political brands on social media.

Another methodological issue is the limited voter perspective. Reliance on primary data that is collected from the voters is limited. Moreover, barring young voters, few studies explore PSMM in relation to a specific segment (e.g., [ 43 , 111 ]. Therefore, future researchers are advised to investigate how different electoral segments (undecided voters, women, and minority voters) engage with political brands on social media. Researchers can also explore how the level of politics (local, state, national) influences PSMM and voters’ behavior. Furthermore, the literature is predominantly focused on Twitter and Facebook. Future researchers should study other platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat [ 21 ]. With Gen Z becoming a sizeable voter segment, TikTok merits investigation since its political use is on the rise [ 39 ]. Particularly, the differences in PSMM practices and voter behavior across social media platforms merit investigation. For example, the visibility of a user’s ‘likes’ has a negative impact on Facebook [ 71 ], but does this hold for Twitter? Is one platform better than others for achieving specific goals such as building voter relationships? The effect of platform characteristics on users is a relevant and timely topic in social media marketing [ 36 ].

Finally, studies relying on interviews and focus groups are scant, which means that PSMM is missing a rich, in-depth understanding. Qualitative studies are advocated in social media marketing literature also, which primarily relies on a quantitative approach [ 5 , 36 ]. Conceptual papers have a limited presence in the literature. Conceptual articles are valuable as they propose new and relevant constructs and relationships [ 51 ]. Therefore, future researchers are encouraged to devise rigorous and novel conceptual studies. Additionally, there is a need to use longitudinal analysis to understand PSMM’s effect on voters.

4.4.2 Conceptual directions

The review highlighted a domain that is lacking a concerted approach to systematic theory development. First, the number of studies embedded in sound theories comprises less than a third of the literature. Second, the majority of the research is geared towards problem-solving rather than theory-building and can be classified as practice-oriented [ 63 ]. Third, most of the theories utilized in the literature do not originate from consumer research or marketing literature. Therefore, we encourage future researchers to focus on theory-building, which is essential for the discipline’s academic growth and standing. Specifically, concepts and theories originating in marketing should be preferred. Importantly, PSMM researchers are encouraged to utilize concepts and paradigms that reflect the contemporary focus of marketing and social media marketing. Finally, the literature is almost explicitly focused on the short-term (elections and campaigns), which is contrary to contemporary marketing thought. Thus, researchers should focus on embedding their studies outside the contexts of campaigns and elections.

4.4.3 Thematic directions

The impact of PSMM on voters and voting behavior: The review shows that scholars want to know how PSMM is used by practitioners (political advisors and politicians), with an emphasis on its impact in the short-term, i.e., elections. Therefore, future research could further investigate PSMM in relation to voter behavior. Various outcomes have been explored (e.g., [ 7 , 34 , 49 ], but pertinent outcomes such as voting, volunteering, and financial contributions remain under-researched. The latter is important given seventy-five percent of Facebook ad spending in the US election cycle of 2020 aimed to raise funds, solicit contributions, or sell merchandise [ 47 ]. Future researchers could further refine our understanding of social media’s predictive capabilities (e.g., [ 30 , 68 ] and identify indicators of an electoral win across different platforms. Identifying such metrics or analytics will help political marketing managers understand the ROI of PSMM and that of each platform. A comparison of the predictive capabilities of various platforms also merits further investigation (e.g., [ 29 ].

General approach to PSMM: Candidates are becoming homogenous in their PSMM, which indicates an ideal approach (e.g., [ 90 ]. However, Donald Trump’s unique approach and his success negate this view. This presents an interesting dilemma for future researchers to resolve. Politicians and political parties offer limited interactivity and engagement opportunities on social media (e.g., [ 1 ], but there is inadequate guidance as to what these interactive and engagement opportunities entail, and whether they have a positive impact on desired outcomes. For instance, is it feasible for a politician to engage in a dialogue with voters on social media? Personalization is a growing trend in politics and few studies explore its’ effectiveness (e.g., [ 33 ]. Is it more effective than an issue-dominant approach? Should candidates post personal content frequently? Do politicians who manage their social media themselves (Donald Trump) fare better? Such research has practical significance. Barack Obama showed that PSMM is important beyond elections and campaigns, i.e., once politicians have been elected and are in government [ 31 ]. However, researchers have ignored this aspect of PSMM. Are distinct strategies, content, and orientations required when in government and opposition? Such questions demand attention from scholars of political marketing.

PSMM and branding: PSMM’s effects on brand loyalty, brand personality, brand awareness, brand knowledge, and brand image remain unexplored and present viable directions for future research. Since behavior towards political brands differs from commercial brands [ 20 , 71 ], research is needed to understand when, how, and why these deviations occur. Current research on brand communities, both official and unofficial, offers limited insights into how these communities operate.

Social media and political relationship marketing: Relationship marketing is the advocated approach to political marketing [ 81 ] and PSMM [ 44 ]. There remains a need to understand what a relationship marketing approach towards PSMM entails. Future studies should identify effective examples of political brands that have used social media for relationship marketing. Additionally, quantitative research is yet to establish if a relationship orientation is more effective than a traditional approach to political marketing. Further, how PSMM can facilitate inter-voter relationships is an important question [ 105 ]. Finally, political marketing literature highlights a relational approach towards society and various stakeholders [ 48 ]. Future researchers can add value by exploring PSMM beyond voters. For example, Donald Trump regularly communicated with stakeholders like Fox News and National Rifle Association via social media.

Political user-generated content and eWOM: Berman et al.’s [ 17 ] study on Twitter is the only direct attempt to understand the effect of UGC cues on content virality. Future research can attempt to understand the virality of UGC using different cues . Further research could understand how and why voters create political content (e.g., [ 87 ]. Limited research explores the effect of UGC/eWOM on voters’ attitudes and behaviors (e.g., [ 50 ], which is worthy of examination since the effect of UGC is different from MGC [ 77 ]. Future researchers can also explore the effects of different types of UGC (e.g., influencer-generated, celebrity-generated, and citizen-generated).

PSMM and political MGC: Politicians need to provide content that is relevant, valuable, and enriching to the voter experience [ 105 ]. Future researchers can use various content classifications and characterizations highlighted in marketing literature to understand the effect of various MGC cues and characteristics (e.g., [ 14 , 106 ]. Importantly, the effect of political MGC has mostly been studied via content analysis, which does not allow for an understanding of the interplay between political MGC and source, situational, or user characteristics. How source characteristics, situational variables, and voters’ personality traits impact political MGC’s reception are topics that demand attention. Experimental studies can add value here (e.g., [ 33 , 20 ].

PSMM and political advertising: Only two studies in our selection investigate political social media advertising [ 20 , 117 ]. Evidence suggests that promoted tweets have a counteractive effect [ 20 ], which is surprising since political advertising on social media, particularly Facebook, constitutes the largest portion of most campaigns’ digital marketing budget. Therefore, the effectiveness of political ads merits further investigation.

PSMM and value creation: Value creation and co-creation, prominent themes in marketing and social media marketing [ 12 , 60 ], are rarely explored in PSMM. Value creation is a critical element of political marketing [ 48 ]. How can social media facilitate the co-creation of value between political brands and voters? What are the antecedents and consequences of this co-creation? Such questions remain unanswered.

PSMM and voter engagement: Engagement, an important concept in contemporary marketing [ 24 , 46 ], is pertinent to social media [ 4 , 12 ]. However, Pich et al. [ 91 ] is the only study that engages this paradigm and studies voter engagement using the customer engagement framework.

PSMM and influencer marketing: Another important topic in social media marketing, influencer marketing [ 11 , 119 ], has received negligible attention in PSMM (e.g., [ 104 ]. The motivations driving political influencers, characteristics and types of influencers, and their impact on voters are valid areas of research.

PSMM and overall media mix: There is a need to understand PSMM’s role within the overall media mix and digital marketing strategy. Social media do not function in isolation and are impacted by or impact other media [ 36 ]. Therefore, an understanding of PSMM as a component of a holistic political marketing strategy is beneficial. This perspective is highlighted in the recent social media marketing literature [ 11 , 36 , 118 ].

PSMM and ethics: Despite ethical concerns around PSMM [ 11 ], we have a limited understanding of ethical issues related to PSMM. The topic remains unexplored, which provides researchers with a meaningful avenue for further research. Table 12 provides a summary of the directions of research that may be undertaken in the future.

5 Theoretical contribution

Review articles advance theory in several ways [ 92 ]. We contribute to the theory by describing the ten themes that exist in the relevant literature. It is important for researchers to understand the dominant streams of research “for developing and strengthening the theoretical positioning of research” [ 67 ], p. 1148). It helps future researchers position their research in relation to existing literature, as well as uncover gaps within these streams of research. Rather than summarizing the literature, we adopt a critical perspective and dissect the literature from various angles to identify the shortcomings in the literature. For instance, from a contextual perspective, most of the studies are embedded in the American context and focus on presidential politics, which limits the generalizability of the current literature. Similarly, methodological limitations are also highlighted in our analysis such as the infrequent utilization of qualitative techniques. The theoretical limitations of the relevant literature are also revealed in the study. For instance, the domain is primarily built upon theories that originate from the fields of psychology, communication, information systems, and media. The review demonstrates that there is a lack of integration of contemporary marketing concepts in the current literature. Political social media marketing as a domain has traditionally been unreceptive to modern marketing paradigms. For instance, engagement, co-creation, and service-dominant logic are yet to gain prominence in the relevant literature. Relationship marketing, however, is an emerging perspective within the PSMM literature and presents an opportunity to unify and update the theoretical foundations of the PSMM literature.

The review makes another contribution to the theory. This is in the form of our integrative framework and identification of variables that have been studied in the literature. The integrative framework identifies the antecedents and consequences of political social media marketing, along with the various factors that mediate and moderate the effects of this marketing. By identifying the constructs studied in the literature and the contexts in which they were studied, we help future researchers in theory building as they can choose between studying new constructs, investigating constructs in a different context, or jointly examining multiple constructs from the same category of variables, given most of these constructs were studied independently.

6 Conclusion

Our systematic review synthesizes and presents an overview of the literature in the field of PSMM. Like similar domains, such as political campaigning and political participation [ 22 , 57 ], PSMM can also benefit from a systematic arrangement of the literature. The review illustrates that PSMM is gaining traction globally, particularly among marketing scholars. Research is gradually starting to assimilate contemporary marketing concepts. Similarly, the prevalent themes, which are emphasized in our review, reflect growing synchronization with the social media marketing literature [ 5 ]. The growing number of publication outlets, a nascent domain, high practical significance, and the many promising areas of research offer an opportune time to undertake research in PSMM.

Despite a thorough and systematic approach, the review has limitations. The search term, social media, is not the only relevant term. The terms ‘new media’ and Web 2.0 are also used in the literature. Similarly, we do not include the term ‘social network’. However, marketing studies almost exclusively rely on the term ‘social media’, and we include the names of all prominent social media platforms (including SNSs) used in political marketing. Therefore, these issues have limited bearing on our review. The identification and categorization of variables were undertaken by a single coder, which is another limitation of our study. Further, the number of studies might not be sufficient for a comprehensive and exhaustive framework. The number of databases also limits our selection. Similarly, the exclusion of conference papers and book chapters limits the findings. Finally, the review is restricted by its marketing-dominant view, which is also reflected in the themes identified.

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Abid, A., Roy, S.K., Lees-Marshment, J. et al. Political social media marketing: a systematic literature review and agenda for future research. Electron Commer Res (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-022-09636-7

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Developing the digital transformation skills framework: A systematic literature review approach

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

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Affiliations Research Group Organizations in Digital Transition, HU Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands, Institute for People & Business, HU Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations Research Group Organizations in Digital Transition, HU Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands, Research Group Strategy, Organization & Leadership, Nyenrode Business University, Breukelen, The Netherlands

Roles Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations MV Hospitality Solutions, LLC, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America, Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality and Tourism, Bryan School of Business, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States of America

Roles Formal analysis, Methodology

Affiliation Institute for People & Business, HU Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands

• Machiel Bouwmans, 
• Xander Lub, 
• Marissa Orlowski, 
• Thuy-Vy Nguyen

• Published: July 5, 2024
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304127
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Digital transformation (DT) involves integrating digital technologies into organizations to improve productivity, efficiency, and quality. Investing in the workforce’s skillsets is essential for successful DT. However, it remains unclear which skillsets are essential.

This study aims to identify and define the essential skillsets needed for exploiting the full potential of DT, and to consolidate the identified skills into a comprehensive framework of DT skills.

A systematic literature review was conducted using the PRISMA approach for selecting studies. This led to the selection of 36 articles that were examined using thematic analysis for identifying and consolidating skills into a framework.

The Digital Transformation Skills Framework (DTSF) was developed, which contains six overarching skillsets and 44 underlying skills. The framework covers key skillsets in the areas of digital work, entrepreneurship, evidence-based work, collaboration, communication, and adaptation.

Conclusion and discussion

The DTSF offers a comprehensive understanding of essential skills for today’s evolving organizations, addressing a critical gap in existing literature. It is valuable for organizations and HR professionals, serving as a foundation for re- and upskilling initiatives. Ongoing research should expand the framework to include domain-specific DT skills and emerging digital technologies.

Citation: Bouwmans M, Lub X, Orlowski M, Nguyen T-V (2024) Developing the digital transformation skills framework: A systematic literature review approach. PLoS ONE 19(7): e0304127. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304127

Editor: Tachia Chin, Zhejiang University of Technology, CHINA

Received: January 24, 2024; Accepted: May 6, 2024; Published: July 5, 2024

Copyright: © 2024 Bouwmans et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting information files.

Funding: This research was conducted with internal funding provided by the HU Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

The rapid advancements of digital technology, including automation, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, cloud computing, robotics, and internet of things (IoT), have profoundly impacted organizations [ 1 – 3 ]; for instance, by enabling organizations to process, archive, and access information at an unprecedented scale, facilitating real-time data analysis, and improving productivity, efficiency, and quality [ 2 ]. These advancements drive digital transformation (DT), which comprises the process of improving organizations “by triggering significant changes to its properties through combinations of information, computing, communication, and connectivity technologies” [ 4 , p. 121]. Organizations across sectors undergo DT as they adopt new digital technologies to redefine value propositions for stakeholders as well as optimize or develop digital strategies, structures, processes, and operations [ 1 , 5 ]. This makes DT a central aspect of Industry 4.0, given that Industry 4.0 entails high digitalization and use of information technologies by organizations to adapt to rapidly changing environments and to gain competitive advantage [ 6 , 7 ].

Successful DT of organizations relies heavily upon its workforce. Trenerry et al. [ 3 ] identified several people-related factors that determine the success of DT, such as employees’ skillsets, perceptions, and attitudes towards technological change, team adaptability and resilience, and organizational culture. Particularly, employees’ skillsets are often recognized as an important prerequisite to successful DT [ 8 ], as advancements of digital technology are shifting the skills needed in the workplace. Employees not only need digital skills, which are the abilities needed to perform and complete job tasks within digitalized work environments [ 3 ], but also additional, non-digital, skills to thrive in the context of DT [ 9 ]. Skills gaps emerge and grow, as employees increasingly do not have these essential skills required to perform their jobs in rapidly changing work environments. Notably, in 2016 the World Economic Forum [ 6 ] predicted that 35% of employees’ skills would be disrupted in the upcoming five years due to digital technology advancements, and that share has risen to 44% in 2023.

Subsequently, the World Economic Forum [ 6 ] predicts that 60% of employees will require re- and upskilling training activities in the next five years, but only half have access to adequate training opportunities. There is, therefore, a great responsibility on organizations to prevent skill obsolescence and to invest in re- and upskilling activities for their workforce. To successfully do this, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of essential skills for DT [ 2 ].

However, there is no consensus on which specific skillsets are needed in the context of DT. Even though there are many scientific articles and models discussing the skills needed for DT, existing frameworks do not cover all the essential skills. This is largely because extant research and frameworks have specifically focused on digital skills [e.g., 10 , 11 ] and, as a result, overlook other crucial skills necessary for exploiting the full potential of DT [ 9 , 12 ].

Therefore, we attempt to fill this gap in the current literature by making the following three contributions in this research. First, we seek to discern the skills necessary for both the digital technology component and the transformational component of DT, both of which are fundamental in the context of DT [ 5 ]. Second, recognizing that DT transcends specific sectors or professions, we pursuit to pinpoint skills that hold relevance across a wide spectrum of professions spanning various sectors. Third, we aim to consolidate the identified skills into a comprehensive framework of DT skills, accompanied by skill definitions to mitigate conceptual ambiguity.

We pursue these contributions by conducting a systematic literature review, through which the following research questions will be answered:

• Which workforce skills are essential for digital transformation ?
• How can these essential skills be synthesized into a digital transformation skills framework ?

Digital transformation skills

Industry 4.0 is characterized by the adoption of different interdependent digital technologies across diverse sectors, to enhance processes, decision-making, and services, changing the ways organizations operate and interact with customers, and fundamentally changing the nature of work [ 13 ]. The speed and scale of ongoing advancements of digital technologies lead to a digital disruption regarding work, because jobs or tasks are being displaced by digital innovations, and at the same time new jobs and tasks arise due to the emergence of new digital technologies [ 3 , 14 ]. This makes skill disruption inevitable. For example, as digital technologies replace employees in performing certain tasks, the skills needed to perform those tasks become obsolete, and new digital technologies will create new tasks for which new skills are needed [ 5 ]. This disruption is not unexpected as industrial revolutions have historically displaced jobs and industries, necessitating new and often more complex skillsets [ 14 ].

The transformative shift of Industry 4.0 is generally viewed as a DT, which, in turn, is regarded as a socio-technical process of exploiting the potentials of digital technologies for strategic organizational purposes, often as a response to (possible) marginalization or displacement of an organization due to the digital advancements of other organizations in its sector [ 15 ]. Compared to digitization (converting from analogue to digital processes), and digitalization (using the potentials of digital technologies for mainly operational purposes), DT involves development towards direct integration of digital technologies in digital business strategies [ 15 ].

For digital strategies to be successfully implemented, organizations must undergo significant changes in structures and processes. It is often argued that an agile approach [ 16 ], or adoption of a malleable organizational design [ 17 ], is needed to respond to and leverage emerging digital technologies, as these increase the likelihood of maintaining competitiveness, exploiting new opportunities, and adeptly navigating unpredictable situations [ 17 ]. This need for agile approaches and malleable organizational designs underscores how DT differs from other organizational change processes which are often episodic and infrequent, whereas DT is ongoing, evolving, and cumulative [ 17 ]. Gong and Ribiere [ 1 ] therefore describe DT as a transformative shift, driven by innovative use of digital technology and strategic resource optimization, aiming to radically enhance and redefine value propositions for stakeholders within organizations, or even business networks, industries, or society.

Employees are regarded as one of the strategic pillars for DT [ 9 ], as their ability to adapt to DT is a critical determinant of its success [ 1 ]. When some tasks become obsolete and other tasks emerge, it is crucial that employees adopt essential skillsets for DT [ 18 ]. This will be challenging for employees for several reasons. First, digital technologies are advancing at a rapid and exponential rate, whereas employees can currently only adapt at a much slower rate, and this growing skills gap will overpower some employees if they are not acutely aware of their potential skills obsolescence [ 12 ]. Second, employees in DT contexts not only need job-specific and ever-changing technological skills, but also relevant soft skills such as collaboration skills [ 12 ], problem solving skills, and project management skills [ 2 ]. This is affirmed by the World Economic Forum [ 6 ] which, alongside technological skills, identifies soft skills related to collaboration, communication, entrepreneurship, and self-efficacy as increasingly vital. Foerster-Paster and Golowko [ 19 ] and Ivaldi et al. [ 2 ] even argue that soft skills are more valuable for employees than digital technological skills, as they contribute to one’s adaptability and flexibility, which are essential to adaptive learning in the dynamic context of DT.

Organizations bear responsibility for preparing employees for DT, by developing upskilling activities through which employees can learn new skills needed to perform new tasks, and reskilling activities through which employees learn new skills needed to perform new jobs [ 2 , 20 ]. Responsibility for re- and upskilling for DT typically lies with human resource management (HRM) [ 7 , 20 – 28 ]. However, although there is consensus that expectations towards employees are changing and that organizations need to implement re- and upskilling activities, there is hardly agreement on which specific characteristics of employees are missing specific to DT [ 29 ]. In other words, there is no consensus on which specific skills are increasingly important. Therefore, identifying these essential skills is key for re- and upskilling activities to be successful [ 2 ].

Despite the increasing number of scientific articles on the subject, there is no unequivocal answer as to which DT skills are essential. The primary reason for this is the conceptual ambiguity surrounding essential skills in increasingly digitalized workplaces. This ambiguity is the result of ongoing advancements in digital technology, which require concepts of digital technology-related skills to rapidly evolve as well [ 30 ]. Consequently, various and often overlapping skills frameworks, such as digital literacy, information literacy, and digital competence, have emerged to describe essential digital technology-related skills. Apart from this conceptual ambiguity, most of these existing skills frameworks do not fully capture the complex and multifaceted nature of DT. For instance, many skills frameworks focus exclusively on technological or digital skills, failing to explain the essential soft skills necessary to exploit the full potential of DT [ 9 ]. As DT is a fundamental organizational change process [ 1 ], a comprehensive framework of essential skills for DT should go beyond digital technology-oriented skills and include soft, transformation-oriented skills as well.

Therefore, we consider essential DT skills to be a combination of digital technology-oriented skills (hard skills) that enable the optimal use of new digital technologies in work, and transformation-oriented skills (soft skills) that enable adaptability and flexibility in the wake of changing work conditions. This is the starting point for developing a new comprehensive framework of essential skills for DT.

Materials and methods

We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify and synthesize essential DT skills in a transparent and reliable way. SLRs are used to advance knowledge based on prior existing academic work. As with all scientific research methods, it is important that SLRs are executed in a valid, reliable, and repeatable manner [ 31 ]. Therefore, in this paper we used the PRISMA 2020 approach [ 32 ], which includes the process of identifying, screening, and including academic papers. Moreover, we used the PRISMA 27-item checklist for reporting the SLR results in a transparent and complete manner, along with information regarding the advanced Boolean search action, eligibility criteria for including academic papers, quality assessment, and the process of achieving inter-rater agreement. The process of this SLR is visualized in the PRISMA 2020 flow diagram ( Fig 1 ) and the PRISMA Checklist adopted for this study is included as S1 Table .

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304127.g001

Search strategy and selection process

Our search strategy consisted of two steps: an advanced search action in Web of Science, followed by a forward citation search in Google Scholar for the selection of articles found in Web of Science. Searches were conducted in November–December 2021 and in November-December 2023.

Step one: Selection of articles via web of science.

For the search action in Web of Science, we combined multiple search terms into one Boolean search operator. Fig 2 presents the search terms by abstract and keywords (see S1 Fig for the detailed Boolean search operator). This resulted in the identification of 240 articles. After identification, we screened the articles in two stages. In stage one, we screened the titles and abstracts of all 240 articles for the following eligibility criteria:

• Includes conceptualizations, definitions and/or measurements of DT skills or a related term.
• Includes DT skills or related terms that are not too domain-specific for one profession or sector.
• Published in a peer-reviewed journal.
• Written in English.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304127.g002

Three co-authors independently conducted this round of screening and discussed differences in judgment to reach absolute interrater agreement. After the stage one screening, we excluded 175 articles based on the eligibility criteria, and two articles could not be retrieved. The main reasons for exclusion were (a) the articles had no specific focus on skills for DT, (b) the articles contained only domain-specific skills for DT (e.g., for healthcare or educational professionals only), or (c) the articles focused on skills for organizations instead of employees. We followed the same process for stage two, this time reviewing the full texts of the remaining 63 articles. Reasons for exclusion of articles in this stage are included in Fig 1 . This procedure resulted in the final inclusion of 33 articles from the Web of Science database.

Step two: Selection of articles via Google Scholar.

To be included in the forward citation search in Google Scholar, the 33 selected papers from Step One needed to:

• Include rich definitions of skills or rich descriptions of indicators of skills.
• Have a minimum average of two citations per year. We deemed this minimum acceptable given that the majority of articles on this topic are recent (published since 2020) and thus have not had time to collect more citations.

Furthermore, if papers had the same authors, papers were only included in the forward citation search if they contained different frameworks or models in multiple articles.

Based on these criteria, nine articles from Step One were selected for inclusion in the forward citation search. In total these nine articles were forward-cited by 415 papers, which were screened and assessed in the same two stages as described in Step One. In stage one, one co-author screened the titles and abstracts of all 415 articles for the eligibility criteria. Since Step One had proven to produce high interrater agreement among co-authors, other co-authors were not involved in this stage for Step Two. The title-and-abstract screening resulted in the exclusion of 397 articles. The main reasons for exclusion were (a) the articles had no specific focus on skills for DT, likely due to this broader forward-citation search, (b) articles were not published in peer-reviewed journals (e.g., conference papers), or (c) articles appeared as forward-citation search result for more than one of nine articles from Step One (e.g., double hits). In Stage Two, the full-text check on the remaining 18 articles was performed by three co-authors in the same manner as Step One. Reasons for exclusion of articles are included in Fig 1 . This resulted in the inclusion of 4 articles from the Google Scholar database, for a total of 37 articles.

Step three: Quality assessment.

In this step, we performed a methodological quality assessment of the 37 articles deemed suitable for inclusion using the JBI critical appraisal checklists for qualitative research, text and opinion papers, systematic reviews and research syntheses, and analytical cross-sectional studies [ 33 ]. One co-author conducted the assessment and then the results were discussed by all members of the research team to ensure consensus. As the critical appraisal checklists varied based on study design and methodological approach (e.g., the qualitative research checklist included 10 criteria while the cross-sectional studies checklist included 8 criteria), we converted checklist/scale scores to percentages. Quality scores ranged from 64%–100%, with an average of 94%. Using a benchmark of 80% to indicate high quality [ 34 ], only one article was excluded based on the quality assessment, resulting in a final sample of 36 articles included in our review (see S2 Table ).

Analysis and framework development

We applied template analysis to analyze the concepts used in the articles and to develop a framework of DT skills. Template analysis is a particular style of thematic analysis, in which an initial coding template is developed based on a subset of the data, which is then applied to further data and is revised and refined based on additional data, leading to a final template [ 35 ]. The concepts of the most cited article included in this SLR [ 9 ] provided our starting point for our initial coding template. We then revised and refined this initial template by comparing and adding concepts from the other included articles. To increase the reliability of our analysis, three co-authors discussed the framework and differences in judgements to reach absolute interrater agreement. This resulted in a framework containing six skillsets, of which three skillsets are further delineated into subgroups of skills, and a total of 44 different skills.

In the next step, we developed definitions for each skillset, subgroup, and skill, based on definitions, descriptions, and indicators provided in the 36 articles. Again, to increase reliability and the clarity of definitions, the three co-authors discussed the definitions to reach absolute interrater agreement.

Our analysis led to the development of the Digital Transformation Skills Framework (DTSF) ( Fig 3 ). The results leading up to the DTSF are based on the three tables presented and discussed below, with each table serving a distinct purpose.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304127.g003

Table 1 presents an overview of the characteristics of the 36 included articles. Notably, it highlights the diverse terminology employed in these articles to describe essential skills for DT. Some articles primarily focused on digital technology-related hard skills, such as digital or data literacy, while others described transformation-oriented soft skills like entrepreneurial and open innovation competences. Additionally, certain articles focused on a combination of digital technology-oriented and transformation-oriented skills, employing terms like 21st century skills, transprofessional competencies, and skills pertinent to future developments such as near-future key skills, future skills, and current and foreseen skills. Despite variations in focus, all articles shared a common emphasis on essential skills for working within an increasingly digitalized work environment. Table 1 also indicates whether the articles had a broad focus on multiple professions/sectors or focused on specific professions/sectors. While the primary objective of our study was to develop a DT skills framework relevant to a wide range of professions, studies focusing on specific jobs or sectors were included if the skills discussed in those papers were not only domain-specific and (partially) relevant to a wider range of professions.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304127.t001

Table 2 presents the skillsets, subgroups, and skills that make up the DTSF. This table shows which articles, along with the terminology and concepts used in those articles, underlie the framework. In cases where different terminology was used, but similar descriptions or overlapping definitions existed, we consolidated skills and identified appropriate labels for integration into the DTSF. Table 2 also reveals instances where certain terminology used in the articles was associated with multiple skills within the DTSF. In such cases, the descriptions or definitions provided in those articles encompassed components that spanned multiple skills within the DTSF. By disaggregating these descriptions or definitions into distinct skills, our study contributes to clarifying and disentangling the conceptual ambiguity surrounding essential DT skills.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304127.t002

Table 3 encompasses the definitions of all skillsets, subgroups, and individual skills within the DTSF. As not all articles within the sample provided clear definitions for the skills they deemed essential, only those articles with accompanying definitions or explicit descriptions are highlighted in this table. Table 3 further aids in reducing conceptual ambiguity surrounding essential digital transformation skills and serves as a starting point for future research on DT skills and on re- and upskilling activities.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304127.t003

Digital working skills

The first skillset, digital working skills, refers to all digital technology-oriented skills needed to utilize both established and emerging digital technologies and media platforms to achieve optimal productivity and effectiveness within an increasingly digitalized work environment. The skills derived from literature are divided into two subgroups: fundamental digital working skills and advanced digital working skills.

The first subgroup contains skills needed for everyday tasks common in many professions, such as handling hardware , handling software such as mail and text software, and handling social media channels and the internet for a given task. This subgroup also includes sharing information and data with others in the cloud or shared drives for synchronous online work, and a basic level of digital problem solving when devices or systems do not work as intended.

The second subgroup, advanced digital working skills, includes skills that are relevant for a broad array of professions, although the level of required skill mastery may very per profession. For instance, programming is a very relevant skill for IT professionals but is also increasingly relevant for other employees working with big data and AI technologies in data-driven decision-making processes. Similarly, dealing with law , copyrights , and licenses , which requires employees not only to understand them but also to be able to act in compliance with them, becomes increasingly important for a broad array of professions, yet it belongs more to core tasks of certain professions such as digital ethics officers. The same applies to the other two skills of this subgroup: digital content creation such as creating or editing videos, images or audio, and digital safety skills , which entails adequately protecting one’s devices, systems, and data from disclosure.

Entrepreneurial skills

The second skillset, entrepreneurial skills, includes transformation-oriented skills needed to fully leverage the potential of DT. The present study identifies three interconnected subgroups of entrepreneurial skills: fundamental entrepreneurial skills, openness to novelty, and value creation skills. Most articles included in this SLR include one or more skills that are part of the larger entrepreneurial skillset, such as creativity and problem solving. However, these articles often do not explicitly link these skills to entrepreneurship and neglect to describe links between these individual skills in the context of DT.

The first subgroup, fundamental entrepreneurial skills, contains skills that are essential throughout the whole value creation process. This group consists of creativity and innovation , needed for generating new ideas or treating familiar ideas in new ways, and problem solving , which not only entails recognizing and defining problems and generation solutions, but also developing, testing, and refining prototypes that generate value.

The second subgroup, openness to novelty, contains skills needed to interpret developments and events in an organizational environment, and to identify new opportunities that arise from these developments. Spotting opportunities to generate value by establishing new ways of connecting and combining digital technology developments and events, and sensemaking , or the ability to determine the deeper meaning of digital transformation and create unique insights, make up this subgroup.

The third subgroup, value creation skills, consists of seven skills needed for turning opportunities and unique insights into value: (1) taking initiative by immediately applying ideas until a better solution is found; (2) strategic planning by developing, adapting, and evaluating action plans for achieving goals; (3) informed decision making to determine the best strategy for problem solving and value creation; (4) anticipation of the short- and long-term consequences and potential impact of actions; (5) risk taking by making mistakes and defending unconventional or unpopular opinions to tackle problems in the value creation process; (6) risk management via minimizing and overcoming harmful effects and adversities while searching for solutions; and (7) the leadership skills to guide teams in creating original and valuable solutions.

Evidence-based working skills

The third skillset contains evidence-based working skills that are needed in a digitalized work environment with increased information and data flows. Evidence-based working skills are a combination of digital technology-oriented and transformation-oriented skills. This skillset, which consists of three subgroups, enables employees to extract beneficial insights for their organization.

The first subgroup, fundamental evidence-based working skills, is a crucial basis for the other subgroups within this skillset. The first fundamental skill is formulating research questions , which is the ability to identify key areas of inquiry, understand the organization’s goals and objectives, and formulate research questions that align with these strategic priorities. The other fundamental skill is critical thinking , which is the proficiency to evaluate information and ideas critically, resisting premature conclusions, exploring multiple solutions, and supporting claims with sufficient evidence.

The second subgroup, information processing skills, is widely emphasized in the reviewed literature. This subgroup encompasses searching and selecting information from vast digital sources, which involves articulating information needs, developing search strategies, and filtering results. Another skill is interpreting and evaluating information based on relevance and quality in a discerning and critical manner; for instance, through rigorous fact-checking and other verification techniques to ensure accuracy, and through evaluation of the quality, appropriateness, reliability, and credibility of information sources. The last skill of this subgroup is information management , which involves organizing, storing, and retrieving digital information in a structured and meaningful manner; for example, using data editing methods or adding metadata.

The third subgroup, data fluency skills, involves the ability to comprehend large quantitative datasets and convert them into relevant insights, such as actionable reports for decision-making. The first skill in this subgroup, data collection , involves identifying the appropriate sources and methods to gather data, ensuring its relevance and applicability to the desired objectives. The second skill, data analysis , involves the application of basic descriptive, explorative, and inferential statistical methods, coupled with the ability to employ suitable presentation or visualization methods. The skill data interpretation builds upon previous skills, as it involves being able to make sense of data by identifying patterns and trends, recognizing relationships and dependencies, and also understanding the inherent properties of the data, such as measurement errors and discrepancies. The next skill, data application , involves the ability to construct clear, concise, and coherent reports or presentations on key findings, insights, and recommendations derived from the data. The skill of data management is very similar to information management and involves the systematic handling of quantitative data throughout its lifecycle, including organization, storage, retrieval, and maintenance. Lastly, data ethics and security involves conscientious consideration and responsible decision-making regarding the handling, storage, and analysis of data, with a focus on protecting individual privacy, ensuring ethical data collection practices, and minimizing potential harm.

Collaboration skills

The collaboration skillset is regarded as a crucial transformation-oriented skillset in the context of DT by many authors (see Table 2 ). Employees must master skills that enable them to (digitally) collaborate with different types of employees in agile or cross-functional teams to create value or solve problems, or to collaborate in networks to achieve common goals regarding digital transformation. In the specific context of DT, five collaboration skills are considered important. The first is negotiation with the aim of reaching agreements and making decisions that align with a common goal while maintaining mutual respect for all parties involved. The second skill, multidisciplinary teamwork , involves the proficiency to collaborate with individuals from diverse disciplines to collectively contribute to the development of a common, integrated, and shared mental model by actively engaging in collaborative discussions, exchanging ideas, and leveraging the diverse perspectives and expertise of team members. The third and fourth skills, social intelligence and cultural awareness , both entail adapting oneself to a socially and/or culturally diverse team while considering differences in the team on emotional and cultural levels; for instance, by actively challenging and addressing issues of prejudice and stereotypes, or by effectively interpreting and responding to social signals. Networking is the last skill that makes up the collaboration skillset, and involves employees’ ability to establish networks, form alliances, and engage relevant stakeholders inside and outside one’s organization to achieve shared objectives.

Adaptation skills

Mastering the fifth skillset, adaptation skills, is essential for employees’ flexibility and agility, which is key in response to rapidly changing work conditions due to DT. Adaptation skills necessitate continuously modifying one’s thinking, attitudes, and behaviors to effectively navigate current and future (digital) environments, unpredictable technology consequences, and disruptive changes. As such, it is a transformation-oriented skillset in which four distinct skills are identified. Firstly, self-directed learning involves taking charge of one’s professional development, ands proactive re- and upskilling to meet evolving organizational and environmental demands. Self-directed learners manage their own progression towards self-defined learning goals, take appropriate actions to re- and upskill, reflect upon these actions, and as such prevent skill obsolescence. Secondly, experiential learning encompasses the proficiency to acquire knowledge and skills through hands-on experience in the workplace. This skill is crucial for successfully engaging in more agile project work and adapting to dynamic environments, and involves experimenting with different approaches and methods, engaging in self-reflection as well as collective reflection, and extracting valuable lessons and identifying areas for improvement. The third skill, training others , involves transferring knowledge and expertise to others, empowering them to enhance their DT skills. The last skill, resilience , is the proficiency to successfully adapt and bounce back from disturbances and challenges that threaten an employee’s ability to function. This skill involves not only the capacity to prevent or minimize the harmful effects of adversity but also the ability to overcome obstacles and remain mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy amid adverse conditions.

Communication skills

The sixth and final skillset addresses communication skills. Communication skills are deemed important transformation-oriented skills in the context of DT, as noted by most articles included in this SLR (see Table 2 ). In an increasingly digitalized workplace, it is important that employees master communication skills that enable them to transmit information and interact with others via appropriate and innovative communication channels. Proficiency in communication skills involves not only the ability to convey information accurately but also to ensure that the intended meaning is effectively understood by the intended recipients. Within this skillset, four skills are distinguished. The first, using appropriate ways to communicate , articulates that employees can effectively convey messages through various digital platforms, and develop communication strategies and formats for specific audiences. The second skill, storytelling , denotes that employees are proficient in crafting compelling narratives that captivate audiences and provide a coherent narrative thread using digital tools, attractive visualizations, models, or simulations, with the goal to persuade or inspire others. The remaining two skills focus on appropriate behavior in the digital environment: netiquette , which emphasizes socially responsible online behavior, respecting privacy, using appropriate language, and preventing misinterpretation, and digital identity management , which involves effectively managing multiple digital identities and communicating in alignment with each identity.

Our study answers the following research questions ‘ Which workforce skills are essential for digital transformation ? ’ and ‘How can these essential skills be synthesized into a digital transformation skills framework ? ’ , by developing the Digital Transformation Skills Framework (DTSF). The DTSF offers new insights on essential DT skills for employees in a broad array of professions and organizations. This insight is crucial as active engagement of employees determines the success of DT [ 1 ], but employees’ required skills are rapidly changing. The skills gap that emerges is recognized as a central hinderance in this success [ 8 ]. Although many studies stress the importance of both essential digital technology-oriented (hard) and transformation-oriented (soft) skills, contemporary skills frameworks tend to focus on the former and therefore neglect the full complexity of DT [ 9 ]. The importance of transformation-oriented skills is emphasized by the World Economic Forum [ 6 ] and multiple scientific papers [e.g., 2 , 19 ]. However, a framework that synthesizes both types of skills specifically for the DT context was missing. The added value of the DTSF therefore lies in the inclusion of both digital technology-oriented and transformation-oriented skills.

The DTSF represents the multifaceted and dynamic nature of DT through six interconnected skillsets: digital working skills, entrepreneurial skills, evidence-based working skills, collaboration skills, adaptation skills, and communication skills. The current study contributes to reducing conceptual ambiguity in contemporary literature through careful examination of terminology, descriptions and definitions used in the included articles, followed by synthesis of this information into skills, subgroups, and skillsets. For instance, the skill data analysis , was identified in 15 papers that all used different terminology, such as ‘data analysis and mathematical skills’, ‘statistical knowledge’, and ‘quantitative and statistical skills’, and the skill creativity and innovation was identified in 19 articles that used 12 different terms, such as ‘curiosity and imagination’, ‘innovative and adaptive thinking’, and ‘out-of-the-box thinking’ (see Table 2 for a complete overview).

Moreover, our study also contributes to reducing conceptual ambiguity on essential DT skills by formulating definitions for all skills, subgroups, and skillsets in the DTSF, based on the articles included in our sample (see Table 3 ). It was notable that not all included articles contained complete sets of definitions for the skills included in those articles. These definitions can serve a foundation to build upon in future studies on essential DT skills.

Practical relevance and implications

The DTSF serves as a solid basis for raising awareness on skillsets that are vital across various professions and sectors and provides a starting point for sector-wide re- and upskilling initiatives. The present study therefore calls upon organizations, particularly HRM professionals, to adapt their strategic talent management practices to the digital era and assume responsibility for re- and upskilling the workforce in essential DT skills. In the development of re- and upskilling strategies informed by the DTSF, several considerations should be taken into account.

First, prior to designing or procuring interventions such as training programs focused on specific skillsets, organizations should enrich the DTSF by providing context-specific examples of the relevance of these skills and articulating desired learning outcomes for their workforce. This will enable tailored training offerings. Second, organizations need to establish desired maturity levels for all DT skills of the DTSF. While the DTSF holds relevance for diverse professions, the study emphasizes that desired skill maturity levels may vary across specific professions or organizations. For instance, entrepreneurial skills or evidence-based working skills may not require the same level of maturity in all professions. By establishing these desired maturity levels, organizations can effectively monitor skill development and implement targeted interventions. Third, in the development of re- and upskilling strategies, organizations should consider both horizontal alignment (interconnectedness between different trainings, and connection with other interventions) and vertical alignment (alignment with the overall business strategy) to maximize potential outcomes. Lastly, organizations should periodically reassess their re- and upskilling strategies to ensure that the skills essential to their specific organizational context are given emphasis and are addressed accordingly.

Limitations and directions for future research

The DTSF raises several follow-up research questions, partly based on the limitations of this study. The first limitation prompting future research is the potential incomplete coverage of relevant research due to our search strategy. Although we utilized Web of Science, the most widely used database of scientific publications, in combination with a forward-citation search in Google Scholar, our search methodology may have resulted in key publications being overlooked. Striving for complete coverage, future research could therefore expand the search action by including other scientific databases as well.

The second limitation prompting follow-up research is related to time sensitivity. This SLR reflects the state of knowledge up to a certain point in time, and therefore does not include skills related to very recent developments, such as generative AI. As highlighted in the Introduction, the lack of timely updated frameworks may lead to conceptual ambiguity regarding essential DT skillsets or outdated frameworks. To address this, and to provide ongoing valuable insights for organizations, this study calls upon researchers to continually provide updates to the DTSF.

Furthermore, we have intentionally used the term ‘skills’ over ‘competence’ in this study. This decision is in line with the practical objective of our research, which is to address the re- and up-skilling challenge by pinpointing essential DT skills. We acknowledge that ‘competence’ is a broader concept, encompassing knowledge and attitudes as well as skills. Indeed, certain knowledge and attitudes are intrinsically linked to the essential skills outlined in the DTSF. However, our SLR indicated a degree of interchangeability between these terms, sometimes leading to conceptual ambiguity. By focusing on ‘skills’, we aimed to reduce potential ambiguity in this paper. Nonetheless, we recognize that re- up-skilling initiatives and programs, which aim to develop essential DT skills, inherently involve the acquisition of relevant knowledge and the shaping of appropriate attitudes. Essential DT skills are not standalone entities but are part of a larger competency framework. Consequently, future research should strive to develop this broader framework by incorporating essential DT knowledge and attitudes.

Moreover, the DTSF enables various follow-up studies that are linked to the new insights the framework provides. For instance, follow-up research on the measurement and monitoring of workforce development in DT skillsets is an important next step. The DTSF presents an opportunity to develop instruments for assessing and measuring DT skills in the workplace, and the next research step therefore involves operationalizing the DT skills outlined in this framework and creating validated and reliable measurement instruments.

Additionally, future research should focus on expanding the DTSF to address specific professions. While the strength of the current framework is that it encompasses skills applicable to a wide range of professions, it lacks domain-specific DT skills. Given the complexity of DT, the importance of employees with π-shaped skillsets is becoming increasingly apparent [ 67 ], as these skills contribute to better collaboration between people with different expertise and to innovative output [ 68 ]. The term ‘π-shaped skillsets’ is a metaphor to describe employees who are generalists and specialists at the same time. The two vertical bars of the π symbol reflect deep expertise, such as domain-specific skills and the evidence-based working skills of the DTSF, and the horizontal bar of the π symbol reflects the generalist skills [ 67 , 68 ], such as the transformation-oriented skillsets of the DTSF. Developing expansions of the DTSF for specific professions, such as by adding a digital pedagogical skillset for teachers or a digital health skillset for healthcare professionals, therefore further enhances the understanding of profession- or sector-specific essential DT skills.

Lastly, future research should examine the development of effective re- and upskilling strategies, based on the DTSF. This research should also address strategies that consider employees’ digital mindset and self-efficacy in re- and upskilling, as these factors impact their engagement and willingness to participate in such activities [ 69 ].

In conclusion, the Digital Transformation Skills Framework (DTSF) offers a valuable and comprehensive insight into the essential DT skills required by employees in today’s rapidly changing organizations. This framework addresses a crucial gap in existing literature by synthesizing both digital technology-oriented and transformation-oriented skills, providing a holistic understanding of essential skills related to the multifaceted nature of DT. The DTSF has practical relevance for organizations and HR professionals, serving as a foundation for re- and upskilling initiatives. Ongoing research is needed to continually update and expand the DTSF, by addressing domain-specific DT skills and including skills related to emerging digital technologies.

Supporting information

S1 table. prisma checklist..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304127.s001

S2 Table. JBI quality checklist.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304127.s002

S1 Fig. Detailed Boolean search action.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304127.s003

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• 6. World Economic Forum. Future of jobs report 2023. “Internet]. Cologny/Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum, 2023. https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/
• 33. Aromataris E, Munn Z. JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. 2020. https://jbi-global-wiki.refined.site/space/MANUAL/4687404/About+this+Manual

• DOI: 10.1108/jhti-01-2024-0046
• Corpus ID: 270942940

A contemporary systematic literature review of equestrian tourism: emerging advancements and future insights

• Hamed Rezapouraghdam , M. Saydam , +2 authors Saeid Nosrati
• Published in Journal of Hospitality and… 2 July 2024
• Environmental Science, Business

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