This paper analyses integrated marketing communications (IMC) research from its inception in 1991, up to 2012 (included). A bibliometric approach has been applied for the first time to detect and visualize conceptual sub-domains and identify the most salient themes within IMC research via combining co-word analysis and science mapping. The quantitative analysis of a corpus of IMC manuscripts contributes to complement the previous qualitative reviews by using the Wakita and Tsurumi agglomeration algorithm and two-dimensional graphs. The results enable the authors to provide a structure for the conceptual sub-domains, classification of the themes showing internal associations into four groups, and identification of the main research trends. This paper seeks to respond to the calls for greater theoretical clarification of the IMC discipline providing a snapshot of the thematic evolution of IMC research over time enabling researchers to better understand the current state of the art and suggesting future research directions.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is twofold: first, to conceptualise integrated marketing communication (IMC) by adopting a more inclusive and broader organisational perspective, and second, to empirically develop and validate a new measurement scale to assess firm-wide IMC.Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on a multistage research design adopting qualitative and quantitative approaches. First, a comprehensive literature review and a two-round Delphi study served as the primary basis for the development of the IMC theoretical framework, including generation of items and content validation. Second, a pilot study (n= 39) enabled us to purify the measurement tool. Third, the data gathered via an online survey conducted among CEOs and other senior managers (n= 180) led to empirical validation of the proposed firm-wide IMC scale applying second-order confirmatory factor and structural equation modelling analyses.Findings: This research produced the firm-wide IMC scale, a 25-item Likert-format measure exhibiting adequate dimensionality, reliability and construct (convergent, discriminant and nomological) validity.Originality/value: The need for a more holistic approach emerged from both the academic literature and the professional arena. However, even very recent attempts to measure integration have involved the adoption of a narrow marketing communications-centred approach. Thus, the value and uniqueness of this paper lies in its novel definition of IMC as a four-dimensional construct and the development of a theoretically consistent, valid and reliable measurement tool for the assessment of integration based on a firm-wide organisational approach.

This research develops a model to predict the effect of advertising a socially responsible activity on perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its influence on consumer loyalty. It examines the relationships between company-cause congruence, corporate credibility, altruism attribution and perceived CSR, and CSR with consumer loyalty, and analyzes the moderating effect of the type of communication medium (i.e. traditional medium vs. social medium). This study is original because it fills the gap in the CSR communication literature in the evaluation of how the use of one or another type of medium to advertise a cause related marketing activity influences the effect of perceived CSR on consumer loyalty. An empirical study was conducted with two samples of consumers, each of which was exposed to the same advertisement, inserted in either a newspaper or posted on a social network. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results carry implications for CSR activities and communications management as they validate the proposed model that integrates the antecedents of perceived CSR and its influence on loyalty, and show that the traditional medium model has a better fit and its overall effect is greater than the social medium model. From a practical perspective, this study has several implications regarding the importance of communicating CSR activities.