Identify the Antecedents of Holistic Strategic Marketing Plan in Online Businesses (Qualitative Approach)

The present study aimed to identify the antecedents of a holistic strategic marketing plan in online businesses. In the present study, with a qualitative approach based on grounded theory and through in-depth interviews with university professors and consultants in the field of strategic marketing planning and managers in the field of online business, holistic strategic marketing plan prerequisites in online businesses were identified. Participants in the study were selected through a purpose sampling process and the interviews continued until they reached theoretical saturation and finally, 10 in-depth interviews were conducted. To analyze the data, the principles related to the grounded theory (open and axial and selective coding) have been used and the concepts and categories have been created through the content analysis software MAXQDA version 2020. The results of data coding led to the identification of 89 concepts that were classified into 11 main categories. Based on this, the identified core category is online holistic strategic marketing plan and 10 other categories (managers' mental paradigm, components of moving from offline to online planning, change, online business, holistic marketing, vision, mission, value, strategic thinking and organizational culture) are considered as its antecedents. The results of this research can be used in academic circles in order to create and save knowledge, for policy makers, for companies active in the field of online businesses and marketing managers, as well as for users.