Focus and Scope

Smart: Journal of Social Media Marketing and E-commerce (SMarket) is a premier, peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to advancing the theoretical, empirical, and practical understanding of the intersection between digital marketing and electronic commerce. The journal serves as a vital platform for economists, marketing scholars, and business strategists to explore how social networks and digital platforms drive commercial value, shape consumer behavior, and transform market ecosystems.

SMarket welcomes rigorous quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research that contributes to digital economic theory and offers actionable business insights.

I. Thematic Scope

The journal invites high-quality submissions encompassing, but not limited to, the following core domains:

1. Social Media Marketing Dynamics

  • Algorithmic Marketing: The economic impact of platform algorithms on ad targeting, visibility, and return on investment (ROI).

  • The Influencer Economy: Valuation models of influencer marketing, micro vs. macro-influencer efficacy, and the monetization of digital social capital.

  • Electronic Word-of-Mouth (e-WOM): The propagation of digital reviews, viral marketing economics, and crisis management in social networks.

  • Content Strategy & Analytics: Performance metrics of short-form video, live-streaming commerce, and interactive digital content.

2. E-commerce Ecosystems and Business Models

  • Social Commerce: The integration of transactional capabilities within social media platforms (e.g., live shopping, integrated checkouts) and its disruption of traditional retail.

  • Omnichannel Retail: The economic synergies between offline brick-and-mortar operations and online/social storefronts.

  • Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Strategies: Value chain disintermediation facilitated by social media.

  • E-commerce Logistics: The impact of last-mile delivery, supply chain transparency, and reverse logistics on digital consumer satisfaction and retention.

3. Digital Consumer Behavior and Psychology

  • Decision-Making Paradigms: Cognitive and emotional drivers of digital purchasing, impulse buying in social commerce, and the digital customer journey.

  • Trust and Risk Perception: The economics of consumer trust, privacy concerns, and security in online transactions.

  • Brand Equity & Digital Communities: The creation and management of brand loyalty through online communities, user-generated content (UGC), and co-creation.

4. Digital Economics, Policy, and Society

  • Regulatory Economics: The impact of government policies, data privacy laws (e.g., GDPR, PDP Law), and platform taxation on digital market competition.

  • Platform Monopolies: The competitive dynamics between global tech conglomerates and local digital enterprises.

  • Sustainable E-commerce: The push for green marketing, ethical consumption, and sustainability within digital supply chains.

II. Geographic and Contextual Scope: Global vs. Indonesian Perspectives

SMarket explicitly bridges the gap between advanced global digital economies and rapidly expanding emerging markets, with a specialized lens on the Indonesian context.

The Global Perspective

Submissions with a global focus should address macro-level trends that transcend borders, including:

  • Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior: Comparative studies on how different global demographics engage with international e-commerce platforms (e.g., Amazon, Alibaba).

  • Global Platform Governance: The international economic implications of antitrust regulations, cross-border digital trade, and global data sovereignty.

  • Technological Frontiers: The implementation of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR) in virtual try-ons, and Web3/Blockchain in global marketing ecosystems.

The Indonesian & Emerging Market Perspective

As a massive, mobile-first economy, Indonesia presents a unique and highly dynamic digital landscape. SMarket highly encourages research investigating localized phenomena, such as:

  • MSME (UMKM) Digital Transformation: The socio-economic impact of social media adoption on the survivability and scalability of Indonesian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises.

  • Localized Social Commerce Phenomena: The rise, regulation, and economic disruption of platforms like TikTok Shop and Shopee Live within the Indonesian archipelago.

  • Mobile-First Consumer Economics: Purchasing behaviors driven by mobile-wallet penetration (e.g., GoPay, OVO), pay-later schemes, and the unbanked population's entry into e-commerce.

  • Infrastructural and Archipelagic Challenges: E-commerce supply chain strategies and logistical constraints in distributing goods across Indonesia's diverse geography.

  • Local Regulatory Ecosystems: Analyses of Indonesian government interventions regarding social media data privacy, e-commerce monopolies, and digital taxation.