A Study on the Effect of Paid Owned and Earned Media on Asset Light Model Based Food Delivery Platforms in the Indian Context

Abstract

Marketing communication encompasses all interactions between a brand and its customers. Integrated marketing communication involves aligning all brand communication messages to ensure consistency and coherence. One widely accepted classification of brand communication channels is the categorization into paid, owned, and earned media (POEM), which is valuable for both academia and industry. Paid media includes any form of advertising, both online and offline. Owned media encompasses brand-owned channels like websites and mobile applications, while earned media refers to user-generated content such as customer reviews. Understanding these types of media aids businesses in developing effective marketing strategies. newlineDespite the increasing integration of POEM in marketing strategies, limited research explores its combined effect on consumer behavior. Existing studies focus on individual channels but lack insights into their integrated impact, which is crucial as businesses leverage all three channels simultaneously. This study fills the concept gap by examining the holistic influence of POEM on brand awareness, brand knowledge, purchase intention, and purchase behavior. Additionally, while research on food delivery services is growing, studies on POEM within India s food aggregator sector remain scarce, creating a geography gap. Given India s diverse consumer segments and regional preferences, insights from this study can inform more effective marketing approaches tailored to the Indian market. newlineThe research also addresses a domain gap by applying the POEM framework to the asset-light business model (ALM) within food aggregators. Food aggregators rely on digital technologies and marketing strategies to engage consumers, making POEM a crucial component of their success. Finally, an industry gap exists as prior studies on POEM predominantly focus on entertainment, transportation, tourism, and finance, while the food aggregator sector remains largely unexamined. Understanding the role of POEM in this industry is essential