IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/manrev/v75y2025i1d10.1007_s11301-023-00382-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Marketing agility in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) contexts: a systematic literature review and future research agenda

Author

Listed:
  • Gary Eckstein

    (University of Southern Queensland)

  • Anup Shrestha

    (University of Southern Queensland)

  • Anne-Marie Sassenberg

    (University of Southern Queensland)

  • Yogesh K. Dwivedi

    (Swansea University
    Deemed University)

Abstract

Firms increasingly need to be customer-focused and adaptable to changing markets. Marketing agility (MA), a dynamic capability, supports an organization to respond to market changes faster, often resulting in performance benefits. While MA provides advantages in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) contexts, limited research exists that inform MA conceptualization and practice in VUCA contexts. Furthermore, conceptualization of MA has resulted in many, often overlapping, constructs. In this review, we searched four databases and used snowballing to arrive at a corpus of 27 articles. The corpus is summarised using the theory–context–characteristics–methodology framework, with an emphasis on practical implementation. From our findings, we offer propositions in response to our research question that addresses an important research gap, and future research directions are discussed. We advance theory and offer conceptual clarity by finding that MA in VUCA contexts may be reimagined using seven overarching constructs and summarizing extant literature that will benefit academics and practitioners.

Suggested Citation

  • Gary Eckstein & Anup Shrestha & Anne-Marie Sassenberg & Yogesh K. Dwivedi, 2025. "Marketing agility in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) contexts: a systematic literature review and future research agenda," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 75(1), pages 323-351, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:manrev:v:75:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11301-023-00382-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11301-023-00382-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11301-023-00382-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11301-023-00382-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dynamic capabilities; Marketing agility; Sensemaking; Systematic literature review; TCCM; VUCA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing
    • M00 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - General - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:manrev:v:75:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11301-023-00382-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.