Virtual Trade Show (VTS): A Systematic Literature Review: An Abstract

Abstract

Virtual trade show (VTS) marketing has been growing as a major issue of interest from the last decade, attracting the businessperson and researcher. However, this body of research has not been subject to systematic review. Accordingly, the purpose of the study is to highlight past assessment, present trends, and to direct future research agenda within the VTS domain. The approach is taken as a literature review format. For this purpose, multiple databases were searched, and ten VTS articles were extracted. The extracted articles were carefully analyzed from the broader perspective, and only four empirical studies were found in this field. The paper was aggregated into the following themes: (1) preliminary discussion on VTS and comparison with physical trade show based on participation mode; activity stage; subject area; and performance and (2) from the empirical findings, three categories of antecedents are identified, namely, website factors; market-orientation factors; and firms’ motives. Also, direct as well as indirect consequences through mediators and with moderators are identified. All these are presented as an integrated framework. (3) Based on the compendium of the antecedents and consequences of VTS literature, the research focused on the limitations, implications, and extends future research avenue that can be utilized by trade show attending firms for their better performance in the future. The findings suggest that future VTS research can exploit from the application of concepts and theories used in the physical trade show literature and offered by other disciplines that traditionally have not been examined in VTS. Future researchers could also focus on the development of a technological aspect of VTS systems to overcome the limitation of unavailability of modern technology, low-quality website design, lack of timeliness and accuracy of information content, inability to measure effectiveness, virtual rudeness, lack of after service initiative, and lack of synergies between human and electronic elements. Managers of VTS firm can identify the important technologies related to VTS on different stages (preshow, at-show, and post–post) and can imply a convenient way to establish human interaction along with technological issues.