Fragile bridges. Identity management and the linked ecologies of marketing technologies (MarTech)
Kevin Mellet · Journal of Marketing Management · 2025
This article draws on the contributions of the sociology of marketing and science and technology studies to analyse the market for ‘marketing technologies’ (MarTech). Building upon a qualitative survey of French MarTech providers, it examines how these firms position themselves in the competitive landscape of customer data management, and the infrastructural work they take on. The article analyses the efforts of MarTech firms to bring together and link professional ecologies that have built specific expertise over time. The original approach, in terms of data ecology, sheds light on various dimensions of linking and the production of linked ecologies. At the same time, it enables an understanding of the tensions that persist despite the establishment of the material and technical conditions for this rapprochement.