Digital, Social, Mobile and Commerce Communications

Introduction and Context

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) has moved from a predominantly broadcast model to a connected, data-informed and platform-dependent system. Consumers now discover brands through search engines, social feeds, creators, messaging applications, retail websites, connected television, mobile notifications and physical-digital experiences. They may see an advertisement, ask a creator for advice, compare prices on a marketplace, read reviews, purchase through a mobile device and later advocate for—or criticise—the brand online.

This environment expands communication opportunities but also creates strategic complexity. Media are not merely channels for distributing a centrally produced message. They are environments with distinctive algorithms, commercial incentives, formats, data practices, cultures and participation rules. A successful digital IMC plan therefore connects brand meaning, audience needs, platform behaviour, commerce objectives and measurable outcomes.

The central managerial challenge is integration. Paid media must create attention and demand; owned media must provide useful information and conversion infrastructure; earned and shared media must generate credibility and participation. These activities should reinforce one another without making every channel identical.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Explain the strategic characteristics of search, display, video, social, influencer, email, mobile, content and retail-media communication.
2. Design an integrated paid-owned-earned-shared media system.
3. Select objectives, audiences, formats, platforms and metrics appropriate to different stages of the customer journey.
4. Evaluate community management, platform dynamics, social commerce and creator partnerships.
5. Apply quantitative measures such as CTR, conversion rate, CPA, ROAS and incremental lift appropriately.
6. Identify privacy, disclosure, brand-safety, accessibility, algorithmic and governance risks.
7. Develop a coordinated digital communications plan and assess its effectiveness.

1. The Digital IMC System

Digital communication differs from traditional mass communication in five important ways.

Addressability allows messages to be directed toward relatively specific audiences, although targeting accuracy is limited by data quality, identity restrictions and changing privacy rules. Interactivity permits responses, sharing, questions, reviews and transactions. Measurability produces extensive behavioural data, but observable activity is not identical to causal impact. Programmability allows delivery, bidding and creative variation to be automated. Finally, networked participation means that consumers, creators, retailers and platforms all influence brand meaning.

A useful planning distinction is between the customer journey and the media system. The journey describes changing consumer tasks—such as recognising a need, learning, comparing, purchasing, using and recommending. The media system describes the organisational assets and external environments through which communication occurs.

Paid, owned, earned and shared media

The categories overlap. A customer review is earned media, but a brand may amplify it through paid media. A creator’s sponsored video is paid media, yet it may generate earned conversation. The strategic objective is not to force activity into one category but to design a reinforcing system.

Figure: Paid, owned, earned and shared media should reinforce a common brand promise while retaining different functions.

2. Search and Display Communication

Search

Search communication responds to expressed intent. Search-engine optimisation (SEO) improves the discoverability and usefulness of owned content through relevant information, technical accessibility, credible links and strong user experience. Search-engine marketing (SEM) places paid advertisements against selected queries or audiences.

Search planning begins with intent rather than keywords alone. Informational queries seek knowledge; navigational queries seek a particular site or brand; commercial-investigation queries compare alternatives; transactional queries indicate readiness to act. Content, landing pages and offers should correspond to that intent. A consumer searching “how to choose running shoes” requires educational content, while one searching “buy trail shoes size 9” requires a clear product and fulfilment experience.

Search is powerful because it captures demand, but it can also overstate the contribution of advertising. Users may have already decided to buy, and brand-search clicks may harvest existing demand rather than create it. Testing, query analysis and incrementality measurement are therefore important.

Display

Display advertising includes banner, native, rich-media and programmatic placements across websites, applications and digital environments. Its principal strategic roles are broad reach, reminder communication, retargeting and audience development. Display can support mental availability before a consumer searches, but excessive frequency, poor contextual fit and intrusive formats create waste and irritation.

Programmatic buying automates the purchase and delivery of inventory using audience, contextual, device, location, time and bidding signals. Automation improves scale, but marketers remain responsible for supply-chain transparency, invalid traffic, brand safety, frequency management and data governance. Contextual targeting—matching creative to the surrounding content—can reduce dependence on personal tracking and may improve relevance.

3. Video and Content Communication

Video combines visual demonstration, sound, narrative and emotion. Its strategic value depends on the role assigned to it. Short video may create attention and cultural participation; longer video may educate, demonstrate product use or establish brand distinctiveness. Completion rate alone does not prove persuasion. A video can be completed because it is unskippable, while a shorter advertisement may generate stronger brand recall or sales effects.

Content marketing is the planned creation and distribution of useful, relevant or entertaining material that supports audience and organisational objectives. Effective content has a defined audience, a recognisable point of view, a credible value exchange and a distribution plan. Content should not be measured only by volume or impressions. It should be evaluated according to whether it helps audiences solve problems, strengthens brand associations, supports search visibility, creates qualified demand or improves retention.

A content architecture can include:

• Hero content: major campaigns or cultural moments designed for broad attention.
• Hub content: recurring series for sustained interest among defined communities.
• Help content: searchable answers, demonstrations and service information.
• Commerce content: product comparisons, reviews, buying guides and shoppable demonstrations.

Editorial usefulness and commercial clarity need not conflict. However, undisclosed persuasion disguised as neutral advice undermines trust.

4. Social Media, Communities and Platform Dynamics

Social media is not one medium. Each platform combines a technical architecture, user culture, creator economy, advertising model and governance system. Platform dynamics influence visibility through recommendation algorithms, follower relationships, engagement signals, content eligibility, moderation and commercial priorities.

Marketers should distinguish platform presence from community strategy. A presence publishes messages; a community strategy establishes norms, responds to members, facilitates relationships and learns from participation. Community management includes listening, welcoming, answering, moderating, escalating complaints and recognising valuable contributions.

A practical community-management protocol contains:

1. Purpose: why the community exists and what value members receive.
2. Participation rules: acceptable conduct, disclosure expectations and moderation principles.
3. Response standards: service hours, response times, tone and escalation routes.
4. Issue taxonomy: product questions, complaints, safety issues, misinformation, abuse and crisis signals.
5. Authority map: which matters can be resolved by community managers and which require legal, technical or executive review.
6. Learning loop: recurring analysis of questions, sentiment, unmet needs and product improvements.

Engagement metrics—likes, comments, shares and saves—are diagnostic signals, not universal business outcomes. A high comment count may indicate enthusiasm, controversy or confusion. Interpretation requires content coding, qualitative reading and linkage to behavioural or attitudinal outcomes.

Platform dependence creates strategic risk. Algorithmic changes can reduce organic reach; policy changes can alter targeting or content eligibility; platform outages can interrupt commerce; and concentrated data ownership can weaken advertiser bargaining power. A resilient strategy develops portable assets such as first-party consented data, email relationships, useful websites, customer service records and distinctive brand properties.

5. Influencer and Creator Communication

Influencer communication uses individuals who possess attention, credibility, expertise or community relationships. Creator selection should not rely on follower count alone. Relevant criteria include audience fit, content quality, engagement quality, credibility, brand safety, disclosure history, exclusivity conflicts, geographic relevance and evidence of influence on the desired behaviour.

A useful distinction is between reach, resonance and relevance. Reach concerns potential exposure; resonance concerns the intensity and quality of audience response; relevance concerns the connection between creator, audience, product and objective. A smaller specialist creator may be more effective than a large generalist when trust and expertise matter.

Briefs should define the communication objective, mandatory facts, prohibited claims, disclosure requirements, usage rights, approval process, accessibility requirements, crisis procedure and measurement plan. Excessive scripting can destroy authenticity, while inadequate governance can create legal or reputational risk.

Sponsored relationships should be clearly disclosed in language and placement that audiences can readily understand. Disclosure is not merely a compliance task: it enables informed interpretation and protects the credibility of the creator and brand.

6. Email, Mobile and Messaging

Email remains strategically important because it is an owned, permission-based channel with strong potential for personalisation and retention. Effective email programmes use lifecycle logic rather than indiscriminate frequency. Common programmes include onboarding, education, replenishment, abandoned-basket reminders, post-purchase support, loyalty and reactivation.

Permission should be specific, informed and revocable. Segmentation may use declared preferences, purchase history, engagement, lifecycle stage and service needs. Personalisation should provide genuine relevance, not merely insert a name into generic content.

Mobile communication includes mobile web, applications, SMS, push notifications, mobile advertising, location-aware services and messaging platforms. Mobile is not simply a smaller desktop. It is often immediate, personal, situated and interruption-sensitive. Design should prioritise fast loading, thumb-friendly interfaces, concise copy, accessible contrast, deep links, easy checkout and clear notification controls.

The value of a mobile notification depends on timing and utility. A delivery update is helpful; repeated promotional alerts at inappropriate times are intrusive. Frequency caps, quiet hours, preference centres and easy opt-out mechanisms are essential.

7. Social Commerce and Retail Media

Social commerce integrates discovery, evaluation, interaction and transaction within or adjacent to social platforms. Features may include shoppable posts, live commerce, creator storefronts, messaging-assisted sales, user-generated demonstrations and social payment flows. The opportunity is reduced friction, but commerce design must preserve information quality, consumer protection and service accountability.

Retail media refers to advertising inventory and data environments controlled by retailers, marketplaces or commerce platforms. It can include sponsored search results, product-listing ads, display placements, onsite video, offsite audience activation and in-store digital media. Retail media is valuable because it connects advertising with shopping context and, in some cases, transaction data.

Retail-media strategy should address three questions:

• Is the objective to defend branded demand, acquire new buyers, increase category consideration or improve basket value?
• Is the placement reaching shoppers at discovery, comparison or purchase stages?
• Does measurement distinguish incremental sales from sales that would have occurred anyway?

Retail-media growth can create conflicts when retailers become both distribution partners and powerful media sellers. Brands should assess fees, transparency, data access, inventory quality, audience overlap, measurement methodology and bargaining power.

8. Objectives, Metrics and Measurement

Measurement should begin with a decision, not with the availability of a dashboard. The chain from activity to value can be represented as:

Exposure → attention → response → conversion → retention → advocacy → business outcome

Important formulas include:

where CTR is click-through rate, C is clicks and I is measured impressions. The formula assumes impressions and clicks are recorded consistently; it does not measure purchase quality or incrementality.

where V is conversions and S is the relevant denominator, such as clicks or sessions. The denominator must be stated because click-based and session-based conversion rates are not interchangeable.

where CPA is cost per acquisition and V is acquisitions. It is meaningful only when an acquisition is consistently defined and costs are included on a comparable basis.

ROAS is a ratio, not a percentage. It does not equal profit unless revenue, margins, returns, discounts and other costs are appropriately incorporated.

For causal evaluation, an incrementality estimate can be expressed as:

where Y_T is the outcome in a treatment group exposed to the activity and Y_C is the outcome in a comparable control group. The interpretation requires credible randomisation or a defensible quasi-experimental design, comparable groups and a stable measurement window.

Worked example

An advertising campaign costs £12,000, generates 240,000 impressions and 4,800 clicks. There are 240 purchases, producing £30,000 in tracked revenue.

CTR = (4,800 ÷ 240,000) × 100 = 2%.

Conversion rate from clicks = (240 ÷ 4,800) × 100 = 5%.

CPA = £12,000 ÷ 240 = £50 per purchase.

ROAS = £30,000 ÷ £12,000 = 2.5, or £2.50 of tracked revenue per £1 of advertising cost.

These results do not establish that all 240 purchases were caused by the campaign. A control-cell or geo-experiment would be needed to estimate incremental effect. Nor does a ROAS of 2.5 establish profitability without knowledge of gross margin and fulfilment costs.

At postgraduate level, students should distinguish attribution from causation. Last-click attribution assigns credit to the final recorded interaction and is easy to implement, but it undervalues earlier influences and favours channels close to conversion. Multi-touch models distribute credit across interactions but depend on assumptions and identity resolution. Media-mix modelling uses aggregated time-series or market-level data and can capture offline effects, but requires sufficient variation and careful controls. Experiments offer stronger causal evidence but may be costly or operationally difficult. A mature measurement system triangulates these approaches.

9. Planning an Integrated Digital Programme

A practical planning sequence is as follows.

Diagnose the situation. Identify the business problem, category dynamics, customer tensions, competitive activity, available assets and data constraints.

Set hierarchical objectives. Define business outcomes, communication outcomes and behavioural indicators. For example, a business objective may be profitable customer acquisition; communication objectives may be awareness and consideration; behavioural indicators may include qualified searches, product-page visits and completed trials.

Map audiences and tasks. Use needs, barriers, behaviour and context rather than demographic labels alone. Identify what audiences know, believe, do and need at each stage.

Assign channel roles. Search may capture intent; video may build memory; creators may demonstrate use; email may retain; retail media may convert category demand; community management may reduce uncertainty and improve service.

Develop a modular message system. Establish a central promise, reasons to believe, proof points, calls to action and adaptations for platform conventions. Integration means coherence, not mechanical repetition.

Design journeys. Ensure that an advertisement leads to a relevant, fast and accessible destination. Connect content, landing pages, product information, checkout, fulfilment, service and post-purchase communication.

Plan data and governance. Define consent, data minimisation, access rights, retention periods, vendor responsibilities, security controls and escalation procedures.

Test and optimise. Test meaningful alternatives—such as creative propositions, landing-page designs, audience strategies or offers—while avoiding constant small changes that make learning impossible. Record hypotheses, outcomes and decisions.

Evaluate incrementally. Combine platform metrics with brand studies, experiments, customer data, sales information and qualitative evidence.

10. Ethics, Regulation and Governance

Digital communication creates ethical responsibilities beyond legal compliance. Key concerns include privacy, surveillance, discriminatory targeting, dark patterns, manipulative personalisation, undisclosed sponsorship, misleading claims, harmful content, children’s data, accessibility and environmental costs of digital infrastructure.

Consent should not be obtained through confusing interfaces or coercive design. Data minimisation asks whether the organisation needs to collect a particular data point at all. Sensitive characteristics should not be inferred or exploited in ways that create unfair exclusion. Automated systems should be monitored for biased delivery, especially in employment, housing, credit, health and politically sensitive communication.

Dark patterns include obstructive cancellation, preselected consent, hidden fees, false urgency and confusing subscription flows. Such practices may improve short-term conversion while damaging trust and attracting regulatory intervention.

Governance should assign accountability across the organisation. Marketing, legal, information security, procurement, customer service, data science and senior management may all have relevant responsibilities. A platform’s automated approval does not transfer accountability away from the advertiser.

Accessibility includes captions, transcripts, alternative text, readable typography, sufficient colour contrast, keyboard navigability and plain-language information. Accessibility improves inclusion and often improves usability for all audiences.

11. Artificial Intelligence and Contemporary Developments

Artificial intelligence is increasingly used for audience analysis, predictive scoring, bid optimisation, content generation, conversational service, recommendation and creative testing. Its usefulness depends on data quality, objective design, human oversight and accountability.

Generative AI can produce drafts, variants, translations, summaries and synthetic imagery, but it can also generate inaccurate claims, biased representations, copyright conflicts, privacy leakage and indistinguishable fabricated endorsements. Organisations should establish approved tools, data restrictions, verification requirements, disclosure policies, records of material use and human review for consequential communications.

The strategic direction of digital IMC is shaped by several developments: reduced availability of third-party identifiers, growth of retail media, creator-led commerce, connected television, conversational interfaces, privacy-enhancing technologies, first-party data ecosystems and increasingly automated media buying. These developments do not eliminate foundational principles. Clear positioning, useful content, credible proof, sound customer experience and trustworthy measurement remain central.

Illustrative Case: GreenTrail Outdoor Equipment

Background

GreenTrail is a fictional mid-sized outdoor-equipment brand launching a lightweight hiking backpack. It has strong product engineering but low awareness among younger urban hikers. Its budget is insufficient for national television, and the product is sold through its own website and two major marketplaces.

Problem

Previous campaigns generated clicks but weak profitability. Search advertising captured existing brand demand, while broad social targeting produced high reach and low purchase intent. Creator activity delivered views but inconsistent disclosure and little evidence of sales impact.

Analysis

Research identified three barriers: consumers were uncertain about comfort and durability, product comparisons were difficult, and the brand lacked post-purchase communication. The audience used short-form video for discovery, search for technical comparison, retailer websites for validation and email for trip planning and replenishment-related information.

Approach and solution

GreenTrail established one proposition: “Carry less weight without compromising trail confidence.” It developed modular content: short creator demonstrations for attention, longer technical videos for evaluation, searchable comparison guides, retail product-page enhancements and an email series for fitting and trip preparation.

Creators were selected for audience relevance and demonstrated hiking expertise rather than reach alone. Contracts required clear sponsorship disclosure, factual product claims, usage rights and approval of safety-related statements. Paid media promoted high-performing creator assets, while owned channels hosted detailed specifications and accessible transcripts.

Search activity was divided between informational and transactional intent. Retail media was used selectively for category and product-page visibility. A consented email programme supported onboarding and post-purchase advice. Community managers answered fit questions and escalated product-safety issues.

Measurement combined platform reporting with a regional holdout test. Primary outcomes were incremental purchases and contribution margin; secondary measures included qualified product-page visits, fitting-guide completion, creator-assisted searches, email engagement and return rates.

Outcome

The campaign produced stronger product understanding and improved conversion on pages containing demonstrations and comparison information. The holdout test showed that exposed regions generated more purchases than comparable unexposed regions, although the effect was smaller than last-click reporting suggested. The company discontinued one high-reach creator whose audience was poorly matched and shifted investment toward specialist creators and retail-search placements.

Learning points

The case illustrates that integration is a system of roles rather than simultaneous posting. Content must answer real decision barriers; creators require governance; retail media requires incrementality questions; and measurement should distinguish attributed sales from additional sales. It also shows why community and post-purchase communication are part of IMC, not merely service functions.

Challenges and Limitations

Digital data can create an illusion of precision. Metrics may be duplicated across platforms, definitions may vary, and identity restrictions may make a single customer journey impossible to observe. Optimisation toward measurable clicks can encourage low-quality traffic or short-term conversion at the expense of brand equity.

Platform algorithms are proprietary and unstable. Organic reach is not guaranteed, and paid delivery may be affected by auction dynamics, content moderation and inventory quality. Social listening can identify public conversation but cannot reveal silent audiences or private discussion. Sentiment analysis often struggles with irony, code-switching and cultural context.

Personalisation can improve relevance but may feel invasive. Automation can increase efficiency but can scale errors. Influencer partnerships can create authenticity but also transfer reputational risk. Retail media can link advertising to sales but may intensify dependence on powerful intermediaries. Strategic judgement remains necessary despite advances in technology.

Best-Practice Checklist

• Start with a business and audience problem, not a platform trend.
• Assign each channel a distinctive role in the customer journey.
• Build coherent messages with platform-appropriate executions.
• Treat websites, product pages, checkout and service as communication assets.
• Use consented, secure and proportionate data.
• Combine reach, attention, behavioural, financial and incremental measures.
• Disclose sponsorships and substantiate all material claims.
• Design for accessibility and inclusive representation.
• Maintain human oversight of automated and AI-generated activity.
• Diversify relationships so that no single platform controls the entire customer connection.

Chapter Summary

Digital, social, mobile and commerce communications form an interconnected IMC system. Search captures expressed intent, display builds reach and reminders, video creates demonstration and emotion, social media enables participation, creators provide community-based influence, email and mobile support lifecycle communication, and retail media connects advertising with shopping contexts. Their effectiveness depends on assigning clear roles rather than treating every channel as interchangeable.

Paid, owned, earned and shared media should reinforce a common brand promise while retaining different levels of organisational control. Community management, platform governance, creator disclosure, privacy, accessibility and brand safety are strategic responsibilities. Metrics such as CTR, conversion rate, CPA and ROAS are useful descriptive tools, but attribution is not causation. Experiments, control groups, qualitative evidence and business outcomes are needed to assess incrementality.

A postgraduate practitioner must therefore integrate communication design, customer experience, data governance, platform knowledge, commerce infrastructure and critical measurement. The strongest digital programmes create value for audiences, protect trust and produce evidence that supports better managerial decisions.

Key Terms

Addressability: The ability to direct communication toward defined audiences or contexts.

Attribution: The assignment of credit for an outcome to one or more interactions.

Community management: The practice of facilitating, supporting, moderating and learning from a brand community.

Content marketing: Planned creation and distribution of useful or relevant content to support audience and organisational objectives.

Conversion rate: The percentage of a defined population completing a specified conversion action.

Creator economy: The network of individuals and businesses producing monetised digital content and influence.

Earned media: Public exposure or discussion not directly purchased or fully controlled by the organisation.

Incrementality: The additional outcome caused by an intervention beyond what would have occurred without it.

Influencer marketing: Communication using individuals whose credibility, expertise or community relationships affect audience responses.

Owned media: Communication assets controlled substantially by the organisation.

Paid media: Purchased exposure or distribution.

Programmatic buying: Automated buying and delivery of digital advertising inventory.

Retail media: Advertising opportunities and data environments operated by retailers or marketplaces.

ROAS: Revenue attributed to advertising divided by advertising cost.

Search-engine marketing: Paid advertising associated with search queries or search audiences.

Search-engine optimisation: Improving the visibility, usefulness and accessibility of owned content in organic search.

Shared media: Brand-related communication distributed or co-created by participants.

Social commerce: Integration of social discovery, interaction and purchasing activity.

Third-party identifier: A tracking or identity mechanism supplied by an entity other than the visited publisher or service.

View-through attribution: Assigning credit after an impression when no recorded click preceded the outcome; it requires cautious interpretation because exposure may not be causal.

Review Questions

5 Short Answer Questions

1. Distinguish paid, owned, earned and shared media, giving one example of each.
2. Why should search strategy be based on user intent rather than keywords alone?
3. Identify four responsibilities involved in community management.
4. What is the difference between attribution and incrementality?
5. State two ethical risks associated with personalised digital communication.

5 Long Answer Questions

1. Explain how search, video, social, email and retail media can be assigned different roles within one customer journey.
2. Critically evaluate the usefulness and limitations of CTR, CPA and ROAS as campaign metrics.
3. Discuss how platform algorithms and commercial incentives affect digital IMC planning.
4. Develop a governance framework for an influencer campaign, including disclosure, claims, rights and measurement.
5. Explain why first-party data, accessibility and privacy should be treated as strategic rather than merely technical issues.

3 Analytical / Application Questions

1. A retailer reports strong last-click ROAS for branded search but declining total category sales. Design an investigation that tests whether the search activity is incremental.
2. Create an integrated campaign for a new subscription service using paid, owned, earned and shared media. Specify objectives, audience tasks, channel roles, content, metrics and governance controls.
3. A viral creator post generates high engagement but contains an unclear sponsorship disclosure and an exaggerated product claim. Analyse the risks and propose an immediate response and longer-term creator-management policy.

Multiple Choice Questions with Answers

Question 1

Which media type is characterised by relatively high organisational control and includes a brand website and email database?

A. Paid media

B. Owned media

C. Earned media

D. Shared media

Correct Answer: B. Owned media

Question 2

A campaign receives 10,000 clicks from 500,000 impressions. What is its CTR?

A. 0.5%

B. 2%

C. 5%

D. 20%

Correct Answer: B. 2%

Question 3

Which search query most clearly indicates transactional intent?

A. How do waterproof jackets work?

B. Best jackets for winter hiking

C. Brand X official website

D. Buy Brand X waterproof jacket size medium

Correct Answer: D. Buy Brand X waterproof jacket size medium

Question 4

Why is last-click attribution potentially misleading?

A. It cannot record any clicks

B. It assigns all credit to the first exposure

C. It may overvalue interactions close to conversion and undervalue earlier influences

D. It measures only offline advertising

Correct Answer: C. It may overvalue interactions close to conversion and undervalue earlier influences

Question 5

Which factor is generally more useful than follower count when selecting a creator?

A. Audience and product relevance

B. The creator’s number of unrelated posts

C. The length of the creator’s username

D. The platform’s logo colour

Correct Answer: A. Audience and product relevance

Question 6

A campaign costs £8,000 and produces 160 acquisitions. What is the CPA?

A. £20

B. £40

C. £50

D. £128

Correct Answer: C. £50

Question 7

What does incrementality attempt to measure?

A. Total impressions purchased

B. The additional outcome caused by an intervention

C. The number of creative versions produced

D. The percentage of followers who comment

Correct Answer: B. The additional outcome caused by an intervention

Question 8

Which is an example of retail media?

A. An unpaid newspaper review

B. A sponsored product listing on a marketplace

C. An employee training email

D. A private customer complaint

Correct Answer: B. A sponsored product listing on a marketplace

Question 9

Which practice best supports responsible mobile communication?

A. Unlimited notifications at any time

B. Preselected promotional consent

C. Clear controls, quiet hours and easy opt-out

D. Hiding the sender identity

Correct Answer: C. Clear controls, quiet hours and easy opt-out

Question 10

What is the principal distinction between attribution and causation in campaign measurement?

A. Attribution describes assigned credit, while causation requires evidence that the activity produced the outcome

B. Attribution applies only to offline media, while causation applies only online

C. Attribution is always experimental, while causation is always descriptive

D. There is no distinction between them

Correct Answer: A. Attribution describes assigned credit, while causation requires evidence that the activity produced the outcome