Decentralised autonomous organisations: the marketing perspective of tokenomics

Purpose This conceptual paper aims to adopt the marketing perspective of tokenomics to explore the role of decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) as an emerging organisational form enabled by blockchain technology, through a dynamic conceptual framework and six specific propositions, across three lifecycle stages (Tokenisation, Platformisation and Adaptation) of DAOs. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws upon the blockchain institutional theory, attention-based marketing theory, community marketing, adaptive marketing and business-to-business (B2B) marketing principles to develop its conceptual framework and propositions. Findings This paper offers six specific propositions: (1) DAOs leveraging attention-based tokenisation increase perceived value; (2) Community-oriented Platformisation boosts user engagement and retention; (3) Strong adaptive marketing capabilities lead to viability innovation; (4) Engaging in protocol sharing fosters robust DAO-to-DAO (D2D) relationships; (5) Community marketing contributes to brand awareness and partnership opportunities; and (6) Stakeholder-centric governance mechanisms enhance resilience during disruptions. Research limitations/implications This paper uses an extensive literature review to develop a theory-based conceptual framework and six propositions to provide useful directions for future marketing research on DAOs. However, these propositions need to be empirically tested using quantitative data. Practical implications The six propositions have important implications for managers to develop appropriate marketing strategies and governance structures to foster collaborative value creation within the marketing landscape, to leverage the unique advantages offered by the emerging DAO ecosystem. Originality/value This paper extends B2B marketing principles to the Tokenomics context, to posit that cooperation-based partnerships among DAOs would transform current marketing models via protocol exchange and community advocacy, using Tokens and non-fungible tokens.