Ethical and legal aspects of digital marketing, information technology, and their influence on corporate governance and sustainable development

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Abstract

Digital marketing and information technology (IT) are increasingly shaping corporate governance transformation and sustainable development while simultaneously raising ethical and legal challenges. The relevance of this study is driven by the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics in marketing decision-making, which intensifies risks related to data governance, accountability, and regulatory compliance (Davenport et al., 2020). The aim of the research is to develop a framework for integrating ethical and legal principles into digital business practices to balance technological innovation with social responsibility. The importance of this topic is reinforced by accelerating global digitalization, the expansion of personal and behavioral data processing, and stricter regulatory requirements within the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) domain. The methodological approach combines big data analysis based on corporate disclosures and ESG ratings, automated content analysis of digital marketing communications using natural language processing techniques, and correlation modeling to examine relationships between digital strategies, normative standards, and sustainability performance indicators. The results show that organizations implementing algorithmic transparency and ethically grounded data practices achieve higher stakeholder trust and more stable progress toward sustainable development objectives. The proposed framework offers practical value for aligning digital marketing technologies with ethical standards and long-term sustainability goals.

Keywords: Digital Marketing, Information Technology, Ethics, Legal, Corporate Governance

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — N.M.A., S.B., and H.A.A.-A.; Methodology — S.B. and M.N.A.A.; Validation — S.B. and J.A.K.; Formal Analysis — N.M.A., S.B., and F.H.Z.; Investigation — S.B., M.N.A.A., and J.A.K.; Data Curation — S.B. and F.H.Z.; Writing — N.M.A., S.B., H.A.A.-A., and M.N.A.A.; Visualization — N.M.A., S.B., and F.H.Z.; Supervision — N.M.A. and K.M.A.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: G34, M15, M31, O33, Q56

Received: 02.09.2025
Revised: 15.01.2026; 05.03.2026
Accepted: 18.03.2026
Published online: 20.03.2026

How to cite this paper: Alyami, N. M., Badawood, S., Alomari, K. M., Al-Ababneh, H. A., Al Adwan, M. N., Khader, J. A., & Zawaideh, F. H. (2026). Ethical and legal aspects of digital marketing, information technology, and their influence on corporate governance and sustainable development. Corporate Law & Governance Review, 8(2), 63–76. https://doi.org/10.22495/clgrv8i2p6