Online revenue model adoption in the media sector: in-depth results from an exploratory study in the Netherlands

Especially for companies in the media sector such as publishers, the Internet has created new strategic and commercial opportunities. However, many companies in the media sector are struggling with how to adapt their business and revenue model for doing profitable business online. This exploratory study goes into the success factors and the level of adoption of online revenue models by media sector companies. We use Chaffey (2002) in determining online revenue models in which we included Osterwalder’s (2001) four ‘pillars’ of business models. These four pillars cover the twelve critical success factors for e-businesses as identified by Sung (2004). This theoretical framework was used for in-depth interviews with 20 senior managers within the media sector in the Netherlands. From this, it appeared that advertising is the most used online revenue model, with targeting advertising, lead generation and a combination of content and customer profiles as most promising. Ease of use is distinguished by all senior managers as success factor. Still, in order to be successful, all factors should be applied, and this appears not to be the case. Organizations in the media sector need to invest in technical and organizational expertise by hiring the right employees with the right knowledge. Emphasis on target advertising and lead generation are most promising. A combination of content and customer profiles is a focus-point for the near future

Multiple Issue Action and Market Algorithms for the World Wide Web

The Internet is quickly changing the way business-to-consumer and business-to-business commerce is conducted in the world. The Electronic Revolution has also spawned a trend of price wars and, in some instances, chaos because of the zero-sum nature of the electronic channel. The technology has created an opportunity to get beyond the lose-lose nature of single issue price wars by determining sellers' and buyers' preferences across multiple issues and encouraging negotiations, thereby creating possible joint gains for all parties. We develop simple multiple issue algorithms and heuristics that could be used in electronic auctions and electronic markets, to match business to business and consumers based on dovetailing underlying interests and preferences. We provide arguments that such dovetailed matches should help stabilize markets and make them more efficient

Investigating the uncertainty of new international ventures via micro marketing discourse research : a case of mixed e-commerce and physical channels

In this article we demonstrate the value of studying organisational contexts, which are characterised by uncertainty, via the micro discourse approach to research. By adopting the approach, we study a business to business case of internationalisation via the mixed channels of a physical office in the new territory supported by the parent company’s domestic website. We describe and problematise some of the foundational theories that have been applied through survey research in the macro level study of such phenomena. We then show how the micro discourse approach can help to develop rich insights into specific situated contexts where local uncertainty impinges on management decisions. The findings, which are grounded in a period of ethnography at the firm in question and developed through a thematic analysis, show how management dilemmas might develop in local contexts. The value of the work lies in the thick description of a firm’s culture which might inform practice and further study

Effective product assortment communication: overcoming the "product variety paradox" on the net

When a firm offers customized products, variants and options may end up confusing the customer, instead of increasing sales. Recent developments in Information and Communication Technology made available a class of software products, often termed as "product configurators", which appears to offer new solutions to support the sale of customized products. The present paper analyzes the underlying principles on which successful sales configurators have been built. In doing so, the paper attempts a formalization of the mechanisms through which a firm´s product assortment can be efficiently and effectively presented to the customer.e-commerce, Product Variety, Product configuration, Customization

Determining the critical elements of the customer intimacy framework

Currently the field of marketing is undergoing a transformation concerning the appropriate marketing model to use in business. This transformation arose due to the mounting problems of the existing 4Ps Marketing Model, the heightened importance of customer retention, the requirement to continually add value to business processes and recent advancements in Internet technology. An alternate approach to the 4Ps Marketing Model began to emerge in the 1970\u27s and was termed relationship marketing. This study is exploratory in nature and investigates consumer perceptions concerning customer intimacy. A self-administered mail questionnaire was employed to gather the necessary data from 300 solely external students from Edith Cowan University. In the analysis of the data, descriptive and multivariate statistics were used. The multivariate techniques include Factor Analysis, Stepwise and Multiple Regression and T-Tests. The study found interesting differences regarding the perceptions held by participants concerning customer intimacy at the university. The findings suggest that participants have highly positive perceptions regarding university contact, service continuance and service withdrawal. The study also indicates that participants have positive perceptions concerning external tutors’ knowledge, trust and comfort. Participants indicated moderately strong perceptions concerning the information they receive from the university due to the university\u27s reliability, relevance and cooperation. However, participants had low positive perceptions concerning the personal relationship with tutors and with the university protecting and caring for students. Further analysis of the data with factor analysis, revealed there were four important dimensions in the perception of customer intimacy. The four dimensions are Care, Communication, Trust and Comfort. Cronbach\u27s Alpha coefficient was used to test the reliability of the scale, resulting in coefficients of 0.90, 0.80, 0.65, and 0.70 respectively. Stepwise Regression was used in the analysis to quantify how the four dimensions affected how students rate their relationship with the university and multiple regression was used to determine the dimensions effect on the Internet. The results revealed that Care was a significant predictor of how students rated their relationship with the university. T-Tests were also utilised to determine if gender influenced how students rated their relationship with the university. The implications of these findings for marketers are discussed in the final chapter