8,936 research outputs found
Marketing, Consumers and Technology: Perspectives for Enhancing Ethical Transactions
The advance of technology has influenced marketing in a number of ways that have ethical implications. Growth in use of the Internet and e-commerce has placed electronic cookies, spyware, spam, RFIDs, and data mining at the forefront of the ethical debate. Some marketers have minimized the significance of these trends. This overview paper examines these issues and introduces the two articles that follow. It is hoped that these entries will further the important marketing and technology ethical debate
The 4s web-marketing mix model
This paper reviews the criticism on the 4Ps Marketing Mix framework, the most popular tool of traditional marketing management, and categorizes the main objections of using the model as the foundation of physical marketing. It argues that applying the traditional approach, based on the 4Ps paradigm, is also a poor choice in the case of virtual marketing and identifies two main limitations of the framework in online environments: the drastically diminished role of the Ps and the lack of any strategic elements in the model. Next to identifying the critical factors of the Web marketing, the paper argues that the basis for successful E-Commerce is the full integration of the virtual activities into the companyâs physical strategy, marketing plan and organisational processes. The four S elements of the Web-Marketing Mix framework present a sound and functional conceptual basis for designing, developing and commercialising Business-to-Consumer online projects. The model was originally developed for educational purposes and has been tested and refined by means of field projects; two of them are presented as case studies in the paper.\ud
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Talking to the Empowered Consumer Dealing with the Shift of Power
The concept of the empowered consumer cannot be considered as a field of exact scientific
research yet. Nevertheless, it has become part of scholarsâ interest and gains more and more
importance in the research of organisational relationships with customers. It is suggested that
two influencing criteria are especially at the forefront: The emergence of the Internet, which
effected that barriers to collect and to disseminate information across boundaries were
decisively reduced. As a consequence consumers could organise globally and collect and
exchange information and experiences about organisations and their products. Furthermore,
flexible interactivity between companies and consumers, but particularly from consumers to
consumers enable direct interaction changing many previously established rules of doing
business. Due to these new opportunities new business models developed and the proposition
is that intangible values such as reputation gained even more importance and influence
tangible outcomes.
Suggestions are that 1.), this concept links communication, corporate behaviour and
legitimacy of activities influencing reputation as a driver of value. 2.), reputation as a
corporate asset can be managed but it is beyond the pure control of an organisation. 3.),
reputation is part of public perception, which an organisation has to build, maintain and
expand depending on communicative abilities and willingness to accept consumers as a centre
of power. The following discussion will present Grunig et al.âs communication model
explaining changed organisational challenges. It is put forward as a framework for marketing
for times in which online opportunities added to the earlier b2b and b2c models c2c and P2P
considerations and architectures.
The annual studies of the market research institute puls undertaking regular representative
research among German consumers since November 2005 will present evidence for the
relationship of improved prices, which may be achieved, and the perception a firm possesses.
This paper deals mostly with German examples and data, but the hypothesis is that a) the
general situation in other Western countries is alike, but needs b) specific additional research,
since cultural differences are expected to have a considerable influence, especially when
criteria such as individualist and collectivist organisation of society and high and low context
communication styles are involved. Hence, the results of the same study in different countries
are therefore expected to present some variation.
Additionally, the Cluetrain Manifesto challenges corporate behaviour of those companies still
believing to have the ability to control information disseminated by and written about it.
Examples provided will support the hypothesis that powerful consumers may have significant
impact on organisational behaviour, decision-making and outcomes.
Keywords: Empowered Consumer Concept, Symmetric Two-way communication,
Reputation, c2c, P2
Dynamic modeling of web purchase behavior and e-mailing impact by Petri net
In this article, the authors introduce Petri nets to model the dynamics of web site visits and purchase behaviors in the case of wish list systems. They describe web site activities and their transition with probability distributions and model the sequential impact of influential factors through links that better explain web purchase behavior dynamics. The basic model, which analyzes site connections and purchases to explain visit and purchase behavior, performs better than a classical negative binomial regression model. To demonstrate its flexibility, the authors extend the wish list Petri net model to measure the impact of e-mailing intervals on visit frequency and purchase.internet; wish list; e-mail; Petri net; dynamic model
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Generation Y online shopping behaviors and habits
Online marketing opportunites regarding the teenage market are often underestimated due to the fact that the general information to date is neither particular, specific nor exact. Therefore, this project aims at giving guidelines for webmarketers willing to capture the consumers of tomorrow
Attitudinal Explanation On Virtual Shopping Intention
Virtual stores provide great efficiency in the retail value chain, and their existence has tremendously paved the way for electronic commerce. Understanding the intention of consumers to shop online in attitudinal perspective will provide important contribution to the area of e-commerce. This research proposes Task Technology Fit, Perceived Ease of Use, and Perceived Usefulness as the factors that drive consumersâ intention. The results from our survey study of 310 online consumers in Indonesia indicate that user TTF is the determinant for PEoU and PU. Our hierarchical model also reports that PEoU is the mediating effect on the relationship between TTF and Intention. The resulting model explains a large portion of the factors that lead a userâs behavioural intention to use a virtual shop.
Keywords: Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Task Technology Fit, Virtual Shoppin
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COMMENTARY Enhancing consumer empowerment
Purpose of this paper:
Much of the literature on consumer empowerment focuses on consumersâ efforts to regain control of their consumption processes from suppliers. Our purpose is to argue that many suppliers achieve success by trying hard to empower consumers. The mechanism by which this takes place consists of researching and providing what
consumers want. Consumers feel empowered when they are able to enjoy the consumption process. This is of particular note in shopping, which is not simply obtaining products but also experience and enjoyment.
Design/methodology/approach:
Research is examined into the links between firmsâ efforts to understand what consumers want, atmospheric stimuli, emotions and buying behaviour.
Findings:
We find that successful firmsâ try hard to understand what consumers want and to improve consumer satisfaction and empowerment by providing pleasant marketing environments and apt, relevant information.
Research limitations/implications:
The approach is based on prior literature. We examine marketing to consumers in company locations, e.g. stores, malls, restaurants and banks to examine specific evidence of the effects of atmospheric stimuli such as aroma, music and video screen media.
Practical implications:
We contend that firms can and do become successful in a competitive arena by providing pleasant environments and information that people want.
What is original/value of paper?:
We show how consumer empowerment is an important concept. This paper contributes since there is a dearth of writings specifically about consumer empowerment in the marketing literature. Far from the popular view of consumers being manipulated by firms, successful firms try hard to and succeed in empowering consumers in their marketing activities
Policy Issues of e-Commerce Technology Diffusion in Southeast Nigeria: The Case of Small Scale Agribusiness
The benefits brought about by the emergence of e-commerce, e-business and other Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) applications have not been fully explored in the developing economies of the world. The less developed economies are still struggling to catch up with ICT application as opposed to its heavy deployment in the developed economies. Empirical evidence suggests that ICTs and other related technologies are increasingly emerging in the communities of the developing economies such as Nigeria. Rural actors engaged in the Agricultural industries (Agribusiness) feel that the implementation of ICTs can influence the development of new business processes and the way existing processes are organised. In the Southeast of Nigeria, which is a typical example of a less developed community, the impact of e-business technologies has yet to be determined. This paper identifies two classical traditional agribusiness supply chains and hence reports on the impact of e-commerce technology diffusion along the equilibrium of the supply chains, focusing on the elimination of intermediary actors from the chain. It provides an assessment of the Governmentsâ policies and strategies on e-commerce adoption for the sustainability of small-scale agricultural businesses. The paper examines the politics surrounding ICT implementations by actors engaged in the agribusiness sector. This research has motivated The South East State Government, in collaboration with the Federal Government, to give closer attention to their earlier policy of making Nigeria an ICT-enabled country
Multichannel in a complex world
The proliferation of devices and channels has brought new challenges to just about every
organisation in delivering consistently good customer experiences and effectively joining up
service provision with marketing activity, data and content. A good multichannel strategy and
execution is increasingly becoming essential to marketers and customer experience
professionals from every sector. This report seeks to identify the key issues, challenges and opportunities that surround
multichannel and provide some best practice insight and principles on the elements that are
key to multichannel success. As part of the research for this report, we spoke to six
experienced customer experience and marketing practitioners from large organisations
across different sectors.
In Multichannel Marketing: Metrics and Methods for On and Offline Success, Akin Arikan
(2008) said:
âBecause customers are multichannel beings and demand relevant, consistent experiences
across all channels, businesses need to adopt a multichannel mind-set when listening to
their customers.â
It was clear from the companies interviewed for this report that it remains challenging for
many organisations to maintain consistency across so many customer touchpoints. Not only
that, but the ability to balance consistency with the capability to fully exploit the unique
attributes of each channel remains an aspiration for many.
The proliferation of devices and digital channels has added complexity to customer journeys,
making issues around the joining up of customer experience and the attribution of value of
key importance to many. Whilst senior leaders within the organisations spoken to seem to be
bought in to multichannel, this buy-in was not always replicated across the rest of the
organisation and did not always translate into a cohesive multichannel strategy. A number of companies were undertaking work around customer journey mapping and
customer segmentation, using a variety of passive and actively collected data in order to
identify specific areas of poor customer experience and create action plans for improvement.
Others were undertaking projects using sophisticated tracking and tagging technologies to
develop an understanding of the value and role of specific channels and to provide better
intelligence to the business on attribution that might be used to inform future investment
decisions.
A consistent barrier to improving customer experience is the ability to join up many different
legacy systems and data in order to provide a single customer view and form the basis for
delivery of a more consistent and cohesive multichannel approach.
Whilst there remain significant challenges around multichannel, there are some useful
technologies allowing businesses to develop better insight into customer motivation and
activity. Nonetheless, delivery of seamless multichannel experience remains a work-inprogress
for many
Sale the seven Cs: Teaching/training aid for the (e-)retail mix
The â4Psâ of the marketing mix have long been popular with students, tutors, trainers
and practitioners as a learning and teaching aid. The purpose of this paper is to present
an equivalent tool for retail and e-retail: âSale the 7Csâ. The approach is by reference
to other authorsâ versions of the marketing, retail and e-retail mixes, distilled into a
simplified framework: C1 Convenience; C2 Customer value and benefit; C3 Cost to
the customer; C4 Computing and category management; C5 Customer franchise; C6
Customer care and service; C7 Communication and customer relationships. This
simplified mnemonic is new for (e-)retail. Mini case examples are used to illustrate
the applicability. These have a practical value for trainers and educators as specimen
answers to activity exercises. Retailers may find the convenient 7Cs structure useful
when planning strategies and tactics
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