Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the intersection of research into international marketing (IM) and the internet, seeking areas where knowledge is developing, and where further research is required.

The study utilizes an integrative review of the extant literature.

The study identifies the role of the internet as a tool for competitive advantage and internationalization. In considering these aspects of the internet within IM, the necessity for establishing a foreign market presence is also examined. Further, it is asserted that the internet’s influence on internationalization is largely through exporting of products and digital services.

The paper offers a new perspective on the issues emerging in the literature in terms of IM and the internet, and identifies new avenues for future research.

The utilization of the Internet and Internet marketing for marketing research has received considerable attention. Although there is a growing body of research devoted to this issue little has been done to explore the impact of Internet technology, e‐mail users’ on‐line skills and experience, on their choice of the new survey medium. This study is based on a sample of 122 responses from UK marketing executives using e‐mail and mail questionnaire surveys respectively. The research instrument included measures of respondents’ extent of e‐mail use, their general knowledge of online communications and their time of using the Internet. Some significant impact of these factors has been identified. The empirical evidence supports the hypotheses that the use of e‐mail survey methods is positively connected with high technology awareness and extensive e‐mail use. The findings imply that proper survey planning and administration are important for Internet‐based marketing surveys and suggest the existence of certain user patterns among different Internet user populations.

This study aims to assess consumers’ beliefs in three Middle Eastern Arab countries regarding attitudinal and behavioural responses towards permission-based direct email marketing (hereafter DEM) and the moderating role of gender in the hypothesised path model.

Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesised path model by using data collected from 829 respondents.

The findings show that attitude was found to fully mediate the relationship between beliefs and behavioural responses towards permission-based DEM. Gender moderates the relationship between beliefs and attitudes and responses to permission-based DEM. Notably, female respondents were found to react more actively when exposed to permission-based DEM.

Further qualitative research is needed to learn more about how and why individuals develop behavioural intentions in certain ways towards opt-in DEM. In addition, neuropsychology approaches such as eye-tracking are endorsed for future research to gain more insights and conquer biases associated with self-reporting procedures in countries where such technologies are deemed as legal and ethical to be used with human subjects.

Advertisers promoting products and services in the Middle Eastern Arab context should take further steps to enhance the quality of information (including cultural sensitiveness) and the perceived entertainment value that could be delivered to consumers through permission-based DEM, especially for female internet users. Additionally, this study highly recommends the double opt-in approach to permission-based DEM.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to address the gender role as a moderator of the path depicting the effectiveness of permission-based DEM approach in the Middle East (Arab counties) from beliefs to behavioural responses via attitudes.

This paper examines how online market research is utilised within UK market research agencies and what opportunities or problems this new research tool is giving the market research industry. The research involved sending 120 postal questionnaires to UK based market research agencies that claimed to do Internet based research. The main findings from the study show that the dramatic growth predicted by industry commentators is not evident among practising market researchers. Internet research is tending to be used for specialist types of research study such as Web site evaluation, business to business and employee research, where the audience is more likely to be online, or are part of an easily accessible database list supplied by clients. The research also found continuing concern about sample frames, attrition of panel members and response rates. Many in the industry are still undecided on the likely problems and opportunities associated with Internet research. There needs to be far more research and development if Internet based research is to become a serious alternative to traditional research methods.

This study proposes a conceptual framework for analyzing customer management strategies and their effects on Internet-based platform performance based on a review of the relevant literature, and provides directions for future research.

A literature review of relevant research articles on customer management in platform firms was conducted.

First, a framework based on the market maker view of platform firms suggests customer acquisition, customer retention and customer governance are the main customer management subprocesses toward improving platform firm performance. Second, the most studied customer management strategies for each subprocess contribute to platform performance based on the mechanisms of building customer network, developing customer network effect and managing sustainable customer networks.

This study proposes a framework that identifies customer acquisition, customer retention and customer governance as three key customer management subprocesses in platform firms. It also summarizes the most studied customer management strategies/actions for each subprocess. With this analytical framework, it identifies underexplored key issues in customer management for further research.

In the growing field of electronic commerce there are various influences that can lead to online purchase decisions. An understanding of these influences can lead to greater electronic marketing effectiveness. The purpose of this article is to analyze and compare the effect of internet experience, proclivity of use, and perception of risk on the likelihood of purchasing online in three different countries.

The empirical study includes a survey‐based design in which responses to a questionnaire completed by 492 multinational consumers are analyzed in structural equations modeling using LISREL.

Results suggest a positive relationship between consumer usage and experience of the internet and the likelihood of making online purchases. There is further indication that the perceived risk of buying online has a negative effect on consumers' purchase likelihood. Moreover, perceived risk tends to partially mediate the relationships between internet usage and purchase likelihood, and between experience and purchase likelihood. Overall, results from a three‐country study indicate that extent of ongoing internet usage, long‐term experience, and perceived risk are important antecedents to purchasing goods via the internet.

In the growing field of electronic commerce there are various influences that can lead to online purchase decisions. The results suggest marketers should modify their e‐marketing strategies to address specific conditions in consumer behavior that arise at the cultural, socioeconomic, and other levels of individual countries. Differences in levels of experience in using the internet, proclivity to use the internet, and perceptions of risk regarding the internet, influence the likelihood to purchase goods online. Generally, managers should minimize the perception of risk that potential consumers feel online. Consumers in different countries process e‐commerce constructs differently, perhaps because of different rates of technology diffusion.

This paper explores the relationships between consumer innovativeness, self‐efficacy on the internet, internet attitudes and online banking adoption, while controlling for personal characteristics.

The study integrates the technology acceptance model (TAM) and adoption of innovation framework to develop predictions of online banking acceptance. It distinguishes between innate consumer innovativeness, a generalized personality trait, and internet‐domain‐specific or actualized innovativeness in order to explore consumer characteristics' impact on adoption. Data are analyzed using logistic regression.

While results confirm the positive relationship between internet related innovativeness and online banking they also surprisingly show that general innovativeness is negatively related to online banking.

Results may or may not differ according to whether consumers are using online, telephone banking, electronic funds transfer (EFT) or direct bill payment. Our results may generalize to telephone banking and EFT as these products, like online banking, require an active consumer role in using the product. With direct bill payment, consumers need only set up the process initially and then monitor it on a semi‐regular basis.

Findings suggest that the type of consumer innovation matters in understanding the adoption of e‐banking processes. This supports the notion that online shoppers are distinct from traditional non‐online shoppers or highlight the unique nature of purchasing financial versus non‐financial products. Banks offering e‐banking need to recognize the importance of internet‐specific consumer innovation characteristics.

This paper closes a research gap as the model tested provides insights toward understanding the consumer‐based phenomenon of e‐banking, and serves to evaluate the TAM in this context. In contrast to previous research the study utilized an actual measure of e‐banking adoption versus a measure of intention to use the technology.

The marketplace evolution associated with the development of the electronic marketplace provides the marketing discipline with a unique opportunity to examine the value of its early literature in the context of a changing market environment. The purpose of this paper is to use the early marketing literature to develop theoretical propositions related to the internet marketplace.

Seminal marketing thought is reviewed and used to provide a conceptual understanding of various aspects of electronic commerce.

Perspectives from the commodity, functional, regional, institutional, and functionalist schools of marketing are used to explain the evolution of the electronic marketplace as well as to provide propositions to guide future research.

The application of historical marketing thought to a contemporary business situation serves to validate the robustness of the early literature and demonstrates its ongoing value and usefulness to the discipline.

This study aims to identify and analyse the issues faced by internet-based small businesses in developing countries regarding cybersecurity and document how these businesses address the risks.

This study used the qualitative method. Respondents were internet-based small businesses selected by using theoretical sampling. Data were collected by using interviews and observations. The validity of the analysis was ensured by using triangulation and member checking.

This study reveals that small businesses managed to identify the loss of physical and monetary assets as possible damage. However, only a few businesses identified loss of intangible assets as possible cyber risks. Most small businesses had used basic cybersecurity measures to protect data access and some primary business activities. Unfortunately, they rarely take initiatives in preventing and early detecting cyber risks.

Findings of this study cannot be generalised as it aims to obtain new insights and document unexplored findings. Thus, if this study’s findings are going to be generalised, it is necessary to conduct an additional study. Secondly, this study did not assess how far small business had fulfilled the relevant information security framework as assessment required additional research, and this study only aimed to map the current situation in small businesses.

This study emphasised the importance of identifying valuable assets or resources when implementing cybersecurity measures. Focusing on security measures to protect identified assets from cyber risk will make the efforts more efficient and effective than using standardised cybersecurity measures. Third-party developers can also use this study to understand small businesses’ current cybersecurity implementation and their characters to design online platforms that suit these needs. Governments can also design educational activities that address small businesses’ lack of knowledge.

Most studies which focus on small businesses and information technology (IT) usually only discuss how they use IT. This study also brings new contributions by focusing on developing countries and specifically addresses internet-based technology cyber risk faced by e-commerce businesses. The qualitative method is used as most studies in e-commerce adoption were positivistic in nature, and inductive-based studies were rarely found on the topic.

There is limited published work addressing factors that influence responses to internet surveys. This is due in part to lack of an agreed upon set of relevant theories. Albaum, Evangelista and Medina (AEM) and Evangelista et al. made a step toward filling this gap when they studied the relevance of four theories of survey response behaviour. The AEM study included a survey from a population of survey researchers. Based on their survey, they concluded that all four theories contribute to explaining survey response behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to provide an exploratory extension of AEM by using an extended set of theories in an exploratory content analysis of qualitative feedback to a large internet‐based experiment.

An internet‐based survey using an experimental design was sent to essentially the entire population of student e‐mail addresses at a New Zealand university. The 12,000 questionnaires distributed included open‐end questions that asked about factors related to conducting surveys over the internet, especially potential barriers to response. A total of 841 comments are collected. An extended version of the four theories identified by AEM are used to organise and summarise the feedback provided.

Cost is the most highly mentioned factor and commitment the least‐mentioned factor. Overall, cost, reward, and trust are the most significant factors in survey response, leading to the conclusion that social exchange appears to the most prominent theory for internet‐based surveys and commitment is the least prominent theory.

This is the first study to use qualitative research to assess the applicability of the major theories of survey response behaviour. In addition; the study is the first to apply these theories to internet‐based surveys.