Marketing Behaviour and Executive Action - Book Report/Review Example

Literature Review Introduction The purpose of this literature review is to construct a theoretical framework for the understanding the impact of the wave of Ecommerce upon the digitalization of transactions upon export intermediation. This literature review is aimed at arriving at a conceptual framework to investigate the impact of Internet upon export intermediaries, in terms of activities (traditional and new), matching with what the suppliers' think and then suggest the future of export intermediaries( Houmann 2005) . Aims and objectives of Literature Review The aim of this literature review is to: 1. Identify the specific activities that suppliers expect from export intermediaries and those that they are able to provide. 2. Explore the extent to which the Internet has allowed substitution activities, which also fulfill the expected ones and the degree to which new activities has been developed. 3. Identify what tasks have been addressed/ facilitated by the internet with in export intermediation. 4. What corporate activity will be supported by such information (market screening market entry) 5. Does the net perhaps create more parties interested in exporting 6. If there is an overall shift in intermediary tasks and functions. Export intermediation in the age of the Internet Based on my observations above this literature review explores the future of export intermediaries and whether there is a move towards disintermediation. The aim would be to provide a number of relevant insights for export managers seeking to explore the economies of the cyber space for their export marketing activities. At times the so called digitalization of these export marketing tasks means that new forms of marketing activity will be brought about in the marketing channel along with new forms of activity specialization amongst the business actors. This will involve a perusal of the transaction cost theory towards the evolution of the business cyberspace. The current business scenario particularly in the arena of export intermediation has found its way to the cyber world bringing a radical shift in the current international business channels (Quelch and Klein, 1996).Since in the context of export mediation we are concerned more about business to business selling and to a lesser extent about business to consumer sales.The internet has changed the face of obtaining, processing and transmitting of business information in the sense of what ( Houmann 2005) has called "possibilities of a virtual, global presence have been claimed to change the economies of time and space, with remarkable consequences for current international business practices.., establishing a virtual presence for completing transactions through a site on the world wide web (www) can, potentially, create an instant global and near-frictionless exchange environment, with customers worldwide minimizing end-users' transaction costs and establishing direct rather than indirect channel structures." According to Houmann (2005) this has enabled exporters to interact directly with and exploit the potential of foreign consumer bases. This has led to a reallocation of the activities currently in the ambit of export market intermediaries to other parties in the export marketing channel. The emergence of the internet as a commercial platform along with the possibilities of information exchange inherent in electronic networks has added value to the products and services in terms of new content in market offerings. This is the age of the internet as a shopping place has indeed revolutionised by changing the market scenario for the businesses as well as for the consumers. This has greatly aided in the popularity among the people of the idea of E commerce as businesses clamour to gain popularity through "web-vertising" and online promotions aimed at targeting consumer value and satisfaction (Burke R (2002:114). This is the age of the technologically driven market place of today where there are countless promotional messages, appeals, advertisements and attractions which await the consumers as they enter the cyber world. Conventional modes of export intermediation (Kulviwat 2004:245-253 citing Alderson (1957) has described Export mediation based on the functionalist theory on marketing systems and the export intermediary as an " institutional mode, which provides a bundle of activities for exporters, intra-market distributors and end-users as principal actors in the export marketing channel(citing Stern et al., 1997)." Marketing channels are often perceived as generic channels of marketing activities.(Bucklin, 1966 cited by Houmann 2005)Another definition for the export marketing/intermediation would be " an institutional arrangement for the purpose of facilitating the transfer of goods and services from the exporters' market to the marketing channel of the target country (citing Root, 1987)".Export intermediation may be held to have and include many contexts of activities and it should be noted that over all the export intermediaries have a competitive advantage in information asymmetry. (Houmann (2005) qand Kulviwat 2004:245-253). So these activities can be briefly described as "accumulation, allocation, assorting and sorting out" of the buyers and sellers (See Houmann 2005). (Houmann 2005) describes them further as "Accumulation is the building up of homogeneity from heterogeneous supplies. Allocation is the breaking up of homogenous supplies to meet the heterogeneous needs of buyers. Sorting out and assorting concern the breaking up of a collection into its component parts and building a heterogeneous collection." Ofcourse then it worth pointing out that these activities will often be linked to different supply tasks and demand tasks (Anderson and Coughlan, 1987 cited by Houmann 2005).Therefore depending upon the transaction costs that they might entail they can be focusing upon a variety of functions based on the nature of their businesses.This hybrid can consist of the elements of Administration,Marketing and Logistics.Therefore as far as marketing is concerned Houman (2005) states that "the export intermediary, who acts as an agent for buyers and exporters with diverging cultural backgrounds, also serves the function of actively adjusting to both exporters' and buyers' needs in this communication process, smoothing out misunderstandings arising from cultural distance. The process of accumulating and constantly developing knowledge on the needs of exchange partners involves not only searching for and processing information, but also fitting it into the present stock of knowledge of the export intermediary" .(Houmann 2005 :5) The Export intermediary can also be involved in the administration aspect of the "activity bundle" (Houmann 2005) and this would relate to " contractual and control aspects, such as handling ownership issues, including commercial transactions, and documentation from exporting manufacturers, customers and such third parties as freight forwarders, governments and banks. .managing the risk exposure from handling currency flows. Other issues include administrative concerns, e.g. local service agreements, warrants, adjusting assortments, representation of the firm, etc"(Houmann 2005). Finally the issue of the logistics would entail the regulation of the physical flow of goods and services which would include coping with "both international issues (shipment and customs declaration) and national distribution and inventory management issues (warehousing, local shipment)"(Houmann 2005) The advent of online marketing and search based advertising The Internet is marked as a major development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and according to the January estimate from the Computer Industry Almanac 2008, the worldwide number of Internet users surpassed 1 billion in 2005 and a 2 billion Internet users milestone is expected in 2011. Furthermore the Internet plays a significant role in the export intermediation sector by attracting foreign consumer bases and business contacts and facilitating their marketing and strategic planning. Furthermore "the significance of the Internet as a commercial channel in the context of consumer information search and provision has been well recognized in previous studies .These studies suggest that it is virtually impossible for export organizations to overlook the Internet in their marketing mixes due to its advantages, which include global accessibility, convenience in updating, real-time information service, interactive communications features and unique customization capabilities"(Houmann 2005). In the context of exports,imports,retailing and marketing then the the website of a product has become a crucial branding channel. To be able to deliver quality and up-to-date information to its users, export businesses clamor to ensure that their websites are to the users' expectations. The first thing that should be noted here is that "the power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect." Tim Berners-Lee, director and inventor of the World Wide Web (W3C, 2003a).The overall success of exports and imports and their marketing now relies more on the usability, content, design and interactivity of the websites rather than the efforts of exports intermediaries. In this context according to ISO 9241-11, "Usability refers to the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of user." Usability measures the quality of a user's experience when interacting with a website determining how well can users learn and use the website to achieve success in their search. It is essential to know that Usability is a combination of factors including, Ease of learning, Efficiency of use, Memorability, Error frequency and severity and Subjective satisfaction. It is ensured that the business website has content that satisfies the user and it should be updated at least monthly.. If the content does not provide the information needed by users, the Web site will provide little value no matter how easy it is to use the site. Content is the "king" when compared to other websites characteristics since usability studies have shown that when a page comes up, the user looks right in the middle for content. It is very important for the content of a destination website to be easily accessible and mind pleasing so that it attracts the users. Moreover, the availability of contact details on the website is of great importance as it enables the users to interact with the representatives of the destination directly and retrieve more information. Therefore, the content is the most important asset of a destination website.It is important to remember that a commercial website is the first point of contact for most of the users who are trying to search for information related to the destination. Web users form first impressions of web pages in as little as 50 milliseconds (1/20th of a second), according to Canadian researchers. (Kulviwat 2004:253).Therefore, the search word chosen must make the right impression, portraying all the important and relevant information clearly in an easily readable format and with the most basic navigational concepts instilled. If a website design is unattractive and is not up to date, visitors will simply quit the website as soon as they click on the site and will be unlikely to visit it again in the future.Finally this is the age interactive online business transactions.From a business point of view, a website is interactive if it allows the user to select actions which will provide answers or help. Houmann (2005) refers to interactivity as the "quality of electronically mediated communications characterized by increased control over the communications process by both sender and receiver." The most basic level of interactivity is by means of search functions such as links or drop down menus which direct the users to the required information as a result of their search . A search option is indeed very interactive. Moreover, the option of the ability to download certain files in different font sizes is also an aspect of interactivity. Further, the availability of hyperlinked e-mail addresses in the destination website enables communication between the system and the user. The visitors of the website can forward their queries to the email provided and get the response promptly and in a helpful manner that will satisfy the users needs. Therefore, a Website, which can allow visitors to seek and gain access to the information on demand, where the content and sequence of visitors surfing is under their own direct control, can be perceived to give greater interactivity to consumers for the promotion of the export goals. An evaluation of the internet as a means of promoting exports and replacing intermediation functions. The thesis by (Kulviwat 2004:253).shows many factors that can make or break the success of online based export marketing and thus it becomes arguable whether it can infact be replaced. Despite all the advantages of internet shopping/access and easy availability there are many export businesses that are not successful in increasing their sales by using internet. This is because they don't have an effective strategy for the online sales of products. There have been many researches conducted by the social scientists (Berthon, Pitt Watson, 1996; Lamb, Hair and McDaniel 1996) to find out the reasons that why some businesses fail to increase their sales with the help of internet. The studies revealed that there is great need of effective marketing strategies to sale the product online because the competition is usually tough on the web due to greater participation of every scale of business. However the targeted consumer is not an easy catch as Berthon, Pitt, Watson (1996) discovered. and to be successful a plan for the success of tools like effective, strategic marketing and search based advertising to use it in the advertisements, promotional messages, information about the products etc and the value should be expressed in a way that the consumer can retail the value attached with the product and he is forced to visit the site of the company where value based informational messages wait for him. There is great possibility that this type of strategy can attract the attention of the online consumer. (Berthon, Pitt, Watson, p43, 1996) Information theory/Economics of information It has been stated by academics like Stigler, 1961 that the more information the consumer has, the better decision he/she will make. How then can this information be made available to themThis does not mean that the consumers will dig deep for information before making a decision. Information is beneficial but costly but from an economics perspective costs increase as consumers gather more information. When marginal benefits equal marginal costs, consumers will stop searching for more information. This is called according to Guo (2001) the information theory of economics based upon the cost-benefit framework to study information search, and its cost/benefit analysis.This suggests that a good online export strategy should offer value to the consumers. The main target of the SBV companies is to satisfy the consumers by assuring them the delivery of superior value of the products. The surety is the basis of the success of a company due to increase in its sales. Different researchers have explained the concept of consumer value in different ways. Schlosser, Kanfer (1995) described that consumer value is "the difference between the benefits customers get from owning and using a product and the costs associated with acquiring a product" (Schlosser, Kanfer, p12, 1995). Where as Ducoffe (1996) defines consumer value as the "ability of the product to fulfill the needs of the consumer" Ducoffe, p43, 1996).According to Christy, Matthew Lee (2006) the concept of consumer value plays a vital role in the formation of the consumer behaviour towards different products available in retail markets. The consumer value refers to the satisfaction that the consumer experience after the consumption of the products. This consumer value could be generated by the markers and retailers by providing different valued services to the consumers like quality product or service, in time delivery, payment methods facilities etc. If the consumers get the impression that they are going to get more value against the money they will spend then they are more willing to make purchases both in the real life markets as well as via internet. Hence the main challenge for the marketers and the exporters is to develop a high level of value associated with the purchase of their products. Only then they can successfully raise the purchased of their products and can survive in the highly competitive market place (Christy, Matthew Lee, p478, 2006). The electronic market place then offers participating buyers and sellers in some market to exchange information about prices and product offerings.Online and search based advertising is cheaper as search costs are lower in a virtual market than in brick-and-mortar markets (Bakos, 1997). Furthermore technology can also reduce the costs of communicating information due to its speed. (Pandey et al., 2003).This gives customers an incentive to search for more information compared to an offline search, which will mean a reduced average price paid and the dispersion of prices for the purchased products (Bakos, 1997). Currently many studies have seen a list of variables impacting information search (Beatty and Smith, 1987; Guo, 2001). According to Ariely 2000:23 then " Lowered search costs for quality information and easier store comparison should improve search efficiency and ultimately increase user satisfaction .".Hence the following can be seen "Ease of use is positively related to perceived benefit of online information search and Ease of use is positively related to effectiveness of online search and finally Ease of use is positively related to user satisfaction of computer technology." Ariely 2000:23 The next variable is of the effectiveness of search can be defined as the consumer's ability to acquire and utilize relevant information from the external environment (Punj and Staelin, 1983). Hence, (Kulviwat 2004:245-253). suggest that "Effectiveness of search is positively related to perceived benefit of online information search and effectiveness of search is positively related to user satisfaction.". Based on this (Kulviwat 2004:245-253) goes on to state that "Since user satisfaction reflects user's attitudes and beliefs about the benefits of using computer technologyUser satisfaction is positively related to perceived benefit of online information search and the perceived risk is positively related to perceived cost of online search and that this ability to search is positively related to the motivation to search online." Finally (Kulviwat 2004:245-253).speaks of experience which can be categorized as product and technology experience where he states " product satisfaction and purchasing experience interacted to reduce purchase decision times. The dissatisfaction or lack of experience with the product induces more information search. Conversely, experience with technology encourages search mainly by improving one's ability to search. A user's experience is related to knowledge (citing Novak et al. 2000 (and thus) Experience with technology is positively related to one's ability to search online." Furthermore this would entail in Kulviwat's (2004) methodology that "Experience with technology is positively related to knowledge and that experience with technology is negatively related to perceived risk and that finally knowledge about technology is positively related to one's ability to search information online and knowledge about technology is negatively related to perceived risk"(p 254) Other observations made by (Kulviwat 2004:245-253) include(please refer to the diagram above) 1. Education is positively related to one's ability to search information online. 2. Education is positively related to knowledge about technology. 3. Education is negatively related to perceived risk. 4. Time pressure is negatively related to the motivation to search online. 5. Time pressure is positively related to perceived cost of information search. 6. Enjoyment of online navigation is positively related to the motivation to search information online. 7. Motivation to search is positively related to online information search Export intermediation and the internet There has been an increase in customerization and extended services through market-to-one interfaces (Kulviwat 2004:245-253 citing Rayport and Svikola, 1994; Evans and Wurster 1999). These entirely new possibilities for the business chain are bringing out a positive threat to the current intermediary position as they are fast being replaced by digital service providers of various kinds which will cut down on these currently provided value-added activities they provide. Conventional export intermediation then is in a state of flux. It is arguable none the less that business realities will not allow the virtual business world to wipe out export intermediation altogetherl.This is due a lot of advantages that physical distribution channels have over virtual channels. Also there are a lot of problems with the internet world in an organisational and managerial perspective as well as the legal nuances involved than the organised ones. (Kulviwat 2004:245-253 citing Petersen et al., 2002). Arguably online trade reduces market friction and sheds the need for export intermediation / value-adding activities but this is not true for the basic function of the intermediary .Cyber presence can only help to capture a part of a particular market where as the more lucrative prospects can often be left to what (Houmann 2005 and Kulviwat 2004:245-253) call "traditional brick-and-mortar distribution outlets"( Kulviwat 2004:245-253) citing Sarkar et al., 1996; Schmitz, 2000; Calkins et al., 2000). There it would suffice to say that "far from disappearing altogether, intermediaries may merely - lose some terrain to the new export market entrants. In addition, export intermediaries can assume new roles and responsibilities in the marketing channel by contributing to the information obtaining, processing and transmitting possibilities of this new technology "(Scott, 2000 cited by (Kulviwat 2004:245-253).). The strategic connection between export intermediation and online channeling There has been much academic consensus that the role of online export marketing is often viewed from too narrow a perspective. (Anttila 2002, Anderson 1982).This assertion then begs the question as to what is the comprehensive perspective of the marketing concept online. From a review of literature on marketing it would seem that the wider perspective should embrace marketing as business philosophy at corporate level, as strategy at business level, Business tactics (marketing mix) at functional level.(Attila 2002) Thus it would seem that the wider role of online marketing synthesizes a variety of particular skills and practices learned as well as resources created "translating the philosophy into specific business strategies in order to achieve competitive advantages and superior performance"(Antilla 2002). Role of Strategic planning in an export intermediary organisation Strategic Planning is how an organisation defines its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. (Schultz 1994).The concept of marketing on the other hand has come a long way. As long back as 1910 there was "a period of conceptualization" for marketing and it was celebrated as "matter in motion". (Robert 1976).During the following decades the concept of marketing then integrated and developed and it was given agreed that the functional institutional commodity analysis of marketing was unsatisfactory and a definition of marketing evolved (Robert 1976).In export intermediation selling gets differentiated from marketing by the fact that selling is only done when a product is made available on the shelf within a retail outlet while marketing starts right at the beginning as early as the idea is conceived or being developed (Orpen, 1985).This contention above alone would demonstrate how marketing has penetrated the earlier stages of production and how it has become indispensable for making the strategies succeed. (Anderson 1982)All this however also entails that the narrow, specialist approach to marketing would weaken the strategic planning itself.(Anderson 1982,Shiner 1998).In the understanding of the role of export marketing vis a vis strategic planning a much seasoned approach would be to assess the relationship between the two before passing a judgment on the role of modern marketing. As I have mentioned before strategic planning concerns the "direction of business"(Robert 1976) as regarding its production, output finance and operations. Where does marketing fit in then Marketing will fill in the gap and solidify the strategic planning where a link has to be maintained between the business and the environment.(Antilla 2002) The problem is less complicated within one geographical market and limited products. Yet on the international pitch strategic planning and marketing would walk hand in hand over aisle of challenging marketing management in a multinational business.(Shiner 1998). Online marketing for export intermediation would thus ensure the ability of the business in a hostile and increasingly complex environment to achieve profitable sales while countering the cultural and environmental factors which are connected to any major business decision making. (Ashill et al. 2003) Marketing Planning therefore brings "strategic" sense to your "strategic planning". Marketing pinpoints the direction of strategic planning (Ashill et al., 2003)). Recent academic opinion has shown that the role of export intermediation within modern marketing is being perceived narrowly and therefore it has poor contribution to business success.(Denison Mc Donald 1995). This rather functional approach seems to be ignoring major changes experienced in the business environment as evident from the British Industry Denison Mc Donald 1995)There is academic consensus by Ashill(2003) and Denison (1995)that the future of marketing depends on recognizing these trends and responding to them. (Denison,Mc Donald,1995). Infact it has been reiterated academically in reference to the export literature again and again that; "Marketing is so basic that it cannot be considered a separate function on a par with others such as management or personnel. It is a first central dimension of the entire business It is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is from the customers point of view". (Wilson,Gilligan 2005) Academics have even warned against letting export marketing become susceptible to the hierarchical nature of the planning process which would bring marketing. Since marketers and export intermediaries alike provide the interface between the firm and its markets and customers, they must provide the essential strategic and tactical planning direction to the firm's overall strategic planning process. (Shiner 1988:1). Mc Donald (1992) and Ashill (2003) agree that this "new-wave" narrow approach to export online marketing is one of the principle barriers which hamper the introduction of strategic marketing planning, or serve to reduce its effectiveness.(Ashill 2003:1). Trustrum (1989) has also pointed out that online marketing channels might have a functional approach yet the marketing concept in its traditional form should be retained and allowed to guide and lead market orientation. Svensson (2005) has taken the rather interesting approach of the "spherical marketing concept" which tries to reconcile "the distinct upstream and downstream levels of marketing channels, as well as reconnecting their indistinct subsequent and preceding levels". This means that export intermediation is in fact indispensable to the planning process whether it is manufacturing or retail based strategic planning.(Svensson 2005). Cultural impact and its relation to effective export intermediation With the changing global regimes, the export intermediaries in the physical world are more capable of understanding the geographical location of the market and thus will be better able to comprehend the cultural settings, values and beliefs before online marketing could be deemed as significant to the whole scheme of things. (Mills, 2002).It also has to be seen that the internet exists in a world without boundaries. However culture remains an essential ingredient of the marketing concept since it gives out a quintessential meaning to the whole process of selling, buying and the role of middlemen is also highlighted as a result of the same. (Deeks, 1993).This should be reflected by the search terms in online marketing as well to link it with advertising as well. This is particularly true for carrying out online business marketing and export functions in Muslim and Asian countries where the strategic planning totally hinges on the type of marketing "pitched" in line with the cultural differences.(Butterfield 1997).Infact the more diverse and complicated the conditions and cultures of business the more difficult it is to even mentally accept a functional rather than strategic role of marketing.(Butterfield 1997) The role of online marketing and more so with the changing of trends and cultural attitudes has become pertinent. Also online marketing as strategic planning tool has taken on a very vital role in the related scheme of things since it is a tenet of the marketing concept in essence. (Brown, 1996).The strategic planning process is undoubtedly linked with the issue of careful marketing formulation.(Brown, 1996). It is argued that greater progress will be made in understanding marketing's participation in strategic planning with in export intermediation if online marketing's role in the goal formulation process can be explicated(Brown, 1996). How to reconcile export intermediary activities with internet-enabled technology Instead of viewing the "new possibilities for carrying out co-ordination and transaction via the internet" (Houmann 2005) as a threat to the traditional methods of export intermediation it would be better to say that "if the division of work can lead to potential savings or improvements in channel services, an actively competitive system will require it to be implemented.(as) the internet provides an infrastructure for dispersing information and automating information processing,"(Houmann 2005). Based on the above it can be said that the cost restructuring of the entire export intermediation due to information technology is a sign for export intermediators to look towards other means of organizing the export channels. The internet holds countless possibilities for the exploitation of the infrastructure as "an infrastructure for carrying information and digital services, which is complementary to the existing export marketing channel structure, improving its performance". (Houmann 2005). Furthermore the internet offers the exporters a chance to develop and study consumer behaviour closely the trends with in search based advertising.Houmann (2005) gives the example of the NikeID, which is a custom-tailored sports shoe provided directly to customers by Nike from their home page (www.nike.com).The competition is however from a new breed of "infomediaries" which through their ecommerce portals are fast developing e-commerce portals is an important new development of the growth of the internet as a trading place (or space, some might add). Conclusions from the literature review Online Commerce has reduced the costs of information search and co-ordination, which seems to be a threat to conventional actors in the export intermediation channels. However the export intermediary is not going to be an extinct species even though the advent of infomediaries is a known threat to their traditonal functions. However export intermediation is going towards virtual as opposed to conventional market channels and has caused increased the monetary, physical and information flows. The export intermediary can enhance his position through the use of internet which would help him work better on his indispensible role of maintaining existing customer relationships and intimate knowledge of foreign markets which is an edge over the online channels. In line with the Houmann (2005) reasoning it would suffice to conclude then that the way forward is to work towards some kind of "export intermediation hybrids" which will change the "division of tasks in the export marketing channel" (Houmann 2005). References Houmann (2005)Export intermediation and the internet: an activity-unbundling approach , Journal: International Marketing Review ,Volume: 22,Number: 2 ,Year: 2005,pp: 147-164 Copyright Emerald Group Publishing Limited ISSN: 0265-1335 1. Alderson, W. 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