The Implications of Electronic Marketing - Essay Example

? and Section # of With the passage of time and the advent of information technology, Globalization is taking a toll. The phenomenon of the world as a global village is now more pertinent that ever before. As modernization is taking place, technologies that were once seen as far sighted notions, are becoming necessities to function. Businesses need to be agile and more technologically averse in order to maintain their competitive edge and create value. This paper would discuss the implications of Electronic Marketing. It would elaborate over how the advancements in technology and the advent of internet has assisted organisations in creating and improving customer value with the use of personalization and mass customization. Moreover, it would discuss the ethical and legal constraints associated with the use of internet. DISCUSSION The internet can be formally described as an interconnected network comprised of several networks and millions of computers that aim to link together businesses, educational institutions, government agencies, and individuals. There is no single organization controls the internet or how it functions, nor is it owned by any individual, yet it has provided the infrastructure for the transfer in commerce, scientific research and culture. The advent of internet has brought forward a plethora of opportunities and openings for businesses to take advantage of in order to better serve the customers. (Laudon & Traver, 2007) Marketing is basically the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying the requirements of customers profitably with the help of the 4 Ps of the marketing mix, namely, product, price, promotion and place. (Baker, 2001) When internet and related technologies are used to communicate with the audience and the customers this becomes the process of electronic marketing. As the competition over the internet is increasing, there is more stress over providing the maximum value to the online customer. Customer value can be generated through providing them with a favourable experience. This experience can be enriched through the paradigms of internet accessibility, the depth and interactivity of the contents, faster access, convenience, speed of transactions and overall, a pleasant experience. All mass marketing comes down to offering customers with value for money. (Jones & George, 2007) Internet enables companies to produce customized products while maintaining a low unit cost for the products. Mass customization is a new phenomenon that is taking over the business strategic environment. It can be defined as the enablement of a company to provided products that are tailored to the specific needs and demands of a group or individual bearing similar interest. The internet has increased the implementation of mass customization by companies. The youth of today are habituated to personalizing their experiences, be it the internet or their mobile phones. Customization is taking place over everything and anything, from toys to games to clothing. This generation is accustomed to personalization and customization from their brands and this is why more and more companies are going towards this phenomenon. The demands of the consumers are now less similar. They are unique and different from others making them less predictable for the companies. Mass customization allows companies to cater to specialized requests over a large scale. With the advent of globalization and the advancements in information technology, companies are faced with greater competition from all around the globe. Every company is aiming to gain a presence over the internet which would make them ubiquitous and interactive. The Internet makes it possible, for companies large and small, to offer standardized and customized products and services compatibly, or to merely offer the latter. (Baylis et al, 2007) With the help of personalization, companies can target their marketing messages to individuals by personalizing the messages by altering them in accordance with the persons name, their interest and their purchase history. Personalization and customization are closely interlinked. Internet and related technologies enable interaction and a great deal of information regarding the customers can be gathered and used subsequently used with reference to the past purchase of the consumers. With this increase in information density, there is a plethora of data relating to individual customers, their preferences and their purchases. This information aids to personalization and customization which cannot be achieved without the technology. (Ivancevich et al, 2005) Internet allows more flexibility and a more rapid response tome to the changing needs of the market. It allows the companies to reduce its distance from the end consumers and being close to the changing demands and trends. Mass customization yields to the flexibility; it allows companies to alter their products faster than the competitors. Agility, responsiveness, differentiation and constant adaptability give the company a competitive advantage. Internet enables more interactivity and communication with the customers and this is an imperative aspect of customization and personalization. For mass customization to gain the maximum advantages there should be ongoing communication, customer service should be efficient and responsive. Moreover, there should be enough choices available for the customers to find what they really need. (Goldsborough, 2007) An excellent example of mass customization would be that of Dell. Dell makes a point to be available to its customers 24/7 to cater to their question and to allow them to place orders for the components that they want in their personal computers. Dell follows an efficient communications model with its customers and tends to have first-rate customer services. The internet is not only enabling mass customization and personalization for companies that offer products but as the trend progresses and its advantages are seen, there are more and more service organizations that are implementing these dimensions into their business models, from banks and financial institutions to brokerages and insurance companies. All service based companies having presence over the internet are customizing and diversifying their offerings for their customers to maintain better relations with them and provide them with more value. (Stimpson, 2002) With the advancement of technology and the enablement of the use of digitally advanced mode of communication, the business market is becoming more virual. Consumers tend to carry out transactions from their home through the internet or the telephone. This tends to reduce the costs of travelling and the cost in terms of time for the consumers who can now buy and sell over the internet. For decades, shoppers have been accustomed to going to the shops and stores to buy what they need. This is given the name of bricks and mortar shopping. More recently is the concept of online retailing or E-commerce which has taken the markets and shopping with a blaze. (Fryman, 2004) Consumers are now turning towards shopping online which seems to be more convenient and easy. There are however, many other reasons that lead to this change in consumer behaviour and the steady move towards online shopping rather than bricks and mortar. (Whittaker, 2009) Every organization in order to achieve its objectives and work towards its mission statement, implements strategic management models to enhance its recital and performance. These management tools offer different courses of steps that are taken towards the achievement of the organizational goals. There are strategic management models that are sustainable to the E-commerce environment. With the consequence of greater technology and advancement in the information systems, the use of internet by the general population has increased to a great extent. This change has brought amendments in the strategic management models implemented by organizations. There is more focus upon building closer links with suppliers and customers and also the other stakeholders of the business. Models that create and maintain value are more focused upon. Emphasis is laid upon providing mass customization and personalization to the consumers. These new aims and objectives are of key importance to the organization through the realization of E-commerce. (Laver, 1989) The internet and its use in ecommerce have raised persistent ethical, social and political issues on a scale unparalleled for computer technology. Some of the ethical, social and political issues revolve around information rights, property rights, governance, public safety and welfare. (Laudon & Traver, 2007) The development of the internet and consequently ecommerce has harvested the sale of personal data, aggressive advertising, the creation of profiling databases and acts of unfair practices and infringement of privacy. These issues need to be taken care of by the companies that maintain their presence over the internet. The internet and the World Wide Web provide an ideal environment for invading the personal privacy of millions of users. Privacy protection is amongst the leading issues pertaining to the internet and e-commerce. Websites collect information regarding the visitors and use cookies to track the click stream behaviour of the visitors. They collect information regarding the demographics and behavioural information of whether it is with a personal identifier or on an anonymous basis. Profiling is done on the basis of the activities that a visitor performs and according to the customer's purchases, preferences and personal information. Critics argue that profiling hinders the customers experience and invades their privacy. The concept of information consent plays an imperative role in protecting privacy. In the United States, companies and government can collect information regarding online purchases by a user and correlate it with personal information to for marketing activities, however, in Europe the collection of information with out a written consent from the customer is an illegal act. Mass customization and personalization is becoming all the more important as consumers are becoming overwhelmed with information. It is vital for companies to target their consumers accurately and send the messages to the relevant audience. If the customers are sent too many irrelevant messages they may lose their interest in the company and consider it as spam. Spamming is highly disliked by the consumers and for internet marketing to be successful in building relationships it is essential for it to relevant and valuable. Many companies are now refraining from emailing at all. They use emails sparingly and use other mediums to communicate with the customers. For example, EBay uses its network of bulletin boards to post updates while email is used only for important notifications. Moreover, there is a new development in e-marketing which is the use of permission based email marketing. This is when emails are sent with the help of a permission based system that takes consent form the customer and sends emails on an opt-in basis. (Laudon & Traver, 2007) Data protection has become an important concept in this age of digitization. Data protection is basically the act of safeguarding the integrity, privacy and security of information. It is argued that the key to increasing the number of people using e-commerce is to gain and maintain trust. If online companies maintain the integrity and protection of the data concerning customers, the customers are more likely to trust them with their credit card and their private details thereby, an e-tailer that follows a strict data protection regime is more likely to increase its customer base while the contrary may bear losses. There are various laws and legislation regarding the protection of the personal information of the customers and the dissemination of this information. The laws control the use of the information and protect information. (Jhonson, 2001) CONCLUSION All Organizations are now putting in more of their resources in implementing various strategies of gaining a competitive edge over their rivals in the market. IT is a phenomenon that is on a constant verge of improvement. Newer, better and more efficient changes are taking place that lead in IT becoming more and more expedient, convenient and effective. With the advent of electronic commerce and marketing, businesses are becoming agile towards consumers and building better relationships and creating value through more customized and personalized forums. Although there are legal, social and ethical dilemmas attached to ecommerce, there is no doubt that it is changing the way the market performs. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Baker, M.J (2001). Marketing: critical perspective on business and management. Taylor and Francis 2. Baylis, J, J.J Wirtz, E.A Cohen & C. S Gray (2007). Strategy in the contemporary world. Oxford University Press. 3. Columbus, L. (2000) Realizing E-business with Application Service Providers. LWC Research 4. Fioravanti, F. Skills for Managing Rapidly Changing IT Projects. Idea Group Inc. 5. Garland, J.L. (1986) How to Develop Business Information Systems for End Users. Wiley 6. Hicks, J.O. (1986) Information Systems in Business. West Pub. 7. Ivancevich , J.M, J.L Gibson, J Donelly, J.H Donelly & R Konopaske (2005). 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