The Proliferation of Internet - Research Proposal Example

Introduction The proliferation of internet saw a sudden rise in e-business as individuals and businesses sought to amass massive profits. However, according to a study by The Mckinsey, about 450 internet companies closed their doors in the first nine months of 2001, which was twice the number of failures in 2000 (Dorton, Hastle & Moore, 2001). Failures in e-business could range from the adoption of a wrong strategy to operational flaws, an incompatible partner or even lack of technology adoption. Not all e-businesses fail and hence it becomes intriguing to evaluate the reasons. Since the causes of failure are not unique to e-business, and there could be more than one, it is not possible to evaluate all the possible reasons within one study. E-business has been growing at a very fast pace that firms need to remain competitive and innovative. E-business suggests a customer-centric approach and the business offers are designed to cater to different consumer needs and preferences. This implies that marketing of products or services through e-business is critical. Since there is no human contact in e-business, the marketing function gains importance. E-business is taken up more by established companies, than by start-ups (Amit & Zott, 2000). The established businesses would tend to apply the same marketing techniques and practices that they use for offline business. However, online marketing differs from conventional marketing. Marketing strategy hence could be one of the reasons for failures of e-business. Research Aims and Objectives The aim if the study would hence be, to evaluate whether a professional marketing consultant can influence the success or failure of e-business. Based on this aim, the objective of the study would be: To evaluate the online marketing environment To research on both failed and successful e-business ventures To determine the factors that influence success in online business. Literature Review Internet exchanges are beneficial not just for the customers or end users but it helps businesses to exchange and grow together. Internet offers a platform to conduct e-business in different models. These models could vary from business-to-business (B2B), business-to-customer (B2C) and customer-to-customer (C2C) and offer advantages over the traditional way of transacting business (Amit & Zott, 2000). Online shopping environments The traditional offline shopping environments atmospheric elements influence approach behaviors as they can influence positive emotions like pleasure and arousal (Demangeot & Broderick, 2006). Online shopping environments are much smaller theaters of experience and hence require technological skill. However, online shopping can be a very engrossing experience and is of equal importance to the shopper and the marketer. It helps the marketer to understand the customer moods, behaviors and attitudes. Factors influencing e-business Internet is free competition gone mad (Starling, 2002) but branding works to some extent to fight competition. Consumers are too lazy for comparison shopping but profit margins are too low in e-business. This is one of the reasons that e-businesses close shop after a small stint. Consumer resistance is another reason because consumers do not want to take the risk on shopping online. Credit card frauds have been deterring people from online purchases. Poor company promotion and errors on the website can influence the success or failure of e-businesses (Bazac, 2002). Bazac also suggest hiring only people that are really needed and all of them should be professionals while Kambil, Eselius and Monteiro (2000) find that people with talent and skills in this era, are in short supply. People with work ethic, values and attitude are essential to build e-business from scratch. E-business ventures Established businesses such as Wal-mart have experienced success in e-business and Amazon.com that moved from brick and mortar store to gain online presence has also been successful in e-business. Noble Jewelry Limited, Hong Kong has been very successful in e-business whereas Toys R Us has been a failure. E-business forces innovation to move at the speed of the lightning. This means 3 to 6 months from the time that the idea is conceived to the launch of the business. Ventures such as goodhome.com and Accompany.com were established in just 12 weeks (Kambil, Eselius & Monteiro, 2000). Businesses such as these could establish comfortable market positions as they did away with old business models of planning, implementation and operations. Fast moving companies have been able to expand the knowledge and capabilities of internal resources by expanding on the experience of outsiders. The literature review thus suggests that the online marketing environment is entirely different from traditional marketing. A sound business plan with clear strategy can lead t success. Established businesses usually venture into e-business rather than start-ups and the factor s governing the success or failure could be varied. Research methodology This would be a descriptive and an exploratory qualitative study based on prior findings. Theoretical perspective on e-business would be reviewed which also include the definitions of terms such as e-business and marketing. Thereafter, information on both successful and failed e-business ventures would be reviewed. Qualitative method would help to develop themes which would enable to achieve the objectives set for the study. A qualitative approach allows the researcher to get an insider perspective (Knox, 2004). A qualitative study cannot be replicated and it is dependable because the researcher knows that this study occurs in an ever-changing environment. Data is proposed to be collected from trade journals, academic journals, and from reputed search engines on the internet. Books would not be used. To gain a deeper understanding from different perspectives, a case-study approach would be applied as it permits a holistic, in-depth investigation (Tellis, 1997). Different [perspectives can be synthesized through this approach and it helps to address the hows and whys of the situation. Since the aim of the research is specific – whether a professional marketing approach influences the success or failure of e-business – the sampling would be used based on the researchers judgment. This is known as judgment sampling, which is convenient and cost-effective for the researcher. At least two successes and two failed e-businesses are proposed to be evaluated in-depth through the case study method. References Amit, R., & Zott, C. (2000). Value Drivers of E-Commerce Business Models. Bazac, D. (2002). Why Dotcoms Fail – A Webmaster’s Perspective. Pandecta Magazine. Retrieved 10 Ocober 2010 from http://pandecta.com/dotcom.html Demangeot, C., & Broderick, A. (2006). Exploring the experiential intensity of online shopping environments. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal. 9 (4), 325-351 Dorton, D.H., Hastle, C.B., & Moore, P.Q. (2001). Shopping in the Internet bargain basement. Retrieved 10 October 2010 from https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Shopping_in_the_Internet_bargain_basement_1541 Kambil, A., Eselius, E.D., & Monteiro, K.A. (2000). Fast Venturing: The Quick Way To Start Web Businesses. Retrieved 10 October 2010 from http://www.cua.uam.mx/biblio/ueas10-I/ueaarticulos/FastVenturingtheQuick.pdf Knox, K. (2004). A Researcher’s Dilemma - Philosophical and Methodological Pluralism. Retrieved 10 October 2010 from http://www.ejbrm.com/vol2/v2-i2/vol2-issue2-art7-knox.pdf Starling, A. (2000). Dotcom Bubble – “The Emperor Has No Clothes!”. Web Developer’s Journal. June 28. Retrieved 10 October 2010 from http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/columns/ajs_bubble.html Tellis, W. (1997). Application of a Case Study Methodology. Retrieved 10 October 2010 from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR3-3/tellis2.html Read More