Internet, interaction and implications for marketing

Looks at the ways in which firms are currently using the Internet and examines the extent to which these uses are informational or facilitate relationship building. A study shows that the majority of fims still use the Internet for informational purposes. Relationship facilitating and transactional uses of Internet are found – particularly for larger firms and for those that have internationalised via the Internet. A question over the ability of the Internet to facilitate and sustain this type of relationship is raised by the failure of the mature US Internet market to show a significant progression to more sophisticated Internet usage. This may relate to underlying uncertainty of customers or to the security of transacting via the Internet. Similarly, firms that are already international will have to contend with a number of serious challenges that arise from the open and global nature of information exchange on the Internet before they maximise its potential.