INTERNET MARKETING

Internet marketing

Internet marketing

“Over the past ten years? the internet as a global communication and exchange medium has witnessed unprecedented growth. Globally? the number of websites increased from 23?000 in 1995 to more then 55 million in 2005. In the US alone? total internet driven sales revenues have grown from a negligible amount in 1995 to over $50 billion in 2004? and are expected to rise at an annual rate of over 20 percent. European based internet marketers have experienced even more dramatic growth? achieving a 44 percent increase of online sales in 2004. With sales of more than 13 million (=$16.9)? Europe's 2004 online holiday Christmas sales outpaced the US for the first time. Today? the importance of the internet to buyers? sellers? and intermediaries across all aspects of the relational continuum from prospecting to customer retention is unquestioned (Chappuis et al, 2011). The meteoritic growth of the internet has not gone unnoticed by the academic community. Of significance? the number of published internet marketing articles in peer reviewed journals increased from a mere three articles in 1995 to 169 articles in 2004. In one of the first review articles of its kind? the European Journal of Marketing published a 14-year review of the internet marketing literature for the 1987-2000 time period. Over that timeframe? a total of 270 internet marketing articles were identified? or an average of 19 articles per year. In comparison? over the last four years alone we identified an additional 639 published internet marketing articles? an average of 160 per year and an increase of almost over 830 percent from the 1987-2000 yearly average. Clearly? the importance of the internet as a topical area of interest within the academic community is strong and growing and signals the need to once again review the internet marketing literature? particularly in terms of potential research opportunities.

While the data are interesting? it is important to step back and view these results in terms of the future of internet marketing research. First and foremost it is easy to conclude that internet marketing research is thriving. While the total amount of research has declined slightly over the past year? the amount of research reaching the top journals is slowly increasing. In addition? the review of the internet marketing topics reveals that the internet impacts virtually every area of marketing. Interestingly? internet marketing research seems to be shifting away from descriptive types of studies (e.g. who is using the web for search and purchasing) towards research related to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing by employing the web and understanding how and why consumers' use the internet (Chappuis et al, 2011). It appears that editors and reviewers are pushing internet researchers to take this research stream to the next level of understanding.

A review of the topics currently being researched indicates that some areas of research are receiving more attention than others. Within consumer behavior? hot topics include consumer cognitions? motivations? search behavior? and satisfaction. As a note? much of the current research ...