طریقه استفاده و اثر بخشی ابزارهای بازاریابی آنلاین درشرکت های تجاری بنگاه به مصرف کننده در سنگاپور (B2C)

This study seeks to identify the extent of usage and perceived effectiveness of various online marketing tools among Business-to-Consumer (B2C) firms in Singapore. The findings reveal that there are some significant differences between the extent to which websites utilize the various online marketing tools and the perceived effectiveness of such tools. Implications of the results are discussed and the results should be useful in helping B2C firms decide on the appropriate marketing tools to implement.

Businesses are increasingly using the Internet for commercial activities. The ubiquitous nature of the Internet and its wide global access has made it an extremely effective mode of communication between businesses and customers (Rowley, 2001). The growth of Internet technology has enormous potential as it reduces the costs of product and service delivery and extends geographical boundaries in bringing buyers and sellers together. The Internet also allows small businesses to access markets and to maintain a presence that help them to compete against industry giants. In fact, the Internet has changed the face of marketing with its instant yet personalized reach to a global audience. Although more and more firms are realizing the importance of leveraging on the Internet to conduct their businesses, corporate leaders are finding it difficult to keep up with fast moving markets and the customer conditions that are the hallmark of the Internet (Aldridge, Forcht, & Pierson, 1997). Literature on Web theory is scant because it is a relatively a new area and the technologists at the forefront of Web design are typically not sufficiently academically inclined to formulate the relevant theories (Day, 1997). While previous research has examined Internet usage (Teo, Lim, & Lai, 1999), online shopping (Teo & Yu, 2004), commercial websites (Gonzalez & Palacios, 2004), website design (Kim, Shaw, & Schneider, 2003), and website effectiveness from the consumers’ perspective (Bell & Tang, 1998), there is a general lack of research on specific online marketing tools and the effectiveness of these tools. Hence, this study seeks to fill this gap in the literature by examining the extent of usage of various online marketing tools by Business-to-consumer (B2C) firms and their perceived effectiveness.

Overall, the Digital Marketing Framework is useful for examining the usage and effectiveness of various marketing tools. The first element of the Digital Marketing Framework involves how to attract customers to the firms’ websites. The results indicate that this can be achieved by using mnemonic branding such as having a mnemonic URL or Web address, which is easy and intuitive for customers to find and remember. Firms aiming to establish a strong online brand could strive to make innovative use of both traditional and less conventional tools, including online and offline marketing tools, to raise the awareness of their products and services. For their Web marketing efforts, firms could increase their accessibility by getting listed in many search engines and portals, which are primary gateways to the Internet. They could also invest in their technical infrastructure to ensure adequate bandwidth to handle more customers. Instead of using online banner ads, firms could make use of offline advertising such as TV and mobile ads (on taxis, buses, etc) to reach a larger audience. Firms can also leverage on offline assets via piggyback advertising such as placing the firm's URL in shopping bags or posters. According to Carpenter (2000), this is essential to develop customer familiarity with the Web-based version of the brand, which is highly relevant and crucial for most B2C firms with ‘click & mortar’ businesses. The second element of the Digital Marketing Framework relates to engaging users’ interest and participation, after attracting them to the website, so as to achieve an interaction or a transaction. To accomplish this, firms can make use of creative programming to provide interactive media as well as content deemed valuable to customers. Besides having informative and useful content, having transaction capabilities such as shopping carts and online ordering forms can also engage customers’ attention by facilitating sales and enquiries. The third element in the Digital Marketing Framework relates to customer retention strategies. The results suggest that it is important to keep website sites “fresh” by continuously renewing content and/or providing dynamic content (e.g., stock quotes and weather reports) as customers may visit a website and even be engaged once out of curiosity but will not return there without a reason. In addition, the installation of sufficient security features is crucial to build up the website's reputation for reliability. In fact, Elliot and Fowell (2000) found that consumer concerns about security pose significant constraints on the growth of online shopping. Having privacy statements also serves to guarantee the privacy of customers’ personal information so that they are more inclined to revisit the websites and make purchases. Enabling rapid information loading time is also an essential strategy to retain customers. While results indicate that loyalty programs are used to a limited extent, they can also help foster customer loyalty and retain customers as is evident in their success in the physical world (e.g., airlines’ frequent flyer programs). Interactive media open up a host of opportunities for relationship marketing as it allows marketers to track and learn more about consumer demographics, attitudes and behavior. Results indicate that firms capture invaluable information via customer feedback and webpage tracking devices in order to learn more about customer preferences. Gathering new information which firms do not yet hold from customers provides them with the opportunity to cross-sell and up-sell new products and services. After obtaining the relevant information about customers, the last element of the Digital Marketing Framework revolves round providing customized interactions and delivering value to customers. Relating to users can be in the form of providing products or services tailored to customers’ wants and providing personalized communications (e.g., via e-mails) about the products or services of interest to the customers. Providing customized products and personalized services can instill a feeling of uniqueness in customers. This feeling of uniqueness helps differentiate the brand from others and increase customers’ involvement with the brand. In conclusion, the results indicate that some marketing tools are not widely adopted by websites. Some plausible reasons include budget limitations, lack of IT expertise and the different objectives of firms setting up a website in Singapore. The majority of the firms surveyed are ‘click & mortar’ firms which may focus more on their physical business instead of plunging headlong into the online business. In fact, e-commerce is still considered to be in its infancy stage in Singapore as compared to more advanced countries like the USA. Internet shopping, despite its enormous potential, has not really taken off yet in Singapore as evidenced by the survey done by IDA (Computer Times, 24 May 2000). Hence, many B2C firms prefer to opt for the low risk, low cost and low payoff form of Web presence at this stage. In addition, results indicate that many firms are not fully maximizing the potential of some online marketing tools and Web features even though they are perceived to be effective. Hence, firms should carry out a review of their Web objectives and reallocate both financial and human resources to their online businesses to better align the resources with their online marketing plans. They can then fully maximize the potential of the Internet to build up a strong online presence, which can contribute to overall growth of the firms.