Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Business

Department

Accounting and Information Systems

First Advisor

Mr. Desmond Roche

Abstract

Electronic business has been promoted as marking a sea change in the way companies can develop and deliver products and services. Global markets are increasingly accessible in the new digital economy. Ireland, situated on the periphery of continental Europe, appears to be a perfect example of an economy that can benefit from this new medium. This thesis seeks to go beyond the hype in order to examine eBusiness as a marketing channel.

Given the new opportunities made possible by information and communication technology (ICT), it is instructive to investigate the attitudes of marketers to electronic business. An online survey was administered to marketing personnel through the Marketing Institute of Ireland eZine. Email and brochureware are considered to be effective among marketing personnel but more ambitious applications that might make the medium more interactive and integrated such as online processing, for example, are not deemed to be a priority.

Certain obstacles are identified that prevent more ambitious deployment of Internet technology for development of eMarketing strategies. A lack of access to affordable broadband on the consumer side and a lack of time and expertise on the company side are identified as key inhibitors. While marketing personnel are broadly found to be engaged in eBusiness initiatives, these initiatives lack the ambition to truly transform the company into a market oriented enterprise. Furthermore, the mindset of some marketers towards technology may also be an inhibitor. It is crucial that marketers embrace the possibilities presented by the information technologies such as the web in order to take full advantage of this new channel.

Access Level

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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