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E-Marketing

and passwords that the phisher can use for schemes E-MARKETING
involving fraud and identity theft.
E-marketing is a process of planning and executing the
conception, distribution, promotion, and pricing of prod-
LEGAL ISSUES ucts and services in a computerized, networked environ-
Increasingly, e-mail is becoming involved when legal ment, such as the Internet and the World Wide Web, to
issues arise. When a company is the subject of a lawsuit, a facilitate exchanges and satisfy customer demands. It has
subpoena for e-mail and IM is often served. Having a two distinct advantages over traditional marketing. E-
responsible program to track and save e-mail and IM is marketing provides customers with more convenience and
critical to a company’s success. Some companies have even more competitive prices, and it enables businesses to
made the decision to outsource the management of elec- reduce operational costs.
tronic resources including e-mail and IM to ensure that an As businesses offer e-marketing and online shopping,
acceptable program exists in case of legal issues. Compa- customers can get market information from their comput-
nies should have policies concerning electronic communi- ers or cell phones and buy goods or find services without
cation so that employees will know what kind of messages leaving home twenty-four hours a day and seven days a
are acceptable and what are not. Regular training for week (24/7). They can read ads on the Web or from e-
employees will result in increasing quality of messages. mail, get e-coupons, view pictures of goods, compare
prices, and make purchases with a few clicks of their
TRENDS mouse, saving the time and money it would take to shop
in person at a brick-and-mortar store. At the same time, e-
Trends in e-mail include better filters and restrictions on
spam in the workplace, control and accountability for businesses can reduce costs in distribution channels and
both e-mail and newer technology such as IM, an escala- physical store space and thus pass the savings on to cus-
tomers.
tion in the demand to supply e-mail records when legal
issues arise, and more ways to use e-mail in the future. The To make e-marketing effective and efficient, man-
ability to manage e-mail effectively will be increasingly agers of e-businesses need to know online customer
important as a workplace skill. behavior, e-marketing techniques, costs and benefits of e-
marketing over traditional marketing, and pitfalls and
SEE ALSO Communication Channels; Ethics in Informa- legal issues of e-marketing. A discussion of each of these
tion Processing; Writing Skills in Business
aspects follows.
BIBLIOGRAPHY ONLINE CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR
Brandt, A. (2005). Phishing anxiety may make you miss mes-
In the late 1990s online shoppers were mainly well-
sages. PC World, 23(10), 34.
educated, high-earning, twenty- to forty-year-olds. By
Dvorak, J. C. (2005). Truth, magic, and the Internet. PC Maga-
zine, 24(15), 77. 2003 online shoppers represented a broader demographic,
FTC: Subject-line labeling ineffective against spam. (2005, Sep- with an average age of forty-four years and an average
tember/October). The Information Management Journal, annual household income of $65,000. Of these shoppers,
39(5), 11. 50 percent were female and 50 percent were college grad-
Gonsalves, Antone (2005, June 3). High-tech industry is unre- uates. According to a 2004 report from the U.S. Depart-
sponsive to online customers. InternetWeek. ment of Commerce, in 2003 searching for product/service
Greenemeier, Larry (2005, July 27). E-mail analysis is key to information was the second most popular online activity
catching terrorists and corporate crooks. Information Week. after e-mailing or instant messaging and 77 percent of
Greer, D. (2005). Locking down IM. Computerworld, 39(35), U.S. Internet users age fifteen and older shopped online.
31–32. E-customers researched products and services that they
How outsourcing e-mail management helps financial services were considering for purchase online. Their final pur-
companies. (2005, June 1). Business Credit, 107(6), 42–43. chases, however, may not have been made online.
Pomeroy, Ann (2004, November). Business “fast and loose” with
Several reasons are behind the reluctance to purchase
e-mail, IMs-study. HR Magazine, 49(11), 32–34.
online. Studies published in 2003 and 2004 reported that
Vijayan, J. (2005). Training needed to halt “spear-phishing” 25 percent of e-commerce sites do not display a phone
attacks. Computerworld, 39(34), 6.
number clearly on the customer service page; 49 percent
Winning the war on spam. (2005). Economist, 376(8440), of online shoppers could not readily find the answers to a
50–51.
question; and 88 percent of shoppers abandoned their
online shopping carts before reaching the checkout. The
Marsha L. Bayless Yankee Group, a Boston-based research firm, indicated

234 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE, SECOND EDITION