The term digital technology” refers to the technology that is electronic or computer based The WritePass Journal

The term digital technology† refers to the technology that is electronic or computer based The term digital technology† refers to the technology that is electronic or computer based Introduction Digital marketing and communicationParadigm on Customer Loyalty and branding communications in the field of digital marketing communications E-Marketing Mix.E-product strategiesE-price strategiesE-place strategiesE-promotion strategiesConsumer online buying behavior. Online marketer’s persuasion tools and the Web experience Consumer Relationship management and ICTCRM: DEFINITION AND BENEFITS EVALUATION ICT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND CRM BENEFITS References Related Introduction The term digital technology† refers to the technology that is electronic or computer based, . The field of digital technology is incessantly evolving and has dramatically changed the way of communication in a variety of arenas. Digital technology has made its mark in the technology world; everything is seemed to be inspired by it. Things had become easy and handy to maintain. It is so vast that now we have different types of digital media available that are run on different platforms but they have a common character that is they all use digital technology. Digital technology enforces an electronic media in to new world. Computer, Television, audio/video devices, I Pods, cellular phones etc. The effect of the digital media is common everywhere. , Newspapers books and magazines are also become digital. This is because of the latest facilities and features that digital technology provides to its end users. Digital marketing and communication The concept of â€Å"digital marketing† has been used more frequently and operationally, where as the theoretical understanding and comprehensive models of  Ã‚   why and how to use different digital channels are still in developing process. Urban (2004) suggests,   â€Å"The Digital marketing uses the Internet and information technology to extend and improve traditional marketing functions.† He relates all the traditional 4 P’s, and focused on both customer retention and acquisition.  Ã‚   Terms like   â€Å"interactive marketing,† â€Å"one-to-one marketing,† and â€Å"e-marketing† are close to digital marketing, but neither are they defined very precisely. Coviello et al,(2001) define e marketing as â€Å"using the Internet and other interactive technologies to link the firm with the identified or targeted customers.   They consider e- marketing as a subject of e-commerce. They focused e- marketing as managing continuous IT-enabl ed relationships with consumers by forming dialogue and interactivity (scripts). Paradigm on Customer Loyalty and branding communications in the field of digital marketing communications As described in Fig. 1 which proposes an integrative model of the effects of digital marketing communication on customer loyalty. This model consists of means of brand communication via different sources or channels.  · Moderators interactivity and personalization  · Outcomes -Perceived values and commitment,  · Customer loyalty, Mediators customer characteristics, situational factors, involvement, and relationship. By â€Å"brand communication† we refer the quality of communication between the brand and customers. It includes direct marketing, advertising, newsletters, or any other related consumer’s activity in a brand community. This complies the process of building brands and customer relationships is much more efficient than traditional media advertising as example given by Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2000, Duncan et al,1998. The presented model focused on how brand communication affecting customer loyalty. There are two main factors in building brand communication what are expected to affect customer loyalty and its frequency example, how many brand messages and content, promotional or relational. The main outcome in the model is customer loyalty is divided into behavioral example purchases and attitudinal loyalty or consumers brand attitude. For true customer loyalty to exist, a pattern of repeat purchases must be accompanied by a positive attitude ( Jakoby and Chestnut 1978). This distinguishes it from spurious loyalty, where only behavioral loyalty is detected with low relative attitudes (Dick and Basu 1994). Brand communication can also be personalized. For example, customer profiles or preferences effects the brand communication are constructed in customers minds through information so the assumption also mediating factors that affect how the loyalty effects of DMC are created. They can be used to create customized message content for different marketing segments or individual customers delivered via their chosen channels that increase the value of communication to the customer.   Identifying the content, timing, and channels are also personalized elements to look after. Brand contacts can differ interactively example customers can search the information or make inquiries, and can leave the feedback or various other activities with marketers or other customers can be processed. It leaves the positive effect on customer loyalty. Interactivity can be described as its divisions: Functions (e.g. a web contact form), Processes (e.g. that messages are contingent upon previous messages), Perceptions (how customers perceive interactivity), and time spent Brand (e.g. playing games on branded website). The effects of brand communication on customer loyalty can be verified from behavior and attitudes of the consumer: example purchases, visits, brand satisfaction attitudes, feedback forms etc E-Marketing Mix. The e-marketing mix considers the elements of presenting the marketing mix online. E-product strategies The buyer knows immediately about product features, the facts, not sales persons, consumers know what they get as the verity of choices available. The buying process is also customized for returning visitors, making repeat purchases easier. Organisations can also offer immediately ancillary products along with the main purchase. Example, the chance to buy extra printer cartridges along with your purchase of your printer online.   The product can also be customised to consumers needs. E-price strategies The Internet has made pricing very competitive. Many costs i.e. store costs, staff cost have disappeared .The Internet gives consumers the power to shop around for the best deal at a click of a button. The competition on pricing is unpredicted and global. . The online auction company www.ebay.com has grown in popularity with thousands of buyers and seller bidding daily. E-place strategies One of the biggest changes to the marketing mix is online purchasing. Consumers purchase direct from manufacturers cutting out retailers totally. The challenge for online retailers is to ensure that the product is delivered to the consumer within a reasonable time. Location is important within our place strategy. Online location can refer to where links are placed on other websites. Placing a link on www.google.com home page would generate high consumer traffic for you. Knowing your customer and knowing where they visit should help you understand where to place your online links and advertisements. E-promotion strategies Promoting products and service online is concerned with a number of issues. E-promotion includes: Having a domain name.: (A recognisable domain name is first stage towards e-promotion. Organisations such as egg.com have successfully positioned their brand on the online world. ) Banner promotions: (Placing banner advertisements on other WebPages )   Web public relations (WPR):   E-leaflets: Direct email: (It is a popular and common form of e-promotions, although slowly becoming the most hated my many consumersDirect emailing is also known as SPAM which stands for Sending Persistent Annoying eMail. (SPAM). ) Consumer online buying behavior. The consumers† buying behavior has always consider as a popular marketing issue, with broadly considered and also debated over the last decades. The principal approach, explaining fundamentals ways of customer behavior, mention the customer buying procedure as learning, information-processing and decision-making action categorized in various following steps: Identiï ¬ cation about a particular problem Search tool that contains information. Alternative evaluations. Purchasing making decision. Post-purchase behavior (Bettman, 1979; Dibb et al., 2001; Jobber, 2001; Boyd et al., 2002; Kotler, 2003;Brassington and Pettitt, 2003) To understand the mechanism of virtual online shopping and the consumer relationship behavior of the online customers is a main concern for practitioners challenging in the fast growing practical marketplace. By giving the constant expansion of using the Internet techniques in terms of user statistics, transaction volume and business infiltration to the huge amount of research attempt is not giving any kind of surprising. There is 20 per cent of Internet user in several countries who already purchase goods and services online (Taylor Nelson Sofres, 2002) while about     50 per cent of US net user frequently buying online. (Forrester Research, 2003). These kinds of development are regularly transforming e-commerce into a mainstream business activity while at the same time online customers are growing and practical vendor understand the importance and necessity for an expert and customer-oriented approach. While totally understand the needs of customers and behavior of the consumer who dealing online (Lee, 2002) while most of them â€Å" . . . continue to resist with how successfully to market and sell goods online† (Joines et al., 2003, p. 93). A very significant input in classify the rapidly growing number of investigate papers on the issue of the effective customer’s behavior is the study of Cheung et al. (2003). The ï ¬ ndings of their complete prose review are summarizing in a form that depict the major category of factors that disturbing the online consumer. Online marketer’s persuasion tools and the Web experience Next to the personal and external uncontrollable factors inï ¬â€šuencing the buying behavior, exposure of customers to the company’s marketing can affect the decision-making by providing inputs for the consumer’s black box where information is processed before the anal consumer’s decision is made (kolter, 2003). Online marketers can inï ¬â€šuence the decision making process of the virtual customers by engaging traditional, physical marketing tools but mainly by creating and delivering the proper online experience, the Web experience: a combination of online functionality, information, emotions, cues, stimuli and products/ services, in other words a complex mix of elements going beyond the 4Ps of the traditional marketing mix. The prime medium of delivering the Web experience is the corporate Web site, the interfacing platform between the ï ¬ rm and its online clients (Constantinides, 2002). Consumer Relationship management and ICT The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is now became a strategic imperative for all company as its efficient execution be able to add to customer satisfaction, reliability and maintenance and so, in general sale and replicate purchases (Feinberg Kadam 2002, Kotorov 2002, Anton Hoeck 2002). However, though CRM is consider as one of the fastest growing management approaches thay is   adopted across many business firms (Adebanjo 2003) and mainly tourism and hospitality firms (Sigala 2003), CRM operation is not mean to always delivered the predictable results (Rigby et al. 2002), many CRM initiative have unsuccessful (Early 2002, Feinberg Kadam 2002), while Kekoe (2002) notify that almost   20% of business executive were   claimed that CRM initiative had   been damage by   consumer relationships. With a result, several organisation in the tourism sector are presently surprised their CRM funds or delay implementation of their future project (Sigala 2003a). Furthermore, th e incapacity of CRM application to carry expected profit has not just intensify the legality of earlier findings and claims about the ICT productivity paradox (Sigala 2003b), but it is also boost with current investigate, which is reflect with the huge number of study investigative the grave success factor of CRM (e.g. Cann 1998, Rigby et al. 2002, Rheault Sheridan 2002). Though, even if these studies offer personal evidence of the impact of ICT management practice on CRM effectiveness, and also there is a lack of experimental studies that may questioning the association in between CRM association and presentation aspects (Tu et al. 2001). Karimi et al. (2001) showing the full force on ICT association to perform on consumer service application, but there   is a procedure has been   unsuccessful   for   providing full   proof of the relative of these create with concert profit. CRM: DEFINITION AND BENEFITS EVALUATION CRM realization is greatly reliant on and driven by ICT tools advances (Bradshaw Brash 2001), it is broadly argued that CRM is a combination of software, hardware, processes, management commitment, and application (Sigala 2003a, Rigby et al. 2002). The ICT tools exploitation and their integration with the applications of CRM are expected to take a number of benefits such as (Krishnan et al. 1999, Fitzsimmons Fitzsimmons 1997): improved service and product quality; customer satisfaction; improved financial performance, higher productivity; and formation of barriers to entry; customer services and enhanced convenience through the initiation of new products and various other service/delivery channels. The diverse CRM tools enabling such benefits can be classified as follows (Dyche 2001, Karimi et al. 2001): operational tools for improving customer service, automating sales force, online marketing, etc; improving relationships, analytical for building data warehouses, analysing data e tc; collaborative for the creation of online communities, service personalization ;developing b2b customer exchanges, etc. Customer focused CRM applications help firms in enhancement of effectiveness and efficiency of customer service, online sales and marketing,aby automating: 1)asales forceaprocesses toareduce informationaasymmetry andadelays, and toaimprove efficiency; 2) callacentre’s andaintegrating customeradatabases to reduce staffarequirements and theatotal cost ofaownership of callacentres; 3) e-mailainteractions withacustomers to improveacustomer service andaservice efficiency andaintegrate e-mail, telephone andaweb interfaces; and 4) customer responsesaand profiles, tracking marketingacampaigns throughavarious media across a numberaof channels and managingaquote andaproposal processesafrom negotiationsato closing. Operational focusedaCRM processes benefitafirms in supply chainamanagement, orderamanagement andaservice field by: 1) usingadatabase information and supp lierapipeline processes toaforecast demandamore accuratelyaand create viableascheduling applications;a2) reducing overallaproductionacostsaby streamliningathe flow ofagoods through productionaprocesses and byaimproving informationaflow; and 3)aimproving lead time/qualityaand enabling moreacustomization at a loweracost. ICT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND CRM BENEFITS ICT managementasophistication is found toasignificantly moderate the materialisation of the fullaICT business valueaand has been traditionallyaused to characterise aafirm’s evolution in itsamanagement orientation,aplanning, organisationaand control aspectsaof its ICT functiona(Karimi et al. 2001, Sigala 2003b, Tallon et al. 2000). Greater ICTamanagement sophistication is characterised by (Karimi et al. 2001):athe IT manager beingaaware of the firm’s long-termastrategic plans; theafirm’s future strategicaplans being explicitly consideredaduring ICT planning; and theaICT performanceabeing evaluated based onacontribution to the overallafirm’s objectives andanotexclusively on cost savings.aParallel, in firms withahigh ICT managementasophistication, top managementais expected to have greateraknowledge about ICT andaparticipate moreaactively in ICTaplanning.   Moreover,astudies investigatingathe ICT productivityaparadox have also revealedathat CRM benefitsâ₠¬â„¢ materialization depends onathe sophistication ofaICT management as CRM successais inhibited/facilitated by theafollowing factors: failure to developaa CRM strategy andaadopt a strategic orientationa(Cann 1998, Rigby et al. 2002, Sigala 2003a); lack of robustaimplementation approaches (Rheault Sheridan 2002, Adebanjo 2003); lack ofameasurement tools (Abbot 2001); selectionaand configuration of theaCRM tools according to businessaprocesses and strategic goals (Rheault Sheridan 2002; Adebanjo 2003); ICTaimplementation and integration (Cavaye 1995, Adebanjo 2003, Sigala 2003a); ICTamanagement (Karimi et al. 2001); and management of organisationalachange, cultural management (Corner Hinton 2002, Sigala 2003a, Fjermestad Romano 2003).   Previous research (Karimi et al. 2001, Tallon et al. 2000) has also proved thatacorporate strategic ICTagoals have a direct as well as anaindirect (by influencing the wayaorganisations plan, invest, useaand monitor ICT projects) impact onaICT be nefits. 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