LO1  Describe what interactive marketing is and how it creates customer value, customer relationships, and customer experiences.

Interactive marketing involves two-way buyer–seller electronic communication in a computer-mediated environment in which the buyer controls the kind and amount of information received from the seller. It creates customer value by providing time, place, form, and possession utility for consumers. Customer relationships are created and sustained through two unique capabilities of Internet technology: interactivity and individuality. From an interactive marketing perspective, customer experience represents the sum total of the interactions that a customer has with a company's website, from the initial look at a homepage through the entire purchase decision process. Companies produce a customer experience through seven website design elements. These elements are context, content, community, customization, communication, connection, and commerce.

LO2  Identify the demographic and lifestyle profile of online consumers.

As a group, online consumers are about evenly split between men and women and tend to be better educated, younger, and more affluent than the general population. The lifestyle profile of online consumers reflects the different kinds of online experiences they seek. Six lifestyle segments have been identified. The click-and-mortar segment consists of women who browse retailer websites but actually buy products at retail outlets. Hunter-gatherers use the Internet like a consumer magazine to gather information and compare products and services. Brand loyalists regularly visit their favorite bookmarked websites and spend the most money online. Time-sensitive materialists regard the Internet as a convenient tool for buying. The hooked, online, and single segment spends more time online than any segment. Ebivalent newbies are relative newcomers to the Internet who rarely spend money online, but seek product information.

LO3  Explain why certain types of products and services are particularly suited for interactive marketing.

Certain types of products and services seem to be particularly suited for interactive marketing. One category consists of items for which product information is an important part of the purchase decision, but prepurchase trial is not necessarily critical. A second category involves items for which audio or video demonstration is important. A third category contains items that can be digitally delivered. Unique items represent a fourth category. A fifth category includes items that are regularly purchased and where convenience is very important. A final category consists of highly standardized items for which information about price is important.

LO4  Describe why consumers shop and buy online and how marketers influence online purchasing behavior.

There are six reasons consumers shop and buy online. They are convenience, choice, customization, communication, cost, and control. Marketers have capitalized on these reasons through a variety of means. For example, they provide choice assistance using choiceboard and collaborative filtering technology, which also provides opportunities for customization. Company-hosted web communities and viral marketing practices capitalize on the communications dimensions of Internet-enabled technologies. Dynamic pricing provides real-time responses to supply and demand conditions, often resulting in lower prices to consumers. Permission marketing is popular given consumer interest in control.

LO5  Define cross-channel shoppers and the role of transactional and promotional websites in reaching these shoppers.

A cross-channel shopper is an online consumer who researches products online and then purchases them at a retail store. These shoppers are reached through multichannel marketing. Websites play a multifaceted role in multichannel marketing because they can serve as either a delivery or communication channel. In this regard, transactional websites are essentially electronic storefronts. They focus principally on converting an online browser into an online, catalog, or in-store buyer using the website design elements described earlier. On the other hand, promotional websites serve to advertise and promote a company's products and services and provide information on how items can be used and where they can be purchased.