The Impact of Technology

Chapter 17

The WWW is a low-cost interactive addition to the arsenal of techniques marketers possess to communicate with their target markets. Traditionally marketers have relied on advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and publicity but the WWW presents marketers with some unique benefits. When marketers attempt to influence consumers, they generally begin by information dissemination through description. Advertising is well suited for that approach and can be supported by other marketing communications such as personal selling, packaging, and product based literature. Advertising appeals to marketing executives because they exercise complete control over the message (i.e., content and placement). Potential drawbacks of advertising are that the persuasive intent of the marketer is clear and hence the source credibility is low. Besides, advertising (especially on television) tends to be intrusive, fleeting, and limited in its ability to get the viewer involved.

Personal selling is the other extreme on the continuum of marketing messages. Most of the problems associated with advertising fall away in a personal selling interaction. It is dynamic, interactive, and while the intent to persuade exists, this is tempered by the relationship building that must take place in the instance of personal selling. The greatest drawback of personal selling lies in its cost per contact. It is the single most expensive marketing communication technique.

The WWW is a hybrid that combines the best of advertising and personal selling. The WWW possesses the ability to present rich and vivid messages (like advertising) emphasizing the salient features of the offering that can be accessed by potential customers at their own convenience and at their own pace. They also possess the ability to visit this site on multiple occasions. The WWW prospect is interactive (like personal selling) in that they are getting information instead of it being thrust on them. This represents an active prospect with a higher level of interaction and hence having a greater impact than possible via advertising.