Current Events

Chapter 2

The following articles put-forth the current thinking in this area:

Kennedy, Dan (1997), "Who’s On-Line?" Inc. Technology, March, No. 1, 34-39.

This article profiles the current and future demographic make up of the WWW. While the majority of the current WWW users are young males, who are well educated, and affluent this is quickly changing with the Internet rapidly evolving to become a medium for the masses. It is estimated that by the year 2000 on-line shopping will generate almost $6.6 billion in annual sales. The article goes on to identify and profile the future customer groups. A listing of web resources tracking web demographics is also provided.

Greco, Susan (1996), "The On-Line Sleuth," Inc., October, No. 14, 88-89.

This article formally identifies the potential of the WWW in gathering competitive intelligence. The author recognizes that the web can provide data about competitors, industry trends, and customer opinions. The majority of the article is dedicated to providing thumb nail sketches of the various web sites that collect and disseminate competitive data.