| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 管理碩士學程(AMBA) === 97 === In recent years traditional marketing concepts have been evolving and encountering great challenges due to the online applications commonly described as Web 2.0 or social
community websites. No one had foreseen that consumers would evaluate products or services directly after purchase on the thematic social media and publish their brand experience openly through Internet. No one had expected that the thematic social media or Blogs could appeal and gather so many members and opinions towards specific topics,
which might influence consumers’ decision. Nowadays, marketers are rushing to integrate various forms of social media into marketing planning and are highly motivated
to initiate more attractive and creative events to appeal the consumer's eyes. Some enterprises are even willing to develop new product line or sub-brand to fulfill the
customer’s needs. Therefore, due to the emergence of Web 2.0, the current marketing environment is quite different than what we are accustomed to. The relations and power
structure between customers and brands have been changing. This research focused on how the enterprises reacted to the Web 2.0 technology and changed their mindset, especially marketing concepts and practices.
Since there exists no generally accepted definition and demarcation of the term Web 2.0, the majority of studies have been focusing only on changes in certain industries or
specific effects that Web 2.0 has brought to marketing. Therefore, we adopted a more general perspective based on previous results and conducted case studies to gather
first-hand information and real practice from the industry. Further, we developed and concluded 9 points and made a comparison table (traditional marketing concept versus
marketing concepts in Web 2.0 era) to clarify the differences of marketing concepts between traditional and Web 2.0-driven marketing.
The key results of the research are:
1. Web2.0 helps enterprises to better form their marketing strategy and because all the departments within the organization can gather valuable information from each
interaction point with the customers. Therefore, the consensus and responsiveness is achieved more easily, which means the Market Orientation concept could be realized.
2. Consumers in Web 2.0 era are capable of initiating market research and it is the consumer, rather than the enterprise, that decides how and with which company relations are built up.
3. Web users form communities due to common interests and objectives in Web 2.0 era, and the industries have begun to segment the market based on the different communities.
4. Web 2.0 applications help the enterprises efficiently evaluate if the market segmentation is effective and worthy of investment.
5. Web 2.0 mechanism support the enterprises to gather information and know more about the consumer insights, and also enables the two parties (enterprise and consumers) to collaborate and create the right market positions.
6. Web 2.0 not only increases the interacting points for enterprises and consumers, but also enriches the insights and possibilities of marketing-mix 7Ps (Product/Price/Place/Promotion/People/Physical environment/Process).
7. In Marketing 2.0 era the enterprise could not decide the essence of brands top down, but have to co-create the value and experiences of brands with the customers.
8. Web 2.0 platform enhance the change of the consumer inner character and behavior, from isolation to union, from ignorant to well-informed, from passive to proactive.
9. Web 2.0 platform transformed the traditional consumer decision-making from one way process to completed circles, where individual experience as valuable feedback influences the decisions of other consumers via Web 2.0 applications.
As a consequence, the Web 2.0 is affecting not only the field of technology development but also the domains of business strategy and marketing practice. The Web 2.0 platform empowers the consumer and enables them to play more proactive and aggressive roles in the business system. The consumers do not just accept the message from mass media any more, but initiate marketing research themselves, investigating the brands and industries which they are interested with. The purchase decision making is
not single and one way process as the personal comments that are disseminated and discussed on the Web 2.0 platforms keep on influencing other consumers’ behavior. The intermediate role that Web 2.0 plays between enterprises and consumers enables new and equal interactions, diminishing the misunderstanding and inefficiency resulted from the past asymmetric information that was mostly dictated by the enterprises. What comes
along with the changing consumer behavior is a revolution in market segmentation, target, position and marketing-mix (7Ps).
As Web 2.0 is not a clear-cut concept, some researchers have been regarding it as a mere temporary phenomenon that has emerged with new technology. However, its effects on marketing and wide public acceptance suggest that Web 2.0 is here to stay.
Indeed, Web 2.0 has a substantial effect on consumer behavior and has contributed to an unprecedented customer empowerment. Therefore in the future, marketers have to
pay more attention and put more effort to co-exist and communicate with a powerful customer instead of old-fashioned pushing marketing. Especially the enterprise should capitalize on the experience gained from the Web 2.0 platforms, utilizing the influences and convictions that web opinion leader possess to advocate for the brand. They should not disregard the many interaction points that could build up the brand experience with the consumers. Only those who could capitalize on Web 2.0 applications to gain more insight on consumer behavior, could win the ultimate victory and survive in the extremely competitive marketing war.
|
|---|
