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Rod B. McNaughton: Professor, Department of Marketing, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Introduction
There is an emerging literature on the measurement of Web site effectiveness (e.g. Leckenby and Hong, 1998; Briggs, 1997; Dreze, 1997; Ducoffe, 1996). This literature largely focuses on the measures themselves, often presupposing knowledge of the objectives against which effectiveness will be judged. An implicit assumption of this literature is that the effectiveness of a site is dependent on a clear link between objectives, planning/strategy and Web site design and function. The importance of clear objectives for Web site effectiveness is emphasised by those with online marketing experience (e.g. Dellecave, 1997; McKim, 1996; Deering, 1996).
Several recent studies have examined the objectives of Web sites (e.g. Ainscough, 1996; Deans and McKinney, 1997; Leong et al., 1998). This paper adds to this stream of research by categorising the objectives of a set of Web sites in high technology business markets, and explicitly describing the way in which the objectives of each type influence site content, design, and the methods used to measure site effectiveness/performance.
Business-to-business use of the Internet outstrips commercial use targeted at final consumers in terms of numbers of sites, growth in new sites, and sales (Waltner, 1996; Tetzeli and Cronin, 1996). The leading business users are high technology companies, especially computer and software firms (Dutta et al., 1998, pp. 548-50). There are a number of reasons for this, including the higher penetration of Internet use among industrial purchasers. Despite this, relatively less attention has been devoted in the academic literature to the use of Web sites as marketing tools in either high technology or business markets than has been devoted to Web-marketing in consumer markets. This paper redresses this imbalance by focusing specifically on the Web site objectives of firms in high technology business markets.
To better understand the objectives that business marketers have in establishing a Web site, and the way in which those objectives influence implementation and the measurement of effectiveness, the contents of 150 Web sites of American Electronics Association members were studied. Additional information about motives, the planning process and control was obtained through e-mail interviews with the persons responsible for a representative set of sites.
Details of the research method, the results, and conclusions...