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CHAPTER11MARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONINTHELIGHTOFINTERNETDEVELOPMENTTHEORETICAL111
theB2Bmarketissmaller).Thespecificsofthismarketalsoincludelongsalesprocesses
withwell-thought-outdecisions(Schwaiger,Sarsted2011;Holliman,Rowley2014).
Williamson(1993),Coleman(1990)andArnott(2007)indicatethatinbusiness
relations-fromaneconomicpointofview-trustisarationalcalculationofcostsand
benefitsresulting,forexample,fromcooperation.Themaingoalofcompaniesoperating
ontheB2Cmarketistoselltoanindividualcustomer(beingapartofthepotentialbuyers
segment-masscustomer)whosatisfiestheirvitalneeds.Itshouldbeemphasizedthatit
isalsoimportanttobuildrelationshipswithcustomersthataremuchsmallerthanthose
ontheB2Bmarket,becausethesearesometimesone-off.
However,therearediscussionsinthesourceliteratureabouttheincreasingimpor-
tanceofrelationshipsintheB2Cmarketaswell.Thisisinfluencedbytheexpansion
ofcommunicationforms,theuseofnewmedia,andtheattitudeofcompaniestowards
individualpurchasers.Theyarenolongeronlypassiverecipientsofmessages,buttheyare
activeusersofthenetworkestablishingadialoguewithcompaniesthatareincreasingly
listeningtowhatindividualrecipientshavetosay(hencethedevelopmentoftheprosumer
movement).Customersareincreasinglyinclinedtosuchrelationshipsduetothebenefits
theygain,suchastheopportunitytoparticipateintheprocessofcreatingnewproducts
ortheopportunitytoparticipateinloyaltyprograms.PurchasedecisionsintheB2C
marketoftenariseonimpulse,theprocessisnotaslongasintheB2Bmarket(thesales
processisalsoshorter)(McFerrin2014;Cohn2015;Bilbruck2015).
Referringtothemethodofcommunicationandthespecificsofinformationprovided
tocustomersontheB2BandB2Cmarkets(seeTable2),significantdifferencesshouldbe
emphasized.IntheprocessofB2Bselling/buying,usuallyuptoseveralpeopleparticipate
thathaveanimpactonthesedecisions.Inaddition,itisoftencharacterizedbyformal
requirementscompliantwiththestandardsbindinginagivencompany.Thetargetgroup
ofcommunicationismuchsmallerthanintheB2Cmarket,wherethesellerisacompany
oraretailoutlet,andthebuyerisanindividualcustomer.IntheB2Cmarket,usually
onepersonorhouseholdparticipatesinconsumershopping.
Thecompany’smessageintheB2Cmarketismostoftenpreparednotforaspecific
person,butforthesegmentofpotentialbuyersofaparticularproduct(masscustomer).
Thediversityofentitiesalsoaffectsthenatureofthemessageresultingfromtheneedsof
participantsinthecommunicationprocessinbothmarkets.Forexample,forthepartici-
pantsoftheB2Bmarket,productexpertiseisimportant,whiletherecipientsofmessages
intheB2Cmarketexpectinformationthatevokespositiveemotionsandassociations
aboutthebrandandproducts.
Whilepointingouttheabovedifferencesandfeaturesexistingbetweenmarkets,it
isalsonecessarytorefertothepolemicsexistingintheliteratureonthissubject.One
ofthefirstauthorsdescribingthedifferencesbetweenthemarketswere,amongothers,
Zakrzewski(1965)inthePolishmarket,aswellasHåkanssonandÖstberg(1975),
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