Exam 15: Global Marketing and the Digital Revolution

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The term "e-commerce" refers to the general exchange of goods and services using the Internet as a marketing channel.E-commerce activities can be divided into three broad categories:business-to-consumer (B2C or b-to-c), business-to-business (B2B or b-to-b), and consumer to consumer (or peer-to-peer or P2P).Many people associate e-commerce with well-known commerce service providers (CSPs)such as Amazon.com and Yahoo! Overall, B2B commerce constitutes the biggest share of the Internet economy and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.About three-fourths of 2001 B-to-C revenue was generated in North America.Problems can arise when a transaction site that is not designed to serve foreign customers nevertheless attracts them.Customer service can be a problem when customers are located in different time zones.

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The Internet has become a powerful tool whose capabilities are not yet fully explored.Since it has multifaceted applications, there is a considerable backlash based on what it can and cannot do.For example, the Chinese government, alarmed by the free flow of information across the Internet, closely monitors the content on Web sites that its citizens access.In addition, policy makers in some countries are concerned about U.S.control of the Internet.The nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann)is based in Marina del Ray, California.Icann maintains a database of Web addresses, approves new suffixes for Web addresses and performs other behind-the-scenes procedures that are critical for keeping the Internet functioning properly.Icann's advisory body includes international members, but the U.S.Department of Commerce retains veto power over all decisions.For example, after Icann tentatively approved the domain name.xxx for pornography sites, Commerce blocked the decision.Recently, China, India, Brazil, and the EU have taken the position that since the Internet is global, no single country should be in control.Accordingly, these nations are seeking to have the United Nations assume a role in Internet governance.Privacy is another issue.As companies become more adept at using the Internet to gather, store, and access information about customers, privacy issues are becoming a focal point of concern among policy makers and the general public.In the EU, for example, a privacy protection directive was established.