1.1 Introduction
Overlapping the Industrial Revolution and the Information Age , our new digital-world provides increasingly unfettered trade and the ability for people, businesses, and countries to connect and collaborate. The history of globalization continues to repeat itself. As Friedman notes regarding todayâs globalization, âthe defining measurement of the globalization system is speedâin commerce, travel, communication and innovationâ (Friedman 1999, p. 10). From the competition of the first tribes to that of cities, then of competing nations, and finally from the competing nations, we now see individuals competing globally. Friedman further writes that âthe force that gives [digital globalization] its unique character is the newfound power for individuals to collaborate and compete globallyâ (Friedman 2006, p. 10).
Like Captain Kirk on the Starship Enterprise in Americaâs Star Trek TV series, the modern promise of globalizationâand its inherent downsidesâwill take us where no human has gone before, faster than ever before: âTake us to warp speed eight, Scottyâ (Roddenberry and Lucas 1969, p. 2).
There are many facets of business-to-business (B2B) marketing. When one combines this with foreign cultural and marketing message differences for cross-border marketing, the challenges for research become many. An initial literature review focuses on challenges for B2B marketing in China by Western (American) firms, specifically through online marketing strategies, techniques, and e-commerce.
The Internetâs promise of enhanced communication, new digital marketing tools, and new techniques to reach customers has provided an evolving environment (Aberdeen 2012). After several years of Internet e-commerce history, professionals and academics can now explore its efficacy and postulate its future prospects.
1.2 Literature Review
To analyze the relevant literature for business-to-business (B2B) online marketing in China, the analysis first reviews existing research and reports for Internet trends in China overall including Internet use, adoption rates, demographics, and customer responses. Many of these trends come from business-to-consumer (B2C) data; however, they may or may not act as a general proxy for B2B trends which are explored in a later section of the chapter. Next, the review highlights key B2B marketing trends and techniques, focusing on the B2B online marketing segment. Finally, the analysis summarizes the available literature and research to consider the implications for Westerners marketing in China. It concludes with future areas for academic research. To review successful outcomes of Internet global marketing on the wholeâalthough a critical component of this topicâis beyond the scope of this chapter.
The academic literature has not kept pace with the rapidly evolving Internet marketing changes and challenges throughout the world and especially in China. The ability for American researchers to read studies that may exist only in Mandarin and the dearth of English-based research limit a literature review, perhaps seriously. While this literature review has relied on professional and popular literature as well as academic publications, original independent research was later conducted in China and is briefly summarized at the end of this chapter.
1.2.1 Major Internet B2B Marketing Issues
Five major issues emerge in the literature for Internet and e-commerce marketing, many of which appear similar between B2B and B2C issues. These five, including representative authors, are as follows:
- the Internet has created new communication and collaborative tools for marketing (Sarkees 2011);
- Internet adoption rates and e-commerce trends are important market performance measures (Ambler and Xiucun 2003; Eid et al. 2002);
- investments in online marketing and e-commerceâincluding both employee time and moneyâare important and must be reviewed with other traditional marketing tools (Harrison and Hedley 2010, n.d.; Wang and Song 2011);
- trust is a major issue for both B2B traditional and Internet marketing approaches and e-commerce transactions (Chen and Dubinsky 2003; Chong et al. 2011; Gao et ...