Preface

E-Marketing is, intrinsically, an area that spans disciplines. Over time, I have learned that my colleagues in fields as disparate as Computer Science, Management Information Systems and Communication share a similar passion for E-Marketing. A topic such as Internet advertising has been researched by my colleagues in MIS, advertising, communication and marketing. Moreover, colleagues in other countries have different perspectives on E-Marketing. This book was seen as the place for interdisciplinary conversation- a rare forum where intellectual work from different areas and points of view intersect.

I must report that I have been very successful in achieving this goal. The book attracted chapters from my colleagues in a wide variety of disciplines. I have received submissions from countries as disparate as Canada, Greece, Finland and Switzerland. The chapters included here use a wide variety of methodologies ranging from economic modeling to qualitative inquiry to experimentation. I had to turn away a high volume of well-qualified chapters simply because of a lack of room. A second volume is planned at this point.

The first chapter in this volume is by Nick Flor of the University of New Mexico. His chapter, Social Oracles as Advertising Tools in Programmable Businesses , discusses social oracles, a unique software agent that outputs social information. He provides extensive examples of social oracles and uses this to motivate the idea of autonomous businesses.

Arvind Tripathi (University of Washington), Ram Gopal (University of Connecticut) and Zhiping Walter's (University of Colorado) chapter, Economic Issues in Advertising via E-Mail: Role for a Trusted Third Party? , argues that the problem of Spam can be overcome using permission marketing- especially opt-in or permission marketing. However, they argue for the inclusion of a trusted third party - an admediary - who will moderate e-mail traffic.

The next chapter, Web Personalization for E-Marketing Intelligence , by Penelope Markellou, Maria Rigou (University of Patras and the Research Academic Computer Technology Institute) and Spiros Sirmakessis (Technological Educational Institution of Messolongi and the Research Academic Computer Technology Institute), outlines the importance of personalization and identifies the key research issues in this burgeoning area. Their chapter also highlights the different computer systems that would be needed to achieve this.

E-Commerce as Knowledge Management: Managing Consumer Knowledge , by Rachel Mclean (Manchester Metropolitan University Business School) and Nigel Blackie (University of Salford) is an innovative effort at thinking of E-Marketing in the light of knowledge management. The authors focus on consumer-to-consumer interactions and the knowledge that is generated and shared therein.

Mobile service is clearly going to be a big part of our future. This is already a reality in countries such as Finland (home of Nokia). In the next chapter, MSQ-Model: An Exploratory Study of the Determinants of Mobile Service Quality , Veronica Liljander and Jan Nordman (Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration) provide us with a detailed understanding of the dimensions that undergird mobile service quality. This chapter is also a great example of collaboration between industry and academia.

Kyle Murray's (University of Western Ontario) chapter, Experiencing Quality: The Impact of Practice on Customers' Preferences for and Perceptions of Electronic Inter- faces , highlights the need to understand how people ' consume ' electronic interfaces. He discusses the results from a fascinating experimental study in this area.

eBay is here to stay. An important feature of eBay is the rating of sellers. The next chapter, The Impact of eBay Ratings and Item Descriptions on Auction Prices: A Comparison of Designer Watches and DVDs , by Mark Sena, Michael Webb (Xavier University), and C. Edward Heath (Northern Kentucky University) provides empirical evidence linking seller ratings and item descriptions to auction prices.

Shenja van der Graaf (Utrecht University) provides a fascinating analysis of viral marketing in Viral Experiences: Do You Trust Your Friends? Drawing from many vibrant examples, van der Graaf provides us with a unique perspective on how memes transmit on the Web.

Kim Sheehan's (University of Oregon) chapter, Public Opinions of Online Privacy: Definitions, Assessment and Implications for Industry and Public Policy , polls polls. She conducts a review of many polls and points out how different question formats lead to different results.

Pushkala Raman (Florida State University) and Kartik Pashupati's (Southern Methodist University) chapter, Online Privacy: Consumer Concerns and Technological Competence , is based on qualitative inquiry of customers. They argue that consumers 'selfperceived technological competence' drives their attitude towards privacy. This important work is sure to impact future research in online privacy.

Server logs are those mysterious files that record your online footprints as you browse from site to site. Charles Hofacker (Florida State University) and Jamie Murphy (University of Western Australia) demystify server logs in their chapter, Using Server Log Files and Online Experiments to Enhance Internet Marketing . This should be a great primer for those interested in using server logs in their research.

The next chapter, CRM, KDD and Relationship Marketing: Requisite Trio for Sustainable E-Marketing , by Nikhilesh Dholakia, Jounghae Bang and Ruby Dholakia (University of Rhode Island) argues for a linkage between two emerging fields - CRM and KDD - and the established literature in relationship marketing. This important work, based on a dissertation, is sure to influence our thinking of online relationships.

Fiona Sussan's (Baruch College, CUNY) chapter, An Interactive Marketing Communication Model in New Product Diffusion , applies the Bass Model to one new product diffusion scenario. Her work provides us with a unique point of view.

International e-marketing is a fascinating area. Kirk St.Amant's (James Madison University) chapter, A Rhetorical-Prototype Mechanism for Creating International E-Marketing Materials , provides us with a framework to organize our thinking when preparing E-Marketing materials.

Finally, Ronald Goldsmith (Florida State University) and Barbara Lafferty's (University of South Florida) chapter, How Innovativeness Influences Internet Shopping , is a fascinating work that looks at why some customers adopt e-shopping first. The authors distinguish between general innovativeness and online innovativeness. They find that the two are related . However, online innovativeness mediates the influence of global innovativeness on behavior.

It is my hope that this work will spur greater research in E-Marketing in a variety of disciplines.

Sandeep Krishnamurthy
University of Washington, Bothell, USA
Editor