An Internet-Mediated Market Orientation (IMO): Building a Theory

Abstract

A market orientation (MO) has long been an essential concept in the marketing discipline. Advanced information technologies show a great potential for information acquisition, sharing, and dissemination, all of which are the essential processes of an MO. This paper proposes a framework of an Internet-mediated market orientation (IMO), in which the Internet functions as a transformer of the traditional MO into a more efficient and effective way of implementing an MO online toward sustaining competitive advantage. Theories from related disciplines are introduced to explain the relevancy of the use of the Internet on the MO process, and anecdotal evidences are provided to show how the traditional MO becomes an IMO by using various Internet tools in the Internet-mediated environment.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Soonhong Min

Soonhong (Hong) Min (Ph.D., the University of Tennessee) is an assistant professor of marketing & logistics at Georgia Southern University. He has published in the Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Logistics, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, International Marketing Review, The E-Business Review, and co-authored a book titled Supply Chain Management.

Seokwoo Song

Seokwoo Song (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) is an assistant professor of information systems at University of Texas-Arlington. He holds a BBA from Seoul National University, an MBA from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. degree in MIS from University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Dr. Song has several journal articles and conference proceedings. He is a member of AIS and ACM.

James S. Keebler

James S. Keebler (Ph.D., the University of Tennessee) is an assistant professor of marketing at the G.R. Herberger College of Business at St. Cloud State University, where he teaches courses in marketing, entrepreneurship, and strategic I management. He is co-author of Keeping Score: Measuring the Business Value of Logistics in the Supply Chain, a book published by the Council of Logistics Management in 1999, and Supply Chain Management, released by Sage Publications I in 2001.