INMA_A01.QXD

Companies can also consider how the Internet can be used to change the range or

combination of products offered. Some companies only offer a subset of products online

• for example, WH Smith launched an interactive TV service which offered bestsellers
  only at a discount. Alternatively, a company may have a fuller catalogue available online
  than is available through offline brochures. Bundlingis a further alternative. For exam-
  ple, easyJet has developed a range of complementary travel-related services including
  flights, packages and car hire. McDonald and Wilson (2002) note how the potential for
  substituted or reconfigured products should be assessed for each marketplace.
  Finally, it should also be noted that information about the core features of the prod-
  uct becomes more readily available online, as pointed out by Allen and Fjermestad
  (2001). However, this has the greatest implications for price (downwards pressure caused
  by price transparency) and place and promotion (marketers must ensure they are repre-
  sented favourably on the portal intermediaries) where the products will be compared
  with others in terms of core features, extended features and price.

2 Options for changing the extended product

When a customer buys a new computer, it consists not only of the tangible computer,

monitor and cables, but also the information provided by the computer salesperson, the

instruction manual, the packaging, the warranty and the follow-up technical service.

These are elements of the extended product. Smith and Chaffey (2005) suggest these

examples of how the Internet can be used to vary the extended product:


 endorsements


 awards


 testimonies

PRODUCT

The prosumer

The prosumer concept was introduced in 1980 by futurist Alvin Toffler in his book The Third

Wave. According to Toffler, the future would once again combine production with consump-

tion. In The Third Wave, Toffler saw a world where interconnected users would collaboratively

‘create’ products. Note that he foresaw this over 10 years before the web was invented!

Alternative notions of the prosumer, all of which are applicable to e-marketing, are catalogued

at Logophilia WordSpy (www.wordspy.com):

1 A consumer who is an amateur in a particular field, but who is knowledgeable enough to

require equipment that has some professional features:

(‘professional’ + ‘consumer’).

2 A person who helps to design or customise the products they purchase:

(‘producer’ + ‘consumer’).

3 A person who creates goods for their own use and also possibly to sell:

(‘producing’ + ‘consumer’).

4 A person who takes steps to correct difficulties with consumer companies or markets and

to anticipate future problems:

(‘proactive’ + ‘consumer’).

An example of the application of the prosumer is provided by BMW who used an interactive web

site prior to launch of their Z3 roadster where users could design their own preferred features.

The information collected was linked to a database and as BMW had previously collected data

on its most loyal customers, the database could give a very accurate indication of which combi-

nations of features were the most sought after and should therefore be put into production.

Bundling
Offering
complementary
services.