PodcastsIndividuals and organisations post online
media (audio and video) which can be viewed in the
appropriate players (including the iPod which first
sparked the growth in this technique).
Portal A web sitethat acts as a gateway to
information and services available on the Internet
by providing search engines, directoriesand other
services such as personalised news or free e-mail.
Portfolio analysisEvaluation of value of current e-
commerce services or applications.
PositioningCustomers’ perception of the product
offer relative to those of competitors.
Prescriptive strategyThe three core areas of strategic
analysis, strategic development and strategy
implementation are linked together sequentially.
Price elasticity of demandMeasure of consumer
behaviour that indicates the change in demand for a
product or service in response to changes in price.
Price transparencyCustomer knowledge about
pricing increases due to increased availability of
pricing information.
Price variableThe element of the marketing mix that
involves defining product prices and pricing models.
Pricing modelDescribes the form of payment such
as outright purchase, auction, rental, volume
purchases and credit terms.
Primary personaA representation of the typical site
user.
PrivacyA moral right of individuals to avoid
intrusion into their personal affairs. (See also
Security methods.)
Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations
ActA law intended to control the distribution of
e-mail and other online communications including
cookies.
Privacy statementInformation on a web site
explaining how and why individuals’ data are
collected, processed and stored.
Process variableThe element of the marketing mix
that involves the methods and procedures
companies use to achieve all marketing functions.
Product variableThe element of the marketing mix
that involves researching customers’ needs and
developing appropriate products. (SeeCore product
and Extended product.)
Profiling SeeCustomer profiling.
Promotion (online and offline)Online promotion
uses communication via the Internetitself to raiseawareness about a site and drive traffic to it. This
promotion may take the form of links from other
sites, banner advertisementsor targeted e-mail
messages. Offline promotion uses traditional media
such as television or newspaper advertising and
word of mouth to promote a company’s web site.
Promotion variable The element of the marketing
mix that involves communication with customers
and other stakeholders to inform them about the
product and the organisation.
Prosumer‘Producer + consumer’. The customer is
closely involved in specifying their requirements in
a product.
Prototypes and prototypingA prototype is a
preliminary version of part (or a framework of all) of
a web sitethat can be reviewed by its target
audience, or the marketing team. Prototyping is an
iterative process where web site users suggest
modifications before further prototypes are made
and the final version of the site is developed.
Psychographic segmentationA breakdown of
customers according to different characteristics.
Public keyA unique identifier of a buyer or a seller
that is available to other parties to enable secure
e-commerce using encryptionbased on digital
certificates.
Public-key encryption An asymmetric form of
encryptionin which the keys or digital certificates
used by the sender and receiver of information are
different. The two keys are related, so only the pair
of keys can be used together to encrypt and decrypt
information.
Public-key infrastructure (PKI) The organisations
responsible for issuing and maintaining certificates
for public-key security together form the PKI.
Pull mediaThe consumer is proactive in selection of
the message through actively seeking out a web site.
Push mediaCommunications are broadcast from an
advertiser to consumers of the message who are
passive recipients.
Push technology The delivery of web-based content
to the user’s desktop without the need for the user
to visit a site to downloadinformation. E-mail can
also be considered to be a push technology. A
particular type of information is a push channel.Qualified lead Contact and profile information for a
customer with an indication of the level of their
interest in product categories.GLOSSARYQ
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