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M-COMMERCE ANDMARKETING 853marketing strategies to foster customer relationships and
cultivate new business opportunities—at the right time,
in the right place.Will Wireless (or Mobile) Substitute
Fixed-Line Internet?
Mobile Internet will not be treated as a substitute for the
fixed-line Internet (ITU, 2002a, p. 3), although 3G is con-
sidered a global wireless medium. This is because mobile
Internet services can be supported by different wireless
technologies such as wireless local area networks (LANs),
short-range connectivity technologies, fixed broadband
networks, and so on. From the user’s perspective, the fol-
lowing issues should be taken into considerations:Display quality is limited by the screen size of mobile
devices.
Functions provided by a keyboard are superior to those
of a mobile device keypad.
Fixed-line broadband has brought speedy connection
benefits at reasonable prices.Nowadays, the majority of display screens provided
by wireless devices (e.g., PDAs and Web-enabled mobile
phones) are too small for viewing long documents such as
a contract or a book chapter. In addition, more and more
consumers in developed countries have adopted fixed-line
broadband Internet access services at home. For exam-
ple, going online through fixed-line broadband Internet
services at home has become part of the daily lives of
Hong Kong residents. Although mobile messages through
SMS and multimedia messaging service (MMS) provide
“instant” and “interactive” benefits, they may not be able
to substitute for land-line access at this time; nonetheless,
they offer other benefits.M-COMMERCE AND MARKETING
What Industries Benefit Most From
M-commerce?
A new market space has been created by Web-enabled mo-
bile phone services. The interactive features, always-on
connections, and tailor-made contents benefit following
industries (Lamont, 2001):M-banking (e.g., online stock trading—making en-
quiries and money transfer transactions): M-banking
offers convenient and “instant” benefits through both
voice and data communications. It allows customers to
use their mobile phone services for online stock trading,
checking balances, making money transfer, and so on
anytime and anywhere. Security issues have been a key
obstacle for influencing consumers’ adoption of mobile-
banking services.
M-entertainment services (e.g., real-time sports, games,
live-entertainment events, entertainment on Internet
and music): The unique benefit of “real-time” enables
subscribers to enjoy different types of live-entertain-
ment services anytime and anywhere.M-commerce and Information Services
M-commerce is the word used to describe the consump-
tion of Internet services or the purchase of goods via a
wireless link (Korhonen, 2001, p. 433). M-commerce is
expected to grow continuously in the coming years. Fur-
thermore, “everything available via the fixed Internet will
also be available via the wireless Internet” (Korhonen,
2001, pp. 434–435). Wireless technologies allow speedy
and real-time data transmission benefits. As a result,
information services in m-commerce may apply to the
following:- Real-time broadcasting services (e.g., on television,
radio) - Location-based advertisement (e.g., a list of restaurants
offering special discounts in a particular location tar-
geting specific customers); it is suggested that the list
should cover only those restaurants located within half
a kilometer of the location of the handset - Purchase of consumer goods through mobile phone
handsets - Paying for parking through SMS notices (e.g., sending
reminders) - Conducting transactions with the parking meter thro-
ugh Bluetooth technology
Database Marketing in M-commerce
Database marketing can be applied to m-commerce in the
following areas (adapted from Kotler & Armstrong, 2001,
p. 626):- Identify business prospects: Information obtained
from enquiries (e.g., through counter services, the In-
ternet, e-mail, or mobile phone) and business reply
cards enable companies to identify potential customers
as well as business opportunities - Deciding which customers should receive a particular
offer: Companies can tailor an offer (e.g., sending an
e-coupon to a customer through mobile phone) accord-
ing to the customer’s preferences and needs. - Deepening customer loyalty: Companies can make use
of database information to identify customers’ interest
by discovering their preferences and purchasing pat-
terns. Furthermore, marketers can please customers
by sending small gifts on special days. For example,
a company could send an SMS birthday greeting, a
birthday ring-tone download, or a discount e-voucher
through mobile phone services before or on the cus-
tomer’s birthday. - Reactivating customer purchases: A database enables
marketers to stimulate sales from potential customers
such as replacement of a mobile phone handset, up-
grading of a service plan, or purchase of a package or
of complementary mobile phone products or services.
What Must Marketers Do to Be
a Successful M-marketer?
Lamont (2001) proposed several criteria (Table 3) for
being a successful m-marketer. In sum, m-commerce