Understanding and Managing Customer Perception

3.

Understanding and Managing Customer Perception

By Dagmar Recklies 

This article first appeared in Effective Executive, ICFAI University Press, July 2006

“It has never been more difficult to win – and keep – business through product and

price distinction.”[1]

In today’s globalising economy competition is getting more and more fierce. That means it becomes more difficult for products and services to differentiate themselves from other offerings than ever before. Not only is the number of competitive offerings rising due to globalisation of production, sourcing, logistics and access to information. Many products and services face new competition from substitutes and from completely new offerings or bundles from industry outsiders. Since product differences are closed at an increasing speed and many companies try to win the battle for customers by price reductions, products and services tend to become commodities.

On the other hand, customer behaviour becomes more hybrid. On one hand, customers are increasingly price sensitive – searching for bargains at marketplaces like ebay or buying their groceries at discount markets. On the other hand they enjoy branded and luxury goods. One and the same person may plan a weekend trip with a no-frills airline and a stay at a five-star-hotel.

In the result, customers have a wider choice of often less distinguishable products and they are much better informed. For many offerings the balance of power shifts towards the customer. Customers are widely aware of their greater power, which raises their expectations on how companies should care for them.

Bringing it all together, it becomes ever more difficult to differentiate a product or service by traditional categories like price, quality, functionality etc. 

In this situation the development of a strong relationship between customers and a company could likely prove to be a significant opportunity for competitive advantage. This relationship is not longer based on features like price and quality alone. Today it is more the perceived experience a customer makes in his various interactions with a company (e.g. how fast, easy, efficient and reliable the process is) that can make or break the relationship. Problems during a single transaction can damage a so far favourable customer attitude.

The consequence for companies is that they have to adapt their ways of competing for customers. Traditionally, companies have focused their efforts of customer   relationship   management  on issues like customer satisfaction and targeted marketing activities like event marketing, direct marketing or advertising. Although doubtless necessary and beneficial, these activities are not longer enough. They narrow the relationship between company and customer down to a particular

set of contacts in which the company invests its efforts. Most likely this will produce not more than a satisfied customer who is well aware of the companies offerings and has a positive attitude towards them. However, a satisfied customer is not necessarily a loyal one.[2]

If a customer is satisfied that means that a product of service has met his expectations and that he was not dissatisfied by it. Customer satisfaction is doubtlessly very important. It is the precondition for repeat purchases and it prevents the customer from telling others about his disappointing experiences. A loyal customer, however, is more than a customer who frequently purchases from a company.

The difference is the emotional bond which links the customer so closely to the company that he develops a clear preference for these products or brands and is even willing to recommend them to others. Loyal customers truly prefer a product, brand or company over competitive offerings. Thus loyalty goes beyond a rational decision for known quality or superior price-performance-ratio. It is about the customers’ feelings and perceptions about the brand or product.

When the customer makes his buying decision, he evaluates the benefits he perceives from a particular product and compares them with the costs. The value a customer   perceives  when buying and using a product or service go beyond usability. There is a set of emotional values as well, such as social status, exclusivity, friendliness and responsiveness or the degree to which personal expectations and preferences are met. Similarly, the costs perceived by the customer, normally comprise more than the actual price. They also include costs of usage, the lost opportunity to use an other offering, potential switching costs etc. Hence, the customer establishes an equation between perceived benefits and perceived costs of one product and compares this to similar equations of other products.

Based on this, customer loyalty can be understood as to how customers feel about a product, service or brand and whether their perceived total investments with a it live up to their expectations.

The important point here is the involvement of feelings, emotions and perceptions. In today’s competitive marketplace, these perceptions are becoming much more important for gaining sustainable competitive advantage. 

Customer   perceptions  are influenced by a variety of factors. Besides the actual outcome – i.e. did the product or service deliver the expected function and did it fulfil the customers need – the whole process of consumption and all interactions involved are of crucial importance. In today’s globalised information driven economy this can also comprise issues like

          How other customers or influencing groups perceive the product or brand

          The degree to which the customer feels the actual marketing campaign addresses the most important issues

          Responsiveness and service quality of any affiliates, e.g. distribution partners

Customer perceptions are dynamic. First of all, with the developing relationship between customer and company, his perceptions of the company and its products or services will change.

The more experience the customer accumulates, the more his perceptions will shift from fact-based judgements to a more general meaning the whole relationship gains for him. Over time, he puts a stronger focus on the consequence of the product or service consumption.

Moreover, if the customers’ circumstances change, their needs and preferences often change too. In the external environment, the offerings of competitors, with which a customer compares a product or service will change, thus altering his perception of the best offer around. Another point is that the public opinion towards certain issues can change. This effect can reach from fashion trends to the public expectation of good corporate citizenship. Shells intention to dump its Brent Spar platform into the ocean significantly altered many customers perception of which company was worth buying fuel from.

Research has been don on the impact of market share on the perceived quality of a product.[3]Depending on the nature of the product and the customers’ preferences, increasing market share can have positive or negative effects on how the customer perceives the product.

Positive effects of increasing market share on customer perception

          Increasing market share can send out positive signals by acting as an indicator of

superior quality that is recognised by more and more other customers. This effect is

particularly strong for premium priced products. Customers normally assume that a

product must be of exceptional quality if it can gain such an unexpected market

success despite its high price.

          Many brands offer positive emotional benefits of using a product that is popular

in the markets.

          The value of a product or service can rise through increasing number of users of

the same product, e.g. number of members of an online community, better

availability of software for popular computer systems.

Negative effects of increasing market share on customer perception

          For premium and luxury products, customers may translate an increasing market

share into a loss of exclusivity and thus perceive it as less valuable.

          The quality of services may suffer if they are consumed by increasing numbers of

users. Diseconomies of scales and congestions can be observed with busy airports

and many other services so that customers may look out for other providers that

promise more timely service and convenience.

The concept of customer perception does not only relate to individual customers in consumer markets. It is also valid in business to business situations. For example, a competitor benchmarking survey of a large industrial supplier revealed that the market leader, although recognised for excellent quality and service and known to be highly innovative, was perceived as arrogant in some regions. If we take into consideration that there are about four other large players with a similar level of quality and innovative ideas, this perceived arrogance could develop into a serious problem. Customers here are well aware the main characteristics of all the offerings available at the market are largely comparable. So they might use the development of a new product generation of their own to switch to a supplier that can serve them not better or worse, but with more responsiveness and understanding. 

Companies have done a lot to improve customer satisfaction and customer relationships in the past. As discussed above, this will not be enough any more.  

Any serious effort to manage customer perceptions starts with a good measurement system. Companies must be truly willing to look at the whole process of interaction through the customers eyes. For many companies, this requires a more or less extensive shift in mindset, since most departments from development to sales will be involved.  

Example:

France Telecom has set up a ‘Quality of Perceived Value Lab’ at its R&D department.

Aiming at a better understanding of customer perception, this unit’s main objective is

in fact to give a better definition of the correlation that exists between technical

problems in products an those perceived by users. By anticipation customers’

feelings on product qualities, the laboratory provides perceived quality expertise on

new solutions.[4] Thus, France Telecom implements the issue of how customers

perceive their products as early as in the product development process.

The backbone of any customer perception management and measurement system, however, is thorough market research and surveys. There are several aspects of measuring customer perceptions.

          First of all the company has to find out how itself and its offerings are perceived by the customers. It is essential to identify what the customer is actually buying and which features are most important to him. Only this way it is possible to align the internal focus and resources to the customers expectation. This information is of greater value if it can be compared to the customers’ perception of competitive offerings. Not only will this reveal relative strengths and weaknesses, it is also a valuable source of ideas for improvement.

          Besides that, surveys should also identify the relative importance of several influencing variables in the eyes of the customer. To know what matters most to the customer helps to set priorities for projects.

          Of course, as with any market research activities, it should be based on a careful customer segmentation. Customer groups that differ by frequency of use, social status, geographical region or other criteria, are likely to have different expectations and preferences. Hence, they will probably perceive an offering in different ways.

          Zeithaml et al[5] suggest to incorporate several behavioural-intentions questions to identify signals that are potentially favourable or unfavourable for the company. Questions for behaviour intentions are potentially of higher validity and richer diagnostic value than the “overall service quality” or “customer satisfaction” variables. Since these questions are directed at potential future actions they can not only indicate of changes in demand and market trends. They also provide early warning signs and help to take to take timely corrective action.

Only if a company knows which features of its products and services or which other points of contact with the customer are considered most important by the customers, it can develop appropriate strategies. Such a strategy will not only help the company to strengthen the emotional bond with the customer through targeted improvements and activities. It may also have the positive side effect that the customers’ whole experience leads him to the conclusion that this company really understands his distinctive needs and really takes him seriously. Hence, the customers perception of the whole company may improve beyond a positive attitude towards a particular product. 

Based on thorough research, companies can develop strategies and initiate targeted activities to manage and improve customer perceptions. This article finishes with some examples of how this can be done. It has to be taken into consideration, however, that there is no one right strategy. Since these measures shall provide a distinctive competitive advantage, they should be based on the particular competencies and resources of a company and they should aim at setting the company apart from the other market participants. 

          The service experience is closely linked to his perception of the total company and its offerings – be it products or service. A common idea of many authors is that it is not always necessary to deliver the absolutely perfect customer experience. Instead it is important to solve the customers need or problem in a matter that is perceived appropriate. For many retail products, for example, it will be sufficient in most cases to offer an appropriate group of substitute products, but not all particular products. In service situations, customers will - depending on the actual nature of the service - not expect an immediate service delivery. They will however expect a delivery within a time frame that is either market standard or meets the service promise of the actual service provider. As long as the company keeps this promise, the customer will perceive this as satisfying. Byrnes even suggests that you earn more customer loyalty when you do a good job fixing a service problem, than if there had been no problem at all.[6] The point is to meet or excel the customers’ expectations, not to achieve some ideal level of product or service delivery.

          Companies should try to make sure that their customers are fully aware of all the ways their offering can provide value to them. They have to explain the customer how this particular product can deliver more value than those from competitors.[7] This approach means to widen the customer perception and to extend their awareness and appreciation to more features or aspects of the offering. However, this point has to be considered very carefully in order not to produce an diametrical effect.

Example

A customer who uses a large part of the functionality of his mobile phone might

be delighted to learn about additional features and functions of the next

generation product. Here the perceived value of the new product could be

increased by highlighting the utility of the new functions. Another type of

customer only uses his mobile phone to make and receive phone calls. He would

probably not appreciate this type of communication. His equation of product

value and cost will shift to the perception that he should pay an higher price for

even more features he does not need and will not use.

This point again highlights the critical importance of market research. In this example, market research would help the company to develop different communication strategies that focus on those product features that are of high priority for particular market segments.

          A commonplace strategy to circumvent the loss of exclusivity associated with high market share is to leverage the brand by introducing new related brands. This is very efficient with fragrances or fashion brands.

          In situations in which customers perceive high market shares lead as a sign of quality, it is advisable to advertise a favourable high share, e.g. “Americas most popular SUV”, “Three out of five people already use …”.

          It is advisable to contact customers who indicate low results for loyalty or perception of the company in the surveys. Direct contact allows to identify the roots of the problem and – if possible – to solve the issue. Besides solving some customer-specific problems and thus improving the perception of some individuals, such follow-ups may reveal some causes for problems that are common to wider parts of the customer base. These are the starting points for some improvements with potentially significant effects.

          Follow-up is the hallmark of any loyalty or customer perception surveys. The effects of any activities should be measured and analysed by follow-up surveys to provide further insights.

4.

The effect of E-marketing on the marketing performance of Small Business Enterprise:

A comparative study between Egypt and the UK.

By:

HATEM EL-GOHARY

Bradford University School of Management

2007

Key words:-

E-Marketing, Small Business Enterprises, Performance, Egypt, UK.

Abstract:-

Small Business Enterprises (SBE's) play a major role in the world economy, and their contribution to economic and employment growth is widely recognized. Based on the SBE role as an economic engine to drive global development, this research seeks to understand the practices and activities of these enterprises in terms of electronic marketing (Achieving marketing objectives and functions through the use of electronic communication technology), marketing performance and the effectiveness of industrial and trade SBE’s. In order to do this a comparative study is made between SBE’s in Egypt (developing) and the UK (developed).

The main aim of this work is to identify links between the conceptual framework and empirical analysis in this field because they appear to be highly integrated, and if reviewed separately may present distorted results.

A triangulation approach will be used in which quantitative and qualitative data will be collected throughstructured mailed questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to address different levels of investigation, test the hypotheses and address the central research questions.

1. Introduction:-

Small Business Enterprises (SBE's) do play a major role in the world economy, and they are recognized as one of the main contributors to economic, development and employment growth. According to Mulhern (1995) 99% of all European companies are small and medium sized (SME) and from 1985-1995 it provided 66% of the employment in Europe. That is also true in Less Developing Countries (LDC’s) since small businesses do represent a high percentage of the total number of enterprises.

On the other hand, the revolution in information technology (IT) and communications changed the way people conduct business today. In recent years, increasing numbers of businesses have been using the Internet and other electronic media in their marketing efforts, giving the chance for Electronic marketing (as a new marketing phenomenon and philosophy) to grow in a very dramatic and dynamic way.

From the researcher point of view, implementing E-marketing by small business enterprise can change the shape and nature of SBE’s business all over the world. Because the rapid proliferation of the Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW) and electronic communication has created a fast growing new electronic channels for marketing. For that, the internet and other electronic media are playing now a very important role in conducting marketing activities due to its unique characteristics as a market and as a medium.

 Depending on that the researcher is seeking to add to the body of knowledge by investigating and understanding the practices and activities of small business enterprises through conducting a research about the effect of implementing E-marketing on marketing performance of industrial and trade SBE's, it is a comparative study between the Egyptian and British SBE’s to gain a better understanding of the SBE’s role in developing countries since they are less well represented in the literature.

1.1 Background:-

1.1.1 Small Business Enterprises:-

Despite of the powerful position held by small businesses, defining it has always been difficult and there is a little agreement on what defines a small business because the term covers a variety of firms. As a result small businesses have been defined in a perplexing number of different ways in different parts of the world according to national and local needs (Theng and Boon 1996; Watson and Everrett 1996). Table 1 summarizes the official or most common definitions of SBE's used in some countries around the world.

Table 1: Criteria of defining SBE’s adapted by some countries

Country No.  of employees Other criteria

USA Under 100 Less than $ 5 million annual sales

European Union

Under 50Annual turnover or global balance less than 10  million euros

+

Independence

(Not exceeding 25% of the capital or voting rights withheld by one or more companies (or public bodies) which are not themselves SME's)

Australia Under 20 None

Canada Under 500 in mfg and 50 in services

Less than $ 5 million annual sales

India None Total investment(not exceeding 10 million Indian Rupees in industrial enterprises and 1 million in service enterprises)

Mexico Under 50 None

Thailand Under 200 in labour intensive

None

Turkey 10 to 49 None

Source: El-Gohary (2006)

From table 1 it is noticed that the number of employees is the most often used element in determining the category of SBE's in most countries. Furthermore,. It also noticed that there is a lack of agreement on what defines a small business, for that a standard definition for Small Business Enterprises is needed. Accordingly and due to the absence of an Egyptian official definition for SBE’s, the researcher will depend on the following definition for SBE’s for the purpose of conducting the current research study: “a small business enterprise is that enterprise that employs from ten to forty-nine employees”.

1.1.2 E-Marketing:-

Electronic marketing (E-marketing) can be viewed as a new modern business practice associated with buying and selling goods, services, information and ideas via the Internet and other electronic means. A review of relevant literature revealed that definitions of electronic marketing vary according to each author's point of view, background and specialization.  While Smith and Chaffey (2005) defines it as: “Achieving marketing objectives through applying digital technologies”, Strauss and Frost (2001) define it as: “The use of electronic data and applications for planning and executing the conception, distribution and pricing of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives”.

The researcher will depend on Strauss and Frost definition in conducting the current research because: it takes into consideration all the element of E-marketing, all types of products, it illustrate the main objective of E-marking which is creating the exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational needs. Moreover it is the official definition for E-marketing adopted by the E-Marketing Association.

From the researcher point of view, implementing E-marketing by small business enterprise can change the shape and nature of SBE’s business all over the world. Because the rapid proliferation of the Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW) and electronic communication has created a fast growing new electronic channels for marketing. This rapid expanding use of the Internet and other electronic communication for business purposes attracts companies to invest in online presence (Liang and Hung, 1998).

1.1.3 Marketing performance:-

Given the fact that a firm survival depends on its capacity to create value, and value is defined by customers (Day, 1990), marketing makes a fundamental contribution to long-term business success. But despite of the importance of measuring business performance there is a little research on the measures used to evaluate marketing performance and effectiveness. On the other hand, when looking to the marketing performance and success measures it is noticed that there are many measures. Recently, in an attempt to organize performance measures Kokkinaki and Ambler (1999) have summarized it and established six categories for marketing performance and success measures which are: Financial measures / Competitive market measures / Consumer behaviour measures / Consumer intermediate measures / Direct costumer measures / Innovativeness measures.

1.1.3.1 E-Marketing Performance Measures:-

Standardised measures for E-marketing performance are both needed and necessary. The discussion of most of the researchers has centred on the following measures (beside the traditional marketing performance measures): Traffic/ Visit duration / Conversion rate (visit to purchase) / Catalogue size / Sales value / Number of transactions / Number of users (as measured by the number of registered user accounts). In conducting the proposed research the researcher will depend on both traditional marketing and E-marketing performance measures. Namely: Financial measures / Competitive market measures / Consumer behaviour measures / Consumer intermediate measures / E-marketing measures (such as: Conversion rate / Traffic / Visit duration / Number of transactions / Number of users).

2. The Literature Review:-

Until now the researcher had identified a wide range of the literature review (in its wider broad sense which include: Journals, Academic Books, theses and dissertations, short articles, e-databases, conference papers,…). The literature time period starts from 1990 to presence, the main reasons for that are:-

- The World Wide Web (WWW) which is the main e-marketing element launched and started at 1993.

- According to this survey for the literature and despite of the fast growth in e-marketing research in the last decade, it appears that only from the late 1980s researches on e-marketing and internet marketing begun to appear in the literature.  Starting with the work of: Malone, Yates and Benjamin (1987 & 1989), crossing by the work of: White (1997), Samiee (1998), Wientzen (2000), Porter (2001), Siddiqui et al. (2003), Daniel et al. (2003), Smith and Rupp (2003), Smith (2004 a, b) and ending with the work of: Sheth and Sharma (2005), Sandeep and Singh (2005), De Kervenoael et al (2006), Flavián and Guinalíu (2006), Taylor and England (2006).

The research studies investigated and covered a wide rang of e-marketing areas, such as: internet-marketing / e-mail marketing / intranet marketing / SMS marketing / extranet marketing. On the other hand, it is noticed that the literature in internet-marketing covers five main areas which are: Internet marketing (IM) environment, IM functions, IM applications and IM research. Regarding the literature of e-marketing in SBE’s, it was found that it covers the following areas illustrated in figure 1.

The use of internet by SBE’s 

The literature of e-marketing in SBE’s

The concept of E-Marketing in SBE’s

Export performance

The internet as a distribution channel for SBE’s 

E-Bay in SBE’s 

SBE’s Competencies

B2B in SBE’s

E-Business adoption by SBE’s 

Virtual Market

Figure 1: The literature of e-marketing in SBE’s

Source: El-Gohary (2006).

By reviewing this literature it’s noticed that:-

(1) There are a quite reasonable number of researches had been conducted on the internet use by SBE’s. From these researches: Martin and Matlay

(2003) conducted a research on the Innovative use of the Internet in small firms to study the impact of knowledge management and organisational learning in accessing new opportunities.

In the same direction and depending on their earlier survey research project designed to establish the profile of Australian SBE’s using the Internet in 1996, Poon and Swatman (1997) conducted anther research on: Small business use of the Internet in Australian SBE’s. in consent with the findings of Adam and Deans (2001) they also found that most of SBE’s are still using the Internet as a communications medium in addition to other communication tools like telephone and facsimile

To continue the early studies conducted by Poon and Swatman (1996a; 1996b; 1997a; and 1997b) on SBE’s use of the internet Adam and Deans (2001) conducted an Inter-Study Comparisons of SBE’s Internet Use in Australia and New Zealand depending on a Triangulation approach. Moreover Chaston and Mangles (2003), Collins, et al (2003) and McGowan, et al (2001) conducted research studies on the utilisation of the Internet among small businesses.

 (2) There are a quite reasonable number of researches had been conducted on the adoption of e-business practices by SBE’s. From these researches Fillis, et al (2004); Jutla, et al (2002); Mendo and Fitzgerald (2005) and Ramsey and McCole (2004 & 2005).

Fillis, et al (2004) argues that: globalisation and technology effects appear to have spurred smaller firms around the world to embrace e-business practices. They formulated a conceptual framework of the reasons behind adoption and non-adoption of e-business in small firm. The framework was built form the following factors: Macro dimensions, industry sector and firm-level factors together with owner/manager motivations and attitudes towards e-business adoption.

Also Jutla, et al (2002) and Mendo and Fitzgerald (2005) presented a conceptual models or frameworks to generalise the practices applied by SBE’s regarding the adoption of e-business concept.

Furthermore, Ramsey and McCole conducted 2 studies on e-business adoption by small businesses. The first one in 2004, drawing from the new possibilities of internet-based technologies which can provide a powerful route to innovative marketing strategies they conducted a comparative study of e-business adoption among SME’s in the knowledge-intensive service sector in three countries: Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and New Zealand. And to understand why some New Zealand SME’s in the professional services industries have been slow to embrace e-business technologies they conducted a second study in 2005.

(3) There are a considerable number of conceptual and theoretical studies conducted on E-marketing in SBE’s. For example: Oliva (2004) brought to light some aspects regarding e-Bay. Also De Kervenoael et al (2006) tried to demonstrate the need for an improved understanding of consumer value for online grocery purchases and to propose the notion of “integrated service solution” packages as a strategy for growing and successfully sustaining both marketing strategy and policy.

(4) Marketing practitioners and academics have devoted considerable effort in studying Business – to – Business (B2B) e-marketing. Although there are a wide rang of researches conducted on B2B [Hamill (1997), Hoffman et al. (1999), Hoffman and Novak (1996), Porter (2001) …], but there is a very few number of researches on B2B in SBE’s, one of it had been conducted by Ng (2005) to develop a preliminary framework for Australian agribusiness organisations seeking to select B2B e-business models.

(5) Regarding E-marketing in developing countries, there are only 2 studies conducted by: Bui, et al (2006) and Hinson and Sorensen (2006). To understand the opportunities, challenges, and guidance necessary for e-tourism to be effective in developing economies; Bui, et al (2006) conducted a case study research to assess the effectiveness of Web technology in promoting tourism in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. While Hinson and Sorensen (2006) depending on Quantitative methodology argue that the adoption of e-business practices has benefits for small Ghanaian exporters.

2.1 The research Gap:-

Based on the previous discussion, it is noticed that:-

-         Almost all of the researches on e-marketing in SBE’s had been conducted in Europe (UK, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Austria and Switzerland), Australia and New Zealand. Only 2 studies were conducted in developing countries.

-         The literature was concentrated on some research areas, and (up to the knowledge of the researcher) there is no single research on the SBE’s E- Marketing Performance or in SBE’s marketing in Egypt.

Obviously this is a major gap in the contemporary research on SBE’s E-Marketing Therefore a contribution to the literature is needed.

3. Research Problem:-  

As a conclusion of the literature survey, the fundamental problem motivating this research study is the urgent need to understand the relationship between using e-marketing by the Egyptian and British small business enterprises and the marketing performance of these enterprises. As well as the effect that e-marketing has on marketing activities for small business enterprises. The study attempts to have full-scale research that is statistically significant that could answer the following main question: what are the relationship between using e-marketing and the marketing performance of the Egyptian and British small business enterprises.

Beside this main question the research also attempts to answer the following sub – questions:-

•         What are the marketing variables, which can be considered as indicators to marketing performance of the Egyptian and British SBE’s?

•         What is the relationship between using e-marketing and the marketing performance variables?

To address these questions, a series of objectives are now presented.

4. Research Objectives:-

The main objectives of this research is to: develop a theoretical model to understand and interpret the use of the E-marketing by small business enterprises in the UK and Egypt, explore and analyze the level and form of e-marketing used by the Egyptian and British SBE’s and its contribution to marketing performance as measured by financial and operational performance measures.

The research will adapt an interdisciplinary approach that makes use of traditional small business enterprises marketing, E-marketing, IT, and information systems literature. This is in line with the point of view of Gatticker et al. (2000) who states that researchers should investigate the opportunities offered by the Internet using an interdisciplinary approach. At the same time, because E-marketing is a field that makes use of IT and IS, depending on that the research will considers the appropriateness of the various theories that underpin research into IT and IS implementation.

Consequently, the objectives of this research are as follows:-

•         To develop and clarify a conceptual model to understand and interpret the use of the E-marketing by small business enterprises in the UK and Egypt.

•         To specify and test hypothesised relationships derived from the conceptual framework of the study.

•         To explore and analyze the level and form of e-marketing used by the Egyptian and British SBE’s and its contribution to marketing performance.

•         To assess the existing awareness of the SBE's to the expected benefits of the using of e-marketing.

•         To identify the results of using e-marketing.

•         To evaluate the current practices – if any – of e-marketing by the Egyptian and British SBE’s.

•         To examine the impact of E-marketing practices on marketing efficiency

To achieve these objectives a series of hypotheses have been constructed to be tested during the research process.

5. Research Hypotheses:

            In the light of the previous discussion and the literature review, the following hypotheses have been constructed. Both the conceptual framework and empirical study are linked to test these hypotheses:-

Hypothesis (1): The level of e-marketing used by SBE’s is significantly related to the firm’s marketing performance.

                (1-A): The level of e-marketing used by Egyptian SBE’s is significantly related                           to the firm’s marketing performance.

                (1-B): The level of e-marketing used by British SBE’s is significantly related to the firm’s marketing performance.

                (1-C): Implementing E-marketing by the SBE’s has a positive impact on the SBE’s marketing performance.

Hypothesis (2): The form of e-marketing used by SBE’s is not significantly related to the firm’s marketing performance.

                (2-A): The form of e-marketing used by Egyptian SBE’s is not significantly related to the firm’s marketing performance

                (2-B): The form of e-marketing used by British SBE’s is not significantly related to the firm’s marketing performance

Hypotheses (3): Implementing E-marketing by the SBE’s is dependent on the SBE internal related factors.

                 (3-A): Implementing E-marketing by the SBE’s is dependent on the entrepreneur managerial skills.

                 (3-B): Implementing E-marketing by the SBE’s is dependent on the financial resources of the SBE.

                 (3-C): Implementing E-marketing by the SBE’s is dependent on the availability of technical infrastructure.

6. Contribution To The Current Knowledge :-

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”

          Sir Winston Churchill

The primary benefit of this study is as a contribution to knowledge in the areas of small business enterprises and E-marketing. The research will contributes to the limited number of empirical researches on marketing goods, services, ideas and information depending on the Internet and other electronic marketing means. Moreover, it contributes to the limited number of empirical evidences to explore the effect of E-marketing on the marketing performance of small business enterprises. Many researchers (Sheth, J. N., Sharma, A., 2005; Sandeep K., Singh, N., 2005; Adam, S., et al., 2002; Teo, T., Tan, J. S., 2002; Darby, R., Jones, J., Al Madani, G., 2003 and Goldsmith, R., Lafferty, B., 2002) had suggested the need for such kind of research. Those authors agree that a serious marketing practitioners and academic researchers are now aware that more systematic research is required to reveal the true nature of E-marketing.

6.1 Significance to Researchers:-

This study is an original attempt - based on the literature review - to establish a conceptual model to outline the use of E-marketing by small business enterprises. Beside that it is also an original attempt to study E-marketing in Egypt.

Furthermore as the theory in the field of E-marketing is still in the infancy stage and yet not well established this study can be considered as a step toward a theory building in the field of E-marketing. It brought to light all the surroundings around the concepts and practice of E-marketing. Moreover, it provides not only an empirical assessment of the essential elements in E-marketing implementation; but also an empirical assessment of E-marketing implementation by both the UK and Egyptian small business enterprises.

6.2 Significance to practitioners:-

The findings and results of this research study will provide a great help and benefits to: small business entrepreneurs, marketers, IT practitioners and all other parties that uses or planning to use the Internet and other electronic means for marketing purposes. The study intends to help practitioners to gain a better understanding for the usage of E-marketing by small business enterprises. Furthermore, it will provide insights on “how” E-marketing can affect the SBE marketing performance not only in Europe as presented by the UK, but also in the less developed countries such Egypt.

7. Research Process:-

The research process will be conducted through five basic stages (as illustrated in Figure 2) these stages are: Identification of the research problem and objectives, the development of the research framework, Research methodology, Quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and Discussion and conclusion.

The researcher had done his best to arrange the organisation of the study in such a way that it allows the readers to follow the process easily and smoothly.

7.1 Research Methodology:-

         Based on the general principle that the research methodology, strategy, and methods or techniques employed must be appropriate for the questions that the researcher wants to answer. A triangulation approach will be used in the research, the researcher will make a: data, method and methodological triangulation, in which quantitative and qualitative data

Identification of the:-

- Research Problem

- Research objectives

-Research Importance

 The Research Questions, Model and Hypotheses

 Research Methodology

Topic Selection Process 

Data Analysis

Data Collection

 Interpretations and Discussion of Key Findings

 Conclusion and Recommendations

 Electronic

Marketing

 Small Business

Enterprises

Content Analysis 

Data, Method and Methodological triangulationPurification Process

Measures

Research StrategyResearch Design

 Research Methods

 Sampling Process

 Entering Data to SPSS

case study

survey

Reliability/ pilot studyQuestionnaire Design and Administration

Descriptive Statistics, Correlation, Chi Square, Independent samples t-test

Figure 2: The research process

Source: El-Gohary (2006).

will be collected depending on a combined research strategy based on survey and case study strategies through questionnaires and interviews to address different levels of the study. The survey strategy will allow the answer of the 'WHAT' question of the research, such as: what is the relationship between using e-marketing by the SBE’s and its marketing performance. On the other hand, the case study strategy will give in-depth information and answer the 'HOW' and ‘WHY’ questions (for example: why the relationship is taking one direction instead of anther direction).

Why triangulation?

The logic of triangulation is based on the premise that: “no single method ever adequately solves the problem” (Denzin, 1978: 28) and using only one method is more vulnerable to error linked to that particular method (Patton, 1990: 188); for that the  researcher will use triangulation to increase the validity and credibility of the research conclusion, to be more confident about the findings, to increase the ability of generalization, to answer the research questions and to meet the research objectives effectively and professionally. Especially that according to the knowledge of the researcher there is no previous PhD studies were conducted in the field of E-marketing practices in SBE’s in Egypt, also there is lack in scientific studies in this filed in general. For that the researcher: believes that combining of methods in this research is indispensable, and will depend on a combined research approach based on survey and case study analysis.

7.2 Data Collection   and Analysis:-

The backbone of this research is to establish and sustain a clear link between conceptual framework and empirical analysis. The main importance of this consideration comes from the belief that unless the conceptual framework and empirical study are highly integrated, each one of them individually would present a partitioned and distorted image of the research points. For that this study will depend on:

Conceptual framework: depending mostly on the secondary data.

Empirical study            : depending mostly on the primary data.

A combined research strategy based on survey and case study strategies will be carried out in the research by using structured mailed questionnaires and interviews as a primary data collection methods.Then, many statistical analysis techniques will be used to analyse the data and test the research hypotheses

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