E-marketing strategy: an exploratory investigation into Chinese business use of the Internet

This paper outlines the results of an exploratory survey on the business use of the Internet in China in four areas, including; strategic goals, marketing communications, marketing logistics, and relationship management. The results of this study are then compared to a similar study conducted by Adam, Mulye, Deans and Palihawadana (2002) which described the business use of the Internet in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. The findings of the Chinese study do vary from the earlier Western study but rather than showing any particular advance in eMarketing strategy in the past four years, they highlight a utilitarian approach to the Internet by Chinese businesses who are generally less experienced in brand building and customer relationship management than their Western counterparts. Theoretically this suggest that the use of the Internet by businesses is not solely dependent on technical infrastructure and sophistication but also the diffusion of Internet business strategies and tactics.