Special Section of the Communications of the ACM on Marketing on the Internet

(Detailed instructions to authors are at the end of this call, below)

The Internet is facilitating a rapid transformation of business processes and practices. While these transformations will undoubtedly affect all functional areas in a business, perhaps the greatest effects are being felt in the marketing area, at least, in the short run. One of the most visible changes has been in the ease with which firms can begin to offer their products and services in new markets. For example, a consumer in Tokyo can order a pizza from an Italian store in New York City over the Internet (BusinessWeek; September 23, 1996). An integrated, global electronic marketplace, where consumers and businesses are able to buy and sell products or services, has profound implications for the way firm's conduct their marketing activities. It has the potential to affect all 4 Ps. Firms may be able to offer new products because of the reduced cost of reaching customers; easy and cheap access to customers and easy access to information (for customers) will undoubtedly have an affect on pricing decisions; where a firm sells its products and how the products are delivered to customers (place) is also being affected; and finally, the Internet offers entirely new ways of promoting a firm's products. A firm's competitive strategies and, in fact, their very survival in this integrated and global marketplace, may well depend upon how well firms are able to craft comprehensive and integrated advertising, sales, promotion and distribution strategies in this new environment. In this environment, consumers are likely to be better informed, more demanding in their taste and diversity, and may demand greater control of the purchasing process, from initiation, to choice an on to completion. There is anecdotal evidence that the Internet (specifically the World Wide Web) provides many industries with a more efficient and effective marketing channel compared to traditional means for offering products and services to customers (software products, information services, etc.). The rapid growth of the Internet with its promise of reaching millions of consumers, all over the globe, has on the one hand, created an euphoria on the part of the business firms to be on the Net and on the other, provided dismal financial returns on Web investments. It is not surprising, therefore, that there is a good deal of skepticism in the business world as to the true potential of the Internet for becoming the global marketplace of the future. As a result of recent research, we are beginning to gain an appreciation of the promise and dilemma that the Internet poses for consumers and business organizations alike. In the present state of "euphoria and skepticism" regarding marketing and the Internet, we believe it is both urgent and timely for a scholarly discussion on the topic of "Marketing and the Internet." It would not only provide an avenue for developing and sharing new insights, business models and ideas about marketing and the Internet, but could also help business executives facing very difficult decisions with sorely needed help in understanding what the problems are and how one might deal with them.
List of Possible Topics: Consumer Market: Consumer behavior in the context of electronic marketplace; Advertising strategies on the Internet Sales; and promotion strategies for electronic integration of traditional marketing, sales and advertising with the Internet Marketing Communications strategies; technological impediments to the promise of a true electronic market. Business to Business Market: Distribution channel structure and efficiency in the context of an electronic marketplace; restructuring of service offerings to customers through integration of distribution channel partners; incentive schemes and promotional cost distribution among channel participants. Special section Editors H. R. Rao, A. F. Salam, B. L. Dos Santos

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COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS

PLEASE Read These Guidelines Before Preparing an Article

Communications of the ACM is a monthly magazine with a readership of 83,000 computing professionals. Of these readers, 80% are computing practitioners who work in industry, 20% work in government and academia. The majority of readers have been involved in computing for over 12 years, and 65% have advanced degrees. It is crucial that authors keep these audience dynamics at the forefront of their developmental efforts when preparing an article. The Communications readership represents professionals from every known computing discipline. Therefore, it is imperative that submitted articles address topics that are of relevance and value to a very broad-based audience. A manuscript is selected for consideration on the basis of a significant and general interest to these readers. It must be clear and concise in tone, and practical in nature. It is best to remember the majority of readers will not be expert in your particular domain, but they surely want to learn how your work will affect and inspire their work. They look to you to cut through the thick layers of theory and verbosity for them and to make sense of it all in a clean, cohesive manner.

Authors are strongly encouraged to develop a familiarity with the editorial style and format of Communications prior to manuscript preparation. Moreover, submissions must adhere to these author guidelines. The editorial categories for consideration include general interest articles and case studies.

General interest articles: These articles (4,000 words max.) cover material of substance and emphasize concepts and principles. An article sets the background, defines fundamental concepts, compares alternate approaches, and explains the significance or application of a particular technology or result by means of well-reasoned text and pertinent graphical material. Reference lists (12 max.) should indicate the most significant items that support and substantiate the article. All submissions in this category are reviewed for technical accuracy, importance to the field, appropriateness to the audience, and effectiveness of style and presentation. We ask that appendices, additional references, complex matrices/code/algorithms be placed on a Web site where readers can go for further reading.

Case studies: Case studies are articles reporting on experiences gained and lessons learned constructing and using major computer systems. They take a comprehensive view of selected systems, covering them from requirements through design, implementation, and use. Case studies should take a rigorously objective perspective on the systems they describe, and should be both analytical and descriptive. Persons interested in working on case studies are advised to consult the executive editor.

Please note that the article length should not exceed the limit of 4000 words. We also encourage a sampling of short, sidebar-like articles (500 to 1,000 words max) to complement the feature articles.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

ACM is in the early stages of installing an electronic publishing environment. Until further notice, we will still be accepting hard copies of all initial submissions, if only for use as backup material for electronic versions. Upon acceptance, a Communications editor will provide you with additional information regarding electronic submissions. Please remember you are preparing a technical article. Communications does not publish abstracts, numbered subsections, appendices, indexing descriptors, complex matrices/programming code/equations, or bibliographies. Appropriate tables and figures should be limited to five each. All tables of data must indicate the source(s) of the data. The article+s headline should be short and created to draw the readers into the article by indicating its general subject. Manuscripts must not exceed the 4,000 word allotment.

References: References (12 citations max.) of previous work or work cited should be included at the end of the article. References must be ordered alphabetically by first author (see reference style below). As of January 1997, the maximum number of references is 12.

Artwork: Final artwork does not need to be included with the first draft of the manuscript, clear sketches and accurate graphs are sufficient for first drafts. Upon acceptance of the article, authors will be contacted as to the most appropriate way to submit final artwork. Any artwork that has been derived from sources other than the author's own must be accompanied by an appropriate letter of permission and source citation.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

Six copies of the double-spaced manuscript should be submitted on or before October 30, 1997 to the Guest Editor: Professor H. R. Rao, 325 G Jacobs Management Center, SUNY at Buffalo, Amherst, NY 14260 USA

Please note that a one page abstract must also be submitted, either by e-mail to Prof Rao at mgmtrao@acsu.buffalo.edu or to the above address by May 30, 1997.

To ensure a submission is considered expeditiously, a cover letter must be included and contain these components: 1. Title and the central claim of the article. 2. Statement addressing why the material is important in its field and why the material should be published in Communications. 3. Names, addresses, and *email addresses* of two or more recognized experts who would be appropriate to possibly review the submission if necessary.

Inappropriate submissions will be returned to authors. Factors leading to this action include excessive length, technically inappropriate material, subject not of interest to readers, resubmissions of previously rejected articles, manuscripts simultaneously submitted to other publications, and manuscripts not submitted according to author guidelines.

ACCEPTED SUBMISSIONS

Until completion of ACM's electronic publishing installation, we encourage submission of the final draft of an accepted article in electronic plaintext form--via email or on disk--however, a hard-copy final version is required as backup. Tables and figures may be submitted in hard-copy format or electronically via Mac-formatted diskettes (please do not compress or encode files). Authors should contact the Communications' staff to obtain more details on electronic submissions. Once an article is scheduled for publication, it will be edited for substance and presentation by Communications' editors. All articles will also be copyedited to conform to The Chicago Manual of Style (The University of Chicago Press) as well as to the publication's own house style and format.

ACM POLICY ON ORIGINAL PUBLICATION

It is ACM policy to be the sole, original publisher of articles and commentary. Articles that have been submitted simultaneously to other magazines or journals will be rejected outright and will not be reconsidered. Republication of an article, possibly revised, that has been disseminated via conference proceedings or newsletter is permitted if the editor of the publication to which it has been submitted judges there are significant additional benefits to be gained from publication. The full article may also appear in the proceedings with reference to Communications.

Communications Reference Style

Journal: Parker, R. Lotus copyright protection is turning into a feeding frenzy. Infoworld 12,28 (Jul. 1990), 42--49.

Book: Hoffman, W.M. and Moore, J.M., Eds. Ethics and the Management of Computer Technology. Oelgeschlager, Gunn and Hain, Cambridge, Mass., 1982.

Proceedings: Rumbaugh, J.E. Controlling propagation of operations using attributes on Relations. In Proceedings of OOPSLA '86 (Portland, Oreg., Sept. 29--Oct. 2). ACM/SIGPLAN, New York, 1986, pp. 406--416.

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(in alphabetical order) Sudip Bhattacharjee, Sanjog Misra, A. F. Salam, Raghu Santanam and Bao Min Shao, under the supervision of Prof. H. R. Rao.

© 1996 Department of Management Science and Systems, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260.

Under heavy construction.