A great abundance of skepticism exists over whether or not the Internet has influenced major success among firms’ economic profits. It would not be uncommon for one to simply ask whether or not the Internet is essential to a business’s economic success. However, that question cannot be answered with a vague “yes” or “no” response. This essay identifies the specific factors attributing to individual firms’ success through Internet use for marketing purposes. Through extensive research, various sources differing in theory about the topic were found, providing this essay with an abundance of separate opinions and approaches that interact well with one another to construct an effective argument. The different positions provided really cause the reader to think deeply about the topic and develop their own personal theory. There are specific factors other than simply just whether or not a business uses the Internet to market products, that influence a firm’s economic success through the use of Internet technology.

There are a number of different positions held within the sources regarding whether the Internet is a financial boon to business or not. Numerous authors from this paper’s 12 gathered sources are extremely anti-Internet or against the use of Internet marketing, while some remain actively pro-Internet, or entirely for the use of the Internet as a powerful marketing tool that can reach out to potential customers across the globe. Then there are others who suggest that other factors exist and determine whether or not the Internet is beneficial to a business’s economic success. The rest of the sources all commonly propose that a business’s profits are not dependent upon whether or not they have access to the Internet and its online market, but upon other factors like the strategic use of information systems for business efforts, understanding of foreign markets, and length of time involved in online trade (Smith, Teo, Eid).

Those who are against Internet use for business purposes have their many different reasons to believe so. They suggest that the Internet is temporary and only good until the next wave of technological advancement, or that the natural face-to-face business interaction model is too hard to compete with because it has always been the way business was carried out and the way in which strong customer-to-business relationships are built. Also, some believe this because it was revealed in a case-study in a book by Tang, China: New Engine of World Growth, that the percentage of those who use the Internet for work or business-related activities has actually been decreasing over years among Chinese populations, and most likely many more around the world. Tang showed the growth of Internet use among the Chinese populations through a statistical analysis using distributions and samples in Figures that show different tables containing probabilities of different factors that were tested. One of these Tables shows the statistics of the “main purpose for going online” and it reveals that business-related work has actually been decreasing over years from 2001 to 2003 and so on (Tang). Another source reveals that the “Internet bubble” is dead and that although the Internet has been largely beneficial to International business and online transactions, the power of face-to-face relations is too difficult to replace. They argue that business has always been conducted face-to-face, so there is certainly no reason for it to change now. Business can increase through the use of Internet applications such as e-commerce and advertising; however, modifications are continuously being made and technology is ever-changing, so face-to-face relations remain the most powerful and profitable. The sources also propose that it is almost impossible for a new entrant into the market to become economically competitive without having the previous technology and Internet access that other businesses reserve (Petersen, Bent, Lawrence). Also, the Internet does not remove the need for local responsiveness. Constructing tighter links to local suppliers and customers through face-to-face encounters really makes business what it is and builds customer base, while the Internet does not have this huge particular advantage.

There are other sources who strongly object those previous propositions and suggest that the Internet can exponentially grow sales and competitiveness among other firms, and that it remains a major boon to business models. These sources support this idea by arguing that advancements in communication and information technology have changed the pace of business and its entire makeup, while suggesting that many businesses can and have succeeded by simply using the Internet as their primary source of business interaction. One article posted to HowStuffWorks argues advancements in communication and information technology have changed the pace of business and its entire makeup of how it works. Technology affects almost every aspect of our lives and just about every aspect of modern business. The article lists many business features only possible through technology such as the internet, e-mail, information technology, spreadsheets, and much more that are all crucial to business. Another source lists evidence of amazing ways business can be conducted through technology such as trading stocks, filing taxes, booking a flight, or ordering a package to have delivered to your doorstep within days. One author, Jane McGrath, also addresses many factors that technology brings to business such as security, privacy, and copyright issues. She then continues to sum up a few valuable technology-related assets such as the advantage of companies to outsource for jobs to save lots of money as well as advertising being one of the largest revenue-producing factors in e-commerce. Another reason some advocate for the Internet is because internet banking reduces transaction costs, enhances customer service, and increases customer base more so than banking without the use of the Internet (Nath). Those specific factors are the touchstone of a business model because almost any successful entrepreneur would want nothing more than to reduce costs, enhance service, and increase sales for their firm. Another article has a similar, yet slightly different approach that closely examines the Internet’s role in marketing in economically feasible business models (Stewart, David, Qin). Its central claim supports that the Internet is beneficial and can potentially be a huge boon to consumers and investors; however, some reality is interjected into the topic and the author raises many questions regarding how much of a difference the Internet can truly make to businesses. The article constantly challenges how businesses can actually succeed more through the use of the Internet as a marketing tool and ultimately suggests that e-commerce really isn’t as influential as it really seems. Technology changes, and with it will come new business landscapes and so on and so forth. New opportunities will arise and new markets will emerge so even though modern technology is at its peak in popularity now and more profitable than ever, it might not be for long. Although the Internet is changing business, it remains that this transformation is not revolutionary and is only good until the next level of technological change.

The rest of the sources boldly indicate that there are actually other factors, other than simply access to Internet marketing, that influence whether or not the Internet attributes success to a business’s competitiveness and sales. As more and more articles were assessed, a pattern began to emerge that revealed in most cases, there was an alternate factor of the business model that caused a change in success. This is ultimately the most important and captivating point. This claim is supported by arguing that there is a relationship between information systems and business use of the Internet within companies that determines a business’s overall success, and that firms with a more strategic approach to using information systems (IS) were proven to deploy the Internet to a greater extent than firms that do not. According to Google’s definition, information systems are defined as “a system composed of people and computers that processes or interprets information. The term is also sometimes used in more restricted senses to refer to only the software used to run a computerized database or to refer to only a computer system.” One article argues that an in-depth understanding of the foreign marketing environment plays a critical role in a company’s success in terms of business-to-business International Internet marketing (IIM). The author theorized this after conducting a case-study of all of the different factors that influenced different companies’ overall success in the IIM field (Eid). One article also supports this idea of another factor influencing business success by proposing that whether a farmer perceives that the Internet generates economic benefits or not mainly depends on factors like how long the farmer has used the Internet for farm business and for what purposes (Smith). Approximately half of farmers reported to receive zero economic benefits from using the Internet for farm-related business. Perceived benefits of Internet use for farm business will likely increase as more farmers move up the learning curve and the technology becomes more applicable to farm business. This is the most applicable, interesting, and unbiased claim. There are, in fact, specific factors other than just access to Internet markets that determine the outcome of a business’s success through use of the Internet as a marketing tool to increase competiveness among firms.

A lot of people would ask why this essay argues this very point and this conclusion will reveal why. One can use this argument as a framework for further arguments surrounding the same or similar question. If one were to conduct a study and determine all of the specific factors that influence a company’s success through use of Internet marketing, plenty of new theories could be made about these factors’ relationships to success through Internet-business models, and many more case-studies would then be conducted. After thorough experimentation and development of new information, firms could potentially even selectively adopt these certain factors to apply to their business models. These factors could exponentially increase sales and capital for the firms which would lead to a business’s success and could potentially open further business opportunities for the company. Whether or not a company succeeds in business in terms of using the Internet for marketing ultimately depends on specific factors, other than simply just Internet access to online markets, that influence the firm’s economic success.
