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Australian TAFE Marketing Association Conference:
Internet and Marketing
Joanne Jacobs
Brisbane Graduate School of Business
Queensland University of Technology
Scope of content covered
TAFE Online
Who is online and why?
The Australian Digital Citizen
Marketing via the internet
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Changing consumer expectations
Internet & decision making
Evolution of online marketing
Market research online
Strategic advantages and disadvantages of
marketing TAFE via the internet
TAFE Online
Problems with existing iterations of online TAFE
sites based on:
 Poor design and navigation
 Low integration of online and offline marketing
activities
 Misunderstanding the links between the TAFE market
and the digital citizen
Good news is:
 Most other organisations have also missed the mark
Web Attractors & Inhibitors
Attractors
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Financial / economic reasons
Efficiency
Broader (global) markets
Promotional reasons
Inhibitors
 Is there any point to online marketing?
 TAFE is education. This is a service and practically
oriented. We don’t think it’s suited to the Internet.
 Web sites not ready?
Adoption profile of Internet users
Innovation Adoption Overview
 Innovators: Venturesome, (try anything once)
 Early Adopters: Respectable (the Net is hip - adopt
now to be a social leader
 Early Majority: Deliberate (needs and wants)
 Late Majority: Sceptical (ends up needing, not always
wanting)
 Laggards: Traditional (want not, adopt not)
Barriers to Adoption
cost : time and money
Internet literacy
fear : security, privacy, unwanted content
lack of desire : no perceived benefit
expectation gap : trialled and abandoned
Internet Behaviour Factors
Factors influencing Internet behaviour –
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Time & space independence
Anonymity
Internet ‘culture’ and ‘netiquette’
Not for profit & information sharing influences
Lack of central controlling authority
TAFE sites need to be wary of these factors
Main motivations to use the Net
Convenience
 24 / 7 , convenient access to banking & retailing
Information Motivation
 Curiosity or deliberate desire to learn or seek
information
Global access
 World wide resources, markets, communications
Utility / necessity
 Work, education
 Recreation
 many forms of entertainment (online games, chat groups)
 Anonymity
 Freedom, reduced risk
 Community
 Online communities, common interest & experiences
 Communication & Social Motivation
 Interaction with other
 chat rooms, news groups, discussions groups, mailing lists, e-mail
 Inherent merit
 Pleasure derived from surfing the net
Cybercommuning
communities based on shared interests, shared
emotional and psychological support
allows for clanning behaviour without the
mediator of geographic constraint
provides a more collaborative, networkingoriented experience for users
 These aspects should be accommodated in TAFE
marketing practices
The Australian Digital Citizen (1)
Growth of internet
access still rising in
Australia.
 52% Currently have
home access.
Australians spend an
average of 6:55hrs
online per month over
13 sessions
The Australian Digital Citizen (2)
65% of 18-24 year olds access the internet
64% of 25-49 year olds access the internet
37% of users aged 50+ access the internet
(Source: NOIE, eMarketer, 2001)
TAFE key markets have internet access and are
technologically literate
Changing Consumer Expectations
The modern consumer has become more
demanding and wants to research opportunities
before approaching the institution.
 time pressures
 customisation
 empowerment & expectations
Role of the Internet in Decision Making
Online marketing assists decision to study TAFE
Problem
Recognition
Information
Search
Evaluate
Alternatives
Purchase
Decision
Post
Purchase
Behaviour
Internet Advantages for Decision Making
evaluation of alternatives
 formal & informal sites add input
• EG: Formal websites, Newsgroups, Blogs.
purchase decision
 convenience, global access
• Can you enrol online?
post purchase evaluation
 online communities, help & info lines, relationship
marketing
• Maintaining your relationship with TAFE students
Evolution of Online Marketing
Level 1: Information publishing
 Early TAFE sites, course listings, ‘online brochureware’
Level 2: Transaction based systems
 Advanced TAFE sites, allowing enrolment online
Level 3: Mass customisation
 Customised sites with student information services
and suggestive marketing
Online TAFE Marketing benefits
economics of increasing returns
 need a critical mass use for value
 marginal returns improve for all users of an online
TAFE system as online communities develop
long term orientation
 provides capacity to sustain association with alumni
through cybercommunities
selling customers to customers
 word-of-mouth promotion
Value of cybercommunity to TAFE
Support networks
 for technical issues
 for teaching support materials
Customer to customer communities
 can generate positive word of mouth
 C2C marketing
 discussions between current users, potential users and
occasionally ex-users of the product
Online research for existing and potential users
of TAFE product
Why the Internet as a Research tool?
The largest storehouse of human knowledge in
history
A commercially active marketplace with highly
competitive firms
Broad reach at low cost
Proactive customers who now have have
opportunity to interact with content
Functions of Online Marketing Research
Scanning
 scan the environment for early detection of
opportunities and threats
Risk Assessment
 attempts to replace subjective opinions with objective
results based on research
Monitoring
 used to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing
strategy
Primary Data Collection
Online surveys
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email or website surveys
Low cost
Access to larger survey group
Faster response time
Online focus groups
 chat technology, video conferencing
Clicktracking, unobtrusive observation &
ethnography
Internet Surveys-advantages
Mail and phone rates declining- new channel
needed
higher response rates- novelty, customisation,
instant feedback
Response accuracy greater- digitisation of data=
reduced errors, no bias, uncompleted surveys
can be checked
More enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing (due
to graphics, instant feedback and mouse clicks)
Internet Surveys-advantages
Less expensive- data tabulation, survey
distribution
Faster turnaround
Great for new product testing
Global reach
Customisable
Helps in finding certain highly specific research
targets
Can be made interactive (e.g. instant feedback)
Internet surveys-disadvantages
self-selection, interest driven
internet population not representative anonymity
of respondents – truthfulness
Cost of hardware, software & data connection
reluctance to divulge information
short attention span on-line (sometimes only 25 30 seconds)
lack of interpersonal experience
multiple polling
Focus Groups - Advantages
Cost - traditional focus groups-very costly
 Facilities, incentives, transportation, food, transcription
of data
Efficiency
 short period of time
Group Diversity
 geographical, social, demographic
 anonymity may reduce negative stereotypes
 time-strapped consumers
Focus Groups - Limitations
screening problems
technical/environmental limitations
 distractions
 no eye contact
 qualitative data - not what you say but how you say it
(or even what you don’t say)
product limitations
 images and text okay
 no physical handling of goods
Secondary Data Collection
Quantity – availability, storage
Quality – reliability & quality of data
Reach – low cost access
Competitor intelligence
Self search
Online Marketing Implications
Changes to the retail value chain
Changes to the nature of consumer behaviour
and customisation capacity
Segregation of the market (online/offline
components, levels of ICT literacy)
Increased capacity and need for credible market
research
Online marketing influences traditional markets
on a global basis
Contact details:
Joanne Jacobs
Brisbane Graduate School of Business
Queensland University of Technology
Ph: (07) 3864 2065
Fax: (07) 3864 1299
Email: [email protected]