Syllabus is under continuous development: Some blog assignments and articles are still to be added and changed. Lectures will also be updated as the semester progresses. It's a rapidly changing environment!

Internet Marketing
Fall 2006
Dr. Mary Wolfinbarger
California State University Long Beach
 

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Weekly Class Outline
Study Guide


 

 

Textbook: None. But there are three Harvard Business Review articles to purchase at the bookstore.

Readings
1.  Download articles each week that are hyperlinked to each week's class assignment below.

2. In addition, three (3) classic Internet Marketing articles come from
Harvard Business Review -- and can be purchased at the bookstore or downloaded at Harvard Business School Publishing for a fee.

Course:

The percentage of retail dollars spent online is currently about 5% according to the National Retail Federation. Analysts have argued over the upper limit of spending online, with estimates being as high as 25% of retail spending occurring online by 2010.  The Internet has global reach; while buyers around the world are only beginning to take advantage of e-commerce, they are signing on to the Internet in increasing numbers.  These international consumers are expected to follow the same pattern as have many online consumers in the U.S.: (1) Familiarity with navigation and e-mail on the Internet (2) use of the Internet to help search for information and (3) Engaging in e-commerce online.  

Beyond the consumer sector, business to business is growing and thriving in the U.S. and internationally, and currently represents a large share of  total e-commerce spending. 

There are still many barriers to overcome in order to recruit more customers in this country and worldwide.  Privacy and security are currently of concern to many netizens.  But, e-commerce providers who are looking out for the future recognize that overall quality of the e-commerce buying experience -- from the product itself to the ease of using the website, speed of delivery, selection, price and overall quality and satisfaction with e-commerce -- will have long-term effects on their ability to win the e-commerce lottery.

Goals:

1.  Lifelong Learning:  Anyone interested in this area must gain the ability to continue learning and keeping up with changes.  This class is heavy on current events readings -- read and keep up, and learn where the sources of information can be found!

2.  Professional Preparedness:  The most rapidly growing area in the field of marketing is e-commerce.  Thus, knowledge of the basic vocabulary and concepts in this area is essential to your professional preparedness.

3.  Communication Skills:  Students will be required to post assignments to a blog. 

4.  Cross-functional Thinking:  E-commerce decisions straddle many  functional areas, most prominently Marketing, Information Systems and Strategy.

Grading:

Percent

Periodic assignments, posted to your personal blog at http://www.blogger.com/.

10

Personal Website
At least 3 pages linked to each other
, Due Final week of class on Friday at 5pm.

        15         
 

Exams 75

Total:

100

Weekly Course Outline:
*I recommend that you download the lectures before class every week.  Don't download them too far ahead of time. Some of these lectures will be updated during the quarter, so you want to wait as close to class as possible

*Check out the study guide questions for each week's assignments.  The answer to the study guide questions must be turned in with each test.

*Some (most likely short) reading assignments may be added -- check back each week.  I will typically notify you using the Beachboard email list when I make changes, so make sure you either check the email address that Beachboard has for you OR check the syllabus regularly.  Also, I am not responsible if I can't reach you when your email box is full.

Week 1 --  Introduction and Overview -- August 31
 Lecture 1 to download  (this lecture is complete, but  not all lectures are complete - you need to come to class)
Week 2 --  Overview, continued -- September 7
1.  Selections from "Encyclopedia of the New Economy," Wired Magazine and Andersen Consulting.
2. NEW eMarketer's Seven Predictions for 2006," January 11, 2006.
3. "Online Retailers Look Overseas," New York Times, January 10, 2005.
#4 and #5 are to help you prepare for today's in-class assignment:
4." There's no Escaping  Blogs," Fortune, December 27, 2004.
5. "Seven Reasons Why Businesses Should Blog Now," September 28, 2004.
5b. "Blogging for Dollars," CNNMoney.com, August 21, 2006.


Blogging Lab:  Experiential assignment:  to start in lab and be finished by next Thursday. The link to your blog must be emailed to me. Keep track of your username and password, you'll need it for future assignments!

I may or may not get to start on Technology and Terminology -- here it is just in case: 
Lecture 2 to download (this lecture is also complete because there are extensive explanations on some slides -- but don't expect all lectures to be complete)

 
Week 3 --  Technology and Terminology -- Sept 14
6.  "Only Connect: From Swarms of Smart Dust to Secure Collaborative Zones, The Omninet Comes to You,Wired, Jan. 2000.
7. NEW Handouts in Class: "Web Guitar Wizard Revealed at Last," "Top Five Reasons Not to Buy YouTube," and "YouTube Ushers in Net Soap Genre," (missed them in class, or lost them? Email me for a copy).
8. "Welcome to the Broadband Home of the Future," Wired, January 2004.
9. "Next Big Thing: The Web as Your Servant: What if the Web Could Anticipate Your Needs," USAToday, Oct. 1, 2004.
10. OPTIONAL (Not on test) -- But it is an interesting read on Internet Use in South Korea: "The Bandwidth Capital of the World," Wired, August 2002.
11. Battle for the Soul of the MP3 Phone" Wired, November 2005.
11a.  "Adam Curry Wants to Make you an iPod Radio Star," Wired, March 2005.
12.  To Read in preparation for today's assignment: "Americans Weigh In Online: Rating Is a Popular Pastime," Clickz, October 22, 2004.

Receive Assignment #2: The impact of Customer Reviews on the Internet (we will go to the the lab to work on this assignment)
Lecture 2 to download (same lecture as posted above)

Weeks 4 --6 -  Finish Technology and Terminology, Start Virtual Value Chain -- Sept 21 and Sept 28 and Oct 5
 How Virtual Marketing and Business is Different

13.  "Exploiting the Virtual Value Chain," Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec. 1995.  (
This is a very important reading; the virtual value chain is a frequently discussed concept in the field.) It is IMPORTANT that you read this article BEFORE class.  Some students have difficulty understanding these ideas and using them in the class group assignment on February 24, so PREPARE YOURSELF.  Also, there will be an ESSAY on your first test on this topic. Too lazy to walk to the bookstore and buy the article?  You can pay to download it at Harvard Business School Publishing.  Enter "Virtual Value Chain" into the search box.
Tape:  History of the Internet (probably Sept. 21)
 In class group assignment, Sept 28 -- Podcasting
In class group assignment, Oct. 5, Virtual Value Chain (assignment on last slide of lecture).

14.  Optional Reading, not on test:  "New Rules for the New Economy," Wired, Sept. 1997.  Kelly's piece is an interesting read -- in 2000 and 2001 he and other internet optimists were heavily criticized.  Some of his "rules" are in the process of coming true; some if them remain problematic.

 Lecture 3 to Download (Virtual Value Chain) (This lecture is once again complete because some students seem to have trouble with this material)
Week 7 -Exam #1 -- October 12
Study Guide Questions for Readings 1-9 and 11-13  MUST be turned in the day of the exam (not at a later date). They are worth 10% of your score on the test.  The answers do not have to be long and detailed and in fact, I prefer they be relatively concise (as long as they are correct and understandable), but you must answer each question.
Week 8--- Business Models on the Internet -- October 19

15. "E-Bay Gets Boost as Middlemen Make Comeback," LA Times, January 20, 2004.
16. "Porn Strategy: Share and Snare" Wired News, Jan 23, 2003. 
17. "The Long Tail" (Title from front of magazine:  "Why Micro Audiences are the Future of Entertainment," October 2004.
) Wired,  VERY interesting reading. The thumbnail images that you have to click on are all interesting graphs as well.
18.  "Mix, Match and Mutate," Businessweek.com, July 25, 2005.

Business Models Lecture
Week 9 -- October 26:  Guest speakers: Direct Marketing and SEM

More info as this week approaches!

Week 10 -- November 2:
Consumer Behavior on the Internet/Technology Adoption and Diffusion

19. OPTIONAL, but I recommend it if you miss class this week:  "Shopping Online for Freedom, Control and Fun," California Management Review, Winter 2001.  You can send me an email requesting this paper if you miss class.  However, it's better to come to class -- the article is about 30 pages!

All the following are required:
20. "Women Take Lead in Filling Online Carts as More Pick PCs Over Shopping at Malls," LA Times, January 7, 2004.
21. "Eluding the Web's Snare," New York Times, April 17, 2003.
22
.  "Giving New Meaning to 'Rich' Media,"  Mediapost Communications, January 09, 2004
23. "Capitalist Econstruction," Wired, March 2000.

Lecture 4b -- Consumer Behavior

Post to Blog: Navigate through Clickz.com.  Choose one article of interest  -- write a concise one page summary of the article.  Why did you choose this article?  What is its importance to e-commerce? Due Nov 9.

Start: Website Design and Quality

24.  "Usability as a Barrier To Entry,"  Jakob Nielsen, Useit.com
25. "Being Jakob Nielsen," MarketingProfs.com, January 13, 2004.
26.  Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design," Jakob Nielsen, Useit.com.
Lecture 5 -- Design and Quality 

Post to Blog: Usability Assignment -- Check out Useit.com.  Summarize one article from the "alert box" on the site in one page or less.  Do you agree with the author?  What are the implications of the article? Due Nov 9.

It's time to start thinking of a topic for your final website project.
 

Week 10:  -- Nov 9 -- Finish Website design and Quality

Start website project in lab.  You MUST have a CSULB email account in order to post your website; if you don't know the password to the account, or don't have an account yet, SIGN UP BEFORE THIS CLASS.  
Work on website project in lab. 

Download: Guidelines for website. Note: Merely superficially covering the guidelines does not earn you a high score -- the guidelines can be implemented better and worse.  For example, you can use a table (as required) on your website, but have one that is misaligned or unattractive.
Download: Beginning Web Page Functions (cover in lab)
Download: Compressing Pictures in Frontpage

Week 11 -- November 16 Exam #2
Study Guide Questions for Readings  15-18 and 20-26  must be turned in with the test.  They are worth 10% of your test grade.
Weel 12 -- November 23 -- Thanksgiving Holiday~!!
Week 13, November 30
Advertising and Promotions on the Internet 


29.  "Wiser About the Web," Business Week, March 27, 2006.
30. 
"Is the Purchase Funnel Dead?: How the Internet Rewired Consumer Buying Behavior," March 27, 2006, Cathy Clift, Adotas.com.
31
"The Hidden Money Trail," PC World, Dan Tynan and Tom Spring, November 2005.
32."Querying the Next Generation," OMMA, The Magazine of Online Media, Marketing and Advertising, Steve Smith, March 2006.
33."The Cookie Monster in the Closet," Jeffrey Young's Technician, ZDNET.com, March 30, 2006.
34.  Not required:  "Contextual Marketing:  The Real Business of the Internet," Kenny and Marshall, Harvard Business Review, November 2000  (Reading is optional but may be useful to your understanding) -- Available from the bookstore or download at Harvard Business School Publishing online for a fee).

35. "
Email Hucksterism, Offensive but Effective," New York Times, July 4, 2003.
36."Television Commercials come to the Web," New York Times, January 19, 2004.
37. "Thinking Outside the Inbox," Businessweek.com, Karen Klein, March 23, 2006.
38.  Not Required:  "Don't Call it Spyware," Wired, December, 2005.
39. Email Effectiveness -- class handout. If you don't have it, send me an email.
40. "Coupons, Coupons, Get Your Coupons Here," Clickz.com, September 26, 2002.


Lecture 8 -- Promotions on the Internet

 
Week 14 - December 7

Marketing Research on the Internet
41.  "The Information Gold Mine," Business Week, July 26, 1999.  (You have to find the article on the page when you get there and click through to it.)
42
. "Mining Info:  What's in it for Me?" Business Week, July 26, 1999. (Again, find the article on the page -- it's just a little way down the page, but you'll see it.)
43.  "An Introduction to Dynamic Attitude Analysis, Part I," Clickz, October 4, 2004.
44. "An Introduction to Dynamic Attitude Analysis, Part II, Clickz, November 1, 2004.
Lecture 10 -- Marketing Research

Lab Time

Week 15:  December 14
Customer Relationship Management (Yes, I know it's out of order)

27. "E-Loyalty:  Your Secret Weapon on the Web," Reichheld and Schefter, Harvard Business Review, July-August 2000. If you didn't get it at the bookstore, go to Harvard Business School Publishing to download it for a fee.
28.  "1 to 1 Mobility:  Customer-based Strategies for a Wireless World," Peppers and Rogers Group Consulting, White Paper 2001.
Lecture 7 -- CRM


Business to Business on the Internet (time permitting)

Lecture -- B2B
Lab Time
Website link is due to me by Dec 15 at 5 PM
Week 16:  Final Exam, as scheduled by the University (usually Thursday, 5-7)
You must turn in the answers to the study guide questions that go with readings 29-44 the exam. Once again, they are 10% of your grade. Also, you need the rich media types listed in my handout.