Electronic Business: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (4-Volumes) P110 pps

The center is involved in the develop-PHQW RI H[SHUWLVH LQ WKH ¿HOG RI ,&7 7KH XVH of Moodle in the facilitation and promotion of ICT applications in business at AITI-KACE is a pioneerin

and education, the greatest challenge lies in the

fact that a greater part of the adult population

does not have adequate knowledge and skills in

computer software applications or hardware in

order to explore their use in everyday activities

or at their workplaces It is therefore expected

that by enrolling in the programs at AITI -KACE,

a participant1 can either be employable or have

skills to venture out into self-employment AITI

-KACE targets adults—at least those who have

completed high school

DESCRIPTION OF E-BUSINESS

APPLICATIONS

The main technology used by AITI-KACE to

deliver instruction and learning materials, and

promote e-business solutions is an open-source

learning-management systems (LMS) Free and

open-source software (F/OSS) is software with

an unrestrictive license whose source code is

PDGHDYDLODEOHIRUPRGL¿FDWLRQFXVWRPL]DWLRQ

and distribution by others Martin Dougiamas

(n.d.) began the development of the Moodle LMS

in the 1990s However, it was not until August

20, 2002, that version 1.0 was released Moodle

assists in the planning, delivery, and

manage-ment of e-learning, and is aimed at remedying

the fragmented nature of e-learning by creating

an integrative system

LMSs were developed to enable instructors not

only to deliver materials in an online environment,

but also to track user activities and progress across

various learning activities (Barron, 2002) LMSs

are characterized by the following customizable

elements: a course-development component that

enables an instructor to develop a course, a roster

component that enables the instructor to enroll

users in a course, the assignment-management

component that enables the instructor to assign

lessons and activities for the users, the

courseware-launching component that provides the interface

for users to have access to course content and

activities, and the data-collection component that enables the instructor to collect and manage information, as shown in Figure 1

The F/OSS that have been operational at AITI-KACE are Open USS, Eledge, and Moodle Open USS is an open-source administration system aimed at institutes of higher learning Eledge is

a learning- and course-management system de-veloped by the University of Utah AITI-KACE has since discontinued the use of Eledge, but has combined the examination section of Open USS with Moodle as the main system for delivering and managing its online program The AITI-KACE e-learning-management system is a virtual cam-pus with instructional material on e-technology applications in business such as those required for diplomas in advanced computing (DACs), business computing, Web technologies, and Mi-FURVRIW 1HW WHFKQRORJLHV DQG FHUWL¿FDWHV LQ & programming, Web programming, and database technologies

The installation of Moodle requires three other open-source software: Easy PHP, Apache, and MySQL Easy PHP is a software application writ-ten in the dynamic PHP language that combines

an Apache Web server and a MySQL database to FUHDWHÀH[LEOH:HEGHYHORSPHQWWRROV$SDFKHLV

an open-source Web server Web servers use the hypertext transfer protocol (http) to enable a com-puter user to connect to the Internet MySQL is an open-source database that organizes information through tables, and enables interactions between the user and the Web through the creation of dy-namic Web pages The system was implemented by WKH$,7,.$&(PDQDJHPHQWWRHQVXUHHI¿FLHQF\ and the effective delivery of the services at the center It was aimed at providing an alternative DQGÀH[LEOHDSSURDFKWRWKHGHYHORSPHQWRI,&7 skills of the participants enrolled at the center

It also serves as a practical demonstration of the use of ICT in the management and delivery of services in business

Moodle is a learner-centered application grounded in the social constructionist pedagogy

(Dougiamas, n.d.) Social constructionists assume

that knowledge is acquired through interaction

with an environment Learners acquire knowledge

through active construction and discovery, and

by explaining their understanding of concepts to

others Learner-oriented LMSs such as Moodle are

suitable for the adult learner because it facilitates

WKHGHVLJQDQGGHOLYHU\RIFXVWRP¿WPDWHULDOV

Adult learners are considered to be motivated

E\WKHLUSHUFHLYHGEHQH¿WRIDOHDUQLQJH[HUFLVH

especially if it may have a positive impact on their

profession (Holton & Swanson, 1998) In this

regard, the use of Moodle offers AITI-KACE an

opportunity for self-directed learning, consistent

with Campbell’s (2000) notion of an education

environment where learners take responsibility

IRUWKHLURZQOHDUQLQJLQDÀH[LEOHLQVWUXFWLRQDO

environment that allows for the designing and

use of nonlinear instructional material suitable

for adults Such an environment provides the

op-portunity for adult learners to apply previously

gained knowledge and experience, and to also

relate their future goals to the learning process

IMPACT OF E-TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS

AITI-KACE is a novelty and is in principle an initiative long over due It has created more awareness about the value of e-technologies in the development of the economy of a nation like Ghana The center is involved in the develop-PHQW RI H[SHUWLVH LQ WKH ¿HOG RI ,&7 7KH XVH

of Moodle in the facilitation and promotion of ICT applications in business at AITI-KACE is a pioneering effort in the teaching of ICT in Ghana that combines traditional teaching and learning methods with the online delivery of teaching and learning materials

The Moodle LMS is used to provide an online version of all instructional and learning material used at AITI-KACE It provides an online teaching and learning environment alternative to the daily on-site teaching activities at the center It provides students access to learning and instructional materials on demand and at their convenience According to the Moodle administrator at

AITI-Figure 1 The basic setup of the Moodle LMS

of services compared to on-site delivery From

the perspective of the system administrator, the

on-site delivery of services has spatial limitation

in terms of where, when, and how students can

access, use, and submit materials

The center’s e-applications administrator has

FRQ¿JXUHG0RRGOHVXFKWKDWDOORI$,7,.$&(¶V

12 lecturers have automatic accounts based on the

courses they teach Each course has a maximum

class size of 25 participants At the moment, the

center, which started in 2003, has 145 students (F

Ankamah, personal communication, February 4,

2005) and has turned out 635 graduates (Ghana

News Agency, 2005)

Administratively, the use of Moodle is

con-sidered a success because it is cost effective (the

Moodle LMS software is free, and all the setup and

content management are done at the center) and

works well for the center The greatest challenge in

running the Moodle application at the center lies

with its use by the lecturers and participants of the

center Currently, 21% of participants and 8% of

lecturers use the Moodle LMS According to the

system administrator, the percentage of usage is

attributable to the Ghanaian learning culture, to

which the Internet-based delivery of educational

instructions and the performance of learning

ac-tivities are new The participants, especially, are

not familiar with online virtual campuses, and

would rather prefer traditional on-site teaching

and learning activities, and hard-copy delivery

and submission of learning materials

To ensure that the Moodle LMS e-application

does not fail, the AITI-KACE administration

ad-opted and implemented an e-documentation policy

by declaring the center’s learning environment

paperless However, there are drawbacks in the

implementation of the paperless e-documentation

policy for the following reasons First, it has been

observed that even though participants appreciate

the online delivery and submission of instruction

and learning material, most of them do not have

access to the Internet at home Second, not all of

the lecturers have used the Moodle LMS as an alternative to the delivery of instructional and learning materials to the center’s participants, and that is a major concern Finally, building up

a team to manage the Moodle LMS has been a challenge

The center had a system administration team

of three, which has now been reduced to one be-cause the other two who trained on the job quit their positions The current team of one is fully stretched with regard to the maintenance and further development of the system; this is quite a challenge The Moodle LMS is a stand-alone Web application at the center, and the administrator is working toward integrating it with its post-nuke-based Web site The other challenges are how to improve participant access and lecturers’ usage of Moodle as an alternative medium for delivering their work (E Ofori, personal communication, February 4, 2005)

The center estimates that about 80% of its graduates are able to apply their acquired skills at their jobs or start-up businesses The majority of the center’s participants enroll with sponsorships from their employers The center does not know what the remaining 20% do with the skills they acquired after their respective programs Tracking DQGNQRZLQJZKDWWKLVVLJQL¿FDQWPLQRULW\GRHV with its skills is another challenge

CONCLUSION

The establishment of the Moodle LMS at AITI-KACE offers alternative, electronic means for delivering learning and instructional material at

an information and communications technology innovation center The use of the Moodle LMS

is considered successful because it allowed the administrators of the center to adopt and imple-ment a paperless learning environimple-ment while promoting e-business application in Ghana The center’s activities for which the Moodle LMS was used to implement support the principles of social

constructionist pedagogy, which is favorable to

adult learning

The use of the Moodle LMS at AITI-KACE

LQGLFDWHV¿UVWWKDW)266KDYHWKHSRWHQWLDOWR

support the integration of e-technologies in

insti-tutions and in regions like Africa as suggested by

Castells and Ince (2003) Particularly, the use of

business models based on open-source software

has been very successful in developing countries

(Weerawarana & Weenatunga, 2004), and

AITI-KACE is on the right track Second, the use of

the Moodle LMS by the lecturers and participants

illustrates that the deployment of e-applications for

the delivery of services in an institution requires

WDNLQJLQWRFRQVLGHUDWLRQWKHFXOWXUDOLQÀXHQFHV

on the users Third, the delivery of e-business

services requires that end-user access to the

In-ternet in their homes or off campus is essential,

especially when the service is Web based

Twenty percent of the graduates of AITI-KACE

are not known to have either taken up employment

or set up new businesses This calls for a tracking

system and an evaluation of the mechanism used

in accessing the needs of participants when they

enroll at the center The center should seek ways

to improve its mechanism for identifying and

tracking the needs of participants after they have

completed This will enable it to cater to those

needs that are not easily discernable, and assess the

full impact of the activities of the center Perhaps

an approach to supplement existing procedures

is to expose participants to developed prototypes

of information and communications technology

DSSOLFDWLRQVDVD¿UVWVWHSWRZDUGGHYHORSLQJWKHLU

own models for implementation

7KHFHQWHUVKRXOGFRQVLGHUKDYLQJDQRI¿FHRU

setup for innovations in teaching and learning that

will explore other electronic means of packaging

their electronic materials For instance, the center

FRXOGSDFNDJHWKHLUPDWHULDOVLQWRSRUWDEOH¿OHV

on compact discs or other downloadable forms to

be used by participants who do not have personal

Internet access in their homes Finally, the center

should consider making its business incubation component more prominent

REFERENCES

Azad, A., Erdem, A., & Saleem, N (1999) A framework for realizing the potential of informa-tion technology in developing countries Interna-tional Journal of Commerce and Management, 8(2), 121-133

Barron, T (2002) Evolving business models in e-learning Menlo Park, CA: SRI Consulting Business Intelligence

Campbell, J A (2000) Using Internet technology WR VXSSRUW ÀH[LEOH OHDUQLQJ LQ EXVLQHVV HGXFD-tion Information Technology and Management,

1, 351-362

Castells, M., & Ince, M (2003) Conversations with Manuel Castells Oxford, UK: Polity Press Dougiamas, M (n.d.) Moodle documentation Retrieved January 10, 2005, from http://www moodle.org

*KDQD1HZV$JHQF\.R¿$QQDQ&HQWUH train over 600 in ICT Retrieved February 7, 2005, from http://www.aiti-kace.com.gh/

Morrison, D (2003) E-learning strategies: How WRJHWLPSOHPHQWDWLRQDQGGHOLYHU\ULJKW¿UVWWLPH John Wiley & Sons

NHDP (2003) Information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development National Human Development Reports

3HUHQV %  7KH RSHQ VRXUFH GH¿QLWLRQ Retrieved February 6, 2005, from http://www opensource.org/

Robey, D., Boudreau, M., & Rose, G M (2000) Information technology and organizational learning: A review and assessment of research

Accounting, Management & Information

Tech-nology, 10, 125-155

Weerawarana, S., & Weeratunga, J (2004) Open

source in developing countries Department of

In-frastructure and Economic Cooperation: Sida

KEY TERMS

Apache: An open-source Web server Web

servers use http to enable a computer user to

connect to the Internet

Easy PHP: Software application written in

the dynamic PHP language that combines an

Apache Web server and a MySQL database to

FUHDWHÀH[LEOH:HEGHYHORSPHQWWRROV

E-Business Models: Strategies that

en-able businesses to take advantage of the latest

WHFKQRORJLHV WR JHQHUDWH SUR¿WV DQG FXVWRPHU

satisfaction

E-Innovations: Innovations encouraging

users of new communications technologies to

develop dependable and viable business plans

or systems that can be used for an economic

(business) or social (health care, education, etc.)

enterprise

E-Learning: Effective and continuous

learn-ing process that occurs through the delivery of interactive multimedia educational materials that have no spatial limitation

E-Models: The designing of prototypes of

electronic businesses or systems that illustrate how digital technology can be used in any en-terprise

F/OSS: Software with an unrestrictive license

ZKRVHVRXUFHFRGHLVPDGHDYDLODEOHIRUPRGL¿FD-tion, customizaZKRVHVRXUFHFRGHLVPDGHDYDLODEOHIRUPRGL¿FD-tion, and distribution by others

MySQL: Open-source database that organizes

information through tables and enables interac-tions between the user and the Web through the creation of dynamic Web pages

Virtual Campus or Learning-Management System: Web-based, customizable e-learning

environment that integrates a variety of educa-tional tools with interfaces to accommodate the technology competencies of the user and his or her learning needs

ENDNOTE

1 The center refers to those enrolled in its programs

as participants and not students

This work was previously published in Encyclopedia of E-Commerce, E-Government, and Mobile Commerce, edited by M Khosrow-Pour, pp 890-894, copyright 2006 by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global).

Chapter 4.4

Measurements in E-Business

Damon Aiken

Eastern Washington University, USA

ABSTRACT

This chapter is designed to answer two

funda-mental questions related to research on electronic

surveys and measures First, what are some of the

PDMRUPHDVXUHVVSHFL¿FDOO\UHODWHGWR e-business?

Second, what makes Internet research methods

different from off-line research methods? The

chapter partly delineates what makes Internet

research methods distinctive through its

discus-sion and separation of the most common measures

This separation not only provides the framework

for the chapter, but it distinguishes research for

understanding the evolving e-consumer from

measures related to the new paradigm for

e-busi-ness strategy In total, 17 different measures are

discussed The chapter concludes with a

discus-sion of emerging issues in e-business metrics,

and possibilities for future research

INTRODUCTION

The Internet has emerged as the very foundation

for business communications worldwide Indeed,

in the instant that it takes to read these words,

millions of people are shopping on the Internet, checking the status of orders and shipments, investigating stock prices and mortgage rates, and browsing and bidding in a new realm of on-line auctions The Internet has transformed the physical marketplace into a virtual marketspace (Varadarajan & Yadav, 2002); it has created a shift from reasonably well-informed buyers to worldly Web-enabled e-consumers (Bakos, 1997); and, it has accelerated business into an information age wherein issues of technological expertise, privacy, security, and control are now essential aspects

of business (Glazer, 1991; Hoffman, Novak, & Peralta, 1999)

Marketing practitioners, strategists, and re-searchers cannot deny the critical changes that have occurred in the realm of global business communications Most have come to realize that online retailing is distinctive and that it requires

a great deal of new research Interactive com-munications and transactions now occur together

in a single virtual medium that has increased risks for online consumers, and has placed a heavy communications burden on sellers whose Web site effectiveness is affected by a multitude

of design characteristics (Geissler, Zinkhan, &

Watson, 2001) Internet consumers are placed

in a unique inference-making position in which

information asymmetry abounds The task at

hand now, for researchers and practitioners alike,

is to accurately measure, analyze, and interpret

online behaviors

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the

topic of e-business measurement, and delineate

some of what makes Internet research methods

different from off-line research methods The

chapter separates measures for understanding

the evolving e-consumer from measures related

to the new paradigm for e-business strategy (a

separation derived from the work of Biswas and

Krishnan, 2004) The measures discussed in this

chapter are graphically displayed in Table 1 The

chapter concludes with a discussion of emerging

issues in e-business metrics, and possibilities for

future research

Internet technologies are like an arms race in

which both sides develop increasingly powerful

weapons (Bakos, 1998, p 41)

MEASUREMENTS FOR UNDERSTANDING E-CONSUMERS

8QGHUVWDQGLQJKRZWKH,QWHUQHWKDVLQÀXHQFHG consumer psychology is a critical task for business people Speaking of the transformative nature of the Internet, it appears that businesses and con-VXPHUVDOLNHDUHQRZ³DUPHG´ZLWKSUHYLRXVO\ unthinkable advances in information acquisition, FODVVL¿FDWLRQ HYDOXDWLRQ DQG VWRUDJH ,Q WKH unusual context of the Internet, key traditional elements of business exchange are noticeably absent, such as personal, nonverbal cues, and physical contact with products (Keen, Wetzels, de Ruyter, & Feinberg, 2004) In an effort to under-stand the Internet consumer, business research-ers have begun to study notions of online trust, privacy, issues of control of personal information, FRJQLWLYHHIIRUWDQGLQIRUPDWLRQVHDUFKDQGÀRZ Many of these issues are interrelated and, given that we are still in the early stages of Internet research, the topics need further exploration and insightful analysis

Online trust Internet marketing researchers

have reported that, regardless of the number of SULYDF\SROLFLHVRU³KLJKWHFK´HQFU\SWLRQV\V-WHPV ZKDW :HE FRQVXPHUV UHDOO\ ZDQW LV ³« another type of exchange—characterized by an explicit social contract executed in the context of

a cooperative relationship built on trust” (Hoff-PDQ HW DO  S  7KLV ¿QGLQJ LV ERWK D recognition of the uniqueness of the Internet as a computer-mediated business environment, and an allusion towards the critical importance of trust in any Internet relationship A consumer wishing to shop or purchase over the Internet needs to trust the e-tailer, but also needs to trust the Internet itself as a mode of shopping

A small but growing subset of the business DQGPDUNHWLQJOLWHUDWXUHKDVDWWHPSWHGWRGH¿QH and measure the concept of trust in a computer-mediated environment (CME) (Handy, 1995; Hine & Eve, 1998; Jarvenpaa & Tractinsky, 1999; 0F.QLJKW &KHUYDQ\1HZGH¿QLWLRQVRI

Table 1 Summary of measures in e-business

Measurements for

understanding e-consumers

Measurements for e-business strategy

Conversion Frequency Recency Average time per visit Stickiness

risk, reliability, privacy, and control of

informa-tion Milne and Boza (1999) operationalize trust

LQWHUPVRIDQDIIHFWLYHSULYDF\HOHPHQWDV³WKH

expectancy of a customer to rely upon database

marketers to treat the consumer’s personal

infor-mation fairly” (p 8) Through unique processes

of interactive communication, consumers must

achieve a level of trust that surpasses perceptions

of personal vulnerability (Aiken, Liu, Mackoy,

& Osland, 2004) Inasmuch as trust requires a

cognitive and affective leap of faith (a movement

beyond calculative prediction—see Williamson,

1993), trust in the Internet implies, to some extent,

behaviorally overcoming a concern for privacy

To take action in the face of risk is to engage in

trusting behavior Thus, much of the research

on trust seems to derive three primary

dimen-sions: (1) the affective/emotional element, (2) the

cognitive/rational element, and (3) the behavioral

element

Privacy Recent research reveals that concern

for privacy is the most important consumer issue

facing the Internet, ahead of ease-of-use, spam,

security, and cost (Benassi, 1999) In the off-line

world, consumers think nothing of giving their

phone numbers or home addresses to seemingly

disinterested servers, cashiers, and sales clerks

However, Internet consumers worry about

every-thing from excessive spam e-mails and intrusive

FRRNLH¿OHVWRFRVWO\FUHGLWFDUGIUDXGDQGSHULO-ous identity theft

Measuring perceptions of privacy, as well as

the e-consumer’s felt need for privacy, is a critical

issue in e-business Researchers have observed

that privacy is a multidimensional concept, and

plays a critical role in fear of purchasing online

(Hine & Eve, 1998; Sheehan & Hoy, 2000) Much

of the concern for privacy may stem from fear

of the unknown (Hoffman et al., 1999) Online

consumers often cite feelings of helplessness while

shopping on the Internet (Hine & Eve, 1998)

Control of personal information Issues of

control further substantiate the unique nature of

Internet business relationships Degrees of interac-tivity between consumer and e-business become a FRPPXQLFDWLYH³WXJRIZDU´DVFRQVXPHUVVWULYH for varied levels of control just as businesses strive to gather more and more strategic informa-tion (Yadav & Varadarajan, 2005) User control over personal information, over the actions of a Web vendor, and over the Internet site itself all relate to issues of trust Additionally, control over the actions of a Web vendor affects consumers’ perceptions of privacy and security of the online environment (Bhatnagar & Ghose, 2004; Hoffman

et al., 1999) Consumers often guard their personal information carefully Hoffman and Novak (1998) QRWHWKDW³9LUWXDOO\DOO:HEXVHUVKDYHGHFOLQHG

to provide personal information to Web sites at some point, and close to half who have provided data have gone to the trouble of falsifying it” (p 1) Consequently, perceptions and levels of control become key measures in e-business

Cognitive effort and information search.

Many researchers have noted that decision mak-ing is both task dependent (Bettman, Johnson,

& Payne, 1990; Maule & Edland, 1997) and con-text dependent (Bettman, Luce, & Payne, 1998; Wright, 1974) Given that both the decision task and the decision context are different in a CME; new research has just begun to measure cognitive effort, search characteristics, and decision-making processes Weiner et al (Weiner, Deighton, Gupta, Johnson, Mellers, Morwitz, & O’Guinn,1997) QRWH ³7KH DELOLW\ RI >,QWHUQHW@ FRQVXPHUV WR sort on attributes and make reasoned decisions

at home about which brands to choose … has the potential to change decision processes and ultimately brand choice” (p 291) These authors also reason that customization, searching, and sorting will drastically change decision mak-ing on the Internet Within a decision context, cognitive effort relates to the mental resources required, as well as to the individual resources

available Cognitive effort can be thought of as

information load that deals with how cognitive processes handle incoming stimuli (information),

matching the cognitive resources required with

the cognitive resources available The experience,

skill, and amount of resources a decision maker

has are negatively correlated with the cognitive

effort required in the decision task (Bakos 1997;

Garbarino & Edell, 1997)

Cognitive effort, within the context of Internet

decision making, can be seen from two

perspec-tives First, it seems logical that cognitive effort

could be reduced within the CME Certainly,

consumer search costs have been drastically

low-ered with the assistance of the Internet (Bakos,

1997) This premise allows price and product

information to be readily gathered, analyzed,

and compared Furthermore, one could argue

that there is less noise when shopping on the Web

compared to shopping in a crowded,

information-packed retail outlet Additionally, people can gain

experience and skill in utilizing the Internet as a

shopping tool As experience and skill grow, less

cognitive effort may be required to gather, sort,

and analyze attributes of a choice set However,

a second perspective yields precisely the

oppo-site conclusions: that, as a rule, cognitive effort

is persistently increased for Internet decision

makers It seems reasonable that users are

re-quired, by necessity of the medium, to hold more

information in working memory More cognitive

UHVRXUFHVDUHQHHGHGWR³VXUI´IURP:HESDJH

to Web page, recording, analyzing, and

main-taining information in memory Further, given

the wealth of information available on the Web

and the relative ease of searching for additional

facts and advice, one could summarily argue that

increases in cognitive effort are the norm The

sheer volume of Web advertising is a critical noise

factor that would seem to rival the distractions of

any retail environment Internet consumers’ may

routinely have their decision processes clouded

by information overload Future research should

strive to resolve this issue

Flow Flow is not only useful in describing

general human-computer interactions

(Csikszent-mihalyi, 1990), it is also an important construct

in the study of Internet navigations Hoffman and 1RYDNKDYHDVFULEHGWKHÀRZH[SHULHQFH

to Web behavior, measuring the loss of self-con-sciousness in an essentially blissful encounter

In this situation, ÀRZFDQEHGH¿QHGDVWKHVWDWH

occurring during Web navigations character-ized by (1) a seamless sequence of responses facilitated by interactivity, (2) an intrinsically enjoyable experience, (3) accompanied by a loss

of self-consciousness that is (4) self-reinforcing (Novak,Hoffman, & Yung, 2000) Of course, ÀRZLVQRWRQO\DGLI¿FXOWFRQFHSWWRLGHQWLI\LW LVDOVRDGLI¿FXOWFRQFHSWWRPHDVXUH(EXVLQHVV researchers have just begun to study the effects of consumers entering (and Web sites facilitating) the ÀRZH[SHULHQFH5LFKDUG &KDQGUD

Just as human experiences are evolving because of WKH,QWHUQHW¶VLQÀXHQFHVRWRRDUHWKHSRVVLELOLWLHV and methods of commerce evolving (Parasuraman

& Zinkhan, 2002, p 294)

MEASUREMENTS FOR E-BUSINESS STRATEGY

The evolution of business and communications has transpired at lightning speed The Internet has made the collection of data faster, easier, and less costly than ever before in the history

of business Consequently, a new paradigm

is emerging in terms of e-business research strategy (see Hoffman & Novak, 1997) wherein the challenge is no longer in the painstaking meticulousness of data collection, but rather it HPHUJHV DV UHVHDUFKHUV VWULYH WR ³PLQH´ WUXO\ meaningful information, insights, and predictions IURP ¿JXUDWLYH ³PRXQWDLQV´ RI GDWD 2YHU WKH last decade, e-business researchers have made valiant attempts to measure consumer actions in

an effort to more strategically communicate with DQGLQÀXHQFH,QWHUQHWFRQVXPHUV6WXGLHVKDYH measured primary actions (i.e., initial exposures, impressions, hits, and visits), secondary actions

(i.e., what happens next in terms of clicks and path

analyses), transforming actions (i.e., consumer

FRQYHUVLRQVDQG³LQYROYLQJ´DFWLRQVLH:HE

site stickiness) Measures of all types of consumer

actions directly relate to strategic changes in site

design as well as alterations to multiple elements

of the marketing mix

Exposures, impressions, hits, and visits A

wealth of strategic measures evaluate

e-con-sumers’ primary actions including exposures,

impressions, hits, and visits The simple essence

of measuring exposures entails measuring

fre-TXHQF\FRXQWVRI:HEWUDI¿FE\SDJH7KLVLVDQ

important matter for advertisers as they convert

fees into cost per thousand (CPM), and partially

evaluate advertising according to the number

of people exposed Page impressions deal with

counting the number of Web pages requested

by users’ browsers (Bhat, Bevans, & Sengupta,

2002) Hits are essentially similar measures of

user actions Finally, put plainly, visits count the

number of user-sessions at a Web site This is an

important measure because businesses can track

trends, charge advertisers accordingly, modify

their sites and servers, and so forth

Clicks and path analysis A second set of

measures attempts to interpret the paths of Web

consumers Researchers note that the sheer

num-ber of clicks may be important as to time spent on

a Web site, the length of time a user is exposed to

an ad, and the overall level of interest expressed

in average time per visit Researchers have

mea-sured click-throughs and click-through rates for

some time Essentially, this is when a potential

e-consumer clicks on an advertisement and is

taken, via hyperlink, to another online location

(i.e., another Web site, another e-tailer, etc.) Path

analysis provides strategic insight into the

popu-ODULW\RIYDULRXVSDJHVWKHHDVHRUGLI¿FXOW\RI

navigating a site, and general navigational trends

Often, this type of data is labeled click-stream

data as it measures the series of links that a user

goes through when steering through the Web

(Rayport & Jaworski, 2002)

Conversion A third topic of strategic measures

relates to tracking conversion rates Conversion

basically implies the completion of some action

by an e-consumer (Rayport & Jaworski, 2002) For example, conversion events include complet-ing a membership form, requestcomplet-ing a newsletter, opting in to receive future e-mails and updates,

¿OOLQJRXWRQOLQHIRUPVDQGVRIRUWK$FRQYHUVLRQ rate measures the number of visitors who come

to a Web site and take action relative to the total number of visitors to the site (Bhat et al., 2002) Conversion rates are of strategic importance because of their abilities to bring the customer closer to the business, converting and escalating

a new and heightened level of involvement and perhaps loyalty

Stickiness.$¿QDOWRSLFRIVWUDWHJLF,QWHUQHW

business measures is that of Web site stickiness.

Web site stickiness relates the notion of user in-volvement to an evaluation of how attractive and memorable a site is (Gladwell, 2000) Stickiness can also be evaluated according to the frequency

of site visits, the recency between visits, and the average time per visit (Bhat et al., 2002) The at-tractiveness of this metric is that it makes a good deal of intuitive sense, and that it encompasses multidimensional aspects of a site experience However, there may be a misconception in simply evaluating length of time on the site as a mea-sure of stickiness In this case, researchers may

be mislabeling time as stickiness, as opposed to patience spent searching through a complex and perhaps frustrating Web site

Thus, operationaliztions, or measures, are the means by which we attempt to capture a moon-beam and hold it in our hands (Straub, Hoffman,

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at home about which brands to choose … has the potential to change decision processes and ultimately brand choice” (p 291) These authors...

information asymmetry abounds The task at

hand now, for researchers and practitioners alike,

is to accurately measure, analyze, and interpret

online behaviors

The purpose