A Conceptual Research Framework for Analyzing the Evolution of Electronic Markets

AesTiucT Main goal of the research framework presented in this paper is to support future business decisions on electronic markets. Until now, little is known about the success factors of electronic markets in general and Web-based Mass Information Systems (WMIS) in particular. The ongoing research on virtual business models is a good theoretical basis for conceptual modeling, but the specific aspects of private customers and their WMIS usage patterns are not covered adequately. ~NTRODUCTION With the continuing evolution and convergence of previously disparate functions around electronic commerce Web-based Mass Information Systems (WMIS) have become the basic infrastructure for global transaction-oriented applications. Every transaction process occurring in the electronic marketplace goes hand in hand with the access, absorption, arrangement, and selling of information in very heterogeneous ways. Accordingly, designers of WMIS have to address the needs of the newly empowered customers in order to exploit the potential of on-line trading of information, services, and physical goods. At the MIS Department of the Vienna Univenity of Economics and Business Administration1. research has been directed towards mass information systems (mass IS) since 1993. By mass information systems we refer to systems that support on-line information retrieval and routine tasks by way of self-service for a large number (thousands or millions) of occasional use n who are spread over various locations (Hansen 1995). In contrast to systems supporting Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and wholesale trading, mass information systems exclusively target individual customers. Considering its increasing importance , we now focus our efforts on WMIS which-as a sub-category of mass information systems-rely on the hypertext functionality and transfer mechanisms of the World Wide Web. Being characterized by interactivity, dynamic updating, hyper-textuality, and global presence they are very similar to the concept of electronic catalogs (Palmer 1997). The strong specialization of academic research and prac-*Am0 Scharl (scharlQwu-wien.ac.at) is currently employed as assistant professor a t the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration being a member of the electronic commerce research group a t the MIS Department. His research and teaching interests focus on the various aspects of information systems modeling, commercial transactions via the World Wide Web, and the customization of electronic catalogs. He currently works on conceptual aspects of commercial transactions in electronic markets, pricing strategies for electronic commerce, and business process modeling. tice in formulating, analyzing and implementing marketing strategies for WMIS was a direct result from the insight that abstract marketing instruments …