Classifying enterprises on the basis of WWW use: a behavioral approach

Purpose - Research studies have started to appear in recent years about the use of world wide web (WWW) by organizations. In an attempt to shed more light into this issue, this study seeks to take a behavioral approach for classifying enterprises on the basis of WWW use. It aims to address two research questions: Can different organizational profiles reveal as a result of a classification scheme/taxonomy of enterprises based on WWW use? and If such a classification is possible, to what extent are the WWW usage profiles related to specific market, organizational and demographic characteristics? Design/methodology/approach - The sampling frame of the study consisted of the largest 1,250 firms in Greece in terms of sales turnover that had already adopted information and communication technologies. After three follow-up contacts by telephone, e-mail and fax the cooperation of 500 companies was secured (40 percent response rate). Data collection was carried out by a professional market research firm by means of computer-aided personal interviewing (CAPI) system. The research instrument was a structured questionnaire. Findings - Five distinct WWW usage profiles of enterprises were identified, namely E-merchants, Information seekers, E-purchasers, E-transaction adopters and WWW experimentalists. These profiles are found to be associated with different market, organizational and demographic characteristics. Practical implications - This classification scheme can be viewed as a behavioral segmentation exercise based on the application/use criterion that is used for segmenting B2B markets by web service providers. The present classification may also help suppliers of networking infrastructure and e-business software. E-commerce policy makers can also benefit from the results of this study. The different types of WWW adopters that have been uncovered in the present study practically map the extent of combined WWW uses by various types of enterprises. Such information is important for future WWW promotions and the design of funding projects to further promote WWW. Originality/value - The paper's value is considered important because, despite its acknowledged importance, only limited research has been conducted on the commercial use of the WWW, mainly, through examining the use of WWW home pages of various organizations and their effect in marketing. Similarly, despite the fact that various European Union-sponsored studies are conducted regularly by the National Statistical Offices of the member states and the European E-Business Market W@tch, these studies limit their analysis to descriptive statistics.