A Two-Stage Model of the Promotional Performance of Pure Online Firms
Authors: Wu, Jianan; Cook, Victor J.; Strong, Edward C.
Journal: Information Systems Research (2005)
<jats:p> Internet firms frequently employ a two-stage approach to promotional activities. In Stage 1, they attract customers to their websites through advertising. In Stage 2, firms generate sales transactions or sales leads through their website. </jats:p><jats:p> Comprehensive assessment of the promotional performance of pure online firms requires the study of Stage 1 and of Stage 2 jointly. In this paper we develop a joint two-stage conceptual and econometric model for assessing website promotion on three important dimensions: (1) how advertising response can be measured by linking media schedules to website log files; (2) how advertising and website characteristics jointly affect the desired system outcome of the promotion; and (3) whether the joint investigation of advertising response and desired system outcomes is essential to assess the results of website promotion. </jats:p><jats:p> Three general findings follow from application of our model to a pure online firm’s campaign to generate sales leads through print advertising. First, advertising and website characteristics affect sales leads in different ways. A characteristic may influence sales leads directly, or indirectl…