Understanding the Effectiveness of the Internet as a Marketing Tool

Jong-Pill Choi, Seok-Ho Song, & Woo-Jeong Cho (Univ. New Mexico)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the content of the web sites of NCAA Division I schools through analysis of the marketing strategy called 4 Ps as the basis of Internet marketing. In addition to the above purpose, the study was to review the related literature to identify the benefits of Internet marketing that have been noted by prior research. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that all athletic departments surveyed were operating their own Internet sites, and most categories of the sites relate to marketing factors. In short, the examined athletic departments of NCAA Division I universities not only have applied the traditional concepts of marketing into their Internet sites, by building or operating the sites based on Marketing Mix, but also have used interactivity, one of the biggest benefits of the Internet. However, the problem identified was that the surveyed departments did not fully utilize the benefit of the Internet as a marketing tool, for example, even though they provided the information of ticket price, they rarely provided a way of online transaction. Accordingly, if sport organizations have or operate their own Internet sites as a marketing tool, they should consider maximizing the possible benefits as well applying the concept of marketing such as Marketing Mix.

I. Introduction

The Internet is so popular that thousands and millions of people are accessing the web sites everyday, whose resources are among individual computers around the world. The tremendous increase of Internet users has made it impossible to predict how many people will access the Internet and how many web sites will be developed in the future. Bridis (1999), citing to Census Bureau officials, says that 57 million American did access the Internet in 1997, and that there are more than 5 million Internet sites. Johns (1997) estimates that the use of the Internet is developing with a 10% growth rate per month.
With the increase of Internet use, the Internet has not only become the newest form of mass media since the advent of the television, but also has been recognized as an important marketing tool as much as or more so than the television (Brown, 1998). When marketers used the television to reach a mass audience, the television industry grew rapidly as well as revenue. Now, web revenue is increasing as the television did. Brown (1998) says that an estimated $186 million of business will be created in the year 2000. The Internet, which was first invented as a communication channel, may be the greatest marketing and selling tool ever (Welz, 1996). Dietrich (1996) defined Internet marketing as follows:

Internet marketing is a system for selling products and services to target audience who use the Internet and commercial online service by utilizing the Internet in a strategic manner consistent with the organizations overall marketing program.

Many sport related companies have used the Internet as a marketing tool and succeed in accessing the target market on the Internet (Johns, 1997). The best example sports company of success in the Internet marketing is ESPN, which has ESPNet SportsZone. The Web strategies of ESPN are summarized as following. ESPNet target the right customers. That is, it focuses its marketing efforts on the 18 to 34-year- old male in the light of the demographic information of people who clicked on the site. ESPNet makes its product great, which means, the content size of ESPNet is over 18,000 pages of data. ESPNet leverages the ESPN brand name. That is, ESPN fans try to reach the site because of the name, ESPN (Brown, 1998).
In addition to the first strategy of ESPNet mentioned, an interesting thing is that the Internet user and sports fan have similar demographic profiles. Deply & Bosetti (1998) estimate that about 70% of Internet users are male, the average age of those is 32.7, and the median income of those is from $50,000 to $60,000. About 64% of the sports fans are male, the average age of those is 34, and the median income of those is over $50,000, referring to Hermes (1996) Project and Simmons Market Research Bureau (1997), respectively.
Farrel & McCann (1997) report that the Internet is being used by only 49 athletic departments out of 114 programs, and that of these 49 programs, 43 have their own home page. Also, they say that the design and content of the athletic department home pages are very diverse. For example, some offer such information as cybercasts, schedules, registration, ticket sales, staff, and campus stores. The others list upcoming events, phone numbers, and web sites for people interested in advertising on their site. Moreover, most athletic departments surveyed considered Internet use as important in the athletic marketing such as generating funds, program promotion and fan support (Farrel & McCann, 1997).
Dietrich (1996) points out that to be a successful Internet marketer, one needs to know the basics of the marketing process, emphasizing that the Internet marketer must use an appropriate Marketing Mix to reach consumers and to achieve the desired results. That means the Internet marketing has its roots and basis in traditional marketing concepts and theories. However, what is different from the traditional marketing is Interactivity through which product/service providers and consumers can transact each other at any time of the day or night in their home or office. Shortly, under the new concept of Internet marketing, communication is two-way, not one way.
As a result, it becomes clear that athletic departments especially at the NCAA division I level, which seek out effective marketing tools need to build up more effective Internet sites, if they already have sites. And they need to consider developing the Internet site as a vehicle of athletic marketing, if they dons have a site. In this sense, the purpose of this study is to examine the content of the web sites of NCAA Division I schools through analysis of the marketing strategy called 4 Ps as the basis of Internet marketing. In addition to the above purpose, the study is to review the related literature to identify the benefits of Internet marketing that have been noted by prior research.

II. Review of Literature

1. Why the Internet Attract Sports Fans
Kahle & Meeske (1999) report some reasons that have led to the marvelous development of sports on the Internet. First, the Internet is immeasurable information storage. So, sports fans that usually like information such as game results and game statistics are attracted by the Internets information. One can access the Internet site providing rich information about what he/she wants to know and preserve the information by downloading or printing out.
Second, the Internet allows direct or up-to-day information. Thus, sports fans that want to know how their favorite teams are playing or have played can access the scores and details by clicking the Internet site rather than by waiting for a newspaper or other mass media such as television and radio.
Third, the Internet offers interactivity (Burton, 1999). This is one of the important features of the Internet. Sports fans can chat with fellow fans, favorite player and famous coaching staff, or search for special piece of equipment. The Internet allows us to participate in indirect sport activities that are not possible in a traditional mass media.
Forth, the Internet is worldwide. Sports fans, regardless of where they are and what sports they like, can reach the information by finding the Internet site offering the related data. So, geographical reasons no longer limit access to news. Killy (1996) contends that the exclusion of the geographical obstacles would be advantage to those operating the Internet sites.
Fifth, the Internet is both an individual and mass media. Not only one can have unlimited opportunities accessing the world, but also one can enjoy or preserve his/her own privacy on the Internet.

2. Internet as a marketing tool
Many applications of the Internet for sport marketing include such areas as: ticket sales and sport event registration, merchandise sales, sponsorship sales, public relations, marketing research, fund-raising, broadcasting, and sporting good marketing ( Delpy & Bosetti, 1998). Out of these categories, only four would be reviewed including ticket sales, merchandise sales, sponsorship sales and public relations.
Ticket Sales: the Internet users could purchase tickets of sport events through the Web site (Delpy & Bosetti, 1998). Those customers who are worried about the security of the Internet transaction for credit cards could be offered with the ticket information such as ticket price, ticket availability, and location of seating. Brown (1998) reports that 58% of the Major League Baseball (MLB) teams surveyed used the Internet as tool of ticket sales.
Merchandise Sales: the Internet users could also access for a purchase of merchandise related to sports organizations that provide the Internet sites (Delpy & Bosetti, 1998). The Internet sites could provide opportunity to view the merchandise listed, including size, price, and mail order information, for those who hesitate to perform the on-line business transaction because of the security problem. Brown (1998) reports that 21 % of the MLB teams studied offered this service.
Sponsorship Sales: the Internet marketer could use its site as a way of attracting possible sponsors (Delpy & Bosetti, 1998). Also, the Internet site could be used to show its interests in recruiting sponsors. After the Internet sponsorship has been agreed, the sponsors banner, advertising tool of the Internet, could be located on the site and linked to the sponsors or advertisers own Internet site. According to Brown (1998), 17% of the MLB teams surveyed had sponsorship banners.
Public Relations: the Internet sites of sports organizations provide the most current information as to game results, players, team records, fans, alumni and sponsors and also they provide a channel of communication between the community or fans and the teams operating the Internet chatting and email (Delpy & Bosetti, 1998). 63% of the MLB teams surveyed provided information on the public or community relations (Brown, 1999).

3. Benefits of Internet Marketing
As aforementioned, many people are clicking the Internet so that it is clearly thought of a great form of mass media, and more importantly, the demographic profiles of those accessing the Internet are similar to the profiles of sports fans (Brown, 1998; Delpy & Bosetti, 1998). The average Internet user consists of a well educated, higher-level male. The profile match between the Internet users and sports fans is very much important in terms of target marketing; for example, sport marketers could exploit every Internet user as their target market. Moreover, 17% of the Internet users are accessing the Web sites in order to reach the sport information sites, and a large number of the Internet users are making electronic purchases; specifically, seven million Americans accessed to a purchase through the Internet during December 1996 (Brown, 1998).
The cost of using the Internet as marketing tool is affordable compared to using the traditional mass media such the television and radio (Johns, 1997). For example, when one company uses the television advertising, it could cost about $ 10,000 for 25 thirty second ads, whereas there are only maintenance and establishment costs which account for $ 5,000 to construct a basic web site, eight to ten pages of text and graphic (Johns, 1999).
In addition, the Internet marketing could reduce organizational costs (Brown, 1998). Because the Internet site can offer a virtual marketplace with the Internet customers, the need for place, an important marketing mix, becomes very small, and the customers just need to know how and where to access the on-line marketplace. Thus, the sport marketers using the Internet marketing could pour their marketing efforts in the customers needs, not in the customers location. Furthermore, in this situation where there no need for place, the organizations operating the Internet marketing could maximize their profits by lowering the price because the computer could automatically perform all lines of business process (Brown, 1998).
For athletic departments which have the limited budgets and resource centers and want to do marketing their programs and departments, the Internet marketing could be a great marketing vehicle because of the benefits of the Internet marketing, the matching of demographic profiles between the Internet users and sports fans, the lower cost of marketing, and the possible cost reduction of sports organization and the profitability. Moreover, the Internet is important in view of marketing management because the Internet is promoting sports fans or customers relationship with not only professional but also college teams and players (Kahle & Meeske, 1999).

III. Content Analysis

Brown (1998) conducted the research to profile the MLB team Web sites according to Content Analysis (Weber, 1990). The analysis method of this study followed Brown (1998)s research and the subjects of the research are NCAA Division I athletic department Web sites. The content of the sites was categorized based on the marketing mix. Categories for content are (a) product, which includes rosters, news releases, player biographies, merchandise category, ticket sales, merchandise purchase through the Internet, and tradition of teams; (b) price, ticket pricing; (c) promotion, which includes on-line chat, promotion events, multimedia, statistics; (d) place, which includes schedules, facilities, directions and seating information; (e) other, which includes links, booster club, athletic department office, sponsorship banner and corporate sponsorship lists.

1. Results of the Analysis

1) NCAA Division I athletic department Web sites analyzed.
As shown in the table 1, this research has conducted on a total of 8 athletic department home pages in NCAA Division I school.

Table 1. NCAA Division I athletic department websites
Programs/Mascot Web Address
Air Force/Falcons Www.airforcesports.com
Brigham Young University/Courgars Www.byucougars.com
Colorado State University/Rams Www.csurams.com
San Diego State University/Astecs Www.goaztecs.com
University of Nevada LV/Rebels Www.unlvrebels.com
University of New Mexico/Lobos Www.golobos.com
University of Utah/Utes Www.utahutes.com
University of Wyoming/Cowboys www.wyomingathletics.com

2) Categories used by all athletic department websites
Out of 24 categories identified in the previous section, only 10 categories were found from all the surveyed web sites. Product, as shown in Table 2, was the most frequently used Marketing Mix, accounting for 4 out of 10 categories utilized by all the athletic department web-sites.

Table 2. Categories used by all athletic departments websites
Category Marketing Mix %
Rosters Product 100
News Releases Product 100
Ticket Sales Product 100
Game Results Product 100
Multimedia Promotion 100
On-line chat/email Promotion 100
Ticket Pricing Price 100
Schedules Place 100
Links Other 100
Booster Other 100

3) Less Frequently used website categories
Less frequently used Web categories are shown in Table 3. The least used
category was corporate sponsorship list or information (12.5%), and player
biography (37.5%) and directions to facility (37.5%) followed as in order.

Table 3. Less frequently used website categories
Category Marketing Mix % (#)
Corporate Sponsorship List Other 12.5 (1)
Player Biography Product 37.5 (3)
Directions Place 37.5 (3)
Tradition/History Product 50 (4)
Merchandise View Product 50 (4)
Merchandise Sales Product 50 (4)
Sponsorship Banner Other 62.8 (5)

2. Discussion
In this part of the study, the categories mentioned above will be discussed in terms of Marketing Mix: product, price, promotion, and place.
Product: product related categories include roster, new releases, player biography, merchandise information, ticket sales, game results, merchandise purchase, and history or tradition of the teams. As Brown (1998) reported that MLB teams surveyed focused on current players on the Internet sites, the athletic department Internet sites also offered information on the players. However, the player biography category was less used than the professional teams sites. In addition, the Internet sites surveyed provided with merchandise and ticket sales through the Internet; still, most of them did not offer the on-line transaction on the Internet sites but offer either merchandise / ticket information or order forms.
Price: price related category was only the ticket pricing in the Internet sites. As ticket sales of Division I athletic departments are considered as one of the important revenue resources, the ticket-pricing category was not ignored on the Internet sites.
Promotion: Brown (1998) divided the promotion area into the Internet promotion and team promotion. The athletic department sites surveyed used on-line chat or email as a way of the Internet promotion, and offered email address or chatting space connected to the athletic department office, staff, and coaches. The focus of the promotion was not on players, whereas MLB teams site provided players email address as well as coaches and staff. The sites surveyed provided event information such as sports camps in order to promote the teams and programs.
Place: place is very much important in sport business because it is place that the product is consumed in. Thus, it is desirable for the Internet sites of athletic departments to provide information on seating, direction to facility, and parking (Brown, 1998). But, not all of the Internet sites surveyed offered the information on place; in contrast, such categories as directions and seating were less or least used categories in the Internet sites of NCAA Division I athletic departments analyzed.

IV. Conclusion and Recommendation

So many people are accessing the Internet that has become, not only a newest form of mass media to create and transfer information, but also a great vehicle of business in modern day society. Especially, it seems that the Internet has been positioned as a marketing tool because of its attractive aspects such as immediate, interactive and world-wide communication (Delpy & Bosetti, 1998). Moreover, the Internet has many advantages in terms of marketing management. That is, the Internet has millions of users, lower cost of establishment, and is profitable. Thus, many sports organizations have used the Internet as a marketing tool. ESPN's ESPNet, for example, is succeeding in Internet marketing, and has become one of the most frequently visited sites in the field of sports. With the understanding of the benefits of the Internet as a new marketing tool, athletic departments have used the Internet for marketing their teams and programs.
This study examined the content of 8 NCAA Division I schools athletic departments Internet sites and classified the content categories in terms of marketing mix based on the result of the previous study. All athletic departments surveyed are operating their own Internet sites, and most categories of the sites relate to marketing factors. The results of content analysis are as follows: First, the product categories that were used by all athletic departments surveyed included rosters, news releases, ticket sales, and game results, and the less frequently used product categories included player biography (37.5%), tradition/history (50%), and merchandise sales (50%). Second, all of the departments surveyed included the ticket prices. Third, the promotion categories used by all of the athletic departments were on-line chat/email and multimedia. Fourth, the place category used by all athletic departments was schedules for the games, and the less frequently used category of place was directions (37.5%).
In short, the examined athletic departments of NCAA Division I universities not only have applied the traditional concepts of marketing into their Internet sites, by building or operating the sites based on Marketing Mix, but also have used interactivity, one of the biggest benefits of the Internet. As we have previously mentioned, the beauty of the Internet is the ability for two-way communication. However, the problem is that the surveyed departments did not fully utilize the benefit of the Internet as a marketing tool, for example, even though they provided the information of ticket price, they rarely provided a way of online transaction. If the Internet marketers understood the importance of the online transaction in terms of ticket sales, they would cooperate with some of th online ticket companies such as Ticketmaster.com. By doing so, they can not only expand the distribution channels of ticket sales, the biggest revenue source of any NCAA Division I athletic department, but also create more revenue by attracting Internet users who share the similar demographic profiles with sport fans. Accordingly, if sport organizations have or operate their own Internet sites as a marketing tool, they should consider maximizing the possible benefits as well applying the concept of marketing such as Marketing Mix.
With regard to future studies, it is recommended to examine the preference of real Internet users in order to understand what the most effective content is. Until recently, not many studies have been conducted that investigate the Internet marketing in the field of sport business. Some researchers have just content-analyzed the Internet sites of professional or collegiate organization of sport. However, just analyzing the existing Internet sites is not enough, for sport marketers, to reach possible customers and to achieve their goals, must appeal to the Internet users with contents. Therefore, returning to the basic concept of marketing, sport marketers, especially Internet marketers, need to identify and satisfy the needs of the Internet users. To this end, identifying the most wanted content areas through surveying the users must be the first step of marketing. Finally, even though this study has focused on NCAA Division I athletic departments, the important concepts of Internet marketing are not only for the field of sport. These concepts also can be applied to leisure, recreation, as well as the field of sport marketing. In any of these fields, one can not be successful marketer without recognizing the importance of the Internet.

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