Virtual trade shows: Exhibitors' perspectives on virtual marketing capability requirements

This study explores the main drivers and challenges of participating in VTSs and the virtual marketing capabilities required for organizations.In-depth interviews were held with managers of Australian educational organizations who had previously participated in VTSs.The main motivations for participating in VTSs are increasing sales revenue, lowering costs, access to new markets, and building brand credibility and organizational legitimacy.The future of VTSs will depend on the technological development of VTS technology and how they are integrated into existing technological and strategic firm processes. Scant empirical research has examined exhibitors experiences of participating in virtual trade shows (VTSs). This study aims to expand our understanding of the main drivers and challenges of participating in VTSs and the virtual marketing capabilities required for exhibiting organizations. In-depth interviews were held over a period of six months with managers from educational organizations located in Queensland, Australia, who had participated previously in a VTS. The findings show that the main motivations for participating in VTSs are increasing sales revenue, lowering costs, having access to new or different markets, and building brand credibility and organizational legitimacy among visitors who attend VTSs. The findings suggest that the future of VTSs will most likely depend on the technological development of VTS systems and the way they are integrated into existing technological and strategic firm processes for exhibitors and visitors.

[1]  W. Johnston,et al.  The return on trade show information (RTSI): a conceptual analysis , 2010 .

[2]  Ananthanarayanan Parasuraman,et al.  The relative importance of industrial promotion tools , 1981 .

[3]  J. D. Lichtenthal,et al.  Internet integration in business marketing tactics , 2003 .

[4]  Charles F. Hofacker,et al.  Consumer Power: Evolution in the Digital Age , 2013 .

[5]  Eunyoung Cheon,et al.  Energizing business transactions in virtual worlds: an empirical study of consumers’ purchasing behaviors , 2013, Inf. Technol. Manag..

[6]  E. P. Michael.  Strategy and the Internet. , 2001 .

[7]  Marji Mcclure.  Virtual Trade Shows : A Realistic Alternative to Business Travel? , 2009 .

[8]  Liz Lee-Kelley,et al.  Virtual exhibitions: an exploratory study of Middle East exhibitors' dispositions , 2004 .

[9]  G. Mazurek.  Virtualization of Marketing , 2012 .

[10]  Kevin J. Trainor,et al.  Integrating information technology and marketing: An examination of the drivers and outcomes of e-Marketing capability , 2011 .

[11]  Gary L. Lilien,et al.  Generalizing about Trade Show Effectiveness: A Cross-National Comparison , 1997 .

[12]  Richard Nicholls,et al.  New directions for customer‐to‐customer interaction research , 2010 .

[13]  Z. Rahman,et al.  An alternative model of self-service retail technology adoption , 2015 .

[14]  Jim Blythe,et al.  Using trade fairs in key account management , 2002 .

[15]  Gary L. Lilien,et al.  A Three-Stage Model of Industrial Trade Show Performance , 1995 .

[16]  Ranjit Voola,et al.  Travel trade shows: exploratory study of exhibitors' perceptions , 2010 .

[17]  Sebastian van Baal.  Should retailers harmonize marketing variables across their distribution channels? An investigation of cross-channel effects in multi-channel retailing , 2014 .

[18]  Susan Spiggle.  Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Data in Consumer Research , 1994 .

[19]  Lorena Blasco-Arcas,et al.  The online purchase as a context for co-creating experiences. Drivers of and consequences for customer behavior , 2014, Internet Res..

[20]  Daniel C. Bello,et al.  Improving trade show effectiveness by analyzing attendees , 1993 .

[21]  G. Philip,et al.  Technology, competencies, and competitiveness: The case for reconfigurable and flexible strategies , 1998 .

[22]  Mark Brown,et al.  Consumer perceptions of trade show effectiveness : scale development and validation within a B2C context , 2014 .

[23]  Alladi Venkatesh,et al.  Marketing beyond the frontier? Researching the new marketing landscape of virtual worlds , 2013 .

[24]  Shalom Levy,et al.  Does usage level of online services matter to customers’ bank loyalty? , 2014 .

[25]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Self-Service Technologies: Understanding Customer Satisfaction with Technology-Based Service Encounters , 2000 .

[26]  David J. Silverman,et al.  Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook , 1999 .

[27]  Ruth N. Bolton,et al.  Interactive Services: A Framework, Synthesis and Research Directions , 2009 .

[28]  Jamie Carlson,et al.  Exploring the relationships between e‐service quality, satisfaction, attitudes and behaviours in content‐driven e‐service web sites , 2010 .

[29]  Julie H. Barlow,et al.  Politeness strategies and advice-giving in an online arthritis workshop , 2009 .

[30]  Paul H.P. Yeow,et al.  A study of technical, marketing, and cultural differences between virtual communities in industrially developing and developed countries , 2006 .

[31]  Roger A. Kerin,et al.  Assessing Trade Show Functions and Performance: An Exploratory Study , 1987 .

[32]  Noriko Hara,et al.  Students’ Distress with a Web-based Distance Education Course: An Ethnographic Study of Participants' Experiences , 2003 .

[33]  Eric P. Jack,et al.  Shopping behaviour and satisfaction outcomes , 2013 .

[34]  Manfred Kirchgeorg,et al.  Objectives for successfully participating in trade shows , 2009 .

[35]  R. Gulati,et al.  Get the Right Mix of Bricks and Clicks , 2000 .

[36]  Diego Rinallo,et al.  Using anthropological methods to study industrial marketing and purchasing: An exploration of professional trade shows , 2004 .

[37]  D. Teece,et al.  DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT , 1997 .

[38]  Li Ling-yee.  Antecedents and effect of internet implementation for trade shows , 2010 .

[39]  D. Webber,et al.  Which exhibition attributes create repeat visitation , 2011 .

[40]  Michael Song,et al.  Marketing and technology resource complementarity : An analysis of their Interaction Effect in two environmental contexts , 2005 .

[41]  Khe Foon Hew,et al.  Use of three-dimensional (3-D) immersive virtual worlds in K-12 and higher education settings: A review of the research , 2010, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[42]  Adriana Rejc Buhovac,et al.  Identifying and Exploiting the Inter relationships between Technological and Marketing Capabilities , 2008 .

[43]  Dave Chaffey,et al.  Applying organisational capability models to assess the maturity of digital-marketing governance , 2010 .

[44]  Daniel C. Bello.  Industrial buyer behavior at trade shows , 1992 .

[45]  J. Mair,et al.  Visitor attendance motivations at consumer travel exhibitions. , 2012 .

[46]  Feng Li,et al.  Cloud computing adoption by SMEs in the north east of England: A multi-perspective framework , 2013, J. Enterp. Inf. Manag..

[47]  Eve D. Rosenzweig.  A contingent view of e-collaboration and performance in manufacturing , 2009 .

[48]  Markham T. Frohlich,et al.  e-Integration in the Supply Chain: Barriers and Performance , 2002, Decis. Sci..

[49]  Gillian Rice,et al.  A Study of Exhibitor Firms at an Arabian Gulf Trade Show , 2002 .

[50]  J. Barney.  Resource-based theories of competitive advantage: A ten-year retrospective on the resource-based view , 2001 .

[51]  Li Ling-yee,et al.  Marketing resources and performance of exhibitor firms in trade shows: A contingent resource perspective , 2007 .

[52]  V. Braun,et al.  Using thematic analysis in psychology , 2006 .

[53]  K. Wei,et al.  The role of institutional pressures and organizational culture in the firm's intention to adopt internet‐enabled supply chain management systems , 2010 .

[54]  N. Hara.  STUDENT DISTRESS IN A WEB-BASED DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSE , 2000 .

[55]  Gomes Pj.  Is success a sin? A conversation with the reverend Peter J. Gomes. Interview by David A. Light. , 2001 .

[56]  Philipp Klaus.  The case of Amazon.com: towards a conceptual framework of online customer service experience (OCSE) using the emerging consensus technique (ECT) , 2013 .

[57]  T. C. Powell,et al.  Information technology as competitive advantage: the role of human , 1997 .

[58]  Judy Drennan,et al.  The influence of service quality and trade show effectiveness on post-show purchase intention , 2011 .

[59]  Kwai Sun Wong,et al.  Dimensions of trade show exhibiting management , 1993 .

[60]  M. O’Reilly,et al.  ‘Unsatisfactory Saturation’: a critical exploration of the notion of saturated sample sizes in qualitative research , 2013 .

[61]  D. Chaffey,et al.  Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice , 2000 .

[62]  Ricardo Quirós,et al.  Developing a virtual trade fair using an agent-oriented approach , 2013, Multimedia Tools and Applications.

[63]  M. Laroche,et al.  Shopping online for goods vs. services: where do experiential features help more? , 2015 .

[64]  Nancy Davis Kho.  People-Centric Content Management , 2009 .

[65]  Maria Bengtsson,et al.  Integrating the Internet and Marketing Operations , 2007 .

[66]  유창조.  Naturalistic Inquiry , 2022, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[67]  P. Pavlou,et al.  Marketing in Computer-Mediated Environments: Research Synthesis and New Directions , 2014 .

[68]  Gautam Ray,et al.  Information Technology and the Performance of the Customer Service Process: A Resource-Based Analysis , 2005, MIS Q..

[69]  Timothy M. Smith,et al.  The complementary effect of trade shows on personal selling , 2004 .

[70]  R. Gulati,et al.  Get the right mix of bricks & clicks. , 2000, Harvard business review.

[71]  Mohammadali Zolfagharian,et al.  Consumer participation in online product recommendation services: augmenting the technology acceptance model , 2014 .

[72]  Suzette Cavanaugh.  Setting Objectives and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Trade Show Exhibits , 1976 .

[73]  R. Kozinets.  The Field behind the Screen: Using Netnography for Marketing Research in Online Communities , 2002 .

[74]  A. Geigenmüller.  The role of virtual trade fairs in relationship value creation , 2010 .

[75]  Kåre Hansen,et al.  The dual motives of participants at international trade shows , 1996 .

[76]  Patrick Y. K. Chau,et al.  Market Orientation, Ownership Type, and E-Business Assimilation: Evidence from Chinese Firms , 2010, Decis. Sci..

[77]  C. Berné,et al.  Targeting efficiencies among trade show nonattendees , 2007 .

[78]  Robert J. Stone,et al.  Virtual reality: toys or tools of the trade? , 1993 .

[79]  Nikhilesh Dholakia,et al.  Virtuality as place and process , 2013 .

[80]  Michele D. Dickey.  Teaching in 3D: Pedagogical Affordances and Constraints of 3D Virtual Worlds for Synchronous Distance Learning , 2003 .

[81]  G. Lilien,et al.  Trade Shows in the Business Marketing Communications Mix , 2012 .