The
importance the Internet has gained in the last few
years has led to a significant increase in the number
of companies that do business through this medium
and, therefore, communicate through it. The Internet
has become a real revolution that is radically changing
the traditional focus of advertising and communication
media. In this sense, Peppers and Rogers (1999) argue
that Internet marketing represents an absolute transformation
of the marketing paradigm that evolves from a predominantly
one-dimensional perspective to an interactive model
with completely personalized relationships.
Research
in the marketing area has not been indifferent to
the Internet phenomenon. Several studies with different
focus have been carried out to identify its features,
as well as the factors that have caused its unprecedented
growth (Richard and Chandra, 2005). The aim of this
paper is to contribute to this literature by identifying
the personal factors that influence attitude formation
in the online environment.
Websites
represent one of the most important interactive communication
alternatives nowadays (Sicilia et al., 2005;
Hwang et al., 2003; Macías, 2003). With
an efficient use of the website, marketers can benefit
from information provided by their consumers to improve
their communication message as well as their goal.
They can also adjust their product line and customer
support. Therefore, decisions related to the website
have a significant strategic value. |
