WEBSITE POSITIONING AS GLOBAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Although these issues have been debated for decades in traditional media, a new stream of research has emerged recently, on the standardization versus localization of global websites in multiple markets. With the rapid expansion of the Internet, and the resulting connections between local, regional, and international markets, an increasing number of MNCs are shifting from off-line to on-line marketing. This frequently entails creating a diverse range of websites in multiple markets (Donthu and Garcia, 1999). By 2001, more than 36 million domains for commercial websites had already been established: these "dot coms" are projected to attract an astonishing $6.8 trillion in business by 2004 (Forrester, 2002; Internet Software Consortium, 2001).

Such numbers incline observers to see the Internet as a door to the "global village wonderland", as advocated by Levitt (1983): that is, an entity that creates an environment for more standardized marketing communication in world markets. Product-based websites are replacing such shopping venues as mail-order catalogues and television-based home shopping, and also offer a new format for global advertising among culturally and linguistically diverse groups (Pastor, 2001). An increase in the quantity and quality of product/brand information on the Internet is generating extraordinary consumer interest, which extends beyond physical and political boundaries (Donthu and Garcia, 1999). Accordingly, Roberts and Ko (2001) asserted that websites, with their ability to uniformly blend textual and visual content, constitute the best communication medium in which to develop brand images.