{"id":485,"date":"2019-05-06T19:42:11","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T11:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/?p=485"},"modified":"2019-05-06T19:45:39","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T11:45:39","slug":"online-identity-a-must-for-business-survival-in-the-digital-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/2019\/05\/06\/online-identity-a-must-for-business-survival-in-the-digital-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Online identity: a must for business survival in the digital era"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Abstract:\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This conference paper illustrates the importance of a business\u2019s corporate online identity for a survival in the digital era. In 2019, people uses the internet on a daily basis and day by day the number of active online users are increasing. Businesses that doesn\u2019t have an online presence are often considered to be absent from the market. The conference paper found that there are a lot of facilities readily available online that a business can make use of to reach more customers and connect with old ones by adapting themselves towards digitalisation.  It has also been found that in order for a business to be perceive themselves as positive, its corporate identity online must be well presented with sufficient of information on their website or on their social network pages they must have sufficient number of posts with a high level of engagement. Statistics shows that the number of active users are increasing and people are going towards online shops, store and also for services. The digital era pushes every person towards the use of the internet whether to search for the closest restaurant or look out for emergency numbers it became a facility for people. <\/em>


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The internet has revolutionised the way businesses run.\nThey now depend on the internet to stay connected with their customers.  With more than 4.4 billion of users that are\npresent on social network site such as Facebook it became an open market for\ncompanies to reach customers (Statista, 2019). This conference paper highlights the importance of\ncorporate online identity in the digital era for businesses to survive.\nFurthermore, concepts such as web 2.0, digitalisation, globalisation, social\nnetwork platform and online e-commerce shall be discussed in this conference\npaper. Many facilities are readily available online for businesses to build\ntheir corporate identity and showcase themselves on the internet. Business have\nevolved and change the way they interact with customers and they have to follow\nthe trend of technology as the world became one large platform connecting\nmillions of users. With the rise of online reviews, the buying behaviour of\ncustomers are influenced. Companies have to keep a positive corporate identity\nin order to attract customers or retaining old ones (DiMicco et al, 2007). Within\nthis paper there are also factors highlighting why a business should adapt to\nnew technologies and have an online presence on social networking site or\nhaving their own E-shop online. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesses have\nto undergo a series of strategy in order to go through its product life cycle.\nWith the rise of internet and the introduction of web 2.0, the way business use\nto perform thirty years back differs a lot from today\u2019s way of doing\n(Rauch,2001). In today\u2019s era if a business doesn\u2019t have a good online presence\nit would be negative and limit people from finding them on the internet while\ncontrasting it with two decades ago businesses were dealing with customers\nphysically rather than virtually (Holmes,2015).\nBut in this digital era a business might have no physical store and still\nmanage to grow and expand through different brands. ASOS UK is brand shop\nonline that have millions of products displayed on its website and still it\ncompetes with its competitors that have thousands of physical shops around the\nworld (Chapman, 2018). A business that have an online presence opens itself to\nan audience of 4.4 Billion of active users, they can reach their target\naudience faster giving the fact that advertisers company online such as Google\nadv. have different algorithm to make the corporate business to be seen by a\ntargeted audience that a business wants online (Nagarad, 2018). Traditional\nbusinesses before were having issues to reach a big audience and limits itself\nto a certain level because of geographical limitations and communication barrier\n(Rauch, 2001). The internet has allowed\nbusinesses to break the barrier of communication and now customers or\nbusinesses can communicate instantly, and freely the world has turn into one\nsingle huge platform which promote globalisation. The corporate identity of a\nbusiness online is important in order to survive in the digital era as the way\nthey displayed themselves online affects how to customers perceive them (Topalian,2003).\nPeople uses the internet to access millions of information at one click. A\nperson could simply do an engine search, choose among different company\ndisplayed by the search engine online and contact the business but if it is not\navailable online its competitors will have a competitive advantage over them (Holmes, 2015).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this digital\nera Web 2.0 has given the ability to users to read and write (O’reilly, 2007).\nThis has also changes the way online users interact. With Web 1.0, users were\nonly able to read the information available to them but in today\u2019s digital era\ninformation can be instantly share and edit simultaneously. Social networks are\nwell known for its ability to share information to their circle of friend or on\ntheir wall depending on their privacy setting of their profile (Hodkinson,\n2015). O\u2019reilly argues that web 2.0 also become handy when users gets access to\nvideo streaming site, businesses make use of this tools to upload their video\ncontent on video streaming sharing site and make it available to be viewed by\nmillions of users (O\u2019reilly,2007). Online viewers get to comment and share the\nvideo based on their linking hood. This generate views for a business freely\nand also known by electronic word of mouth which raise awareness for a business.\nStatista claimed that the online users have reach up to 4.4 Billion of active\nusers, thus the online population is growing day by day where nearly \u00be of the\nworld\u2019s population are online meaning that business can target a broader\naudience directly and ethically (Statista, 2019).\nWith such facility, a business can target the desire market and grow rapidly,\nthe web allowed them to maximise their profit, spend less on marketing and\ncommunications as compared to the cost of traditional media marketing channel. With\nweb 2.0 customers can order a product and get it ship by the company the next\nday or answer queries from the customers instantly despite time zone difference.\nFor example: a person can order a product on the internet and communicate to\nthem as long they are online.  And more\nspending could be allocated in developing their product or service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore,\nWith the internet and digitalization we have the ability to take a picture with\nour phone and upload it on a website or a social network site instantly\n(Wilson,2009). Digitalization have re-invent the way corporate businesses work,\nas now customers doesn\u2019t have to move and bear excess cost in looking for a\nparticular goods or services. A business could simply design a website where it\nfit all of their content online for customers to access it via their devices the contents that are uploaded online can be modify\ninstantly regarding their price and details. There are websites such as eBay or\namazon that both sellers and buyers engage with each other through messages and\nthen even have the ability to pay or refund each other through a secure payment\nmethod known as online banking and virtual bank cards (Holmes,\n2015). Businesses no longer faces geographical barrier as the product\ncan be paid onto their official website and it would reach another country in\nmatter of days through carrier service. Businesses also adopt an online inventory\nsystem to let the company and customers aware of its actual stock compare to\ntraditional business where it had to be sorted out manually. Nowadays nearly\nall businesses are present online since people uses internet on a daily basis,\nadvertisers company have find a way to make even more money in advert placement\nwhether it is in game, films or on internet websites with a high traffic (Holmes, 2015). Since there are advert placement on\nwebsite people can directly click onto it to relieve themselves from their\ncuriosity and this click will take them onto another page displaying all\ninformation regarding the company. Whether it\u2019s about giving people information\nof a product, contact detail of the company, about the company or even\npromotion that are currently being done. Advertising are much more convenient\nbecause it cost less than traditional marketing such as billboard or in the\nnewspaper, it also can be measured and let the marketer know what should be\ndone on the next quarter of the business (Pearson, 2009). With analytic tools,\nonline it provides insight on the advert placed and how it performs among users\nonline. Those makes it easier for company to plan their next move and if a\ncompany isn\u2019t present on the internet they miss this part and have to figure\nout carefully their next move so that their competitor doesn\u2019t overcome them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, social\nnetwork sites are free to use and any online user might sign up for an account\nfreely without any instalment fees to pay. On signing up they get the ability\nto have a circle of friends on their account where they can chat with their\nfriends instantly and if they are not into that circle they would have to\nrequest a person only if he accept the conversation can be accepted (DiMicco et\nal, 2007). Businesses create their own page on the social network site such as\nFacebook and reaches people rapidly. With website like Facebook it is an open\nplatform where people can join group and follow businesses simply by a click or\nto be aware of their latest promotion. Information are available in front of\nthem which they socialise through the website. While they can also share\ninformation, and tagged their friends. Big companies make use of such tool to\nreach more people through the website advertisement system. As social network\nwebsites have built in features such as showing adv. to users that are in a\nspecific area they are directly targeted and reach them which makes it easier\nfor business (Boyd et al.,2007).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the rise of\ninnovation from social network, Facebook is one of the platform with more than\n2.3 billion of active users, information is instantly shared and people can\nreach a person of another country instantly (Aslam,\n2019). Thus, the rise of globalisation makes international trade better\nfor businesses. A business in order to be successful online they would have to\nbe present on different platform in order to reach maximum users (Holmes, 2015). For a business to be credible on\nsocial network platform and be convincing to its audience they will have to\nprovide sufficient information to them (Topalian,2003). That information will be\nlooked at the users and they will be deciding whether to ask for more\ninformation or buy the goods or service directly through a link posted on their\nsocial network page. A Page with a good number of followers and likes on their\npost will attract the attention of targeted audience making them to conform\nindirectly to other users behaviour by liking and following the page. They will\nfirst view information then follow the page. Users judge the company also by\nonline reviews that are placed on their page by reading such it will make them\nto have a bright idea of what type of business it is. It is kind of a\nprejudgment that occurs (Harris et al .2009). Accor hotels is a group of\nhotel that have many assets in different countries and often people choose to\ndeal with them since they maintain a good reputation online. Even on hotel\nreviewing website such as Trip advisor they make sure that each customer is\nsatisfied those tools altered the final decision of the end consumers and if\nthe business isn\u2019t present online they would turn to another company that\nalready displayed their information since it is easier to found them. Users\nlook for information instantly and choose from the list given to them. Website\nlike Booking.com have millions of hotels published on it and people find it\neasier to look for information all gathered at a same place then can compared\nwith online reviews, number of likes on post, number of followers they have and\nalso amount of information displayed to them. Those aspects act as more people\nlike the post on their social network page the more it is likely to appear convincing\nto users (Wilson, 2009).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, social\nnetwork sites are coming up with new features such as shopping straight ahead\nfrom the website itself this new aspect is to influence users buying behaviour\nonline. If a person need an airline ticket they would simply search for airline\ncompany on the platform and buy directly through their e-shop online and pay\nwith their card number electronically (Harris et al.,2009). And they will eventually\nreceive a booking confirmation through their inbox or email. Those steps make\nit easier for companies as they\u2019re now able to lower their agency cost. Airline\ncompanies gives its users ability to book their tickets and check in online\nwhile restaurants let people order food online with delivery option . In the\ndigital era, millennium and young people are growing up in the digital era\nwhere every steps or decisions taken are influence by the online presence of\nvarious companies (Lin et al., 2011)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To conclude that\nthere are still businesses that doesn\u2019t have an online presence but with time\nand the facilities that the internet offers alongside with social networks\nsites it will affect those business. They will most likely to be seen as\ninexistent by online users, this generation of people are grown within the\ndigital era and we are all adapting to digitalization which makes it easier for\neveryone. A corporate online identity is a must for businesses to survive in\nthis digital era since the facilities it offers to everyone. People have change\nthe way they communicate contrasting it with decades ago where we used landline\nto communicate to other people or through fax. Internet makes everyone to stay\nconnected despite having geography barrier. A corporate online identity is how\nthey want customers to see them and the more they provide sufficient\ninformation to the public the more it is likely to success in the market.\nPeople no longer have to wait for the shops to be opened they can shop at any\ninterval time period, contact the company or even get a glimpse of what firms\nare offering to them. A simple click over the internet can give the users\nenormous amount of date. The more the company create interaction between users\nthe more it engages with the users. With digitalisation, it has change the way\npeople consume things as everything we see can be upload online through\npictures or videos that are taken by a simple camera smart phone. People\nsomehow conform with content of other users online. It is easier for a business\nto reach customers rapidly online despite the competition is tough the company\nshould always have competitive advantage to outtake its competitors. In this\ndigital era, it is most likely that an online identity is a must for a business\nto survive in the digital era.
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References<\/strong>:

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alan Topalian, (2003)\n“Experienced reality: The\ndevelopment of corporate identity in the digital era”<\/em>, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 37 Issue: 7\/8, pp.1119-1132, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/03090560310477690<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Aslam. 2019. “Facebook\nby the Numbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts”.<\/em> Retrieved from https:\/\/www.omnicoreagency.com\/facebook-statistics\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boyd, d., & Ellison, N. (2007). \u201cSocial Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship\u201d<\/em>. Journal\nof Computer-Mediated Communication<\/em>, 13<\/em>(1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman. 2018 .“Asos\nsales and profits soar as online fashion retailer leaves high street rivals\nbehind”.<\/em> Retrieved from https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/business\/news\/asos-sales-profits-rise-full-year-results-online-fashion-high-street-a8588001.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Harris et al .2009. “Social networks: the future of\nmarketing for small business”, <\/em>Journal\nof Business Strategy, Vol.\n30 Issue: 5, pp.24-31, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/02756660910987581<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Holmes.\n2015. “Why Businesses Can\u2019t Survive Without Social Media”. Retrieved\nfrom www.fortune.com\/2015\/11\/18\/businesses-cant-survive-social-media\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan Morris DiMicco and David R. Millen. 2007.\u201d Identity management: multiple\npresentations of self in facebook. In Proceedings of the 2007 international ACM\nconference on Supporting group work (GROUP ’07)<\/em>\u201d. ACM, New York, NY, USA,\n383-386. DOI=http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1145\/1316624.1316682<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nagarad.\n2018. “Top 10 Benefits Of Google\nAdWords For Business Growth”<\/em>. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.digitalvidya.com\/blog\/benefits-of-google-adwords\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

O’reilly. 2007. “What\nIs Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of\nSoftware”<\/em>. Retrieved from https:\/\/mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de\/4578\/1\/mpra_paper_4578.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pearson, E. (2009). \u201cAll the World Wide Web’s a stage: The performance of identity in\nonline social networks\u201d. First Monday,<\/em> 14<\/em>(3).\nRetrieved from: https:\/\/firstmonday.org\/ojs\/index.php\/fm\/article\/view\/2162<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Porter, C. E. (2015). \u201cVirtual communities and social networks\u201d<\/em>. In L. Cantoni and J. A.\nDanowski, (eds). Communication and Technology<\/em><\/a>. Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 161 \u2013 179<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rauch, James, E. 2001. “Business and Social Networks in International Trade.”<\/em> Journal of Economic Literature, 39 (4): 1177-1203.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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           \nZulhamri Abdullah, Shahrina, Md Nordin, Yuhanis Abdul Aziz, (2013) “Building a unique online corporate\nidentity”<\/em>, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 31 Issue: 5,\npp.451-471, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/MIP-04-2013-0057<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abstract: This conference paper illustrates the importance of a business\u2019s corporate online identity for a survival in the digital era. In 2019, people uses the internet on a daily basis and day by day the number of active online users are increasing. Businesses that doesn\u2019t have an online presence are often considered to be absent… Continue reading Online identity: a must for business survival in the digital era<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[164,170,165,169,168,17,22,52],"class_list":["post-485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-identity","tag-business","tag-corporateidentity","tag-digitalisation","tag-ecommerce","tag-globalisation","tag-identity","tag-online-identity","tag-social-networking-sites"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":729,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions\/729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}