While the rise in electronic commerce (e-commerce) is bringing about changes to all business sectors, marketing is one area that stands to be heavily affected. At the 21st annual American Marketing Association’s Faculty Consortium, marketing faculty, industry consultants and business people from across the country will be on hand at the Mays College to discuss the implications of the emerging electronic marketplace.
Hosted by the Department of Marketing, the consortium will bring more than 120 speakers and attendees to the Wehner Building July 14-17. This is the second time the college has hosted the annual conference, the first in 1985.
“Some very distinguished faculty will be here sharing their expertise,” says Rajan Varadajan, consortium co-chair and head of the Department of Marketing. “The consortium will foster an interactive discussion on the alternate approaches business schools are taking to incorporate e-commerce into their curriculum.”
With e-commerce as the centerpiece of the conference, program sessions will address the technology’s impact on marketing education, practice and research. Session topics, for example, range from interactive environments and consumer behavior to teaching and conducting research in e-commerce.
According to associate professor of marketing Manjit Yadav, the consortium will also bring together two commonly held viewpoints about the role of e-commerce in marketing.
“Some argue that e-commerce and related technologies are simply an extension of existing technology and that we shouldn’t reinvent the wheel,” says Yadav, who’s also a consortium co-chair. “The other viewpoint argues that there are significant differences and that e-commerce technology is not an extension of the television or telephone.”
In addition to exposing the challenges and opportunities associated with e-commerce, Yadav says the consortium “provides a great opportunity for the Department of Marketing and the college to showcase our work and our facility.”
