Internet Vendors Research Articles

Exploring the e-cigarette e-commerce marketplace: Identifying Internet e-cigarette marketing characteristics and regulatory gaps

BackgroundThe electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) market is maturing into a billion-dollar industry. Expansion includes new channels of access not sufficiently assessed, including Internet sales of e-cigarettes. This study identifies unique e-cigarette Internet vendor characteristics, including geographic location, promotional strategies, use of social networking, presence/absence of age verification, and consumer warning representation. MethodsWe performed structured Internet search engine queries and used inclusion/exclusion criteria to identify e-cigarette vendors. We then conducted content analysis of characteristics of interest. ResultsOur examination yielded 57 e-cigarette Internet vendors including 54.4% (n=31) that sold exclusively online. The vast majority of websites (96.5%, n=55) were located in the U.S. Vendors used a variety of sales promotion strategies to market e-cigarettes including 70.2% (n=40) that used more than one social network service (SNS) and 42.1% (n=24) that used more than one promotional sales strategies. Most vendors (68.4%, n=39) displayed one or more health warnings on their website, but often displayed them in smaller font or in their terms and conditions. Additionally, 35.1% (n=20) of vendors did not have any detectable age verification process. ConclusionsE-cigarette Internet vendors are actively engaged in various promotional activities to increase the appeal and presence of their products online. In the absence of FDA regulations specific to the Internet, the e-cigarette e-commerce marketplace is likely to grow. This digital environment poses unique challenges requiring targeted policy-making including robust online age verification, monitoring of SNS marketing, and greater scrutiny of certain forms of marketing promotional practices.

Begone, Euclid!: Leasing Custom and Zoning Provision Engaging Retail Consumer Tastes and Technologies in Thriving Urban Centers

Is urban center retailing in a death spiral? Competition for consumers with Internet vendors is afoot; winners and losers shall be anointed. The threats to physical retailing in an era of the “Internet of Goods” initially are described below. Adaptations by tenants, landlords, and stakeholders in urban centers will be required quickly, and new perspectives and partnerships, including those among local and regional governments, are instrumental if physical retail operations in municipal cores are to survive. The balance of this article describes these needs from the vantage point of each stakeholder; but this article argues that integrating information and communication technological infrastructure into retail leasing practices and land use planning and zoning strategies is inescapable for the maintenance of resilient town centers. Part II of this article describes the overwhelming impact of Internet consumerism upon physical retailing while Part III explains the physical milieu’s remaining but shrinking opportunities to remain competitive with the online consumer realm. Parts IV and V demonstrate how information and communication technologies, with innovative strategizing by retailers and their landlords, can be leveraged to incite lasting consumer interest in physical shopping environments within a community’s commercial nodes. Parts VI and VII articulate the municipal imperatives, including policies to implement robust technology infrastructure and capitalizing on ICT’s inherent “intelligence,” required to maintain commercial core competitiveness.

Electronic cigarette sales to minors via the internet.

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) entered the US market in 2007 and, with little regulatory oversight, grew into a $2-billion-a-year industry by 2013. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a trend of increasing e-cigarette use among teens, with use rates doubling from 2011 to 2012. While several studies have documented that teens can and do buy cigarettes online, to our knowledge, no studies have yet examined age verification among Internet tobacco vendors selling e-cigarettes. To estimate the extent to which minors can successfully purchase e-cigarettes online and assess compliance with North Carolina's 2013 e-cigarette age-verification law. In this cross-sectional study conducted from February 2014 to June 2014, 11 nonsmoking minors aged 14 to 17 years made supervised e-cigarette purchase attempts from 98 Internet e-cigarette vendors. Purchase attempts were made at the University of North Carolina Internet Tobacco Vendors Study project offices using credit cards. Rate at which minors can successfully purchase e-cigarettes on the Internet. Minors successfully received deliveries of e-cigarettes from 76.5% of purchase attempts, with no attempts by delivery companies to verify their ages at delivery and 95% of delivered orders simply left at the door. All delivered packages came from shipping companies that, according to company policy or federal regulation, do not ship cigarettes to consumers. Of the total orders, 18 failed for reasons unrelated to age verification. Only 5 of the remaining 80 youth purchase attempts were rejected owing to age verification, resulting in a youth buy rate of 93.7%. None of the vendors complied with North Carolina's e-cigarette age-verification law. Minors are easily able to purchase e-cigarettes from the Internet because of an absence of age-verification measures used by Internet e-cigarette vendors. Federal law should require and enforce rigorous age verification for all e-cigarette sales as with the federal PACT (Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking) Act's requirements for age verification in Internet cigarette sales.

Identification of 2-(ethylamino)-1-(4-methylphenyl)-1-pentanone (4-MEAP), a New "Legal High" Sold by an Internet Vendor as 4-Methyl Pentedrone.

Online vendors are offering a new legal high, 4-methylpentedrone (4-MPD). Information for potential users provided by internet vendors of 4-MPD includes incorrect structures and nonexistent CAS numbers. A sample of 4-MPD was obtained and analyzed using GC-MS, NMR, and LC-EIS. The fragmentation data from the GC-MS and LC-EIS produced an M-1 ion that suggested the molecular mass was 219 amu, rather than 205 amu as calculated for 4-methylpentedrone. The difference in molecular mass corresponded to the addition of a methyl group. Based on the mass and fragmentation pattern, two standards were synthesized, 2-(ethylamino)-1-(4-methylphenyl)-1-pentanone and 1-(4-methylphenyl)-2-(propylamino)-1-butanone. The synthesis involved bromination of the appropriate ketone followed by the reaction with ethylamine or propylamine. Based on the NMR data and unique fragmentation patterns produced by these molecules, the sample was identified as 2-(ethylamino)-1-(4-methylphenyl)-1-pentanone, not 4-methylpentedrone.

Online Shopper Segmentation Based on Lifestyles: An Exploratory Study in India

This study explores online shopper segments in India based on their lifestyles. A survey of 432 online shoppers revealed three key shopper segments, namely, mature traditionalists, offer enthusiasts, and technology mavericks. They were influenced by five key factors, namely, Internet enjoyment and convenience, Internet distrust, Internet offers, Internet logistical concerns, and Internet self-inefficacy. Mature traditionalists are the relatively older, married customers who prefer offers given by the brick-and-mortar stores but are attracted to the convenience and enjoyment of buying online. Internet-based offers, in terms of selection and quality, are the key attraction for the offer enthusiasts. Technology mavericks are the younger generation, avid users of the Internet having no logistical or self-inefficacy issues. However, they do not trust the security and privacy offered by Internet vendors. The research concludes with marketing implications as well as suggested future research directions.

Tobacco Products Sold by Internet Vendors Following Restrictions on Flavors and Light Descriptors

Tobacco Products Sold by Internet Vendors Following Restrictions on Flavors and Light Descriptors

Tobacco products sold by Internet vendors following restrictions on flavors and light descriptors.

The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act bans characterizing flavors (e.g., grape, strawberry) in cigarettes, excluding tobacco and menthol, and prohibits companies from using misleading descriptors (e.g., light, low) that imply reduced health risks without submitting scientific data to support the claim and obtaining a marketing authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This observational study examines tobacco products offered by Internet cigarette vendors (ICV) pre- and postimplementation of the ban on characterizing flavors in cigarettes and the restriction on misleading descriptors. Cross-sectional samples of the 200 most popular ICVs in 2009, 2010, and 2011 were identified. Data were analyzed in 2012 and 2013. In 2011 the odds for selling cigarettes with banned flavors or misleading descriptors were 0.40 times that for selling the products in 2009 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.18, 0.88). However, 89% of vendors continued to sell the products, including 95.8% of international vendors. Following the ban on characterizing flavors, ICVs began selling potential alternative products. In 2010, the odds for selling flavored little cigars were 1.71 (95% CI = 1.09, 2.69) times that for selling the product in 2009 and, for clove cigars, were 5.50 (95% CI = 2.36, 12.80) times that for selling the product in 2009. Noncompliance with the ban on characterizing flavors and restriction on misleading descriptors has been high, especially among international vendors. Many vendors appear to be circumventing the intent of the flavors ban by selling unbanned flavored cigars, in some cases in lieu of flavored cigarettes.

The new drug phenomenon

The new drug phenomenon

The sales and marketing practices of English-language internet alcohol vendors

This study aimed to fill information gaps about the sales and marketing practices of internet alcohol vendors and their implications for addressing youth access and other legal violations. Further, it aimed to expand the limited scientific literature on internet alcohol sales using systematic survey methods to inform future efforts to regulate this industry and prevent sales to minors. The design was a cross-sectional website content analysis survey. [Not applicable]. A total of 105 internet alcohol vendor websites. Six key content analysis topics were explored: products offered, average prices and proportions of vendors using different promotions, policy statements and methods for age verification, payment and delivery. Websites sell and promote a variety of alcohol products, offered as cheaply as $1.93 for a 750-ml bottle. Vendors rely heavily upon age verification methods that are unlikely to prevent sales to minors. Many vendors advertise shipping of products via methods through which it is illegal or against delivery company policies to transport alcohol, and 99% of vendors accept credit cards. Limiting and enforcing delivery and payment options are types of policy interventions that have been used successfully with internet cigarette vendors that may be applicable to internet alcohol vendors as well. Internet alcohol vendor practices are insufficient to prevent sales to minors, and need further regulation and enforcement of existing policies. Their sales practices are similar to those of internet cigarette vendors prior to regulation, and similar regulatory approaches may be effective in reducing internet alcohol sales to minors.

What are the sales practices of internet cigar vendors in China?

ObjectiveTo estimate the number of websites selling cigars in China and to examine their sales and marketing practices.MethodsComprehensive searches were conducted using three keyword terms and two popular internet search...

A mixed methods approach to electronic word-of-mouth in the open-market context

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has been identified as a key factor affecting online sales. However, the factors leading to eWOM in the open-market context are not fully understood. Since many Internet vendors have adopted the open-market business model, it is essential to understand the factors for eWOM leading to the success of open-market business. This study investigates factors affecting eWOM in the open-market context based on a sequential combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The exploratory findings in the qualitative study form the basis for the quantitative study survey research. The findings from this mixed methods study indicate the significance of three new factors (information-sharing desire, self-presentation desire, and open-market reward) and two established factors (open-market satisfaction and open-market loyalty) affecting eWOM directly and indirectly. This study makes a useful contribution to the broader literature on eWOM. These findings also inform open-market providers as to how to promote and manage eWOM for online business success.

Selection of internet assessment vendor using TOPSIS method in fuzzy environment

In recent days an explosion in demand is being resulted for internet-based assessment solutions. The number of internet assessment vendors has increased dramatically, and they differ widely in offerings, capabilities, technology, assessment expertise, customer support and other factors. Choosing an appropriate vendor capable of fulfilling various needs and become a value-added partner can seem somewhat daunting. Conventional approaches for selection and evaluation of vendors separately tend to be less effective in dealing with the imprecise of attributes assessment individually. Hence, this study aims to propose an effective integrated fuzzy multi-attribute group decision making (FMAGDM) approach to deal both qualitative and quantitative attributes associated with internet assessment vendor selection criteria’s. In this paper, a technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method has been adopted in a fuzzy environment for selection and ranking of internet assessment vendor based on decision makers’ linguistic viewpoint on various criteria attributes. Generalised trapezoidal fuzzy numbers are used to express linguistic variables that consider making a fuzzy decision matrix. A numerical illustration has been reported to illustrate the procedural hierarchy of fuzzy-TOPSIS method in relation to a vendor selection problem.

Securing SIP-based VoIP infrastructure against flooding attacks and Spam Over IP Telephony

Security of session initiation protocol (SIP) servers is a serious concern of Voice over Internet (VoIP) vendors. The important contribution of our paper is an accurate and real-time attack classification system that detects: (1) application layer SIP flood attacks that result in denial of service (DoS) and distributed DoS attacks, and (2) Spam over Internet Telephony (SPIT). The major advantage of our framework over existing schemes is that it performs packet-based analysis using a set of spatial and temporal features. As a result, we do not need to transform network packet streams into traffic flows and thus save significant processing and memory overheads associated with the flow-based analysis. We evaluate our framework on a real-world SIP traffic—collected from the SIP server of a VoIP vendor—by injecting a number of application layer anomalies in it. The results of our experiments show that our proposed framework achieves significantly greater detection accuracy compared with existing state-of-the-art flooding and SPIT detection schemes.

Cue consistency and page value perception: Implications for web-based catalog design

The web-based product catalog is a central element of online retailing. Although the extant research has studied the effect of design elements, such as product presentation, recommendation agents, and image and text on consumer choice, little is known about how Internet vendors could distribute products in a multi-page online product catalog for better performance. It is well-known that the first page of an online product catalog is particularly important to a vendor. Based on price signaling literature and cue consistency theory, this study investigates how price and product popularity cues could be carefully designed for the first page to achieve better sale performance. This study suggests there is a delicate balance point where price cues and popularity cues can achieve consistency and synergy and lead to better page value perceptions for the first page. The boosted page value perceptions, in turn, lead to better sales from the first page. This study extends the theory of cue consistency to the product group level.

Menu-Choice Modeling

This study focuses on the menus typically found in the marketplace (e.g., restaurants and Internet vendors), where the consumer may choose one or more from dozens of options or menu items, each at a posted price or fee. We show that modeling choices out of the typical menu leads to the “curse of dimensionality,” which transpires in two ways. First, the choice set (all possible menu selections) grows geometrically with the number of items in the menu. Second, the number of interactions among menu items also grows disproportionately to the number of items in the menu. We propose a menu choice model that circumvents these two problems in a feasible and flexible, but parsimonious way. We test the proposed model on data from both Monte-Carlo simulations and find that the proposed approach produces consistent parameter estimates while it significantly reduces the complexity of the problem. We then apply the proposed model to an actual choice experiment where a sample of consumers was asked to make choices from eight menus combining a base system and a subset among 25 optional features. The results indeed show that menu items interact and the proposed approach produces graphical mapping of such interactions. Optimal pricing policy experiment is also conducted.

Internet Alcohol Sales to Minors

OBJECTIVES To determine whether minors can successfully purchase alcohol online and to examine age verification procedures at the points of order and delivery. DESIGN A cross-sectional study evaluated underage alcohol purchase attempts from 100 popular Internet vendors. SETTING The study was conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, July 14-27, 2011. PARTICIPANTS Eight 18- to 20-year-old individuals participated. OUTCOME MEASURES Rates of successful sales to minors and use of age verification procedures at order and delivery were determined. RESULTS Of the 100 orders placed by the underage buyers, 45% were successfully received; 28% were rejected as the result of age verification. Most vendors (59%) used weak, if any, age verification at the point of order, and, of 45 successful orders, 23 (51%) used none. Age verification at delivery was inconsistently conducted and, when attempted, failed about half of the time. CONCLUSIONS Age verification procedures used by Internet alcohol vendors do not adequately prevent online sales to minors. Shipping companies should work with their staff to improve administration of age verification at delivery, and vendors should use rigorous age verification at order and delivery. Further research should determine the proportion of minors who buy alcohol online and test purchases from more vendors to inform enforcement of existing policies and creation of new policies to reduce youth access to alcohol online.

Safety and compliance of prescription spectacles ordered by the public via the Internet

Background This study investigated prescription spectacles ordered from online vendors and delivered directly to the public for compliance with the optical tolerance and impact resistance requirements for eyewear dispensed in the United States. Methods Ten individuals ordered 2 pairs of spectacles from each of 10 of the most visited Internet vendors, totaling 200 eyewear orders. Spectacles ordered consisted of ranges of lens and frame materials, lens styles, and refractive corrections reflecting current distributions in the United States. Evaluations included measurement of sphere power, cylinder power and axis, add power (if indicated), horizontal prism imbalance, and impact testing. Results We received and evaluated 154 pairs of spectacles, comprising 308 lenses. Several spectacles were provided incorrectly, such as single vision instead of multifocal and lens treatments added or omitted. In 28.6% of spectacles, at least 1 lens failed tolerance standards for at least 1 optical parameter, and in 22.7% of spectacles, at least 1 lens failed impact testing. Overall, 44.8% of spectacles failed at least 1 parameter of optical or impact testing. Conclusion Nearly half of prescription spectacles delivered directly by online vendors did not meet either the optical requirements of the patient's visual needs or the physical requirements for the patient's safety.

Effectiveness of State and Federal Government Agreements with Major Credit Card and Shipping Companies to Block Illegal Internet Cigarette Sales

Most Internet vendors offer tax-free cigarettes making them cheaper than those sold at stores. This undermines the impact that higher prices have upon reducing consumption. Most Internet tobacco sales have violated taxation and youth access laws, which led to landmark voluntary agreements in 2005 with the major credit card companies and major private shippers to ban payment transactions and shipments for all Internet cigarette sales.ObjectiveTo assess whether these bans increased the rate of Internet Cigarette Vendors (ICVs) ceasing online sales, decreased the proportion of vendors offering banned payment and shipping options, and decreased consumer traffic to the most popular ICVs.DesignWebsites in a longitudinal study of ICVs were visited in 2003 (n = 338), 2004 (n = 775), 2005 (n = 664), 2006 (n = 762), and 2007 (n = 497) to assess whether they were in business and monitor their advertised sales practices. The number of unique monthly visitors to the 50 most popular ICVs at baseline was examined for the period one year before and two years after the bans to determine whether the bans altered traffic.ResultsFollowing the bans, the rate of ICVs ceasing online sales year to year increased, but due to an influx of new vendors, there was a net increase in ICVs. The proportion of vendors accepting banned payment options dropped from 99.2% to 37.4% after the bans, and the proportion offering banned shipping options dropped from 32.2% to 5.6%, but there was a corresponding increase in vendors offering non-banned payment options (e.g., personal checks) and shipping options (e.g., US Postal Service). Following the bans, there was a 3.5 fold decline in traffic to the most popular ICV websites.ConclusionsThis promising approach to controlling the sale of restricted goods online has implications for regulating other products such as alcohol, firearms, quack cures, and medicines sold without a prescription.

Anticholinergic delirium following Datura stramonium ingestion: Implications for the Internet age

Recreational use of Datura to deliberately induce an anticholinergic delirium is not uncommon. We present a case of Datura intoxication in a young adult who learned about the recreational use of Datura on the Internet and subsequently purchased Datura stramonium seeds from an online vendor. Using the Google search engine, we conducted searches for “Datura,” “jimson weed” and “Datura seeds” and reviewed the first 200 search results for each search term. We found 16 websites recommending the recreational use of Datura, 12 vendors selling seeds of genus Datura and one website that both promoted the recreational use of Datura and also sold Datura stramonium leaves. The promotion of recreational use of Datura on the Internet represents a danger to public health and the ability to purchase Datura seeds from Internet vendors may increase the prevalence of Datura abuse.

Value‐driven Internet shopping: The mental accounting theory perspective

AbstractWhen faced with competition and the ease with which customers can compare prices across sellers, Internet vendors often lower prices in a bid to increase sales. However, recent research reports that even price‐sensitive customers do not always purchase from Internet vendors offering the lowest prices. In contrast, value has been considered a key motivator of customer decision making in economics and marketing. However, little is known about the role and effect of value in Internet shopping. This study examines online customer purchase decision making from the value perspective based on mental accounting theory. This study also identifies monetary (perceived price) and non‐monetary (perceived risk, convenience, and pleasure) determinants of value. This study further explains how the individual determinants affect online purchase decision making directly and indirectly though value perception. The findings of this study offer Internet vendors practical suggestions for increasing online sales. This study, with its results, also helps advance knowledge of electronic commerce. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.