Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
origins of the Internet shows that the web was designed to be a collabora-
tive space where people can interact with each other. This was the case in
the early stages of the Internet, when this interaction was based on email
exchanges; is still the case today, as conversations move to social networks;
and will remain the case in the future when we move to 360º virtual worlds.
However, what has changed and will continue to evolve as digital tech-
nology advances is the way users interact with the medium. For example,
instead of only visiting the corporate website of a luxury brand for infor-
mation about a new product, the user is likely to seek additional independ-
ent opinion of that product from blogs, social networks and other interactive
platforms online. The user is also likely to engage in discussions about the
product to express their opinion or at least form their own impressions of
the product and brand based on the comments of others. This was not the
case in the past when Internet users depended on luxury companies to “feed”
them with information about products and services. Today, the table has
been turned and the online luxury consumers are writing their own rules of the
game and in the process driving the brands to the point of “freaking out” -
excuse my language - and influencing hundreds of thousands in their tow.
If you're on the aSmallWorld social network, take a look at several forum
discussions linked to luxury brands and you'll be amazed at how much time
and passion people devote to these discussions, which sometimes generate in
excess of 10,000 responses and comments, both positive and negative.
Does this mean that consumers don't trust luxury brands anymore? No.
This change is taking place because luxury clients are no longer just look-
ing for one-way information from brands; they also want a two-way interac-
tion that comes in the form of dialogue, exchanges, sharing, entertainment
and engagement. They want these exchanges to be based on recognition and
respect. Most luxury brands have not been able to provide the means for online
interaction with clients; neither have they been able to meet this apparent need
for acknowledgment and participation. But even if they do provide platforms
for participation, the brands will likely not be able to meet up with the level
of dialogue that goes on among luxury clients on a one-on-one basis. So what
should luxury brands do in this case? And what lies in stock for the consumers
themselves in the future
vis-à-vis
the brands? Well, read on to find out.
The Internet is currently entering its fifth phase in its evolutionary
cycle. Since the first Internet-based information exchanges were made in
1973 and the World Wide Web was invented in 1989, with the first web
pages created in 1990, the cyberworld has come a long way. Today, there
are more than 180 million existing websites and over a staggering 1.4 bil-
lion (1,407,724,920, precisely, as I write) Internet users around the world,
more than half of them in the 15 years to 34 years age bracket. This statistic
changes several times per minute so assume that this number has increased
substantially since this sentence was written. In 2005, the Internet user number
surpassed the 1 billion mark and it has been forecast that the next billion will
