MARKETING OF ONLINE AND CDROM DATABASES

This paper reports the results of a survey of UK electronic informatio n vendors regarding the importance of marketing to them, and reports t he results of an examination of the readability, structure and informa tion content of a sample of marketing materials produced by electronic information vendors. This analysis was of advertisements from profess ional journals and direct mail literature comprising leaflets, folders and brochures. The results demonstrated that the 'average' adult ough t to have no problem in reading and understanding the marketing litera ture. Additionally, this study demonstrated that the marketing literat ure is feature-oriented. Benefits are of much lesser significance. The UK-based electronic information industry regards marketing as of cruc ial importance and believes that the marketplace is becoming more comp etitive. The favoured promotional techniques of the industry are ident ified.