Europe, America, China: Each is Global in Its Own Way

Digital technologies, by cutting distance and costs, enable and intensify globalization. Information and telecommunication technologies continuously, almost instantaneously, transfer enormous quantities of information, further integrating economies and opening new markets and supply channels to the firms of the world. The globalization of goods and services, designed and manufactured to be sold all over the world, is particularly marked the in online world. Data on the global growth of electronic commerce show that digital distribution (Web, TV, cell phones) allows firms to increase their reach in terms of markets and their richness in terms of the catalog offered. The electronic market has offered new opportunities to existing firms to market and sell beyond national borders, and has led to the emergence of a whole new category of operators, like Dell or Amazon, exclusively selling online. Small and medium firms benefit from the possibilities the Web offer in terms of customer relationship management: lower cost and higher diffusion of promotional campaigns, more precise consumer targeting down to the level of one-to-one marketing, and more. Traditional and new media are expanding the globalization opportunities of small firms and big corporations alike. In addition to the Web, new digital TV shopping channels also allow the consumer to comfortably shop from home. QVC, the US shopping channel, is well established in Japan and Germany and is now being launched in Italy. Over the last year, QVC received more than 181 million phone calls in the US and sold over 166 million products in the world for total sales of $7 billion. Many firms are also exploiting the marketing potential of social networks like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter. While digital technologies are drivers of globalization on the supply side, it must be noticed that the consumer is not equally global in his/her patterns of technology use and consumption, so that global firms should carefully consider their strategic choices in terms of online commerce. According to an ongoing study by Università Bocconi and Northeastern University, significant cross-cultural differences emerge in the consumer's adoption of technology in the three major economic regions of the world: America, Europe and China. The relative weight of individual vs collective values affect the attitude toward and use of technology. The perceived risk of online transactions biases purchasing behaviors and highlights a difference between the US and the EU. Differences also emerge in technology use: the US consumer is more PC-centric, while Europe is more TV-centric. The new wireless technologies are offering new opportunities for e-commerce in Europe and Asia. Technology is driving the globalization of many firms, but a correct e-marketing strategy should look at consumer specificities in terms of adoption and use of digital technologies in the various areas of the world.