Internet Marketing Usage by Small Indian Entrepreneurs: An Exploratory study of Punjab

Abstract

Information technology tools such as internet and web marketing plays a significant role in expansion of marketing operations. The paper aims at to examine the awareness level, advantages associated with internet marketing and internet marketing problems faced by the small entrepreneurs of Punjab. A number of statements indicating the advantages and problems associated with internet marketing have been developed and the respondents were asked to express their level of agreement/disagreement with these statements on five-point Likert scale. Kruskal-Wallis test has been applied to know the significant differences among the respondents relating to different industries, age and turnover groups with respect to these statements. The test has been applied at assumed p-value =0.05. The statements with less than 0.05 p-value are considered significant and those with p-value more than the assumed value are considered to be insignificant. The findings reveals that units relating to bicycle and bicycle parts and leather and leather products are not using internet for the purpose of marketing. It has also been found that majority of the units consider that internet marketing is advantageous to them.Keywords: Internet marketing; Small entrepreneurs; Information technology; Viral MarketingJEL Classifications: M; M30; M31; M39