The internet, web and related information technologies have proven to betransformational. While these technologies have impacted all parts of the corporation,the marketing function has perhaps been most affected. E-marketing is now a significantpart of every global corporation's marketing arsenal. As international acceptance of theinternet and web increases, the scope of international e-marketing now transitions frompossibility to reality.International marketing scholars have followed the transformational impact of theinternet/web closely. Several studies in the international e-marketing context havealready emerged at the individual consumer (Callow and Lerman, 2003; Dou et al., 2003;Kucuk, 2002; Sing et al., 2004; Waller et al., 2005; papers by Sugai and Gong andMcMillan, in this issue) and firm levels (Javalgi et al., 2004; Singh and Kundu, 2002; andpapers by Kaynak et al. and Javalgi et al. in this issue).Recognizing the contribution of the work thus far, in this paper, we introduce the in international e-marketing. The IEMF should help the global marketing communityshape scholarly inquiry in the domain of international e-marketing, classify currentintellectual contributions in this area and delineate the gaps in the literature to focusfuture research. Moreover, the IEMF should help global e-marketing scholars addressthe question - "How is International E-Marketing different from InternationalMarketing?" The IEMF is an extension of the framework first introduced inKrishnamurthy (2006) to the international context.An overview of IEMFThe IEMF has seven components - actors (i.e. those who take e-marketing actions),spaces (i.e. online theaters of engagement), technology form factors (i.e. theidiosyncrasies of information technologies that affect the user experience),country-level cultural factors (i.e. the Hofstedian framework), access to

informationtechnologies (or the "digital divide"), actions and outcomes (behavioral outcomes atfirm-level). We now briefly introduce the seven components.ActorsEstablishing an online presence makes one an international e-marketing actoraxiomatically. Since web sites can be accessed across country lines, e-marketing actorsexert influence in the country of their origin and across borders. Moreover, companiesnow routinely create country-level sites to deepen their presence within a country (e.g.Amazon.com has stores in the UK, Canada, France, Japan and Germany). This couldcreate arbitrage opportunities that have not been fully studied, e.g. Amazon.co.ukfrequently sells books at a lower delivered price than Amazon.com. Yet, it is not clear ifconsumers are taking advantage of this.SpacesThe conceptualization of spaces is fairly new in the business/management/marketingliterature. Rayport and Sviokla (1994) first used the term "marketspace" anddistinguished it from a marketplace. An online space is a theater of engagementbetween the company and the consumer (Krishnamurthy, 2006). Importantly,e-marketing is not confined to the brand or company's web site. Spaces could includee-mail inboxes, mobile phone screens, public discussion boards, partner web sites,blogs and media, to name a few. Properties of online spaces and what distinguishes onefrom another needs more study. The role of the marketer in online spaces may bedirect, indirect or reflective (Krishnamurthy, 2006).Technology form factorsAcross the globe, the internet means different things to different people. For those whohave only seen it on the cell phone, the SMS is the unit of communication and the cellphone dial-pad is the form of entering information. For those who have alwaysaccessed it in a kiosk/access center/library, the perception of the internet is completelydifferent from those who are

accustomed to accessing it at home. For others who haveused the internet/web on the personal computer or laptop, e-mail is the unit ofcommunication. Form factors influence how people communicate, interact and transactonline. international e-marketing framework (IEMF) as a guiding template for future research Country-level cultural factorsCountry-level cultural factors are emerging as an important determinant in globale-commerce. The majority of online population today is non-English speaking whichhas led to a surge in language translation to localize web sites, and even emergence oflanguage-specific URLs and mutilingual domain names. Cultural factors have beenshown to have a significant impact on how internet users browse, shop, and eveninfluence their expectations from a particular web site. Research has also shown thatculturally adapted web content leads to better usability, more favorable attitudetoward the site, and higher purchase intentions (Luna et al., 2002; Singh et al., 2004).However, with few exceptions (Singh et al., 2005), research is lacking on how to developculturally congruent user-interfaces.Access to information technologiesAccess to information technologies is varied and a "digital divide" exists across nations(Lu, 2001) and within nations (Hoffman et al., 2000). Countries with only a low penetrationlevel of the internet/web are likely to not have the critical mass to sustain a locale-commerce operator or internet service provider. As a result, the potential for e-marketingis limited in such environments. As the level of internet access increases, the possibilitiesmultiply. Over time, as the internet/web becomes accessible to a broad mainstream andindividuals start perceiving it as indispensable, the nature of e-marketing also evolves.Actions and outcomesE-marketing actors have a broad set of actions open to them. As described

inKrishnamurthy (2006), these actions can be classified broadly classified into threebroad categories - communication actions, analytics and customer relationshipmanagement. Communication actions include advertising (e.g. text ad, immersiveadvertising, banner ad, pop-up ad, pop-under ad, advergame), direct messagedissemination (e.g. permission-based e-mail, e-mail newsletter, viral e-mail) and contentcreation and management (e.g. frequently asked questions, product information,downloadables). Analytics include search engine optimization and traffic analysis.CRM actions could be focused on an individual customer or a group of customers.Potential linkages between framework componentsIt may be too early to conceptually identify the linkages among the differentcomponents of the IEMF. We briefly discuss potential linkages here.Naturally, in any given space, actions by one marketing actor positively affect its ownoutcomes and negatively affect the outcomes of its competitors. Thus, advertisementsby one actor will positively affect its sales and negatively affect the sales of itscompetitors. Some marketing actions will be more effective than others.Extensive empirical investigation is needed to understand how spaces interactonline. For instance, there is a need to understand actions in one space might reinforcethe outcomes in another space. Some of these actions may be complementary andothers may be harmful. For instance, an innovative banner ad might enhance theeffectiveness of a promotional e-mail. Actions by competitors in one space mightnegatively impact the effectiveness of actions in other spaces. Previously published in: International Marketing Review, Volume 22, Number 6, 2005.