Internet Communication in the Development of Business Relationships

Although numerous studies acknowledge the increasing importance of the Internet communication in business-to-business relationships, there is not any wide investigation on its characteristics in different stages of a business relationship development. Hence, this paper explores how Internet communication facets (frequency, direction, mode and content) vary throughout the process of the relationship development, and identifies possible gaps between characteristics of Internet communication and stages of a business relationship. The analysis performed here fortifies the opinion that different stages of the relationship call for such Internet communication which is guided by the characteristics of the specific stage. Hence, for the purpose of gathering generic information about products and a company, ornamental websites may be apt. However, in order to foster relationship evolution, more personal, individualized and interactive modes of the Internet communication should be employed.