An Exploratory Study of the Emerging Role of Electronic Intermediaries

It is often argued that as electronic markets lower the cost of market transactions, traditional roles for intermediaries will be eliminated, leading to "disintermediation". We discuss the findings of an exploratory study of intermediaries in electronic markets that suggest that markets do...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of electronic commerce Vol. 1; no. 3; pp. 7 - 20
Main Authors Bailey, Joseph P., Bakos, Yannis
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 01.04.1997
M. E. Sharpe, Inc
Subjects
Business to business
Customers
Disintermediation
Electronic commerce
Electronic data interchange
electronic markets
Information goods
Information intermediaries
Information technology
intermediaries
Internet
Internet commerce
Trade intermediaries
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Summary:It is often argued that as electronic markets lower the cost of market transactions, traditional roles for intermediaries will be eliminated, leading to "disintermediation". We discuss the findings of an exploratory study of intermediaries in electronic markets that suggest that markets do not necessarily become disintermediated as they become facilitated by information technology. We explore thirteen case studies of firms participating in electronic commerce and find evidence of certain new emerging roles for electronic intermediaries, including aggregating, matching suppliers and customers, providing trust, and providing interorganizational market information. Two specific examples are discussed in greater detail to illustrate an unsuccessful strategy for electronic intermediation (Bargain Finder) as well as a successful one (Firefly).
ISSN:1086-4415
1557-9301
DOI:10.1080/10864415.1997.11518287