Consumer behavior and unresolved regulatory issues in electronic marketing

Interactive media such tu the World Wide Web are increasingly popular venues for marketers. These media differ from traditional forms of making information, products, and services available to consumers, thus creating potential regulatory issues. Before regulation can be determined and imposed, knowledge of how consumer behavior will be affected by the new media should be obtained. We discuss several theoretical issues in consumer behavior to illustrate potential effects of interactive media on decision-making, and we relate these effects to the potential issues created for marketers and policy makers. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.