B2B e-marketplace: an e-marketing framework for B2B commercePurpose–The purpose of this paper is to provide a clear understanding of the performance of business-to-business (B2B) e-marketplace in conducting e-marketing in the global business environment. The proposed framework is intended to be used as a guide for B2B firms especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) who wish to adopt a proactive approach in the use of information and communication technology for business efficiency and competitive advantage, and those who wish to explore the internet technologies for marketing activities.Design/methodology/approach– Literature from the B2B e-marketplaces and operations of e-marketing fields were analysed, and the findings were synthesised to develop a preliminary conceptual model of e-marketing. The conceptual model was tested empirically through an online survey from various industries in China, Malaysia, and Singapore.Findings– With significant online and offline publications from both academia and industry, there is a growing awareness of the contribution of the e-marketing in the global environment. This new marketing paradigm is reported to reshape the business relationships between both consumer marketers and consumers, improving business processes and enhancing the business exposure in the new markets.Research limitations /implications– The major limitation of this paper is associated with the sample selection. Although the literature findings were international, the empirical study was restricted to China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Therefore, the generalizability of the results may not be applicable for other countries. Furthermore, the majority of the respondents participated were SMEs. Hence, the applicability of findings to large-scale organisations may be limited.Practical implications–The framework allows B2B firms to capitalise and understand the e-marketing opportunities provided by B2B e-marketplace. The framework also offers guidance to marketing managers a most appropriate approach to adopt B2B e-marketplace to perform their e-marketing activities.Originality/value– Based on the need for a framework for e-marketing, this study is significance to: SMEs, marketers, information technology practitioners, and all other stakeholders that adopted the internet and other electronic means for marketing purposes.BackgroundThe development of the internet and the world wide web (www) in the 1990s as a tool for the global sharing of information has opened up new opportunities in marketing practices. “The rapid growth of internet users has made the internet an increasingly important and attractive platform for business transactions”According to the Internet World Stats (2007), by March 2008, the internet user population reached 1.40 billions world wide, an increase of 290 percent in the period from 2000 to 2008 (Figure 1). Many academics and practitioners have emphasized that the internet is a major platform for e-marketing to deal with marketing mixes, which include global accessibility (Laudon, 2002), convenience in updating (Sandeep and Singh, 2005), real-time information services (Harridge-March, 2004), interactive communications features (Chaffey, 2004), and unique customisation and personalised capabilities (Teo and Tan, 2002). Additionally, e-marketing also refers to the use of electronic methods or media to build upon and maintain customer relationship through electronic platforms (e.g. business-to-business (B2B) e-marketplaces) that facilitates the exchange of ideas, products, and services to satisfy both buyers and sellers. Strauss and Frost (2001) support the above statement and suggested that, sales, public relations, direct marketing, and advertising are marketing communication that comprises the crucial components of e-marketing strategy.B2B e-marketplace, as one of the major trading platforms brought by the internet technology has made a significant contribution to the e-marketers. The larger organisations are taking advantages from the vast array of suppliers/buyers via the B2B e-marketplace (Stockdale and Standing, 2004). However, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are also eager to compete in the electronic environment remain concerns as how theirbusinesses can gain benefits from B2B e-marketplace. With significant online and offline publications from both academia and industry there is a growing awareness of the contribution of the e-marketing in the global environment. Nonetheless, there is limitation on how to explore the opportunities for SMEs in benefiting from the emergent e-marketing practices, derive from the B2B e-marketplace.Review of e-marketing performances in B2B e-marketplaceThe internet is the foundation for B2B commerce that provides the technology and platform to enable this business relationships work effectively. B2B transactions over public and private sectors uses the internet as a delivery vehicle for transactions including; financial transfer, on-line exchanges, auctions, delivery of products, and services (O’Reily and Finnegan, 2007). Many pra ctitioners are predicting B2B commerce is expected to have a massive growth and majority of the organisations will have to give consideration to involve with B2B commerce. Referring to Figure 5, B2B consists of three main elements and the e-marketplace performs the main tasks such as sourcing, automated purchasing, processing to facilitate the sellers and buyers to do business transactions. Laudon and Laudon (2000) stated that B2B e-marketplace refers to the exchange of information, products, services, and payment via the internet between buyers and sellers. B2B e-marketplaces are typically defined as inter-organisational IS through which multiple buyers and sellers interact electronically to identify potential trading partners, select them and execute transactions (Rohmtal.2004). Argued that, B2B e-marketplace is able to remove some of the inefficiency of traditional business functionality and allows partners to streamline their marketing activities by sharing information instantaneously.In recent years, B2B e-marketplace have improved/enhanced the extent of e-marketing activities; providing to all marketers especially to SMEs. Recent studies (Narayanasamy ET al.2008; Pavaloia, 2009) are indicative of the fact that SMEs have started to respond positively to the changes brought about by the internet technologies.While the main concerns of SMEs are related to the generic SMEs characteristics of limited time/resources and expertise, B2B e-marketplace provide a favorable environment for SMEs to; lower operating and marketing cost, better opportunity to promote their products/services, and enrich their overall marketing communications mix. Overall, the benefits of B2B e-marketplace as reported by many academics and practitioners include: reducing search costs by facilitating comparison of price, products, and services(Kandampully, 2003; Bakos, 1998; Kaplan and Sawhney, 2000);.improving production and supply capability (Barua et al. , 1997; Albrecht et al. ,2005);.improving personalization and customization of product offerings (Bakos, 1998);.enhancing customers relationships (Kierzkowski et al.1996);.reducing marketing costs compare to traditional marketing media (Sculley andWoods, 2001);.reducing numbers of marketing staff (Gloor, 2000).However, the current literatures do not fully explore the issues relating to the performances of B2B e-marketplace from an e-marketing perspective. In addition, much of the research is focused on particular research areas of interest often ignoring the links to others dimensions in particular e-marketing services. Hence, there are concerns that the despite the efforts to promote adoption of B2B e-marketplace from an e-marketing perspective, SMEs are not fully aware of the opportunities and benefits (Stockdale and Standing, 2004). The literature provides insights into the current level of internet-enabler marketing technologies from B2B e-marketplace to the marketers. The online and offline publications from both academics and practitioners indicated that, e-marketing via B2B e-marketplace is a modern marketing practice for buying and selling goods/services, exchange information/ideas via the internet associated with communication and promotional purposes. The frameworks suggested by various authors including Chaffey (2004), Gloor (2000), Kierzkowski et al. (1996) makes a significant contribution to knowledge in the areas of e-marketing that has the potential to create competitive advantage and enhance customer value. However, it appears that there is limited exploitation of such frameworks by industry professional. In order to develop a better understanding of the topic under study, this paper will adapt a multidisciplinary approach by integrating; traditional SMEs marketing, e-marketing, IS/IT, and B2B e-marketplace to develop an e-marketing framework that will offer a greater value for SMEs.B2B电子商务市场：电子营销的B2B电子商务框架背景自上世纪90年代互联网作为一种全球共享信息的工具，互联网开辟了一种新的营销模式。