Author: Daniel Lilly

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 25

ISBN-13:

Until recently, business- to-government (B2G) marketing has received relatively little attention in academic journals and proceedings (Reid and Plank, 2000). Times are changing, however, and businesses of all sizes today are encouraged to pay renewed attention to the government market as they develop their marketing strategies (Dickover, 2006; Kennedy and Cannon, 2004). Government investment in information systems is leading the way by creating efficiencies in both the procurement and marketing processes. The major economic powers, such as the G7, as well as rapidly developing economies, such as India, are in the forefront of developing e-government programs that are impacting the buyer-seller interface. The model for them all, however, is the United States Federal Government. With spending for goods and services exceeding $341.4 billion per year (2004), the United States Federal Government is easily the world's largest consumer. Web sales of $3.6 billion, principally in bonds and treasury notes, also makes the federal government the country's largest electronic retailer, surpassing even Amazon (Stone, 2000). And, with the growth of e-commerce, it is has been reported that 15 percent of all federal procurement is now electronic and rapidly expanding (Frook, 2003). The aim of this article, together with the references provided, is to assist marketing executives, especially in small or minority-owned businesses, to become more fully informed in order to develop successful strategies to compete in the government market.