The buyer-centric revolution: The rise of reverse direct

Abstract

A long-standing and fundamentally important division of labour between marketers and consumers is coming to an end. Traditionally, companies make and sell while consumers buy and use. But emerging added-value buying services are putting the power of IT and information in the hands of consumers and reversing the flow of marketing processes, so that buyers' search for value pre-empts sellers' search for customers. The buying process is becoming professionalised and organised. At the same time, such `reverse marketing' processes represent a fundamental challenge to the direct marketing status quo while promising to realise direct marketing's dream of `perfect' relevance at minimum cost.