CONNECTING WITH CONSUMERS: A NEW MARKETING STRATEGY FOLLOWING ENERGY REFORMS

Fridrik Larsen, School of Business, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
Thorhallur Gudlaugsson, School of Business, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

Published in

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
Volume 17, Issue 1, p27-36, March 2017

ABSTRACT

The role of marketing in the electricity industry has mostly been ignored, possibly due in part to the relatively recent liberalization of the sector (although, it has not been fully liberalized in all the European countries). For several reasons, using marketing to reach consumers is less needed in a monopolistic market as it is in a free market. Following the liberalization of energy markets, competitive marketing within the international electricity sector has become more prevalent. In this paper, we identify how factors connected to liberalization have an impact on marketing decisions made in the electricity zone. The history and context of liberalization, as well as special circumstances accompanying the provision of electricity, strongly influence the way managers deploy their marketing strategies to reflect consumer perceptions of the industry and the reforms. Therefore, our recommendations of future marketing strategies of electricity providers involve crucial considerations in the context of politics, ideology, intangible nature, complexity of markets, and interconnectedness. The paper provides an overview of the deregulation of the energy space, interprets the results with a further focus on privatization and the implications on marketing.

Keywords

Energy markets, Market liberalization, Marketing strategy


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