Internet Use within the U.S. Plastics Industry

Interfirm communication via the Internet was examined within the plastics industry and it was revealed that, although end-user firms have the highest percentage of Internet users, the flow of Internet communication tends to be “top-down” from vendors to customers.

Abstract

Interfirm communication via the Internet was examined within the plastics industry. A survey of 1283 respondents from four industry sectors revealed that, although end-user firms have the highest percentage of Internet users, the flow of Internet communication tends to be “top-down” from vendors to customers. At this early stage of Internet adoption, Internet communications seem to focus on information gathering; whereas, non-Internet communication focuses on such transactional tasks as order processing. In addition, Internet users generally communicate more frequently than non-Internet users across all forms of communication.