Impact of Information Technology on Stock Markets

The emerging Indian market is forcing companies to segment buyers not only on traditional lines of demography and behavioral aspects but also on the basis of decision criteria. Some new segmentation parameters could be product awareness, brand awareness, value awareness, and delivery process and technology and information orientation. The information sensitive Indian buyer is today moving in the direction of increased expectation from products and services, value addition, reliability and response time. He is also more conscious of the performance and cost ration. This shift in the decision criteria, compiled with heightened awareness, will throw up new challenges for the market. This article is intended to present the impact of the information technology on market efficiency. Also, the adverse effects of the IT on stock markets are discussed.

Rapid innovation technology, especially in the field of information and communication and the liberalization of economies the world over have made corporate operations more complex. Today marketing has to deal with an entirely new set of challenges. In this present era of crumbling economic barriers and information explosion, the customer reigns supreme. He can source his products and services from any where in the world. His expectations in terms of product quality, price, ready delivery and value for money has gone up. Marketing has moved from competition to collaborative reconfiguration. The challenge before market is to meet the customer's expectations while making healthy profits and ensuring sustainable long-term growth. The focus today is not on meeting the consumer's expectations but on exceeding them.