Abstract
Skatteverket is Sweden‟s administrative authority for taxation, property tax, census, and estate inventory. They have noticed a rise in popularity of Internet forums as a source of information regarding taxes. This is an issue which has not been studied by Skatteverket in any great detail. Neither is it something that has been studied by the academic world. To understand how Internet forums compete with Skatteverket as a source of information about taxes we apply theories regarding strategic marketing. By conducting a strategic analysis it may be possible to understand how Internet forums function as an alternative to turning to public services and what affects the citizens‟ choices. The Internet forums that we analyze are: Skatter.se, Flashback and Familjeliv. Our primary data is collected through qualitative interviews with people working at Skatteverket and at skatter.se and from discussions with people on Internet forums. Secondary data is collected from literature and previous studies related to the subject. Aaker‟s model for strategic analysis provides the framework for our analysis. Theories about service marketing provide an understanding of the unique qualities of competitiveness and marketing within services. Theories about Internet forums provide an understanding of how they work, how they are used and how value is created for- and by the people using them. We find three common motivations for turning to Internet forums: availability, quality of the response and guidance to the final answer. We find that Skatteverket has the strengths of being accessible in many different ways, have knowledge and an understanding of customers needs, provide services that are free from danger, are competent and are able to communicate clearly that they are a service provider of tax information. We find that Skatteverket have the weaknesses of only providing certain services during office hours, have long service times and don‟t convey their core values in their corporate identity. We find that Skatter.se has the strengths of providing a service that is easy to access and is provided quickly if the information needed can be found amongst previous questions and answers. They also have a high credibility, are competent, have an understanding of customer needs, provide a service that is of low risk, communicate clearly that they are a service provider of tax information and their tangibles reflect a high quality. We find that Skatter.se has the weaknesses of taking a long time to provide an answer, do not guarantee that their answers are correct, do not answer complicated questions and function as a marketing tool for Skattepunkten which can lower their credibility. We find that Flashback and Familjeliv have the strengths of providing a service that is easy to get access to, is anonymous, is delivered quickly, and is reliable regarding the accessibility of information. They are considerate and responsive and are knowledgeable in understanding customer needs. We find that Flashback and Familjeliv have the weaknesses of low reliability regarding the accuracy of information, low credibility, a sometimes low competence, risky information to follow, and they have tangibles that do not reflect high quality as a tax information service. We find that Internet forums create an opportunity to make people better informed about taxes which can improve the efficiency of Skatteverket‟s services. They can also create an opportunity for Skatteverket as a source of insights about citizens‟ needs and desires through monitoring what is discussed about taxes- and Skatteverket on Internet forums. We find that the trend of people turning to Internet forums has the possibility of becoming a threat if people don‟t think of going one step further to check with Skatteverket if the information provided is actually correct.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION - 1
1.1 BACKGROUND - 1
1.2 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION - 2
1.3 PURPOSE - 3
1.4 LIMITATIONS - 4
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK - 5
2.1 INTERNET FORUMS - 5
2.2 SERVICE MARKETING - 7
2.3 AAKER’S MODEL FOR STRATEGIC MARKET MANAGEMENT - 10
2.4 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS - 11
2.4.1 CUSTOMER ANALYSIS - 11
2.4.2 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS - 12
2.4.3 MARKET ANALYSIS - 12
2.4.4 ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS - 13
2.5 INTERNAL ANALYSIS - 14
2.5.1 PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT - 14
2.5.2 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES - 15
2.6 THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES - 15
3. METHODOLOGY - 17
3.1 STUDY APPROACH - 17
3.2 INDUCTION, DEDUCTION AND ABDUCTION - 17
3.3 A QUALITATIVE APPROACH - 17
3.4 QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS - 18
3.5 CHOICE OF INTERNET FORUMS - 19
3.6 STUDYING AN INTERNET FORUM - 20
3.7 METHOD DISCUSSION - 22
4. EMPIRICAL FRAMEWORK - 25
4.1 SKATTEVERKET - 25
4.1.1 COMMUNICATION CHANNELS - 25
4.1.2 UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER NEEDS - 26
4.1.3 SERVICE QUALITY - 28
4.1.4 COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT - 29
4.1.5 BRANDING - CORPORATE IDENTITY - 30
4.2 INTERNET FORUMS - 31
4.2.1 THE FORUM AS A COMMUNICATION CHANNEL - 32
4.2.2 CUSTOMER NEEDS - 33
4.2.3 QUALITY OF THE RESPONSE - 34
4.2.4 CONFLICT OF INTERESTS - 36
4.2.5 HABITS - 37
4.2.6 FEAR - 37
5. ANALYSIS - 39
5.1 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS - 39
5.1.1 CUSTOMER ANALYSIS - 39
5.1.2 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS - 41
5.1.3 MARKET ANALYSIS - 45
5.1.4 ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS - 47
5.2 INTERNAL ANALYSIS - 48
5.2.1 PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT - 48
5.2.2 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES - 51
5.2.3 THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES - 51
6. CONCLUSION - 53
6.1 MOTIVATIONS - 53
6.2 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES - 53
6.2.1 SKATTEVERKET - 53
6.2.2 INTERNET FORUMS - 54
6.3 OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS - 55
7. FUTURE STUDIES - 57
8. SOURCE REFERENCES - 59
8.1 LITERATURE - 59
8.2 ARTICLES/JOURNALS - 59
8.3 REPORTS FROM SKATTEVERKET - 61
8.4 INTERNET - 61
8.5 INTERVIEWS - 61
8.6 INTERNET FORUM RESPONDENTS - 62
9. APPENDIX - 63
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1: AAKER’S MODEL FOR STRATEGIC MARKET MANAGEMENT 10
TABLE 1: INTERVIEWS 18
