Although a blog or a tweet promoting a weekly sale could increase brand awareness I do not see this form of MIS as a useful component for Mountain Equipment Co-op, (MEC). The primary reason being that to shop at MEC you require a membership. So even if you see a tweet about a 50% off sale on rock climbing equipment you will still have to acquire a membership at the time of purchase.

So Could internet based marketing be useful if it promoted the simplicity of the process to acquire a membership? Possibly, however, I do not see how MEC will benefit from the implementation of one of these methods. MEC is not a global company, let alone a North America wide organization.

If it comes at no accounting cost to MEC, I believe a more effective use of the world wide web would come in the form of consumer based product reviews, and/or online surveys, used to gather information about consumer preferences.