New TLDs:
Signaling Beyond Consumers
Alex Tajirian
October
31, 2009
When sizing
up the
new ICANN top-level domain (TLD)
extensions, we should recognize that they benefit all stakeholders,
not just
consumers. It’s a consumers-only focus that causes the media to
present dot-eco and dot-green as competitors.
My previous
essays have focused on the consumer, but in this essay I introduce
“people signals”—more specifically, messages to a company’s current
employees and future recruits.
Let’s
consider dot-green. For employees, the TLD provides a unified
message of corporate mindset and values: When employees need to
think of solutions, green should be on their mind. Moreover, when
facing the decision to select among alternative solutions, green can
yield a higher shareholder value because corporate social
responsibility and sustainability create value, as has been
demonstrated by the actions of many Fortune 500 companies.
Nevertheless, some governance experts have argued that it is in the
interest of corporations to look beyond profits as a measure of
performance and to include the benefits of their actions to nature.
Green
signaling requires a change in corporate mindset, not just cutting
costs on existing operations. It requires changes to organizational
capabilities, operations, and—potentially—business models. With such
changes in the value creation equation, top-of-their-class graduates
would seek Wall Street jobs to work on green projects.
However, the
viability of a people-signaling TLD should go beyond demand. It
should make economic sense. That is, the TLD should do its basic job
better than alternative signaling mechanisms.
For dot-green and dot-eco, the signals conveyed are not only nature
and sustainability, but people too. Thus, these TLDs should be
looked on as potential complementors, not just competitors.
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