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The purpose of this article is to explore the corporate brand‐web associated with the TOYOTA F1 Racing Team in order to exemplify existing theoretical discussions of the brand‐web concept and contribute to insights towards developing understanding of the structure of the corporate brand‐web and brand relationships.

A case study analysis of the TOYOTA F1 Racing Team, focusing on brand relationships associated with different levels of sponsorship is presented. The case study analysis is based on desk research.

The corporate brand‐web of the TOYOTA F1 Racing Team is presented. This portfolio of corporate brands and their relationships can be regarded as a corporate brand meta‐architecture. The study also offers taxonomy of different types of sponsorship‐based brand relationships, and identifies and discusses two key aspects of the relationships between brands, title sponsorship, and network relationships between the corporate brands in the brand‐web.

This article contributes to understanding of the corporate brand‐web and brand relationships in the sponsorship context and demonstrates the complexity of multiple brand relationships, and the need for researchers and practitioners to understand and manage their corporate brand architecture.

This article offers the “brand web” model as a conceptual framework for the creation and ongoing analysis of corporate brands and brand relationships. The framework is particularly relevant for new economy ventures that result from alliances. In deploying the brand web model, marketers are asked to consider: the power relationship between the corporate brands; their corporate identities and brand values; the goals of each brand; and the relative strategies pursued to achieve these goals. These questions are posed within the context of the semiotic model of corporate identity.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between atmospheric qualities with different levels of task relevance in luxury fashion brand web sites and their impact on consumer attitude toward the site and brand, which is essential to build valid strategies for e-retailing.

An empirical study was conducted and quantitative analyses of 292 respondents’ shopping experiences yielded findings that confirm the impact of atmospherics upon the shopper’s views of the web site and the brand. Structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses.

Both low task-relevant atmospherics (web site design, responsive customer service) and high task-relevant atmospherics (product information, convenience) affect the consumers’ revisit intentions toward the web site, while web site design directly affected brand attitude. The study also illustrates the mediating roles of product information and convenience to the relationships between web site design and responsive customer service and the consumers’ revisit intentions toward the site.

This study provides insights for luxury e-tailing. Luxury e-tailers should understand the different effects depending upon the types of web atmospheric qualities and use them strategically.

The main contribution of the study is to highlight the unique aspects of luxury online shopping in the Korean context. This study also contributes to e-commerce research by providing an expanded understanding of the interrelationship between types of web atmospheric qualities.

This paper aims to empirically explore the influence of website aesthetic attributes (classical and expressive) on customer brand engagement (CBE) intention.

This research develops a framework and a few research hypothesis based on available literature on the concept of aesthetics, aesthetic attribute of websites and CBE, as well as other reliable resources, relevant theories, wherever required and tested it on the data collected from 400 respondents of the Y generation (Gen Y) of India by means of structural equations modelling using SPSS AMOS 21.

The findings indicate that expressive aesthetics of the brand Web pages of the beauty products is positively associated with drawing attention. Expressive aesthetics and classical aesthetics together explained 16% of the variance in attention. This indicates that aesthetic attributes indeed play a role in drawing the attention of the customer. However, mere attention is not sufficient to form the behavioural intention in the customer to engage with that particular brand unless the customer does get fully absorbed with aesthetic attributes of the brand Web pages.

The outcome of this research is based on the view of only 400 Gen Y individuals from the city of Indore in India. This limits its generalizability across India and other country context. This study makes important contribution to brand website aesthetic and CBE literature by empirically investigating the concept of brand website aesthetics as important in interactive marketing approach to initiate CBE intention formation. It further argues that cognitive engagement is the first and foremost engagement dimension and underscores aesthetic attributes as important in forming the customer first perception based on which subsequent CBE behavioural intention develops.

This research adds novel insight in the relationship of the brand website aesthetic attributes and CBE by studying the impact of the aesthetic attribute of brand Web pages on the two cognitive elements, namely, attention and absorption and further its effect on brand behavioural intention taking as sample of Gen Y of India.

This article undertakes a case study‐based analysis of the Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme that seeks to re‐conceptualise the role of loyalty schemes by focusing on the role of loyalty schemes in branding and brand webs.

The article takes a case study‐based approach. Tesco Clubcard has been chosen as the case under study, because it is a significant scheme, and because Tesco have a reputation for innovation in relation both to the use of technology and to approaches to delivering customer value. The analysis describes the features of Clubcard, with specific reference to the network of relationships facilitated through the scheme and the actual or potential value that Tesco and its partners, be they customers or other organisations, derive from the scheme.

Tesco Clubcard builds relationships on additional dimensions, through: the option to collect Clubcard points through transactions with other retailers; the option to use reward points with a range of leisure and associated outlets, and, the e‐loyalty element of the scheme accessible through the internet. This multidimensional approach to relationships builds a visible relationship web that is central to marketing communication and brand building associated with the Tesco brand. Both brand perceptions and experiences are built as customers make choices regarding the paths through which they will travel. The brand web operates at the three levels of experience, community, and customer data and knowledge.

The research question, “Do loyalty schemes work?”, needs to be reframed to encompass this extended model of the role of loyalty schemes, to surface questions associated with the effect of loyalty schemes on brand perceptions and associated consumer behaviour.

Many audiences might view wine brand web sites as complex or unapproachable. Wine drinking is no longer a pastime of the affluent and elite; rather, it is increasingly popular among younger consumer groups and those from broader socio‐economic backgrounds. In order to communicate effectively with newer consumer demographics, wine brand web sites must first and foremost be understandable and readable. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this issue, aiming to answer the question of whether the web sites of popular wine brands are readable or not.

To investigate the readability of consumer brand wine web sites, web site copy from the 20 most popular wine brands in the USA was calculated across multiple readability indices employing content analysis.

The findings suggest that, while certain target demographics may be assumed by grouping wine brand web sites based on readability measures, there are marked differences in readability across wine web sites of a similar nature that only serves to reinforce consumer confusion, rather than help remove it.

There is scant literature on readability in the wine business literature in general, and with regard to the readability of wine web sites in particular. The research highlights the need for those who communicate with a broad audience of wine consumers to give attention to web site content, and readability in particular. This is for two reasons: less sophisticated consumers will not respond to wine marketing messages they cannot understand, and more sophisticated wine drinkers will react more positively to messages that are clear and well‐written. Readability is equally important for these more sophisticated consumers.

This study explores US brands' web site standardisation in terms of the extent of standardisation and the content applied across European markets. The conceptual framework was created on the basis of four basic functions of web site content, i.e. transaction, communication, relationship, and interactivity.

In total, 206 web sites created for the UK, France, Germany, and Spain were examined by online content analysis techniques, in terms of the features of the web site in each host country, and the similarity between the home‐country (USA) and host‐country web sites. The unit of analysis was determined to be the first page or homepage of the web sites, excluding analysis of hyperlinks. Multivariate analyses were applied to test the principal thesis of the study.

The brands sold by US firms adopted a localisation strategy for web sites created for European markets by tailoring the specific content to each market, but maintained a minimum level of uniformity for logo, colour and layout. Other aspects, such as textual information and visual images, were very dissimilar across markets. Image reinforcement, direct sales functions and availability of choice were found to be the most significant features influencing web site standardisation. Furthermore, as in traditional media, the extent of web site standardisation for durable goods was significantly higher than for non‐durables.

The findings of this study should make advertisers and agencies more aware of the cultural and socio‐economic differences, rather than similarities, within the single European market. Despite the increasing consensus concerning the wider applicability of standardisation practices in traditional media, the findings of this study imply that a greater segment of interactive expertise may have accepted a view that subtle but important cultural differences exist across Europe, in terms of the use, selection and participation in web site‐based marketing.

This study focuses on how brands participate in social network sites (SNSs) and investigates both the different strategies they adopt and the factors that influence these strategies.

The activities of top brands in SNSs were investigated through a content analysis of brand web sites in three countries, measuring two primary dimensions: presence in SNSs and level of engagement which the brand hoped to establish with stakeholders. The study then built logistic regression models to understand which factors drive brands to adopt and use SNSs, using insights from previous studies related to internet innovation adoption cycles.

The study confirmed that SNS adoption follows a general path of Internet innovation adoption by brands. Industry markets exert influence, with technology and consumer intensive brands being more likely than all other industry segments to be present in SNSs and to participate at higher engagement levels, while brands targeting younger audiences also engage at higher levels than brands targeting generic audiences. The country in which the brand operates plays a significant role in a brand's likelihood of adopting SNSs: web sites in the USA are more likely to use SNSs than other countries, even after controlling for factors such as pre‐existing web operations or the headquarters being in the same country. It was also found that top brands operate in a global world, as shown by their preference for SNSs with global coverage compared to local SNS, even when the penetration rates of these local SNSs were higher.

The paper advances research on SNS adoption by brands from an organizational standpoint, at a time when the majority of the top global brands actively promote such services.

The paper addresses the issue of the use of the Internet for the management of luxury brands. We investigate luxury managers’ attitudes towards the use of the Internet to promote their brands and also assess consumers’ opinions and behaviour concerning luxury brands Web sites. Finally, we present the results of a content analysis of a number of luxury brands sites. Any discrepancies between expectations and reality are investigated. Results indicate that reality falls short of the expectations of both managers and customers and that the interactive potential of the Internet is not exploited. Furthermore, there is evidence that the Internet works best as a communication than as a customer acquisition channel for luxury brands.

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of embedded social media channels and determine whether the embedded social media channels enhance the overall experience of travelers using the hotel Web sites.

A true-experimental, between-group and post-test-only design was used to address the primary research questions. Two privately accessible complete versions of the Web site (one with embedded social media channels and one without them) were designed for the experiment. The uses and gratifications approach was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Data were analyzed using ANOVA.

The results of this study revealed that embedded social media channels on the hotel Web site enhanced travelers’ social gratifications of perceived social interaction. Apart from these benefits for travelers seeking social gratifications, embedded social media channels did not enhance the overall experience (content and process gratifications) of travelers using the Web site.

In the case of embedded social media on hotel Web sites, this study suggests that hotel managers measure return on engagement to examine the effectiveness of embedded social media, instead of return on investment.

The study revealed that the emergence of embedded social media channels and their integration on hotel Web sites will have significant influence on travelers who seek social gratifications.

The findings of this study offer new empirical evidence that embedded social media channels enhance only travelers’ perceived social interaction during their first visit to the hotel Web site.