Perceived authenticity of online-only brands (OOBs): a quali-quantitative study with online consumers

PurposeThe present study examines the dimensions that are meaningful to define the perceived authenticity of online-only brands (OOBs) (i.e. retail brands that trade exclusively online) from a consumer's perspective. Past frameworks of perceived authenticity exist in the branding literature but consistently focus on contexts beyond e-commerce settings like OOBs.Design/methodology/approachWe employed a mixed-method research design, consisting of quasi-qualitative and quantitative studies with online customers, to establish the dimensions meaningful for the perceived authenticity of OOBs. Our work has theory testing and building components.FindingsWe identify five dimensions that are meaningful to define consumers' perceived authenticity of OOBs. They are “honesty”, “connection”, “continuity”, “craftsmanship” and “accessibility”. Representing by multiple factors, “craftsmanship” serves as the most meaningful dimension followed by “accessibility”. Often being considered incompatible with perceived authenticity, we find accessibility particularly relevant to the context of OOBs. It describes the “convenient” and “affordable” aspects of OOBs, which typically serve as unique selling propositions.Originality/valueOur work confirms the utility of established dimensions to define consumers' perceived authenticity of OOBs. This highlights that consumers hold some consistent authenticity image between non-online and online brands. Our work also reveals the accessibility dimension being neglected by the branding literature, suggesting a more up-to-date perspective is needed when studying consumers' perceived authenticity of OOBs.

Online Brand Expansion Towards the Offline Setting

Brand extension and brand alliances are two possible strategies to expand the brand towards different product categories. In this chapter, the authors focus on brands that are well-known for their online services launching offline products. They analyse the results of these strategies in terms of their effects on parent brand image and under different conditions of initial brand image and perceived fit. In order to meet these aims, an empirical study was conducted to 407 undergraduates in a Spanish University. Data are analysed through multivariate analysis of variance. Main results lead us to conclude that: (1) the effects of extensions and alliances are mainly negative on the online brand image, (2) the impact is focused specially on the functional and emotional dimensions of brand image, (3) the effect is more negative for online brands with higher image than for online brands with lower image, and (4) the effect is more negative in the case of an alliance with an offline brand with low image than in the case of an alliance with an offline brand with high image or in a brand extension. This work covers some gaps in the previous literature in online branding. The authors apply concepts and theories used in brand extensions and alliances literature in an offline setting by delving into the differences of these effects on the brand image dimensions. The results obtained in this work may help brand practitioners expand their brands towards different product categories.

An Application of Online Branding Design with Customisation, Culture and Communities Strategy : A case studies on six online store providers

In order to boost the value of an e-brand, we need to consider appropriate design strategies usingthe interactive capabilities of the Internet in an online marketplace. The purpose of this study isto investigate diverse experiential and emotional marketing strategies for online brands and tosuggest various methods to create powerful emotional contents of e-brand’s sites. In this paper,we examine the effects of emotional branding on the current marketplace and explore thecharacteristics of e-brands. The research processes in this paper are to: (1) investigate diversetheories related to emotional and experimental marketing through literature review; (2) develop a“Customisation, Culture and Communities Strategy” model as an emotional e-branding method;(3) analyze well-established e-brands websites with this Customisation, Culture andCommunities Strategy; and (4) identify the effects of emotional e-brand contents and thedesigner’s role of visualizing the emotional contents. This study provides a new perspective ononline marketing and designing a virtual environment to realize the desired customerexperiences

Online Brand Expansion towards the Offline Setting

Brand extension and brand alliances are two possible strategies to expand the brand towards different product categories. In this chapter, the authors focus on brands that are well-known for their online services launching offline products. They analyse the results of these strategies in terms of their effects on parent brand image and under different conditions of initial brand image and perceived fit. In order to meet these aims, an empirical study was conducted to 407 undergraduates in a Spanish University. Data are analysed through multivariate analysis of variance. Main results lead us to conclude that: (1) the effects of extensions and alliances are mainly negative on the online brand image, (2) the impact is focused specially on the functional and emotional dimensions of brand image, (3) the effect is more negative for online brands with higher image than for online brands with lower image, and (4) the effect is more negative in the case of an alliance with an offline brand with low image than in the case of an alliance with an offline brand with high image or in a brand extension. This work covers some gaps in the previous literature in online branding. The authors apply concepts and theories used in brand extensions and alliances literature in an offline setting by delving into the differences of these effects on the brand image dimensions. The results obtained in this work may help brand practitioners expand their brands towards different product categories.