A Typology of Minimal Homepage Design: The Case of Global Fashion Brands

Abstract

Fashion brands appeal to consumers based primarily on their design. Fashion brand websites act as avenues of communication with a strong appeal on consumers’ online behavior. At the same time, their minimal design signals high quality and aesthetics. Fashion brands’ website design has attracted academic attention, yet there exists no study on specific design dimensions of minimal websites in the fashion sector. A content analysis on 198 fashion brand websites demonstrates that negative space, homogenous layout, and colorful images prevail in the minimal websites of fashion brands, while text is restricted. Further, in-depth interviews with five graphic designers provide evidence with respect to their perceptions of minimal website design, its signals and appropriateness in the case of fashion brands.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kostoula Margariti

Kostoula Margariti is a postdoctoral researcher in marketing in the Department of Business Administration at the University of Macedonia, Greece. She is an adjunct lecturer in consumer behaviour, marketing research and retail management at the School of Economics, Department of Business Administration, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She holds a BSc in economics, an MBA, an MSc in finance and accounting, and a PhD in marketing. Her academic interests lie in website, advertising and packaging design, and aesthetics, and their impact on consumer responses. Her recent academic work focuses on the design and the effectiveness of minimal print advertisement, luxury branding, and metaphorical advertising and its impact on consumers from different cultures. The application of physiological methods (i.e., eye-tracking and face reading) in marketing research is also included in her academic interests. She has published her work in International Journal of Advertising, Food Research International, Journal of Promotion Management, International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, Sustainability, and Journal of Global Fashion Marketing.

E-mail: [email protected]

Christina Boutsouki

Christina Boutsouki is a professor of marketing at the School of Economics, Department of Business Administration, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She is director of studies in the MSc in logistics and supply chain management. She holds a BSc in math, an MSc in operational research, and a PhD in marketing. Her research interests lie in the areas of consumer behavior, advertising, neuromarketing, and social media marketing. Recent projects have focused on the effectiveness of humorous advertising, the use and effectiveness of minimal advertising, consumer engagement in social media, and the use of emotions in political communication. She has published her work in the International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Journal of Promotion Management, Communication and Research Reports, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, Food Research International, International Marketing Review, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, International Journal of Humor Research, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, and International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising.

Leonidas Hatzithomas

Leonidas Hatzithomas is an assistant professor in the Department of Business Administration at the University of Macedonia, Greece. His research interests include humor in advertising, visual metaphors, gender issues, IMC, and social media communications. He has published in a number of journals, including the International Marketing Review, Psychology & Marketing, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Food Research International, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Journal of Gender Studies, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, Sustainability, Journal of Marketing Communications, International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Journal of Media Business Studies, Journal of Promotion Management, Communication Research Reports, and Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising.