Promoting service brands via the Internet

Abstract

This paper suggests a new typology of web design strategies in the academic context, in terms of perceived service quality. A survey of the web pages of 500 high-ranking universities illustrates how academic service brands use different design strategies to communicate their intangible qualities. Differences found between the pages suggest that the design strategy of each university can be described as a point on a continuum, where at one end is a ‘service-oriented’ design strategy and at the other a ‘practice-oriented’ design strategy. Cross-cultural differences were evident in the use of color and image categories. Research and managerial implications are discussed.

Keywords:

• intangibility
• perceived risk
• service brand
• university web page
• web page design