Corporate Image on the Web

This book is a thorough analysis of corporate identity, public relations, and corporate Web sites. The study followed a tripartite path to examine the ways in which: (a) global corporations project their identity through the Web; (b) two-way communication online can occur between those organizations and their publics; and (c) corporate Web sites affect publics'' perceptions. This work reports the results of both a content analysis of corporate Web sites of the “2001 Fortune 500 Global List” and a qualitative analysis aimed at analyzing participants'' perceptions of some corporate Web-sites'' identity. Conclusions on corporate identity suggest that global corporations have been using the Web only partially in their efforts to project their corporate identity. Findings on sites'' access reveal that global corporations'' Web sites addressed mass media, investors, and customers as their most important publics. Lastly, findings on publics'' perceptions suggest that the absence, presence, and quality of projection of the corporate identity elements affected participants'' perceptions toward the Web sites and their actual organizations.