Global public relations on the web: An exploration of projection of corporate identity online, its effect on public perception, and its potential for two-way communication

This study presents an analysis of corporate identity, public relations, and corporate Web sites. The study followed a threefold path to examine the ways in which: (a) global corporations project their identity through the Web; (b) two-way communication online can take place between those organizations and their publics; and (c) corporate Web sites affect publics' perceptions. This dissertation 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. Overall, this study found that 99.4% of global corporations have a Web page. Findings on corporate identity suggest that global corporations have been using the Web only partially in their efforts to project their corporate identity, although three identity elements presented a better quality of projection than others: name/logo (96.9%), institutional color (91.9%), and icon/symbol (73.1%). Findings on sites' access reveal that global corporations' Web sites addressed mass media (90.5%), investors (89.2%), and customers (82.9%) as their most important publics. Findings on corporate communication online show that 70% of global corporations have included a communication feature such as email and electronic form in their Web sites' home page. Among those organizations, 33.5% engaged in a two-way communication. 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. When those identity elements were absent, participants had a more unfavorable perception of the site. On the other hand, when those elements were present, participants had different reactions, attitudes, and opinions, according to the quality of projection of those identity elements and their previous perception of the actual organization.