Promoting service brands via the Internet

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Promoting service brands via theInternetIris Vilnai-Yavetza & Sigal Tiffereta

a Department of Business Administration, Ruppin AcademicCenter, Emek Hefer, IsraelPublished online: 24 Nov 2011.

To cite this article: Iris Vilnai-Yavetz & Sigal Tifferet (2013) Promoting service brands via theInternet, The Service Industries Journal, 33:15-16, 1544-1563, DOI: 10.1080/02642069.2011.636423

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Promoting service brands via the Internet

Iris Vilnai-Yavetz∗ and Sigal Tifferet

Department of Business Administration, Ruppin Academic Center, Emek Hefer, Israel

(Received 19 May 2011; final version received 25 October 2011)

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 designstrategies to communicate their intangible qualities. Differences found between thepages suggest that the design strategy of each university can be described as a pointon a continuum, where at one end is a ‘service-oriented’ design strategy and at theother a ‘practice-oriented’ design strategy. Cross-cultural differences were evident inthe use of color and image categories. Research and managerial implications arediscussed.

Keywords: intangibility; perceived risk; service brand; university web page; web pagedesign

Introduction

Marketing professionals are confronted with the problem of how to communicate the

intangible qualities of services (Mittal, 1999, 2002). This problem is intensified in the

virtual realm of marketing through the Internet (Koernig, 2003). One suggested way to

deal with this problem is by enhancing the tangibility of services in advertisements

(Koernig, 2003). In the current study we examine how service brands of different

quality use different design strategies for communicating the intangible qualities of

their service. Specifically, we studied the web pages of 500 of the world’s top-ranked uni-

versities, as rated by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) (ARWU,

2007).

We start with a review of the literature on service intangibility and perceived risk in the

context of services branding, and the design of Internet web pages in general and univer-

sity web pages in particular. We continue with a description of our methodology and

research findings, and conclude with a discussion of the results and some managerial

and research implications.

Literature review

Intangibility as an impediment to advertising services on the web

The servicescape – the set of tangible, physical cues that represent an organization to its

clients (Bitner, 1992) – has been shown to strongly influence customer behavior and sat-

isfaction (Wirtz & Bateson, 1999). The design of the virtual site that customers encounter

in an e-service setting can be labeled the ‘virtual servicescape’ (Vilnai-Yavetz & Rafaeli,

# 2013 Taylor & Francis

∗Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

The Service Industries Journal, 2013

Vol. 33, Nos. 15–16, 1544–1563, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.636423

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2006), e-servicescape (Hopkins, Grove, Raymond, & Laforge, 2009) or ‘e-scape’

(Koernig, 2003), and is also likely to influence customers’ feelings toward, perceptions

of, and inclinations to do business with an organization (Gao, 2005; Hall & Hanna,

2004; Hopkins et al., 2009). The servicescape (real or virtual) is perhaps especially impor-

tant for service firms, which involve interaction with customers and property but do not

result in a transfer of ownership or possession of physical objects, and so are inherently

characterized by intangibility (McDonald, de Chernatony, & Harris, 2001). The intangibil-

ity of services increases the uncertainty and perceived risk associated with a transaction, as

customers have no obvious means of verifying the value of what they are intending to pur-

chase (Laroche, Bergeron, & Goutaland, 2001; Laroche, McDougall, Bergeron, & Yang,

2004; Laroche, Yang, McDougall, & Bergeron, 2005; Mittal, 1999, 2002). This uncer-

tainty and perceived risk are even higher in the online environment, where not all the

senses can operate (Eggert, 2006; Laroche et al., 2005).

Increased competition in various service industries has led many companies to con-

clude that building a strong brand can help overcome the problems raised by the intangible

nature of services and give firms a competitive advantage (McDonald et al., 2001). Brand-

ing decreases perceived risk as it provides the branded product or service with known

characteristics and a strong identity (de Chernatony, Keynes, & Relay, 1998; Hem, de

Chernatony, & Iversen, 2003). Managing brands is thought to be similar in offline and

online environments, with the necessary adjustments (de Chernatony, 2001).

Researchers suggest that tangible cues such as pictures, physical symbols, or facts and

informational items can increase the perceived tangibility of services in virtual environ-

ments (Koernig, 2003) and help in creating a strong brand. Mittal (1999), for instance,

suggested seven strategies to deal with various aspects of service intangibility; these

include using images of tangible aspects of the service delivery process. Koernig (2003)

studied the effectiveness of four strategies identified by Berry and Clark (1986): ‘physical

representation’ (the use of cues such as colors, logos, or symbols to represent the values or

qualities associated with the service); ‘association’ (associating the service with some

known person, place or thing); ‘visualization’ (the use of pictures, films, etc. to provide

a mental picture of the service experience), and ‘documentation’ (providing facts and

figures). These communication strategies were found to be effective in increasing the tan-

gibility of services and in maximizing consumer attitudes and behavior (Koernig, 2003).

Stafford (1996) noted that the association and physical representation strategies of Koernig

(2003) are visually oriented, and are similar in that they link physical elements to the

service. Scott (1994), in contrast, argues that images are not a reflection of reality, but

symbols that communicate qualities and messages. She refers to images as a form of

visual rhetoric.

Perceived quality in service firms’ web pages has two aspects: service quality and web

page quality. One approach to measuring the perceived quality of service provided by the

firm builds on the SERVQUAL model (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985) and its

adaptation for electronic contexts – the E-S-QUAL model (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, &

Malhotra, 2005) – as a core concept (e.g. Bauer, Falk, & Hammerschmidt, 2006). This

approach refers to five elements of general service quality (reliability, assurance, respon-

siveness, empathy, and tangibility) and to additional aspects adapted for service firms’ web

pages (e.g. ease of navigation, site esthetics, personalization, etc.). Another approach to

measuring perceived service quality suggests a variety of new categories for e-service

(e.g. Janda, Trocchia, & Gwinner, 2002). With regard to the perceived quality of the

web page itself, Loiacono, Watson, and Goodhue (2002, 2007) presented a 12-dimension

model – the WebQual – to assess the perceived impact of web pages. The WebQual

The Service Industries Journal 1545

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includes, among others, dimensions such as trust, response time, ease of understanding,

visual appeal, innovativeness, emotional appeal, and consistent image. These approaches

to measuring service quality and to assessing the perceived impact of web pages support

the role of images in both aspects of perceived quality in service firms’ web pages. That is,

the presence of images, abstract decorations, photos, and symbols enhances the perceived

quality of both the web page and of the service itself. The current study relies on both per-

spectives – the E-S-QUAL (Parasuraman et al., 2005) and the WebQual (Loiacono et al.,

2007) – in understanding the importance of various aspects of web page design and

operation.

In short, research suggests that service firms may benefit from enhancing their virtual

servicescapes through the use of images, symbols, and other features that can be associated

with the brand, help it to project desired values (McDonald et al., 2001), and lend it a clear

identity (Mittal, 2002). The current study considers this proposition in relation to the

design of web pages for a particular type of service firm – namely, colleges and

universities.

The promotion of universities via their web pages

Technological developments have created new channels for both sales and services

(Browne, Durrett, & Wetherbe, 2004; Thompson, 2002). Via the Internet, an organization

can disseminate information about its range of services and broaden its pool of potential

clients (Rust & Kannan, 2002; Zinkhan, 2002). Since the Internet web page is the initial

contact point – and at times the only contact point – between the customer and the

company, customers’ perceptions of the company are likely to be derived from their per-

ceptions of the web page. It is therefore important to understand how the design of e-com-

merce and e-service systems affects customer reactions (Gao, 2005; Mummalaneni, 2005;

Rust & Kannan, 2002).

The importance of the Internet in college and university selection has been well estab-

lished (Poock, 2006). Universities deal with a young, literate, and innovative audience,

accustomed to using Internet services (Mechitov, Moshkovich, Underwood, & Taylor,

2001). Thus, the Internet has become a common means of providing information and mar-

keting services to prospective students (Poock, 2006).

Universities have a strong incentive to differentiate themselves from their competitors

and to enhance their academic profile through branding. First, choosing a university is a

major decision: tuition and fees may be high; students expect to study for a number of

years; and the choice may have long-term consequences. These factors make academic

services ‘high involvement’ services (Antil, 1984), for which candidates put effort into

gathering information and alternatives in order to maximize their gains and minimize

their costs.

Second, the academic context is unique in that both the client and the organization

engage in a selection process. Universities aim to position themselves higher in the rank-

ings so that they have the option of selecting the best candidates, thereby strengthening

their brand even further. In this regard, branding is designed not only to attract prospective

students, but also to raise the university’s profile for future employers, who are indirect

consumers of higher education services (Nicolescu, 2009).

The credence qualities of a product or service are those qualities that cannot be eval-

uated by the average user in the course of normal use (Darby & Karni, 1973). This means

that customers have to trust the seller or service provider. Shostack (1977) identified edu-

cation as the most intangible of services; such high intangibility is also reflected in its

1546 I. Vilnai-Yavetz and S. Tifferet

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high-credence character. That is, most prospective students are unqualified to judge the

quality of the university, the curriculum, and the faculty (Gremler & McCollough,

2002). Due to the high-credence nature of universities, the consumer’s evaluation of

quality may be directly influenced by the presence of visual cues such as the design of

the university web page.

Meeting the challenge of service intangibility in the academic context

Each university seeks to brand itself so as to create a desired image. However, since there

is a high degree of uniformity in the services provided by different universities and col-

leges, branding the university as a unique service provider is challenging (Nicolescu,

2009). Ali-Choudhury, Bennett, and Savani (2009) suggest that universities position them-

selves by means of promises, realities and symbols. Promises refer to what the prospective

student is likely to gain from selecting that university; this category can include the aca-

demic prestige of the university, the social networks on campus, or the job opportunities

that will be open to graduates. Realities involve hard facts; they can take the form of data

on acceptance rates, drop-out rates, and degree options. Symbols can take the form of a

logo, color palate and other visual cues designed to represent the values and qualities of

the university. As can be learned from the literature on services advertising (Hill, Blodgett,

Baer, & Wakefield, 2004; Mortimer, 2008), using images in the design of university web

pages may help them communicate a desired impression and increase purchase intentions

among prospective students.

Empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of using images in web pages is mixed.

Some research suggests that including photographs in web pages can enhance customers’

trust and purchase intentions, for example in the hospitality industry (Jeong & Choi, 2004)

and in e-banking (Steinbrueck, Schaumburg, Duda, & Krueger, 2002). However, there is

also evidence that using photographs can be perceived as manipulative, and can decrease

trust if not employed with care (Riegelsberger & Sasse, 2002).

In the academic context, several studies have found that images are typically included

in university and departmental web pages, though it is unclear whether and when these

images are effective. For instance, Poock and Lefond (2001) found that images were

regarded as a useful means of conveying environmental information (e.g. about a univer-

sity campus), though only half the students in their sample rated images as important.

Schultz (2009) surveyed the web pages of 50 information systems departments, and

compared the types of information presented, inclusion of multimedia content and

social tools, and the number and categories of images used. Her findings suggest that

images appear in almost every departmental web page, and include mainly people

and to a lesser extent buildings and hardware. As her sample was minimal, however,

the generalizability of her results is limited.

Vilnai-Yavetz and Tifferet (2009), in an experimental study, explored the impact on

customer reactions of images in an academic web page. Participants evaluated academic

web pages showing images of lecturers, students, university buildings, or abstract decora-

tions, and pages showing no images at all. In general, the presence of images was associ-

ated with feelings of pleasantness, perceptions of attractiveness, and perceptions of service

quality. Interestingly, images of buildings had a stronger impact with regard to those vari-

ables in comparison to images of people.

In view of the existing literature, the current study has three goals. First, the study aims

to describe and characterize a large sample of academic web pages, drawn from a broadly

accepted list of the world’s 500 top universities. Second, we aim to examine the use of


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images in this large sample of academic web pages in light of the findings of Vilnai-Yavetz

and Tifferet (2009). Finally, we propose to explore whether universities ranked at the

very highest level – the top 100 universities in the top 500 list – differ from lower-

ranked universities in terms of the design strategies they employ in the design of their

web pages.

Methodology

We adopted a survey method, following Xi, Zhuang, Huang, She, and Zhang (2007), who

surveyed and analyzed 74 Chinese corporate web pages; Callahan (2006), who surveyed

160 academic web pages from eight countries; and Schultz (2009), who surveyed 50

departmental web pages. Based on their methodology, we analyzed the home pages of

the websites (the first page of each site) as sample pages representing the content of the

websites as a whole. We based our choice of the home page as the most important page

in the website on Lindgaard, Fernandes, Dudek, and Brownet’s (2006) findings showing

that attitudes toward websites are created within the first 50 ms. This emphasizes the

importance of the home page as the first page users typically see when clicking on a

link and browsing into the site. All other decisions (how long to stay on this page,

where to continue from there, etc.) are the consequences of this impression formation

process, which takes place within a very short period.

Research sample

In the study we assessed the web pages of the world’s top 500 universities, as rated by the

ARWU in 2007 (ARWU, 2007). ARWU is published by the Center for World-Class Uni-

versities and the Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.

Since 2003, ARWU has been presenting the world’s top 500 universities annually based

on the following six indicators: number of alumni who have won Nobel prizes or Fields

medals; number of faculty who have won Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine,

or economics or Fields medals in mathematics; number of highly cited researchers in

the life sciences, medicine, physical sciences, engineering and social sciences; number

of articles published in the leading journals Nature and Science over the previous 5

years; the number of articles indexed in the Science Citation Index during the previous

year; and per capita academic performance with respect to the size of the university

(ARWU, 2011). The ARWU is regarded as one of the three most influential international

university rankings, along with the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher

Education World University Rankings (Zirulnick, 2010).

Research variables

University rank

University rank was measured as the individual rank of each university listed in the

ARWU (2007) top 500. In addition, we separated out the universities at the top and

bottom of the ranking into two groups: the first 100 and the last 100 (i.e. those ranked

1–100 and those ranked 401–500), according to their total scores based on the criteria

described above. Although all 500 universities are clearly highly ranked in absolute

terms, for the sake of statistical comparison we labeled the top 100 universities as

‘Excellent’ and the universities ranked 401–500 as ‘Good’.


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Web page characteristics

The survey assessed 53 variables, adapted from Sandvig and Bajwa (2004) and Callahan

(2006). These covered, among others, design elements (number and type of images – e.g.

students, buildings; color schemes), technologies used (e.g. flash, video), functional fea-

tures (e.g. search engines, RSS (Really Simple Syndication)), and information services

(e.g. news, weather). The full list of items is presented in the Appendix. In addition, geo-

graphical location (country and continent) was coded for each university.

Coding process

Seven teams of two judges appraised the web pages in 2009, using PC computers and an

Internet browser. The browsers were Explorer 7.0 (or the equivalent) or later, allowing

review of all advanced technological features. The 14 judges included four IT pro-

fessionals, two industrial designers, four business managers who operate their own

firms’ web pages, and four graduate students in business administration.

Five of the seven teams were each assigned 100 consecutive web pages for review.

Every web page was appraised by both team members such that each judge rated all the

variables independently, then the two conferred in order to reach agreement before

coding. Two additional teams each independently appraised 20 web pages out of every

100, resulting in the reexamination of 200 of the 500 web pages.

Reliability

Three procedures were followed in order to ensure reliability. (1) Every web page was

appraised by two team members, who discussed the data and reached agreement before

coding, as suggested by Krippendorff (1980, p. 72). (2) Two hundred randomly selected

pages (40 pages out of every 100) were independently appraised by two teams of

judges. Inter-judge reliability was substantial for most of the variables (Cohen’s k

range: 0.550–0.865). Variables with low Cohen’s k (,0.55) were removed from the ana-

lyses. These included presence of main menu and sub-menu; number of options in each

menu; and presence of movement (animated images and video clips). (3) Finally,

before starting the full coding process, all seven teams were asked to code all variables

for 10 identical university web pages. A research group meeting then took place in

which the judges discussed their coding strategies and problematic variables, and

suggested solutions for a standard coding. This process improved the reliability and val-

idity of the coding process.

Data analysis

Quantitative content analysis was used to analyze the sample of 500 web pages in order to

reveal relationships between the variables studied. This methodology is well accepted (see

for example Hinduja & Patchin, 2008) and can yield valid and valuable information

(Rourke & Anderson, 2004). The current analysis was based on objective–quantitative

measurements (see the section on web page characteristics) that allow quantitative

testing for relationships between the research variables ‘web pages design’, ‘university

rank’, and ‘geographical location’.


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Findings

Characterization of the web page design of the top 500 universities

In order to characterize the web pages of the top 500 universities, we first assessed the

general trends in the full sample. The survey showed that images were widely used,

with 96% of the web pages presenting at least one photograph or image. Almost all of

the web pages displayed the university logo (90%), usually in a square shape (93%)

located at the top of the page (76%). The university’s name appeared on each web page

eight times on average, perhaps due to a search optimization strategy (Sedigh &

Roudaki, 2003). Most of the pages had a search option (93%) and university news

reports (87%). The background colors were primarily neutral (82%) and light (81%).

Popular image categories were images of students, buildings and gardens (see Figure 1).

Comparison of the web page design of excellent and good universities

Image categories

Next, we conducted a comparison between Excellent and Good universities in order to

identify differences in their design strategies. A t-test on 14 image categories comparing

Excellent universities (ranked 1–100) and Good universities (ranked 401–500) showed

that the 100 labeled Excellent presented more images of students interacting with other

students in comparison to the 100 labeled Good (95% CI [20.69, 20.20], d ¼ 0.52 (Thal-

heimer & Cook, 2002; see Table 1). The Excellent universities also showed more abstract

or purely decorative images, in comparison to the Good universities, which showed none

whatsoever (95% CI [20.23, 20.05], d ¼ 16.00). In addition, the web pages of Excellent

universities presented more images overall in comparison to the Good universities (95%

CI [22.04, 20.52], d ¼ 0.47).

We next attempted to identify differences in the image categories chosen by Excellent

and Good universities, by measuring the ratio of each image category to all images shown

on a web page. As only the Excellent universities showed abstract or purely decorative

Figure 1. Percentage of web pages showing images, by category.


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images, these clearly occurred in a higher proportion in comparison to the Good univer-

sities (95% CI [20.08, 20.02], d ¼ 4.26). In contrast, the pages of Good universities

had higher proportions of gardens and exteriors in comparison to the Excellent universities

(95% CI [0.09, 0.25], d ¼ 0.59; 95% CI [0.03, 0.23], d ¼ 0.39 respectively; see Table 1).

Technological features

In comparison to the Good universities, the Excellent universities had more innovative

web pages from a technological perspective. Search options, news and updates, glossaries,

feedback options and weather data were all more frequently used in the web pages of the

Excellent universities than in those of the Good universities (see Table 1).

Graphics

While in most web pages the background color was neutral, the web pages of the Excellent

universities were more likely than those of the Good universities to implement a bolder

color scheme, using more cold and warm colors. Similarly, while most web pages used

a light background color, the pages of the Excellent universities were more likely than

those of the Good ones to employ a darker background (see Table 1).

Table 1. Design variables in excellent and good university web pages.

Gooduniversities M (SD)

Excellentuniversities M (SD) df t p

ImagesNumber of imagesStudent interactions 0.38 (0.62) 0.83 (1.06) 159 23.62 0.001Abstract decorations 0 0.45 (0.04) 99 23.11 0.002Images – total 2.83 (2.36) 4.11 (3.04) 186 23.32 0.001Percentage of imagesAbstract decorations 0 0.48 (0.16) 98 22.95 0.004Gardens 0.25 (0.36) 0.08 (0.19) 137 4.03 0.001Exteriors 0.30 (0.39) 0.17 (0.27) 163 2.67 0.008

Good universities % Excellent universities % df x2 p

Technological featuresSearch 47 92 1 9.09 0.003News 46 81 1 9.37 0.002Glossary 38 54 1 4.60 0.030Feedback 31 54 1 6.64 0.010Weather 21 52 1 4.75 0.029

GraphicsColor

Warm 1 6Cold 5 20Neutral 94 74 2 14.73 0.001

LightnessDark 5 18Light 91 76Medium 4 6 2 8.92 0.012

Note: Due to multiple comparisons, an alpha of 0.01 was used for all comparisons of image categories.


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Advertisements

Next, we conducted a simple correlation between the number of advertisements on the web

page and the university’s rank. Note that in the ARWU rankings, rank is continuous for the

top 100 universities, but the other 400 are categorized into groups of 50 or 100. Therefore,

in such cases every university received the median score of the category. World rank was

negatively correlated with the number of advertisements promoting the university (r(472)

¼ 20.12, p ¼ 0.009) and the number of advertisements promoting commercial firms

(r(472) ¼ 20.16, p ¼ 0.001). That is, higher ranking universities (i.e. universities

ranked at the top) had more advertisements on their web pages.

Geographical confound

In general, university rank was related to the geographical location of the university F(2,

467) ¼ 14.24, p , 0.001. North American universities had the highest rankings (M ¼

211, SD ¼ 152), followed by European (M ¼ 264, SD ¼ 140) and Asian universities

(M ¼ 309, SD ¼ 130). The Excellent universities included 58 universities from North

America, 33 from Europe, 7 from Asia and 2 others. The Good universities were more

diverse, with 26 from North America, 35 from Europe, 30 from Asia and 8 others. In

order to see whether the geographical differences were at the base of the differences docu-

mented between the Excellent and Good universities, we re-ran the analyses only on the

American sub-sample. All of the reported trends in the international sample were apparent

in the American sub-sample as well, implying that the differences between Excellent and

Good universities in their design strategies were not a result of a geographical confounding

variable.

Regional differences

In addition to the general trends, geographical location was associated with differences in

the type and number of images exhibited in the web page. There was a significant effect of

location (continent) on the number of images of female lecturers F(2, 466) ¼ 6.07, p ¼

0.002, exteriors F(2, 466) ¼ 3.92, p ¼ 0.02, interiors F(2, 466) ¼ 4.01, p ¼ 0.02, equip-

ment F(2, 466) ¼ 4.76, p ¼ 0.009, sport activities F(2, 466) ¼ 4.99, p ¼ 0.007, and on

the overall number of images F(2, 466) ¼ 3.81, p ¼ 0.02. Bonferroni post-hoc compari-

sons revealed that North American universities exhibit more images of female lecturers

than European and Asian ones and fewer images of exteriors and interiors in comparison

to European universities. European universities exhibit more images of equipment than

North American and Asian ones, while North American universities show more images

of sports activities than European universities. Overall, Asian universities exhibited

fewer images than North American or European universities. Some of these differences

may be attributed to the regional differences in ranking. However, some of the regional

differences were not found between excellent and good universities. These include differ-

ences in image categories such as female lecturers, interiors, equipment, and sports (see

Table 2).

There were also regional differences in the use of color. European web pages were

more likely to use neutral colored backgrounds than were those from universities in

Asia or America (x2(6) ¼ 22.64, p ¼ 0.001). American web pages were more likely to

use warmer colors as the main color in the web page. Web pages from universities in

Asia showed a stronger tendency to use medium lightness in the background, while Amer-

ican pages tended to use darker backgrounds (x2(6) ¼ 39.28, p , 0.001).


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Slogans

Finally, we conducted an initial categorization of universities’ slogans. Of the 500 univer-

sity web pages, 67 (13%) presented a slogan. Content analysis revealed that the slogans

represented four major themes. The first theme emphasized research and discovery (e.g.

‘Driven to discover’, ‘The university to discover’, ‘A world of research’, ‘Advancing

and disseminating knowledge and understanding’, ‘Inventing the future of medicine’,

‘Design the future’). The second theme, similar to the first, emphasized innovation and

originality (e.g. ‘Where innovation starts’, ‘See differently’, ‘Inspiring innovation and dis-

covery’, ‘Unconventional wisdom’, ‘Original thinking’, ‘Imagination and Courage’,

‘Thinking without limits’, ‘Redefine the possible’). The third theme emphasized society

(e.g. ‘Advancing health worldwide’, ‘Science for the benefit of humanity’, ‘Serving

science and society’, ‘Dedicated to the service of the nation’). The fourth theme high-

lighted excellence and leadership (e.g. ‘Leading the way’, ‘What starts here changes the

world’, ‘University of excellence’, ‘A leading European university’, ‘Achieving inter-

national excellence’, ‘You’re in a great place’).

Discussion

Universities, being high-credence services, are faced with the challenge of building a

strong and trustworthy brand in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors,

who may offer a similar quality of educational services. The current study was designed to

shed light on the design strategies used by different groups of universities with the goal of

helping them achieve a competitive advantage. We analyzed the web pages of the world’s

top 500 universities, and compared the strategies used by Excellent and Good universities

to differentiate themselves by using different mixes of colors, images, and search options

in the design of their web pages. Our main findings will be elaborated next.

Most academic web pages present at least one image. This finding suggests that uni-

versities expect images to have a positive effect, in keeping with the findings of Vilnai-

Yavetz and Tifferet (2009) that images in academic web pages increase feelings of plea-

santness, perceptions of attractiveness, and perceptions of service quality. The use of

images is in accordance with the arguments of Steinbrueck et al. (2002, p. 1) that a

picture in a web page ‘says more than a thousand words’, and of Scott (1994, p. 1) that

‘images are a sophisticated form of visual rhetoric’. It also supports research in contexts

such as the hospitality industry. For instance, Jeong and Choi (2004) found a positive

effect of images on attitudes and buying intentions in hotel web pages, and Perdue

(2001) shows that the perceived quality of resorts presented online is the outcome of

Table 2. Number of images in university web pages by category and continent.

North America M (SD) Europe M (SD) Asia M (SD) F p

Number of imagesFemale lecturers 0.20 (0.41) 0.09 (0.28)a 0.08 (0.35)a 6.07 0.002Exteriors 0.59 (0.78)a 0.84 (1.10)b 0.82 (0.75)ab 3.92 0.020Interiors 0.19 (0.44)a 0.34 (0.60)b 0.33 (0.64)ab 4.01 0.020Equipment 0.24 (0.50)a 0.41 (0.76) 0.21 (0.57)a 4.76 0.009Sports activities 0.24 (0.50)a 0.11 (0.39)b 0.13 (0.41)ab 4.99 0.007Images – total 3.85 (2.85)a 3.89 (3.04)a 2.87 (2.76) 3.81 0.020

Note: Means with the same letter in their superscripts do not differ significantly from one another according to aBonferroni test with a 0.05 limit on familywise error rate.


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key factors including overall web page quality, visual attractiveness of the web page, the

information content of the web page, and resort images.

In contrast to the recommendation of Vilnai-Yavetz and Tifferet (2009), images of

buildings (exteriors or interiors) are used in general less than images of people (lecturers

and students) in the design of academic web pages. Perhaps this incongruence can be

understood in light of the differences between the two studies. Vilnai-Yavetz and Tifferet

(2009) studied consumer responses to fictive web pages of universities purporting to offer

courses in distance learning. In such situations, the perceived risk is high (Eggert, 2006),

producing in prospective clients a need to confirm that the organization exists in reality (de

Chernatony et al., 1998). Williams van Rooij and Lemp (2010), for example, report the

results of a content analysis of 43 web pages of e-learning programs. They found that uni-

versities promote e-learning programs in a manner that presents clearly and explicitly who

they are, what they are offering, and what target audience they are seeking to reach, but

they fail to employ marketing-oriented concepts such as a Unique Selling Proposition

or unique benefit promises. In contrast, the present study was conducted on the web

pages of the world’s 500 top-ranked universities. Such universities – which are already

well-known brands (Nicolescu, 2009) – do not need to assure their prospective clients

of their mere physical existence (Hem et al., 2003); instead, their focus is on communicat-

ing attributes such as quality. This is further illustrated by the types of images used on the

web pages of the 100 highest-ranked universities, in comparison to those ranked only

401–500. The most outstanding universities have less need to make prospective clients

aware of their existence; rather, they are interested in promoting their brand. These univer-

sities use a higher proportion of abstract, decorative, image-building images. The lesser-

ranked universities need to make prospective students aware that they are out there, and so

rely more on images of physical elements such as gardens and exteriors.

Our finding that images of people appear more than images of buildings in the design

of academic web pages is interesting in light of findings by Cyr, Head, Larios, and Pan

(2009) that users perceived a web page as more appealing and as having more social pres-

ence when the page showed human images with facial features, in comparison to human

images without facial features or no human images. However, their study involved e-com-

merce web pages, and the question remains whether facial features are important in the

design of web pages in the academic context, and if so, for what type of universities.

Returning to the differences between the web pages of our two subgroups, our findings

that the highest-ranked universities rely more on symbols such as logos, colors and other

visual cues are in accordance with suggestions by Nicolescu (2009) and Ali-Choudhury

et al. (2009) that such universities are impelled to put effort into branding themselves. Evi-

dence from the marketing literature suggests that such visual cues can be key to brand-

building. For instance, colors, which are remembered more readily than shapes, are the

first point of identification for a brand, and thus an easy cue to differentiate brands from

their competitors (Zaichkowsky, 2010). In adopting a color scheme of dark hues, which

is associated with authority and prestige (Madden, Hewett, & Roth, 2000), the excellent

universities follow Aslam’s (2006) and Singh’s (2006) recommendations to choose

colors that support their brand and communicate corporate position.

Design is a powerful strategic tool (Kotler & Rath, 1984). As such, the design strategy

of each university should fit its marketing strategy plan. Each university must determine

how to communicate its brand values to prospective students. Berry (2002) presented

five strategies for the relationship marketing of services. The ‘core-service’ strategy,

which attracts new customers through its need-meeting character and is directed toward

central rather than peripheral target market needs, can be considered as matching the


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expected service strategy of a good or average university. In contrast, the ‘service augmen-

tation’ strategy, which is characterized by ‘building extras into the service’, or the

‘relationship customization’ strategy, which involves tailoring the service to the situation

(Berry, 2002), are both more likely to reflect the strategies and values of top universities.

In discussing the use of color schemes, advanced technologies, and images in the

design of universities’ web pages, the question arises whether a university should try to

present itself as unique, or to communicate its resemblance to a specific group of univer-

sities, which share the same set of values, reputation, and service marketing strategy. Our

results show a significant resemblance between web pages of similarly ranked universities,

as well as significant differences between the web pages of top versus good universities.

This suggests that universities primarily choose to adapt their design strategies to their

general ranking category and to the matched services marketing strategy, and are less

likely to ‘cut through the clutter’ with a unique design that reflects a unique service mar-

keting strategy.

Bang, Raymond, Taylor, and Moon (2005) analyzed the content of advertisements in

the US and Korea in order to identify the SERVQUAL dimensions (Parasuraman et al.,

1985) conveyed by these ads and the role of culture in services advertising strategies. Fol-

lowing their content analysis methodology, we also quantitatively analyzed design

elements and interpreted them using measures of service quality. The results of this analy-

sis suggest that the design strategies of the surveyed universities can be described as points

on a continuum. At one end of the continuum is the ‘service-oriented’ design strategy,

aimed at reflecting service marketing strategies such as ‘service augmentation’ and

‘relationship customization’ (Berry, 2002). At the other end of the continuum, the ‘prac-

tice-oriented’ design strategy is aimed at reflecting services marketing strategies such as

the ‘core-service’ strategy.

Applying the SERVQUAL model (Parasuraman et al., 1985) to analyze these results,

we suggest that some universities – adopting the service-oriented design strategy – aim to

create a service atmosphere by focusing on their customers (students), on the esthetics of

the design elements used, and on the capacities of the technological platforms employed

(e.g. search engines). Elements of the SERVQUAL, we suggest, are reflected in the images

and design elements applied to universities’ web pages. For example, images showing lec-

turers and students and the interactions among them strengthen the university’s perceived

empathy; decorative imagery and academic symbols create a more tangible view of the

service; and the advanced technological features emphasize the university’s responsive-

ness. At the other end of the continuum, the practice-oriented design strategy implements

these parameters to a lesser extent, presenting practical web pages containing information

for prospective students but doing so with fewer images, fewer decorative additions, and

fewer search options.

It appears that the excellent and merely good universities are located at the two poles of

the continuum. The service-oriented design strategy characterizes a high proportion of the

excellent universities’ web pages, while the practice-oriented strategy characterizes a high

proportion of those of the merely good universities. Specifically, we found that in compari-

son to the good universities, excellent universities exhibit significantly more images of

interactions between students. Excellent universities also display more abstract and dec-

orative images, and use a bolder color scheme with darker and less neutral color

choices. Finally, excellent universities use more technological features such as search

options, news updates, glossaries, feedback options, and weather data. The merely good

universities’ web pages show a higher proportion of gardens and exterior images. They

emphasize tangible and physical aspects of the university, in contrast to student


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atmosphere or abstract academic symbols. Why this is so may be related to the degree to

which the quality of service at the different institutions is considered high-credence

(Gremler and McCollough, 2002). It may be assumed that merely good universities

have a weaker reputation, and thus must work harder to show their virtues and qualities.

Perhaps prospective students of those less well-known universities are in a situation of

uncertainty. They need to feel assured that the university they are considering is not a

small, insignificant institute with limited resources and facilities. These issues are of inter-

est to prospective students (Mansfield & Warwick, 2005). Prospective students of leading

universities, on the other hand, assume that these universities have excellent facilities.

Their dilemmas are which of these top universities suits them best; which university fits

their personal inclinations, skills and aspirations. They are looking for cues about the uni-

versity’s special added value and not about its basic services. Put differently, prospective

students of lower ranking universities may need to satisfy their need for security;

prospective students of top universities may need to satisfy their need for self-actualization

(Herzberg, 1966; Maslow, 1954). Therefore, showing building exteriors and gardens is a

good design strategy for good universities, while the more well-known leading universities

can afford to employ abstract symbols and decorations to convey their message of

uniqueness.

We speculate that by implementing a service-oriented design approach, the highest-

ranked universities improve the perceived quality of their service. This service-oriented

design approach may also be one of the factors that position these universities as the

best. For instance, with regard to the technological platforms in web pages, Sandvig

and Bajwa (2004) found that university students have a significant preference for using

browsing methods such as hyperlinks over search features and combined methods. They

are also more successful at finding information in this fashion. This finding stresses the

value of technological features in academic web pages, and especially emphasizes the

importance of search options to create a positive first impression for prospective students.

Universities who have more search options thus have a competitive advantage.

Another issue raised in this study is the potential for cross-cultural differences in aca-

demic web page design. As described above, American universities tend to exhibit more

images of female lecturers and more images of sports activities than European and Asian

universities. European universities’ web pages show more images of exteriors, interiors,

and equipment, and those of Asia show fewer images overall. The survey also revealed

regional differences in the use of color. For instance, web pages of American universities

are more likely than European or Asian pages to use warmer colors and darker hues.

Our results support previous work identifying cross-cultural differences in marketing

in general and in university web pages in particular. Callahan (2006), in a study of 160

academic web pages from eight countries, found differences with regard to elements

such as number and type of images, color, and languages, though her hypotheses relating

the findings to Hofstede’s (2001) dimensions of cultural differences were not confirmed.

Knight, Gunawardena, and Aydin (2009) showed that students from different countries

and cultures differently interpret the meaning of icons and images in university web

pages. Aslam (2006) discusses psychological and cultural factors that influence color per-

ceptions and interpretations. For example, he shows that black represents power and auth-

ority in the US and UK, but weakness in India. Similarly, Madden et al. (2000) found that

while blue, green, and white share similar meanings across countries, black and red are

interpreted differently in different cultures. Given that color evokes strong product and

service associations (Aslam, 2006), such findings are important as web designers and mar-

keters seek to take cross-cultural perspectives into account (Singh, 2006).


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Managerial implications

By learning from the habits of top universities, the current study supports the claim that

service-oriented design strategies can use visual cues and technological features to com-

municate service quality in an academic web page, where universities face the challenge

of positioning themselves against competitors who offer essentially equivalent services

(Nicolescu, 2009). In accordance with Ali-Choudhury et al. (2009), we found that univer-

sities appear to use symbols, logos, colors and other visual cues to differentiate them-

selves. We suggest that for leading universities more abstract and symbolic elements

are preferred, while less-known universities prefer more tangible images, such as build-

ings, gardens, and facilities. Both groups of universities seem to favor images of people

– lecturers, students, and interpersonal interactions – over images of buildings and facili-

ties. Previous research on this issue has produced mixed results. For example, Vilnai-

Yavetz and Tifferet (2009) found that images of buildings produced more positive reac-

tions than images of people in academic web pages, but Cyr et al. (2009) found that

human images created more positive responses than non-human images.

In an era of a strong competition in academic services (Nicolescu, 2009), it is only

reasonable to expect that any capable university will strategically use its design abilities

to cut through the clutter and attract the attention of prospective students. It is thus surpris-

ing to find a rather uniform approach to universities’ web page design. We found that top

universities tend to adopt a service-oriented design strategy, while the good universities

adopt a practice-oriented one. It is suggested that much as packaging helps a product

cut through the clutter and get itself noticed by the consumer (Louw and Kimber,

2007), so does the design of a web page for a service firm, a university in our context. Mar-

keting managers as well as designers should give more thought to the possibility of using

unique design strategies and applying elements such as colors and images in new and crea-

tive ways.

The findings of the current study confirm that, in accordance with the findings of

Sandvig and Bajwa (2004), the more advanced the technological features of an academic

web page, the higher-ranked a university is likely to be, and the stronger its brand.

However, it is unclear whether the more advanced features help build the university’s

image in such cases, or simply reflect the fact that such universities give priority to

such aspects of marketing, and so make use of advanced electronic marketing services

that can implement advanced technological features.

Regarding color schemes, the current study found differences in this regard between

universities ranked excellent and merely good. Specifically, leading universities are

more likely to use a bolder color scheme, in keeping with the recommendations of

Madden et al. (2000) regarding design features for leading brands. But our findings also

suggest that national or cross-cultural differences may influence the impact of particular

colors, a phenomenon also noted by Aslam (2006), Singh (2006), and Madden et al.

(2000). Further research is needed before it will be possible to assess the managerial

implications of particular color schemes for academic brand-building.

As noted earlier, the academic context is unique, since both the client and the organ-

ization engage in a selection process. In this, universities stand in contrast to most other

services, where almost all customers are welcomed. We suggest that the design of an aca-

demic web page may be aimed not only at attracting a specific segment of the market, but

also at discouraging applications from individuals who do not belong to the university’s

target audience. This is something that web designers should take into account as they con-

sider various images, symbols, and colors. In addition, the high-credence nature of


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universities (Gremler and McCollough, 2002) should be taken into account in planning

and designing university web pages in a manner that communicates information, trust-

worthiness and willingness to help.

Finally, another way to deal with the uniqueness of the academic context, where both

the client and the organization engage in a selection process, is by focusing on the clients

themselves. Customer engagement has become an increasingly important tool influen-

cing business success (Verhoef, Reinartz, & Krafft, 2010). As of now, customer engage-

ment practices primarily focus on including customers in the development of new

products and services (Hoyer, Chandy, Dorotic, Krafft, & Singh, 2010). However, cus-

tomer engagement can also take the form of involving customers in defining desired and

unique strategies for web page design. Hoyer et al. (2010) cite several motivations for

customers to engage in new product development, among them financial rewards, the

social benefits of recognition, and psychological rewards such as positive affect. Univer-

sities can use these motivators to encourage student engagement in designing web pages

and in planning long-term design strategies. This can be done by employing focus

groups, surveys, and even lab experiments similar to the one conducted by Vilnai-

Yaevtz and Tifferet (2009) for testing attitudes toward various design strategies,

design element preferences, and suggestions of creative new ideas. It is suggested that

such a strategic design effort can involve not only prospective students, but also

current students who are familiar with the university, and even faculty members who

share some perspectives with their students, but have different perspectives on other

topics. Such an initiative can encourage the adaptation of the web page design strategy

to the new generation of students – the millennials, Net-generation, or digital generation

(Buckingham & Willett, 2006) – who are technologically savvy, who adopt new tech-

nologies eagerly and who manage their social lives through social network sites such

as Facebook, cell phone texting, and instant message software. In this way, universities

may position themselves more effectively in relation to their competitors as well as their

prospective students.

Future research

The present study describes the characteristics of academic web pages created by interna-

tionally regarded universities, and highlights the differences between excellent and good

universities, especially with regard to graphic elements such as images, colors, and forms.

Future studies might extend this work by comparing excellent with very low-ranking uni-

versities, to see whether the trends observed here – such as more pictures of physical

structures in the web pages of the lower-ranked subgroup – continue as rankings fall.

Another area suggested by the current findings is university slogans. Using the

grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1990), university slogans can be qualitat-

ively analyzed according to their content, symbolic associations, emotional tones,

unique selling propositions, and other marketing aspects. Categorization of university

slogans can assist in understanding cross-cultural branding and services branding in

general and academic branding in particular.

Cross-cultural differences offer additional fertile ground for further study. Callahan

(2006) compared 160 academic web pages, 20 each from eight countries, and analyzed

them according to Hofstede’s (2001) dimensions of cultural differences. Most of her

hypotheses were not supported, but their rationale is worth additional research. Looking

at a larger sample through a cross-cultural lens may add to the understanding of web

page design in various cultures. It is suggested that future surveys using our sample of


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top 500 universities’ web pages include an analysis of each relevant country according to

Hofstede’s dimensions and a comparison of web pages according to cultures.

Finally, rapid technological developments mean that new studies in the field of online

services marketing will always be needed. New features that should be studied, for

example, are social media options, such as links to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Conclusions

The current study illustrates how service brands of different quality use different design

strategies for communicating the intangible qualities of academic services. It is suggested

that universities’ web page design strategies can be described as a continuum anchored by

a ‘service-oriented’ design strategy at one end, and a ‘practice-oriented’ design strategy at

the other. Cross-cultural differences were evident in the use of colors and in the implemen-

tation of image categories. Our study shows that designers of academic web pages should

be aware of various considerations, including cultural differences, the university status and

rank, and the page’s target audience, in decision making regarding the use of design

elements such as images, colors, and technological features.

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Appendix. List of survey variables

Name of variable Content/meaning of variable

Logo Number of times the logo appears permanently (not in a photo or a movingimage)

Logoloc Logo location in the web pageLogohead Logo appearance in the URL lineHebname Number of times the university’s name appears in the local languageEngname Number of times the university’s name appears in English (be it the local

language or not)Ad_rlvnt Number of ads promoting the universityAdirlvnt Number of ads promoting commercial firms (not related to the university)Movement Presence of any kind of movement (video, replacing photos, university news,

etc.)Video Presence of links to videotapesGarden Number of photos of natural landscape (gardens, plants, flowers, pond or pool,

etc.)StudentM Number of photos of male studentsStudentF Number of photos of female studentsLcturerM Number of photos of male lecturersLcturerF Number of photos of female lecturersLecStu Number of photos of lecturers interacting with studentsStuStu Number of photos of students interacting with other studentsStudent Total number of photos of students (total images of students in all settings)Celebs Number of photos of celebrities (the president of the US, a famous judge, a

Nobel prize winner, etc.)Decor Number of images with abstract or decorative elementsSymbol Number of abstract and non-abstract academic symbols (book, atom structure,

medal, etc.)Form The shape of the main image in the web page (square, circle, both, other)


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http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2010/0916/New-world-university-ranking-puts-Harvard-back-on-top

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2010/0916/New-world-university-ranking-puts-Harvard-back-on-top

Exterior Number of photos of building exteriorsInterior Number of photos of building interiors (labs, classes, auditorium, libraries, etc.)Equipmnt Number of photos of equipment (lab equipment, computer, blackboard,

multimedia projector, etc.)Sport Number of photos showing sport activitiesPicmount The overall number of images presented in the web pagePIC_Flash Presence of automatically replaced imagesPIC_Click Presence of images replaced by clickingPIC_mouseover Presence of images replaced by pointing on them with the mousePIC_Refresh Presence of images replaced by using the REFRESH option (F5)Color_Bg Main background color (warm, cold, neutral)Hue_bg Main background lightness (dark, light, midrange)Color Most dominant color in the web page, in addition to the main background color

(warm, cold, neutral)Hue Most dominant hue in the web page, in addition to the main background hue

(dark, light, midrange)M_SumMenu Number of options (headings) in the main menuM_Sub_Menu The way sub-options appear in the main menu (pointing with the mouse, clicking

with the mouse, appearing all the time, no sub-options)S_SumMenu Number of options (headings) in the secondary menuS_Sub_Menu The way sub-options appear in the secondary menu (pointing with the mouse,

clicking with the mouse, appearing all the time, no sub-options)Search Presence of all types of search optionsNews Presence of university news and updatesGlossary_A-Z Presence of an A–Z glossaryQuickLink Presence of a quick link search optionLanguage Ability to switch interface languageFAQS Presence of a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ optionRSS Presence of a RSS option (the option to be in contact with the university)Feedback Presence of an option to comment or offer feedback on the content, usability, and

design of the websiteDate The appearance of the last date of web page updateWeather Weather data in the university areaVoice Use of voice in the web pageSlogan Presence of a sloganSlogan_Text The content of the slogan (if exists)Scroll Is there a need to scroll the screen (up–down or right–left) to see all

information?Copyright Is there any copyright sign (TM, w, #?)


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Documents

Promoting service brands via the Internet