Success on the Internet—optimizing relationships through the corporate site

Efficient communications are necessary to maintain and build sustainable customer relationships. This paper shows how the communications can be optimized through the corporate site. The authors discuss three fields of knowledge—usability, human computer interaction (HCI) and branding—and demonstrate how each field alone is insufficient but taken together they can enlighten all perspectives of communication through the Internet. By measuring the relationships between user (customer) and site (firm), they show how usability, cultural background and group affiliation influence general perception. Based on these findings, the authors have developed a model, which incorporates usability, HCI and branding, to offer optimal communication through the corporate site.