Luxury branding on the Internet: lost opportunity or impossibility?

The paper addresses the issue of the use of the Internet for the management of luxury brands. We investigate luxury managers’ attitudes towards the use of the Internet to promote their brands and also assess consumers’ opinions and behaviour concerning luxury brands Web sites. Finally, we present the results of a content analysis of a number of luxury brands sites. Any discrepancies between expectations and reality are investigated. Results indicate that reality falls short of the expectations of both managers and customers and that the interactive potential of the Internet is not exploited. Furthermore, there is evidence that the Internet works best as a communication than as a customer acquisition channel for luxury brands.