Selling Luxury Brands Online
F. H. Rolf Seringhaus

ABSTRACT. This research examines the issue of online selling of luxury brands. Of key interest is first, to determine what Internet presence luxury brands have and second, whether luxury brands sell their products and services online. This is the first study to undertake a content analysis of luxury brands on the Internet, and thus is largely exploratory. A survey of 190 luxury brand websites provides the data to create a profile and comparative analysis of luxury brands. The key research objective is, using common terminology and measures, to understand how luxury brands use the Internet and to determine differences in website characteristics related to online selling. Conclusions and implications are discussed. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth
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KEYWORDS. Luxury brands, luxury concept, luxury buyer profile, purchase influence, Internet, online selling, interactive technology, website characteristics

INTRODUCTION This paper examines how luxury brands use the Internet. The focal point of this study is to determine which luxury brands sell online and how they are using the Internet–that in some respects is a challenge to
F. H. Rolf Seringhaus, PhD, is Professor of Global Marketing at the School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Ave. West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L3C5, Canada (E-mail: rseringhaus@wlu.ca). Journal of Internet Commerce, Vol. 4(1) 2005 http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JICOM © 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J179v04n01_01

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their traditional ways. It is important to recognise that most luxury brands in the consumer goods categories1 originate in just a handful of countries, namely France, Italy, Switzerland, the U.K. and