Associations between USPs and design characteristics of mediterranean countries' websites

Abstract

Today's process of globalization has urged countries to brand themselves like corporations. The Internet is a valuable tool in this process. Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) are a part of a company's strategy and contribute to their sales. This article attempts to investigate whether efficient selling propositions' usage is associated with efficient websites' structure and design. It analyzes branding elements and explores possible associations among design characteristics and USP delivery. The research focuses on websites of Mediterranean countries. Results show that most websites do not effectively deliver a USP. On the contrary, brand-building components of the websites orchestrate effectively clear targeting and are delivering messages to target markets.