Designing a genetic model (Brand DNA) for internet businesses

Online media requires to pay attention to various levers for building an appropriate identity and the image of interest of a brand to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. Meanwhile, paying attention to the brand DNA is one of the requirements of the business environment for building a sustainable identity. The main objective of this research was to design a genetic model (i.e., brand DNA) in the field of internet businesses. This research was an applied study based on the exploratory sequential mixed method. Participants for the first section were ۳۰ experts in the field of branding in the online media, which were identified and chosen using a judgmental approach and snowball sampling. Participants for the quantitative section included managers of ۲۹۳ online business companies in the science and technology parks (STPs) of Tehran universities. The sample size was determined by Cochran’s formula equal to ۱۶۶ participants who have been chosen by simple random sampling. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview (for the quantitative section) and a ۵۱-item questionnaire (for the quantitative section). The content analysis approach was adopted for analyzing the data gathered in the qualitative section. For the quantitative section, data were analyzed using SMART PLS. From the results, a total of ۱۷ sub-themes and four main themes were confirmed. Sub-themes included owner attributes, value, demands, fundamental competencies, brand story, brand promise, brand sense, personality, style, product, competitive advantage, objective, holographic culture, strategy, brand experience, communication, and standard of performance, which were known in the form of two phenotype and genotype types. Furthermore, the results of the qualitative section inconsiderably confirmed the accuracy of the designed model.

Keywords:

Branding , Online Branding , Online Businesses , Brand Genetic Model , Online Brand DNA , Genotype , Phenotype