The Country-of-Origin Effect and the language of fashion corporate websites: the case of Max Mara Fashion Group

Globalization has forever changed the international business scenario; corporations have become global structures in which people from different cultures and social backgrounds com-municate from anywhere in anytime with any device. In this new unique and international mar-ket, a common code of communication is used by people within multinational corporations, spe-cifically a lingua franca. Nowadays, due to its growing importance, English has achieved the status of lingua franca in this international business environment. Due to globalization, multinational corporations have become more and more competitive and new strategies for selling products have been developed. The dynamic and complex concept of the Country-of-Origin Effect has been used as a competitive advantage by corporations since 1965. The competitiveness of the globalized world has increased the importance of this strategic tool and multinational corporations have to beware of counterfeited and non-original products in order to avoid consumers' discontent. The advent of the World Wide Web and the new technologies have favoured the usage of corporate websites as fundamental tools for corporations in order to enhance the Country-of-Origin Effect and promote a positive corporate image. These tools are means for communicating both internally and externally. In this way, corporations are able to be competitive in an easier and quicker way and they can save money. In this dissertation, after having provided the theoretical background for my analysis, I will analyse and compare the Italian and English versions of an Italian corporate website. My purpose is to find out the strategies used by the Italian corporation in order to promote †˜Made in Italy' in the luxury fashion industry. The analysis is based especially on the dimensions and strategies of the Country-of-Origin Effect in order to find out whether and to what extent the language used in the corporate website aims at promoting a positive image of the corporation and convincing potential consumers to buy its products.