The Presentation of Automotive Brands in the On-Line Environment—The Perspective of KIA, Peugeot, Toyota and VW in the Slovak Republic

Abstract

This article deals with the analysis of the reputation of global automobile manufacturers primarily in the territory of the Slovak Republic for their comparison. The reputation of brands in the wider Central European and global context has also been considered. The selected brands were Volkswagen, Toyota, KIA, and Peugeot. Selected car brands either have a production plant in Slovakia or are well known in Slovakia, thanks to high global brand awareness. E-business marketing activities in the automotive sector are a major challenge to sustainability in the industry. The analysis took into account official information provided by automotive companies for the purpose of reputation management, as well as external data such as automotive media articles, independent reviews and customer feedback. The findings of the article include a detailed analysis of the online reputation of examined individual brands. The article also provides a list of the most important factors that can positively or negatively affect brand reputation, defined based on previous analysis. In conclusion, the authors try to make use of the findings and build a brief set of recommendations on how to correctly apply the reputation management principles to the overall strategy of the organization.