If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This paper aims to investigate how the strength of a corporate brand influences the adoption of an innovative service, and the main components of the construct: corporate brand (CB). Design/methodology/approach -A real-world, online, information acceleration experiment was conducted where the marketing mix and competitive environment was held constant for a new service from three different CBs. Respondents indicated their likelihood of buying from each of these and their perceptions of them. Findings -The study finds that there was a significant relationship between CB strength and respondents' likelihood of adoption of the service. The CB construct was found to comprise two factors: conative and cognitive, where the former was more influential on adoption probability. Research limitations/implications -A limited set of variables commonly associated with brands was taken to be representative of CB. Further research would be needed to more generalise the findings and more fully examine the CB construct for its components. Practical implications -A competent marketing mix is not sufficient on its own to gain the adoption of an innovative service: a strong CB is influential. The emotive rather than factual associations with the CB may well be a more influential on adoption decisions. Originality/value -An indication of the scale of the CB effect on innovation adoption is given. CB is indicated to have two components: emotive and factual. Those managing the potential launch of an innovative service and who may have several corporate brands to choose from to use would be aided by this research.