Internal Branding: Role of a Cocreated Corporate Event Message

Abstract

To improve the effectiveness of corporate events, organizational leaders and meeting planners are increasingly looking for new approaches to involve attendees in active participation and cocreation of desired outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine how a cocreated message delivered during the corporate event served the role of effective internal brand communication. Signaling theory and service-dominant logic were the foundation for the research framework, supporting the argument that if value was cocreated during the corporate event, it positively influences the goals established by event organizers. Research was conducted using online self-administered questionnaires collected from 235 employees of a US-based hotel chain, attendees of the annual corporate event. Results revealed that when a strong corporate message was evaluated as cocreation it positively affected attendees' internal word-of-mouth (iWOM) intention and perceptions of the brand's competitive service advantage. Message strength was influenced by attendees' views of leadership authenticity. Repeat event attendees' message evaluation was affected by leadership authenticity continuity, while first-time attendees' evaluation was influenced by leadership authenticity uniqueness. The study introduced and tested a novel framework focused on the effectiveness of event messaging based on cocreated value appraisal. It is one of the first studies to focus on annual corporate events as an effective tool for cocreated corporate communication. Managers should strategically utilize corporate event messaging delivered by authentic leaders to empower employees as ambassadors of the brand and focus on the importance of message strength to cocreate value between the organization and employees.