Perceptions Of Reputation Research Articles

Effects of sales promotion type and promotion depth on consumer perceptions: the moderating role of retailer reputation

This study uses a between-subjects experimental design to test the effect of two sales promotion formats (coupon versus markdown) with either high and low face values on consumer attitudes toward the deal, perceived product quality, and purchase intentions. The reputation of the retailer offering the deal is predicted to moderate the relationship between the promotional offer and consumer responses. Consumers perceive product quality to be higher when offered a high value coupon vs. markdown but there is no significant difference in perceived quality across promotion types when the promotion face value is low. When a deep price discount is offered by a retailer with a negative reputation, however, consumers have more favorable attitudes toward the deal and higher purchase intentions when provided with a markdown vs. coupon. Conversely, a high value coupon elicits more favorable evaluations than a markdown when the retailer has a positive reputation. When the value of the promotion is low and the retailer has a positive reputation, consumers have more positive deal attitudes and purchase intentions when offered a markdown vs. coupon. There is no significant difference in the effects of promotion type when the retailer has a negative reputation. The findings therefore establish retailer reputation as an important moderator of sales promotions effectiveness. This research is limited by the use of a single product category and a student sample. Process measures are also needed to validate the proposed theoretical conceptualization. The results provide managers insight into the type and value of the sales promotion to offer based on consumer perceptions of the retailer's reputation in the market.

Higher quality or lower price? How value-increasing promotions affect retailer reputation via perceived value

Marketers often attempt to increase consumers' perceptions of value by raising the quality or reducing the price of products. Five studies demonstrate that consumers are generally more sensitive to lower-price promotions than to higher-quality promotions as they form their perceptions of retailer reputation (Study 1), that the perceived value mediates this effect (Study 2), that store image (prestigious vs. thrifty) moderates the effect (Study 3), and that perceived price level (Study 4) and quality level (Study 5) independently drive the moderating effect of store image.

‘Only as good as your last gig?’: an exploratory case study of reputational risk management amongst self-employed musicians

Reputations can take years to build and moments to lose, with significant impacts on the longer term viability of an organisation. There has been a significant increase in literature on reputation risk and its management in recent times, although this has essentially focused on larger corporations. At the other end of the scale, in micro-enterprises, there appears to be very little coverage. To start to address this gap, this study provides insights into perceptions of reputational risk (RR) and reputational risk management (RRM) practice in the music industry. It explores how RR is understood in an unconventional, non-corporate context using a case study of 11 self-employed musicians operating in the South of England, UK. Respondents identified ‘competition’ as being the key risk that they faced, along with insufficient funding, unregulated contracts and protecting intellectual property rights. They did not though, at first, view their reputation in terms of risk. There was no consensus on the definitions of reputation or risk, yet there was awareness that two components determined reputation: musical ability and personal qualities. Despite appearing to have a lack of knowledge and understanding of RRM, the musicians were able to identify strategies for managing reputation, such as: behavioural adaptations, working with agents, choice of venues, use of technology, working collaboratively (with links to social identity) and being constantly reliable. They were also able to identify their stakeholders and the factors influencing their reputation, but this information was not widely used in a strategic way to routinely monitor or manage reputation. An identified ‘barrier’ to RRM was the lack of understanding of this complex issue. Having explored perceptions of reputation and RRM in micro-enterprises, this work forms a platform upon which the next stage of actually (re)designing processes and systems specifically for managing RRM in Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises can be built.

Does employee-perceived reputation contribute to citizenship behavior?

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to propose and verify a research model that investigates the mediating role of organizational commitment on the relationship between hotel employee-perceived reputation and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs).Design/methodology/approach– Based on the data obtained from a sample of 323 hotel employees in China, the reliability, validity and hypothesized relationships in the model were tested through structural equation modeling using LISREL 8.70.Findings– Empirical results show that different dimensions of corporate reputation affect OCBs differently. Social responsibility reputation has both direct and indirect effects on OCBs, while there is no direct link between employee-treatment reputation and OCBs. The relationship between corporate reputation and OCBs is mediated by organizational commitment.Practical implications– Hotel managers should pay more attention to employee perception of the hotel’s reputation. Reputation management is as important as reputation building. Favorable perception of hotel’s reputation contributes to positive behavioral intentions.Originality/value– Most recent research has explored the relationship between corporate reputation and customer behaviors. However, few studies take employee perception of reputation into consideration. This study tried to fill this void. Also, this study contributes to the current knowledge of both the reputation literature and citizenship literature by exploring the mediation of organizational commitment on the relationship between employee-perceived reputation and citizenship behaviors through data obtained from Chinese hotels.

Influence of management style on employee views of corporate reputation. Application to audit firms

In the current economic context where the behaviour of firms is carefully examined by the markets, the corporate reputation which is generated by organisations among their stakeholders may facilitate their success. Since employees are actively involved in its shaping and influence the overall perception of the firm's corporate reputation, the aim of this research is to improve the management of the employee views of reputation in order to increase its global evaluation. To do this, we analyse whether the existence of a characteristic management style influences the employee views of reputation, studying the effect of control variables such as employee age, gender, level of education or job position. Using a sample of 148 employees of Spanish accounting audit firms, we develop a specific tool for measuring the reputation from the employee perspective of service SMEs, as well as confirming that a strong participative management style promotes a better perception of reputation by employees than a competitive style. Hence, this study reflects that men prefer a competitive management style. Also, a high level of education along with job position has a positive impact on the preference of a participative style with the job position being the main moderating variable of the proposed model.

The effects of corporate reputation perceptions of the general public on shareholder value

Superior corporate reputations can have strategic value for firms. Of the “multiple reputations” associated with each firm, we focus on the perceptions of the general public. The public represents the most widely defined stakeholder group but has attracted the least amount of research interest to date. Drawing on data for German firms, this study demonstrates that superior reputation perceptions issued by the general public increase shareholder value, as measured by future stock returns. This study provides a more nuanced understanding for this novel finding. Applying a conceptualization of reputation that balances both its affective and cognitive components, we find that reputation perceptions that are driven by nonfinancial aspects are more value relevant in the future than reputation perceptions that are driven by previous financial performance. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Intentions to use and recommend to others

Purpose – In an online banking context this study seeks to explore the relation between the relationship marketing factors of customer intentions to continue to use services and to recommend these services to others, and the technology acceptance factors of self-control, usefulness, customer value, technology-based service encounter satisfaction and reputation. Innovatively this study also compares the proposed model in two countries, Portugal and Austria. Design/methodology/approach – Derived from a review of previous literature, a survey was developed and data were collected using the online survey service of universities in two countries, Portugal and Austria. The partial least squares approach was employed to test the hypotheses. Findings – The findings showed that self-control and usefulness are important antecedents of customer value delivery. Furthermore perceptions of online bank reputation were enhanced by the satisfaction derived from positive customer encounters with online banking services. Unlike the Portuguese, Austrians' perceptions of bank reputation did not significantly influence their intention to continue to use or their propensity to recommend online banking to others. Originality/value – Based on literature which suggests that constructs such as customer value, trust, satisfaction and reputation are inter-related to the technology acceptance model, this paper extends earlier theoretical frameworks and is the first study to incorporate relationship marketing constructs into a model examining intention to use, and recommending online banking services. The study also differentiates the model in two countries that represent different business and cultural settings: Portugal and Austria.

Corporate patriotism as a source of corporate reputation: a comparative multi-stakeholder approach

This paper aims to define the concept of corporate patriotism and clarify its relationship with corporate reputation in the context of multi-stakeholder engagements. It develops a scale to measure corporate patriotism. It then determines the relative importance of corporate patriotism to the perceptions of corporate reputation in four key stakeholder relationships – consumer, purchasing, employment, individual share investment and community relationships. Our research evidence shows that the stakeholder relationship context moderates the role of corporate patriotism as a dimension of corporate reputation. The results further show significant differences in the role of national identity in organisation–stakeholder relationships. Specifically, corporate patriotism is more important for the reputation of a company as an employer and local citizen than as a provider of products and services. Marketing managers should consider the reputational advantage stemming from corporate patriotism in the design of multi-stakeholder corporate communication strategies.

A new approach for measuring corporate reputation

This study describes the concept of corporate reputation and reviews some of the major points that exist when it comes to measuring it. It thus suggests a new index for measurement and its advantages and disadvantages are pointed out. The consistency of the seven key variables for the collecting indicator is described by the results of a factor analysis and correlations. Finally, the indicator is put to test by gathering the perception of corporate reputation of 1500 individuals for 69 companies belonging to 15 different industrial sectors, in Peru. The results indicate that the proposed index variables are not necessarily of greatest interest to the study sample in which companies have a better performance. Also greater memorial companies aren't necessarily those that enjoy a greater corporate reputation. Managerial implications for the organizations in the process of managing and monitoring the dimensions involved of this key asset are also referenced.

Standalone CSR reporting by U.S. retail companies

We investigate first-time use of standalone CSR reporting in the U.S. retail industry. We find it is limited to publicly traded companies and that environmental rather than other social disclosures are most prominent. We document that firms focus on discussing CSR initiatives and programs as opposed to providing performance data, suggesting the reports are more about image enhancement than transparent accountability. We explore impacts of the choice to disclose, and our findings suggest that standalone CSR reporting by the retail companies appears to positively influence perceptions of company reputation, and may be leading to increased appeal to socially responsible investors.

Corporate Reputation Management Decisions: Customer’s Perspective

When corporate reputation is analyzed from the perspective of relationship equity and communication, the analysis frequently appeals to expectations and experience of customers as the most important group of stakeholders. Yet in practice there are no methodologies of corporate reputation management of this kind that could be easily adapted and would capture the impact of reputation management decisions for sustainable customer confidence in the organization. Therefore, the research problem is structured as a question, i.e. what is the impact of corporate reputation on customer’s confidence in the organization? The proposed hypothetic model of corporate reputation management embeds customer-characteristic factors of corporate reputation perception, qualities that are inherent in the efficient management of integrated communication and reputation, and consequences of corporate reputation management in relationship to specific changes of customer behavior. The model illustrates the following assumption. The positive experience of a customer that was obtained by means of the perceived economic and social value during the development of relationship, conditions the basic outcome of positive corporate reputation, i.e. consumer advocacy which becomes evident through: increasing customer loyalty to the organization; public representation, i.e. declared confidence of the customers and their commitments in respect of the organization; increasing need for cooperation, i.e. the wish of customers to share information, participate in conflict solving and seek for mutually favorable possibilities of relationship with the organization. The information, acquired during the empirical research, yields the conclusion that all customer perception-based reputation factors, i.e. quality of goods and services, emotional appeal, vision, leadership and social responsibility, have to be strengthened in communication practices. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.24.5.3920

Information and Communication Technology Reputation for XU030 Quote Companies

By the increasing spread of information technology and Internet improvements, most of the large-scale companies are paying special attention to their reputation on many types of the information and communication technology. The increasing developments and penetration of new technologies into daily life, brings out paradigm shift on the perception of reputation and creates new concepts like esocieties, techno-culture and new media. Contemporary companies are trying to control their reputation over the new communities who are mostly interacting with social networks, web pages and electronic communication technologies. In this study, the reputation of top 30 Turkish companies, quoted to the Istanbul Stock Market, is studied, based on the information technology interfaces between company and society, such as social networks, blogs, wikis and web pages. The web reputation is gathered through 17 different parameters, collected from Google, Facebook, Twitter, Bing, Alexa, etc. The reputation index is calculated by z-index and fscoring formulations after the min-max normalization of each web reputation parameter.

Japanese Stock Market Reaction to the Announcements of News Affecting Auditorss Reputation: The Case of Olympus Fraud

The revelation of accounting fraud by the Olympus Corporation gave rise to shareholder allegations of audit failure against Olympus’ auditors — Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC and KPMG AZSA LLC — in 2011. In this study, we investigate whether the auditors’ affiliation with Olympus contributes to divergent perceptions of audit quality in the event of news announcements affecting the reputation of Olympus’ auditors. First, we use a nonparametric generalized rank event study methodology on 918 sample firms from the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) to observe Japanese investors’ perceptions of auditor reputation as proxied by abnormal returns. Second, we perform a multivariate linear regression on firms’ abnormal returns after controlling for firm-specific variables. We find that Japanese investors do not respond to negative or neutral reputational information arising from news announcements concerning Olympus’ auditors for firms affiliated and not affiliated with those auditors. In the absence of legal penalties imposed on Olympus’ auditors, we argue that Japanese investors consider the Olympus fraud case as an expected occurrence of audit failure due to a lack of evidence suggesting systematic audit failure on the part of Olympus’ auditors and an expectation of lower audit quality in the Japanese capital market. As a result, Japanese investors do not consider news announcements affecting the Olympus auditors’ reputation as sufficient evidence to change their prior expectation regarding the reputations of the audit firms affiliated with the Olympus fraud case.

Globalization of trust and internet confidence emails

Purpose – This paper aims to analyze Nigerian Letter scam emails in the context of processes of globalization in order to understand how and why they continue to defraud people despite the increased public awareness. Design/methodology/approach – This paper analyses over 500 emails received in an institutional email box over a nine-year period. Distinct rhetorical strategies for conveying trust and reputation were identified as indicators of the global connectedness of scammers and their victims. Findings – Scammers from Third World countries and their First World victims share similar perceptions of trust and business reputation due to the global financial flows and transnational movement of people and labour, which is strengthened by the internet. They have transformed the rhetorical elements that establish trust and reputation within the Western rational context and imbued them with new value meanings intended to defraud their victims. Originality/value – This paper is the first to interpret the success of Nigerian Letter scams as a product of processes that go beyond scammers' and their victims' social and political realities. It is valuable for crime-fighting organizations because it accounts not only for the rhetorical strategies used by the scammers but also for the underlying context that enables the spread and success of the online Confidence Letter scams.

Environmentally motivated actions influencing perceptions of environmental corporate reputation

Firms continue to invest in environmentally related ventures, arguing that it has some value. The objective of this study is to investigate the extent to which the environmentally motivated actions can influence stakeholders' perceptions of corporate reputation. The paper draws on corporate reputation theory and identifies that reputation can be influenced by environmental marketing. Stakeholder sensitivity and environmental processes are also examined as they underpin environmental marketing strategies. Quantitative and Qualitative research methods were used to design the research instrument. Factor analysis and stepwise regression procedures were used to analyse the data. The study suggests that while environmental processes are substantially important to a firm, such processes are not a significant predictor for corporate reputation. The study demonstrates that environmentally motivated actions on stakeholder sensitivity and environmental marketing are significant predictors of corporate reputation. The research concludes by drawing on managerial inferences that concern environmental marketing.

Reciprocal Effects of the Corporate Reputation and Store Equity of Retailers

Retailers aim to strengthen their ability to influence consumer behavior by building corporate reputation and store equity: for instance, by making promotional investments. However, little is known about the directionality of consumers’ corporate and store associations, that is, how reciprocal relationships between consumers’ perceptions of corporate reputation and store equity affect store loyalty. To illuminate this issue, we draw upon a study with a cross-sectional design and two studies with longitudinal designs. We find that retail store equity interacts with corporate reputation and is a more important driver of increased loyalty than corporate reputation. We conclude that retailers should pay attention to reciprocal effects, especially in determining the relative allocation of investments across corporate and store levels.

How Does Web Site Interactivity Affect Our Perceptions of an Organization?

This study investigates the effects of different levels of Web site interactivity on individuals' perceptions of an organization's reputation. The underlying theoretical mechanism for this relationship was explored by statistically investigating the mediating role of 3 variables—perceived customization, involvement, and liking—using bootstrapping analysis. Results indicate that the level of Web site interactivity positively influenced participants' perceptions of the organization's reputation, with liking and involvement fully mediating this relationship. These findings demonstrate the theoretical complexity of interactivity—it can at once attract users peripherally with likeable aesthetics and engage them centrally with features that involve them. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

How reputation creates loyalty in the restaurant sector

PurposeThis study attempts to investigate the causal relationships between perceived trust, perceived value, customer satisfaction, and corporate reputation to understand how customer perceptions evolve into customer loyalty in the restaurant sector.Design/methodology/approachThis study develops a research model and empirically examines the model by collecting data from two different chain restaurants. Based on the aggregated responses (n=529) from surveys conducted in the two selected chain restaurants, structural equation modeling was used to examine the hypothesized relationships between the variables.FindingsThe results reveal that corporate reputation creates loyalty through trust and value, two factors that act as important mediating variables in the model. Another key finding, based on a comparison of the total effects, is that perceived trust affects customer loyalty through customer satisfaction and that it has a stronger effect than perceived value.Practical implicationsAlong with the reputation‐loyalty linkage, which is mediated by trust and value, the minor influence of customer‐perceived value implies that restaurant managers should consider enhancing their diners' perceived value by providing innovative products and services.Originality/valueThis study develops a conceptual stimulus‐organism‐response (S‐O‐R) model that reflects the mediating role of trust and value to indicate the effect of the customer perceptions of the corporate reputation on customer loyalty in the restaurant sector.

The impact of leadership style and employee empowerment on perceived organizational reputation

Purpose – The purpose of the current study is to examine the impact of organizational leadership style and employee empowerment on employees’ perception of organizational reputation by testing a hypothesized model.

Testing the Impact of Message Interactivity on Relationship Management and Organizational Reputation

Assessing Web site interactivity from the contingent message interactivity perspective, this study investigated whether message interactivity of organizational Web sites and blog sites influence perceptions of relationship management and reputation. Guided by interactivity, relationship management, and organizational reputation theories, this study found that regardless of familiarity of the company, people evaluated organizations that responded back to their comments as more trustworthy and committed, and as having better control of mutuality and communal relationships, and higher satisfaction, compared to organizations that did not respond back. Additionally, high contingent message interactivity projected higher organizational reputation compared to low contingent message interactivity, regardless of familiarity.