Reputation Management Research Articles

The Impact of Environmental Sustainability Measures on The Global Influence of The German Auto Industry

After the Volkswagen AG Emission Crisis, the automobile industry took special measures in terms of marketing, business management and other managerial sides. This research aims to measure the after-crisis period and whether or not other companies take necessary financial measures toward environmental sustainability. Basic OLS Regression and OLS Regression with dummy variables are utilized on the market-adjusted financial returns of the companies. There are three important findings of this research. Volkswagen AG suffered from the emission crisis not only on the marketing side but also in terms of financial management. Secondly, Mercedes AG and BMW AG did not take the necessary financial lessons from the Volkswagen Emission Crisis because of the same results. And thirdly sustainability variables have an impact on financial management near reputation and brand management. According to findings and discussions, the behaviour of the investors toward the emission scandals is negative. They are comprehensively impacted by these events. The situation can be more complex if corporal investors are added to this equation. Also, It seems that Mercedes AG and BMW AG did not take the necessary lessons from the emission scandal of Volkswagen AG despite of 3 years between events in terms of corporal financial management and automobile-technical details. More interestingly, sustainability or environmental sustainability is one of the main elements not only for the marketing and branding sides of the business but also for the financial management side of corporal management. The sustainability policies of these brands should include financial management. This situation will help the investors and companies if a new sustainability crisis occurs in the market with exact information.

The Waiting Game: A Review of the Marshmallow Task and its Impact on Society

The marshmallow task is a psychological test used for many decades to test young children’s capability to delay gratification. The basic procedure task consisted of four aspects: an activity, a reward, a choice, and a period of delayed gratification. Through diving into the classic and modern experiments of the marshmallow task and synthesizing the findings, this paper reviewed the topic of self-control as the primary driving force of influence behind the subject’s performance. This review considered the various influences that impact performance and consequentially the results and conclusions, including self-control, the experimenter’s perceived reliability, culture, power of habit, and reputation management. The period of the experiments covered in this review ranges from the studies from 1962, including the classic Stanford Marshmallow Experiment, to the modern findings, with the most recent one performed in 2023. By taking into account different investigative points, this review could help readers better understand the findings that stem from the marshmallow task and how they translate into society, in addition to new perspectives and testing variables for future research. Suggested changes for the task include expanding the age limit and changing the reward type.

Digital Reputation of the Executive Power Bodies: Discursive Factors and Communicative Techniques of Management

The paper discusses the communicative techniques of reputation management of the executive power bodies in the Russian media space. Comparing the concepts of digital reputation and digital image, the authors argue that, unlike image which is purposefully implemented in the media environment, reputation reflects the internet users’ real opinion about the activities performed by state institutions. The essential features of digital reputation are accumulative character, unpredictability and inertia. The authors define the discursive factors affecting reputation: ambiguously wide audience of the internet, distribution of target groups on different web sites, the unpredictability of users’ assessments, some citizens’ aggressive speech behaviour, etc. More than 2.5 thousand posts by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation published in the VKontakte social network and Telegram messenger were selected as the material for the research. The impact of content on the internet audience was evaluated with the ERpost rate at the Popsters service. The authors argue that effective techniques of digital reputation management are the following: communication on a particular internet platform with regard to its target audience, attractive hashtags, the tone of involvement with the interlocutor, rejection of formal style clichйs, and some others. The discursive factors of new formal communication are established, and the techniques of managing governmental bodies’ positive digital reputation are described.

The Role of Social Media in Online Reputation Management: A Case Study of Automotive Companies in the Czech Republic

The Role of Social Media in Online Reputation Management: A Case Study of Automotive Companies in the Czech Republic

Strategic Public Relations: Illuminating Corporate Visibility of Higher Learning Institutions in Tanzania through Internal Influence, Internal Collaboration, Media Engagement and Stakeholder’s Confidence

In a current state where the international higher education system has put colleges and universities under pressure of acquiring resources, corporate visibility has become vital for their sustainability and survival. This study aims at exploring the role public relations strategies can play on corporate visibility, focusing on four key themes namely internal influence, internal collaboration, media engagement and stakeholder confidence. Using a qualitative research approach, data were collected from 26 participants through in-depth interviews and supplemented by the review of relevant institutional documents. The findings reveal that internal influence magnified by effective communication play essential role in shaping the corporate visibility of the institution among the public. Internal collaboration, particularly with the management, employees and students emerged as key analytical strategy for extending the institution’s reach and influence. Also findings reveal that media engagement was a powerful tool for amplifying the institution’s achievements and initiatives, while stakeholder confidence was found to be essential in sustaining long-term corporate visibility and credibility of the institution. This study contributes to the understanding of how public relations strategies can be effectively used to illuminate the corporate visibility of Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs) particularly in Tanzania. The insights gained provide practical implications for HLIs and public relations seeking to manage the complexities of reputation management in the education sector. The study further recommends future research to explore these themes in diverse institutional contexts.

The Influence of the Code of Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility on Consumer Buying Behaviour

Objective: To analyze the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on organizational reputation and assess how codes of ethics influence consumer behavior. Theoretical Framework: This study examines CSR principles, focusing on aspects like ethical labor practices, community development, and environmental sustainability. It includes an exploration of "Greenwashing," a practice where companies promote sustainable values without significant eco-efficient actions. Method: A survey was conducted with 230 Portuguese consumers to evaluate their awareness and perceptions of CSR and ethical practices in organizations. Results and discussion: Findings indicate that CSR and ethical behavior are important to consumers when making purchase decisions. While many participants value CSR, there is limited awareness about Greenwashing among Portuguese consumers, highlighting a need for better consumer education on corporate environmental claims. Research Implications: This study underscores the importance of transparency and genuine CSR efforts in shaping consumer trust and brand reputation, and highlights the influence of CSR on consumer purchasing behavior. Originality/value: This research provides insights into Portuguese consumer perspectives on CSR and ethical codes, contributing to understanding the importance of CSR in corporate reputation management. It also offers new data on Greenwashing awareness among consumers.

Posted in Error: Did the CDC's Retraction of Aerosol Guidance Undercut Its Public Reputation?

While there is ample research on the influence of retracted scientific publications on author reputation, less is known about how a health organization's retraction of scientific guidance can impact public perceptions of the organization. This study centers on the aerosol guidance retraction of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2020. X/Twitter social media data were collected via ForSight from September 15 to October 8, 2020, with a machine learning algorithm specifically developed and used to detect sentiment toward the CDC. Regression analyses of the non-bot sample (N = 265,326) tested for differences in CDC sentiment across four stages: 1) baseline; 2) CDC guidance change; 3) CDC retraction of the prior guidance change; and 4) CDC reversion to a tempered form of the initial guidance change. The results show that sentiment toward the CDC increased from Time 1 to Time 2, then decreased for Time 3 with the "posted in error" retraction, but then increased for Time 4 back to a level similar to Time 2. That public perceptions of the CDC could improve after these changes in scientific guidance may be attributed to its self-report of the retraction and reporting that the retraction was a result of unintentional error. This study connects theories of reputation management and trust repair with the growing empirical research on retractions of published scientific research to provide a theoretical explanation for how a major public health organization can mitigate damage to its reputation in the short term.

Precommitment can allow decision makers to maintain trust when de-escalating commitment.

Following through on commitments builds trust. However, blind adherence to a prior course of action can undermine key organizational objectives. How can this challenge be resolved? Four primary experiments and five supplemental experiments (collective N = 7,759, all preregistered) reveal an effective communication strategy: precommitment (i.e., a public pledge to change course conditional on a concrete future state of the world). In the presence (vs. absence) of precommitment, observers deemed decision makers who de-escalated commitment as more trustworthy. This effect held across the roles of the decision makers (entrepreneurs vs. established leaders), the relationship with the decision makers (follower vs. third-party observer), contexts (consumer products vs. infrastructure projects), and measures (perceived integrity vs. incentivized behavior). These benefits for integrity were attenuated when the precommitment was to a vague future action or was not conditional on a concrete future state of the world. Finally, results revealed that precommitment can yield a negative externality: undermining perceived confidence and motivation among followers at a project's inception. Altogether, our work provides a nuanced perspective on a communication strategy decision makers can use to align short-term personal incentives (i.e., reputation management) and long-term organizational incentives (i.e., value maximization). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Power, Responsibility and Reputation of Internet Celebrities: An Ethical Examination from Social Media "Traffic Dividend" to "Collapse" Phenomenon

In recent years, the "traffic dividend" of social media has led to the rapid rise of internet celebrities, becoming a significant force in the online ecosystem. However, with the rise of traffic-centered business models, internet celebrities frequently experience "collapse" phenomena - rapidly losing public trust due to misconduct or inappropriate speech. Based on cases from 2024 including the "Three Sheep" counterfeit sales incident, "Kongkong Diary" insulting netizens, "Li Jiaqi" inappropriate price comments, "Northeast Rain Sister" selling counterfeits and assault, and "Juanzi Loves Eating" mocking history, this paper combines communication ethics theory to analyze the misconduct and lack of responsibility among internet celebrities in the process of obtaining traffic dividends. It also explores the power structure and reputation management issues of internet celebrities, aiming to propose ethical standards and responsibility mechanism recommendations for the healthy development of the internet celebrity industry.

CEO turnover and director reputation

This paper analyzes the reputational effects of forced CEO turnovers on outside directors. We find that directors interlocked to a forced CEO turnover experience large and persistent increases in withheld votes at subsequent re-elections relative to non-turnover-interlocked directors. Directors are not penalized for an involvement in a turnover per se but for forced CEO turnovers that are related to governance failures by the board. Our results challenge the widespread view that forcing out a CEO can generally be understood as a sign of a well-functioning corporate governance.

Evolutionary game analysis of building a sustainable intelligent elderly care service platform.

With the rapid aging of populations and advancements in information technology, the development of intelligent elder-care service platforms (IESPs) has gained momentum. This paper examines the feasibility and strategies for constructing an IESP. Unlike commercial internet platforms, IESP facilitates transactions in elderly care services, which are quasi-public goods requiring government guidance and multi-stakeholder collaboration. Utilizing value co-creation theory, this study constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model involving a digital technology company, a social organization, and an elderly care service provider to analyze factors influencing stakeholder behavior. The findings reveal that sustained value co-creation is influenced by platform revenue, participation costs, reputation effects, and government subsidies. To optimize outcomes, the government should balance stakeholder interests, ensure reasonable profits for the digital company and social organization, and reduce participation costs through grassroots mobilization, data support, and subsidies for digital transformation. Strengthening reputation management and standardizing service evaluations are also crucial for achieving system equilibrium.

Influence of Corporate Digital Responsibility on Financial Performance: The Mediating Role of Firm Reputation

ABSTRACTThis study examines the mediating role of firm reputation in the relationship between corporate digital responsibility (CDR) and financial performance in an emerging market, Ethiopia. An online cross‐sectional survey was used to collect data from 126 agricultural, manufacturing, and service firms. The study used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) to analyze the hypothesized relationship. Our findings reveal that the impact of CDR on financial performance is indirect only as firm reputation plays a full, complementary mediation role in the CDR—financial performance nexus. This implies that firms could leverage CDR as a competitive “inducing” strategy to enhance their firm reputation, which, in turn, can boost their financial prospects. Our study significantly contributes to the business ethics and digital economy literature by offering a pioneering empirical validation of the CDR phenomenon in an emerging context, thus extending the signaling and stakeholder theories to digitalization and reputation management domains. The findings offer managers fresh insight into the potential impact of a CDR strategy on firm reputation and financial performance, showing that firms can leverage CDR as a loss prevention strategy to gain a competitive advantage. Policymakers are therefore urged to promote soft‐law regimes and policies on CDR to motivate companies to leverage it as a competitive tool.

Corporate Social Responsibility: A Literature Review On Practices, Implications, And Future Directions

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become an integral component of corporate governance and business strategy across various sectors. This literature review explores recent developments in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its multifaceted impact on corporate reputation, financial performance, and crisis management. CSR, once focused primarily on social and environmental initiatives, has evolved to include digital responsibility, reflecting its adaptability to modern corporate demands. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted CSR’s critical role in fostering resilience, as companies that prioritized social contributions and public health maintained stronger market positions. Additionally, CSR influences ethical considerations in areas such as tax management and data responsibility, raising questions about its authentic application and the potential need for regulatory oversight. Through an analysis of recent studies, this review emphasizes that CSR serves as both a strategic advantage and an ethical mandate. Notably, CSR’s expansion into Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) highlights its relevance in addressing contemporary issues like cybersecurity and data protection. As businesses navigate evolving social and technological landscapes, CSR continues to drive value by building trust, enhancing corporate reputation, and supporting sustainable business models

Strategic Approaches to Managing and Rebuilding Organisational Reputation: Insights and Case Studies of South East Nigeria

Enterprises in Eastern Nigeria had substantial difficulties in effectively handling and restoring their reputation, especially in the aftermath of events that undermined public trust. Efficient reputation management requires the use of both immediate and long-term tactics to minimise harm and facilitate restoration. Timely reactions were to be cleared and understood, immediately tackling the issue and involving relevant parties, as shown by KFC’s use of wit and honesty in its marketing to maintain consumer loyalty during a supply chain difficulty. Established regular and reliable communication, actively involving the community, and closely monitoring one’s online presence were essential long-term approaches to regain trust. Having an internal culture that mirrors the intended outward image was crucial. This was shown by Starbucks’ decision to shut down more than 8,000 stores for bias training after a racial profiling incident. Additionally, Online Reputation Management services provide essential knowledge and skills in handling crises, monitoring reputation, and creating good content, hence improving an organisation’s online presence. To successfully restore one’s image in the challenging economic environment of Eastern Nigeria, it was necessary to combine prompt measures with long-term strategic efforts. These efforts were based on practical illustrations and online reputation management services. keywords: Reputation Management, Eastern Nigeria, Public Trust, Immediate and Long-Term Tactics, Timely Reactions.

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Corporate Reputation

This research paper explores the profound impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on corporate reputation, focusing on the mechanisms through which CSR initiatives enhance or protect a company’s public image. By analyzing key theoretical frameworks such as stakeholder theory, social contract theory, and legitimacy theory, the paper examines how businesses strategically use CSR to manage reputational risks, improve brand trust, and foster positive public perception. Case studies of companies with successful CSR strategies highlight the benefits in financial performance, consumer loyalty, and crisis resilience. The challenges of managing CSR in a digital age, where transparency and scrutiny are heightened, are also discussed. The paper concludes with recommendations for balancing ethical responsibility with business objectives, stressing the importance of integrating CSR into core business strategies to build long-term reputational capital and sustainable growth. This research underscores CSR as a critical tool in modern corporate reputation management in both local and global contexts.

The Market Formation of Value and Preferences: An Empirical Study of Electronic Word-of-Mouth in the Indonesia E-Commerce for Cosmetic Product

This study aims to investigate the influence and impact of Electronic Word-of-Mouth (E-WOM) on the formation of product value and consumer purchase preferences in the cosmetic market context, referring to signal quality. The analysis was conducted within the dynamic digital market context, where product value is formed exogenously and is filled with uncertainty. This condition underscores the importance of reputation management and online consumer interaction for cosmetic companies in optimizing their products in the ever-evolving digital market arena. Unlike previous studies that explored product value formation conventionally, this research explores market interactions directly within the digital marketplace. This study employs a digital research method utilizing web scraping techniques with Python algorithms. The results reveal that the product value formed from E-WOM on the Bukalapak online marketplace for Kahf Face Wash products predominantly responds to signal quality from functional aspects. Additionally, E-WOM extends into the domain of social value. The analysis highlights that consumers evaluate this product comprehensively as an essential skincare necessity and as part of the entire market activation system, from packaging to seller service.

Audience presence influences cognitive task performance in chimpanzees

Human cognitive performance can be significantly influenced by the presence of audience members. While often associated with reputation management, which is considered uniquely human, it is unclear to what degree this phenomenon is shared with non-human animals. To investigate such audience effects in chimpanzees, we recorded the performance of six chimpanzees on three different numerical touch screen tasks varying in difficulty and cognitive demand, in the presence of variable audience member compositions over six years. Our results indicated that chimpanzee performance was influenced by the number and types of audience present. Performance increased for the most difficult task as the experimenter count increased, while for the easiest task, performance decreased as familiar audience and experimenter count increased. This suggests that audience effects on cognitive processing can be found in chimpanzees and that the evolutionary roots of this trait may date back to before the development of reputation-based normative societies in humans.

Blockchain-Inspired Trust Management in Cognitive Radio Networks with Cooperative Spectrum Sensing

Cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS) in cognitive radio networks (CRNs) enhances spectral decision-making precision but introduces vulnerabilities to malicious secondary user (SU) attacks. This paper proposes a decentralized trust and reputation management (TRM) framework to address these vulnerabilities, emphasizing the need to mitigate risks associated with centralized systems. Inspired by blockchain technology, we present a distributed TRM method for CSS in CRNs, significantly reducing the impact of malicious attacks. Our approach leverages a Proof of Trust (PoT) system to enhance the integrity of CSS, thereby improving the accuracy of spectral decision-making while reducing false positives and false negatives. In this system, SUs’ trust scores are dynamically updated based on their sensing reports, and they will collaboratively participate in new blocks' formation using the trust scores. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, indicating its potential to enhance security and reliability in CRNs.

외식기업의 사회적 책임이 기업평판과 충성도에 미치는 영향

Objective : The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the relationship between corporate reputation and loyalty of social responsibility in food service companies. Methods : This study distributed 500 copies of questionnaire from June 1 to June 30, 2021, to consumers who experienced the social responsibility of food service companies. Then, this study used the SPSS 27.0 statistical program to analyze 421 copies of them. Results : Hypothesis 1, social responsibility had a positive effect on corporate reputation. Hypothesis 2, corporate reputation had a positive effect on loyalty. Hypothesis 3, social responsibility had a positive effect on loyalty. Implications : The findings of this study suggest the necessity for companies to reassess and restructure their corporate reputation management strategies based on corporate social responsibility, ensuring that they genuinely reflect the values and vision of the companies. These results offer significant insights for developing effective marketing strategy plans.

SOCIAL MEDIA AS MEDIATOR IN CRISIS COMMUNICATION AND REPUTATION MANAGEMENT DURING MALAYSIA’S COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Crisis communication played a crucial role in Malaysia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, bridging public health and political discourse. Media competition intensified, shaping public perception through various social media strategies. This led to diverse political leanings and impacts on public understanding, sometimes causing pandemic-related misunderstandings. Despite this, the pandemic also fueled an "infodemic," spreading misinformation and overshadowing factual content. Thus, the study's main aims are to analyse the role of social media as the mediating factors on crises communication and reputation management. The quantitative method will be used to achieve the study's purpose by using a proportionate stratified random sampling technique and distributing the survey to 400 Malaysians. The mean analysis on social media is 3.35. The mediation analysis valuing p=0.92, p=0.91, p=0.89, p=0.89, p=0.87, p=0.77, p=0.77, p=0.76, p=0.73, p=0.69, p=0.44, p=0.43, p=0.30, p=0.23, p=0.09. These research findings indicate that the indirect effect hypotheses are not supported. In this critical situation, crisis communication strategies may have a more direct impact, not always relying on media. Social media's role in shaping public perception could be less important compared to government actions, personal experiences, and traditional media. The complexity of crises like COVID-19 involves many variables and stakeholders, which might lessen the impact of social media. The effectiveness of policies could be more influential than how they're communicated through social media. Varying levels of media literacy and how people consume information on social media could weaken the effects, leading to inconsistent results in studies.