Corporate branding

236 Pages·2004·0.82 MB·English

Erim - 04 omslag BerensXP5 31-03-2004 10:53 Pagina 1
Corporate branding: The development of corporate 39 GUIDO A.J.M. BERENS
associations and their influence on stakeholder
reactions
G
U
Companies are becoming increasingly transparent toward society. ID
But how do people respond to this transparency? Some critics state O Corporate branding:
A
that the majority of people do not care about the way companies .J
behave, at least as long as it does not affect them personally. .M
Obviously,thiscriticismisoverstatedsincetherehavebeenlarge-scale . B The development of corporate associations
E
consumer boycotts. However, the question is under which conditions R
people are more likely to care about the way a company behaves. EN and their influence on stakeholder reactions
S
This thesis contributes to an understanding of this issue by looking
C
atthedevelopmentandinfluenceofcorporateassociations,i.e.,ofthe o
r
perceptionsthatpeoplehaveregardingcompanies.Itaddressesthree p
o
important questions. First, which types of corporate associations can ra
t
bedistinguished?Second,underwhichconditionsdodifferenttypesof e
b
corporateassociationsinfluencepeople’spreferencesforacompany’s r
a
products, stocks, and jobs? And third, which way of communicating n
d
about a company leads to the most favorable corporate associations? in
g
These questions are addressed by three experimental studies and by
a thorough review of the literature.
ERIM
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www.erim.eur.nl ISBN 90-5892-065-8
Corporate Branding:
The Development of Corporate associations and their
Influence on Stakeholder Reactions
Corporate branding:
De ontwikkeling van ondernemingsassociaties en hun invloed op de
reacties van belanghebbenden
Proefschrift
ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus
Prof.dr. S.W.J. Lamberts
en volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties.
De openbare verdediging zal plaatsvinden op
vrijdag 4 juni 2004 om 13.30 uur
door
Guido Antonius Johannes Maria Berens
geboren te Oss
Promotiecommissie
Promotor: Prof.dr. C. B. M. van Riel
Overige leden: Prof.dr.ir. G. H. van Bruggen
Prof.dr. M. Kaptein
Prof.dr. E. R. Seydel
Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)
Rotterdam School of Management / Rotterdam School of Economics
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Internet: http://www.erim.eur.nl
ERIM Electronic Series Portal: http://hdl.handle.net/1765/1
ERIM Ph.D. Series Research in Management 39
ISBN 90 – 5892 – 065 – 8
© 2004, Guido A. J. M. Berens
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
author.
Voor pap en mam

VOORWOORD (PREFACE)
Bij het afronden van mijn promotie-onderzoek wil ik allereerst mijn
promotor Cees van Riel bedanken. Ondanks zijn meestal onvoorstelbaar
drukke werkzaamheden wist hij altijd tijd vrij te maken om samen mijn
onderzoek te bespreken. Ik heb ruim vier jaar lang bijzonder prettig met
hem samengewerkt, en hoop dat nog lange tijd te mogen doen. Ook mijn
hartelijke dank aan Gerrit van Bruggen, die aan een belangrijk deel van het
onderzoek heeft meegewerkt en mij vele nuttige adviezen heeft gegeven.
Joke van Oost wil ik bedanken voor al haar uitstekende hulp bij het regelen
van van alles en nog wat.
Mijn dank gaat ook uit naar de overige leden van de “kleine
commissie”, Muel Kaptein en Erwin Seydel, voor het zorgvuldig lezen van
het manuscript. In addition, I would like to thank the following people for
giving detailed comments on one or more parts of the thesis: Tom Brown,
Peter Dacin, Mirdita Elstak, Mignon van Halderen, Dirk van Aalsburg,
Manfred Wienhoven, Onno Maathuis, Ale Smidts, Craig Carroll, Dennis
Bromley, and Valérie Swaens. I also want to thank David Lloyd for his
help with setting up the online questionnaire used for Chapter 4.
Iedereen die (naast Cees en Joke) tijdens mijn traject bij het
Corporate Communication Centre heeft gewerkt, wil ik bedanken voor hun
collegialiteit (en voor de bereidheid om af en toe als proefpersoon te dienen
als ik weer eens een nieuwe vragenlijst moest testen): (ahem) Mirdita,
Mignon, Ahong, Sytske, Saskia, Anna-Luisa, Majorie, Dennis, Janneke,
Heidi, Dirk, Manfred, Krista, Chantal, Yvonne, Craig, Alexander, Leila,
v
Hans, Martine, Remco, Leontine en Catelijne. (Hopelijk ben ik niemand
vergeten...)
Tot slot wil ik al mijn familie en vrienden bedanken voor hun
belangstelling en steun. In het bijzonder wil ik papa, mama, Annelies,
Christian, Dirk en natuurlijk Sunou bedanken voor al hun liefde. Sarang
hae!
vi
CONTENTS
Voorwoord (Preface)....................................................................................v
Contents......................................................................................................vii
Part I: Corporate branding and corporate associations.................................1
Chapter 1: Introduction.............................................................................3
Focus of the thesis................................................................................6
Overview of the thesis........................................................................10
Chapter 2: Typologies of corporate associations....................................13
Definitions and conceptualizations.....................................................15
Search method....................................................................................18
Types of corporate associations..........................................................20
Discussion...........................................................................................40
Part II: The development and influence of corporate associations.............49
Chapter 3: The moderating effect of corporate brand dominance on the
influence of corporate associations........................................................51
Literature review................................................................................53
Hypotheses Development...................................................................56
Method................................................................................................66
Results................................................................................................73
Discussion...........................................................................................85
Chapter 4: The compensatory and non-compensatory effects of corporate
associations.............................................................................................95
Literature review................................................................................96
Hypotheses Development...................................................................98
Method..............................................................................................104
vii
Results..............................................................................................111
Discussion.........................................................................................118
Chapter 5: The influence of corporate ad factualness on the
establishment of corporate associations...............................................125
Literature review..............................................................................129
Hypotheses development..................................................................131
Method..............................................................................................138
Results..............................................................................................146
Discussion.........................................................................................151
Part III: Discussion...................................................................................161
Chapter 6: Discussion...........................................................................163
Theoretical implications...................................................................164
Practical implications.......................................................................173
General limitations and suggestions for future research..................177
References................................................................................................183
Appendices...............................................................................................197
Appendix A: Measures Chapter 3........................................................197
Appendix B: Materials and measures Chapter 4..................................199
Experimental materials.....................................................................199
Measures...........................................................................................205
Appendix C: Measures Chapter 5.........................................................207
Summary...................................................................................................209
Samenvatting (Summary in Dutch)..........................................................215
Curriculum vitae.......................................................................................221
viii
PART I: CORPORATE BRANDING AND CORPORATE
ASSOCIATIONS