The importance of internal branding is growing in both academia and practice. However, little attention has been directed toward identifying the organizational antecedents and consequences of ...internal branding. Thus, the current study examines the relationships of internal branding with the three brand management factors that have been discussed in the literature: brand orientation, strategic brand management, and brand performance. Internal branding is viewed as a facilitator for brand orientation and strategic brand management process, which ultimately impacts the brand performance. Survey data collected from brand/marketing managers reveal that while brand orientation, strategic brand management, and internal branding are directly associated with brand performance, internal branding partially mediates the relationship between brand orientation, strategic brand management, and brand performance. From a research standpoint, the current study addresses the call for better understanding the role of employees in improving a brand’s performance. In addition, the importance of developing internal branding along with brand orientation and strategic brand management is highlighted for marketing practitioners.
Efficient HR management enhance the internal branding in an organization whose end users are the public. In this research, we aim to evaluate the role of human resources management in internal ...branding in some public organizations. To achieve the purpose of the research, we conducted an empirical study on the employees of some insurance organizations. The collected data were processed and interpreted using a perceptron multilayer model from the analysis of artificial neural networks (ANN). The results show that employee satisfaction and well-being positively influence the perception of the organization's internal brand, generating a sense of belonging and commitment to the organization's values and goals. On the other hand, employees' intention to leave the organization negatively influences the perception of the corporate brand, diminishing the reputation and image of the organization.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop and test a comprehensive model for the outcomes of internal brand management (IBM), linking it to brand citizenship behavior (BCB) and intention to ...stay (IS) through job satisfaction (JS) and brand commitment (BC).
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive literature review is undertaken to develop the proposed model. The sample consists of three separate cases, a financial services firm, a multinational telecommunications company, both based in South Africa, and a regional grocery chain operating in the USA. Useable samples of 154, 96 and 241 were achieved for the three cases, respectively. In all cases, the majority of the respondents were customer contact employees.
Findings
The structural models showed some surprising results, the major one being that brand proselytization is not a component of BCB. Despite using the same instrument, the levers that drive IBM were different in each of the three cases and different from previous studies.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this research indicate that IBM and BCB are contextual. This implies that a universal instrument to measure these constructs has yet to be developed, representing an interesting avenue for future research.
Practical implications
Regarding employees as internal customers and including them in various marketing initiatives and brand-orientated human resource practices (recruitment, induction and training) are key to a successful IBM program.
Originality/value
A comprehensive model for the outcomes of IBM was developed and tested, linking it to BCB and IS through JS and BC. It is the first time that research has been conducted with customer contact employees only.
In the business-to-business sector, the brand-owner's employees are increasingly playing a key role in the representation of individual and corporate brands at the interface with actual and potential ...customers. Consequently, ‘internal branding’ has recently emerged as an important issue in industrial markets. This article proposes and empirically validates a theoretically structured framework for the measurement of a new construct, internal brand equity, and identifies its determinants and consequences. The findings offer evidence for the powerful impact of a brand-oriented corporate culture on internal brand equity, and demonstrate its relationship to external brand equity. Conclusions are drawn for management practice and future research.
Particular in service and b-to-b-sectors, employees’ brand commitment is a prerequisite for building a strong brand. While many areas of interest within the field of internal branding have been ...tested by empirical studies, knowledge of internally oriented brand ambassador programs (BAPs) is predominately anecdotal. The aim of this article is to identify BAPs’ success factors by first defining the corresponding term, followed by a BAP framework based on the literature, using 25 success factors in six categories. A longitudinal case study from the service industry tested the practical application of the framework, while the results of the case study were used to adapt the model. The findings show that a BAP is not an isolated instrument of internal brand management, but that its impact depends on important background factors such as brand orientation, brand management and C-level support. Overall, the updated BAP success factor model contains 31 factors. The research supports the planning and implementation of BAPs, as well as the monitoring of ongoing and the reflection of completed BAPs.
Purpose
This study aims to expand the emerging body of literature on employer branding from the current employee perspective. It proposes that effective integrated communication helps an organization ...fulfill its employer value proposition or employment value proposition (EVP). A firm that fulfills its brand promise in terms of EVP will derive employee-based brand equity (EBBE) benefits. Integrated communication is effective when employees experience coordination and consistency in brand communication. This influences their perception of psychological contract fulfillment (in terms of EVP attributes), which results in positive employee behavior in the form of EBBE benefits.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws insights from the signaling theory and psychological contract literature which is based on the social exchange theory. The literature on integrated communication, employer branding and internal branding was reviewed to propose the relationships between the variables of interest. Data was collected using a questionnaire survey on 520 employees from the information technology (IT)-business process management industry in India, which is a customer-oriented industry known for its exemplary employer practices.
Findings
The findings suggest that integrated communication effectiveness impacts the perceived fulfillment of EVP attributes and EBBE. Again, the fulfillment of the relational value dimension of EVP attributes partially mediates the relationship between integrated communication effectiveness and EBBE.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to explore employees’ perception of integrated communication effectiveness and fulfillment in terms of EVP attributes as antecedents to EBBE.
This study examines the interrelationships between internal brand management (IBM), brand understanding (BU), employee brand commitment (EBC), and brand citizenship behavior (BCB) by synthesizing ...existing empirical results via a meta-analysis. In addition, the moderating effects of country and industry contexts on these interrelationships are also investigated. The findings from 38 studies were used within the meta-analysis. The results demonstrate that IBM plays a significant role in predicting both EBC and BCB. Among all dimensions of IBM, brand communication was found to be the most crucial factor in predicting EBC, followed by brand-oriented leadership. Of the different dimensions of IBM, brand-oriented leadership has the greatest impact on BCB. Brand-centered HRM had a modest impact on both EBC and BCB. In addition, BU had the highest impact on BCB.
Purpose - This study seeks to focus on front-line service employees and their views of internal branding and the extent to which personal and job-specific factors impact on the success of internal ...branding in the reinforcement of brand identification and brand loyalty among service employees.Design methodology approach - The research, based on a multiple case study representing the hotel industry in Thailand, involved the completion of 30 in-depth qualitative interviews with customer-interface employees followed by a quantitative survey with 680 customer-interface employees located in five major hotels.Findings - Corporate service brands need to coordinate internal branding activity to enhance their employees' identification with, commitment to, and loyalty to, the brand. The relationships between the concepts of identification, commitment and loyalty of employees are determined. Personal variables such as age, education, and length of service as well as situational factors regarding their work environment are found to have moderating effects on the effectiveness of the internal branding process.Practical implications - The paper highlights the importance of internal branding on employees' brand identification, commitment and loyalty. However, management should also be aware that the impact of internal branding would not be constant across all employees within an organisation. Personal variables such as age, educational background, and length of service with the brand should also be taken into account. The impact of internal branding on an employee's attitudes and behaviour are heightened when employees are satisfied with their workplace. As such, internal branding cannot be looked at in isolation and is unlikely to be successful if the work environment is not conducive to the employees and the brand values.Originality value - Much of the work on internal branding is conceptual and based on small-scale studies undertaken with management or consultants. This paper provides empirical evidence from the front-line service employees' perspective on the relationships between internal branding and brand identification, brand commitment, brand loyalty and brand performance. It also provides an empirical investigation of potential moderators for internal branding.
This study extends our knowledge of internal branding in the context of employees in the higher education sector. Employing a quantitative methodology in UK universities, a conceptual model is ...presented and tested on 235 employees. Internal market orientation (IMO) is examined as a management tool to drive employees' university brand commitment en route to brand supportive behavior. The results show that the effect of IMO on employees' university brand commitment varies among employees of different demographic groups. A two-step cluster analysis is carried out to highlight the impact of demographic heterogeneity. The results show that universities with higher level of IMO perform better relating to their internal branding outcomes in terms of employee university brand commitment as well as brand supportive behavior. However significant differences are found for the effect of IMO on employees' university brand commitment especially in the cluster of the 'Mature Male Academics,' suggesting specific managerial attention.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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