Corporate brand strategy: drivers and outcomes of hotel industry’s brand orientation

The MNC resellers are vastly competitive and capital-intensive. Based on the corporate brand orientation, the objective is to investigate how the individual dimensions of hotel industry’s brand orientation can improve a corporate experience and subsequently create superior hotel performance and retailer preferences. A model of the integration of the hotel industry’s brand orientation was tested in a survey conducted among MNC resellers from hospitality industry. Structural equation modelling was applied to gain insight into the various influences and relationships. The research makes two main contributions. It makes a theoretical contribution by classifying the integration of the hotel industry’s brand orientation for hospitality industry and from this extrapolate key suggestions for further study. The continuous evolution and economic influence of the hospitality industry require the application of innovative marketing practices

Influence of brand signature, brand awareness, brand attitude, brand reputation on hotel industry's brand performance

This paper develops a multi-disciplinary measure of the brand signature construct by means of literature review and primary data analysis. This study explains that brand signature involves (i) endorsement of consistent consumer attitude toward diffusion of a brand name and brand logo (consists of typeface, design, and color); (ii) the expression and pursuit of a distinct message and the quality of the organization to consumers as well as consistency in communication; and (iii) the implementation, support, and maintenance of hotel brand signature systems based on the use of online/offline media. SEM is employed in order to test the proposed model. The results indicate that brand signature includes dissemination of its dimensions; brand attitude with two components (brand association and brand belief); brand awareness consists of brand familiarity, and brand recognisability; and consistency in brand reputation and prefaced by hotel brand performance implementation. Brand signature is recommended as a tool useful for the service industry to manage their global hotel brand reputation and performance

Corporate identity: definition and components

This chapter provides a systematic review of the identity literature and reviews a range of literature in order to establish the domain of corporate identity and the related concepts. Then, the intrinsic nature of identity and background is shown by examining the growing interest in the evolution of perspectives in the corporate identity field. Also, it examines corporate identity in relation to a number of different strands of established studies and identify the key concepts related to corporate identity management by drawing insights from the main theoretical paradigm

Evaluating the impact of corporate logos towards corporate reputation: a case of Persia and Mexico

Purpose - This paper examines the impact of corporate logos on corporate image and reputation in creating competitive advantage in the context of Persia and Mexico as emerging markets. This paper provides an extensive links between corporate logo and its dimension and internal stakeholders’ attitudes towards advertisement, familiarity, and recognisability as intermediaries to corporate image and reputation. Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative exploratory approach was taken, comprising 12 face-to-face interviews 14 skype in-depth interviews were conducted with graphic designers, design, communication and marketing consultant in Mexico and Persia based on attribution theory. Findings - The study posits that the more favorable the name, color, typeface and design of the company and color, the more favorable the attitude Mexican consumers have towards the corporate logo, corporate image and reputation. However, in comparison for Persia these factors have less effect on customers’ judgment and behavior, towards the corporate logo, corporate image and reputation. The research findings suggest that the selection of color in a corporate logo is related to its marketing objectives, cultural values, desired customer relationship levels with the organisation, and organisation’s corporate communications. Practical implications - Corporate logo should be considered a constructive tool that can be effectively applied to managing the image and reputation of any organization. Moreover we suggest that regional or cultural variants can play an important role while selecting the logos in different cultures. The results are helpful for communication professionals who deal with organization’s corporate identity, branding, and communication, and aim to enhance the consistency of messages both visual and written within their organization Originality/value - Corporate logo has received little attention in marketing literature and barely been researched in emerging market. This is the first research of its kind to find the effect of the compound logo in emerging markets of Persia and Mexico. It thereby adds to the corporate visual identity literature by developing of the sphere of influence of the corporate logo and its antecedents and consequences (corporate image and corporate reputation)

Continuance interaction intention in retailing: relations between customer values, satisfaction, loyalty, and identification

Purpose - Social media as a competitive marketing tool deliver online platforms for retailers to get closer to their consumers/visitors/shoppers through continued interaction. This study scrutinizes how customer values (functional, social, and experimental) enhance satisfaction, loyalty, identification and how such relationships, in turn, impact on user-continuance interaction intention. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method approach was designed to identify the consumers perception towards high-end retailers of worldwide brands. 12 interviews were conducted with experts in retailing and a survey with 390 respondents. Structural equation modeling/AMOS was employed to gain insight into the various relationships and influences. Findings - To augment user-continuance interaction intention, results indicate that retail managers should focus more on customer-based values when they design marketing strategies for brand pages on social media. The findings also provide guidelines for retail marketing and social media managers to generate consumer value in the retail environment via information quality, product-related learning, and economic benefits (functional value), interaction, collaboration, and social presence (social value), and experiential value (intellectual and effective value). Originality/value - The paper offers critical managerial contributions by presenting a comprehensive picture of the condition in which a favorable brand social media page could be constructed within a brand to satisfy consumers value and achieve satisfaction, loyalty, identification, and continuance interaction intention; all of which are critical objectives for every company. In other words, a clear knowledge of the dimensions of consumer value concepts can assist retail communication managers to improve consumers/visitors/shoppers intention to continue their interaction in a competitive market. The current study is one of the very few emerging research studies to have examined the relationships between consumers/visitors/shoppers functional, values, social values, and experimental values empirically, to have further explored the relationships between the research constructs

Reputation: configuring the symmetrical and asymmetrical paths to architecture in a retail setting

Grounded in social identity and attribution theories, this study focuses on the effect of architecture and its components on reputation. The relationships conceptualised were evaluated using data collected from a survey of 489 online and offline UK retail consumers and employees. To accommodate the equifinality and complexity of these relationships, this study employs fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, predictive validity and fit validity chec

Fly me to the moon: from corporate branding orientation to retailer preference and business performance

Purpose – The airline aviation industry is both capital-intensive and competitive. Hence, the evolution of the sector needs original marketing strategies. To study the relationships between corporate branding and corporate image, taking into account two views, namely, corporate strategy and corporate expression in airline identity, this research aims to analyze the main indicators of the corporate branding that affect the outcomes of the corporate image. Design/methodology/approach – In order to inspect the theories, the foundational configural model was assessed through the perceptions of 395 employees in Indian aviation companies. By employing complexity theory, this study matched the concept of equifinality, and it examined the data via a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. Findings – Findings show that corporate strategy positively influences corporate image and corporate expression. The corporate expression offers the verbal and visual facets of a brand. Surprisingly, the paper shows that there is no link between corporate expression and corporate image. It also suggests that corporate expression, including corporate community, corporate promise, and corporate personality, are all components of a corporate brand and do not influence the corporate image. Finally, the study highlights that corporate image positively affects superior business performance, which influences superior retailer preference. Research limitations/implications - Our study identifies the corporate identity’s indicators (corporate strategy and corporate expression) that affect the corporate image, which results in stronger, superior business performance and retailer preference. It suggests that managers in the airline industry should follow the recommendations of this research by adopting more objective and fairer procedures to attain superior business performance and retailer preference. In addition, the continued growth and the financial impact of the airline sector require the use of pioneering branding strategies. Future study is needed in various nations to advance the generalizability of the research findings. Originality/value – The paper is the first to study corporate brand, its sub-dimensions (corporate strategy and corporate expression), and their individual links to brand image, which involves experience, relationships, and visual identity

Relationship between corporate identity, place architecture, and identification: an exploratory case study

Purpose – How organizations view, value, and manage their place architecture in relation to identification and corporate identity has received little research attention. The main goal of this paper is to provide an integrative understanding of the relationships between corporate identity, place architecture, and identification from a multi-disciplinary approach. It is assumed that characteristics of the organization and of the way a corporate identity and place architecture are managed will affect employees’ and consumers’ identification. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a theory-building case study within the phenomenological/qualitative research tradition. The data were gathered through 15 in-depth interviews with top management who were working at a London-Based Business School. In addition, six focus groups were conducted with a total of 36 academics, and new empirical insights are offered. NVivo software was used to gain insight into the various influences and relationships. Findings – Drawing on one case study, our findings confirm that firms are utilizing the conceptualizations of corporate identity and place architecture, including the leveraging of tangible and intangible forms of consumers’/employees’ identification, towards a university business school. Originality/value – The relationships between corporate identity, place architecture, and identification have received little research attention and have hardly been studied at all from the perspective of this paper. This paper has value to researchers in the fields of marketing, corporate identity, place architecture, design, as well as professionals involved in managing a company’s architecture. Drawing on the marketing/management theory of identity and architecture alignment, managers and policy advisors should devote attention to each element of the corporate identity and place architecture and ensure that they are in meaningful as well as in dynamic alignment

Integrating identity, strategy and communications for trust, loyalty and commitment

Purpose – This paper operationalize and juxtaposes variables related to identity, strategy and communications and then focuses on the impact of such integration on organizational stakeholders’ trust, loyalty and commitment. Design/methodology/approach – This research design utilises explanatory research at the preliminary stage, as informed by the literature and conceptual framework. The subsequent model was examined via a positivist survey carried out among stakeholders in high-end retail stores in London. Structural equation modelling (SEM) via AMOS was conducted to gain insight into the various influences and relationships. Findings – The results indicate that identity and strategy are key drivers of integrated corporate communication, and they serve to build stakeholder trust, loyalty and commitment. Originality/value – The paper shows that while practitioners have indicated that integrated marketing communication is important for organizations, there are a few other areas of concern with regard to consequences related to trust, loyalty and commitment, especially in a retail context. We empirically examined relationships between these constructs by validating a conceptual model employing SEM

IMC antecedents and the consequences of planned brand identity in higher education

Purpose – This study identifies IMC antecedents and the consequences of planned brand identity in the context of higher education, and empirically tests a number of hypotheses related to the constructs of these antecedents and consequences. Design/methodology/approach – A model of the IMC antecedents and consequences of planned brand identity was tested in a survey conducted among stakeholders in two London-based Universities. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to gain insight into the various influences and relationships. Findings – The study identifies and confirms key constructs in planned brand identity. IMC antecedents of planned brand identity, such as brand elements, service attributes, public relations, and place/country-of-origin were found to positively influence the planned brand identity consequences of awareness, image, and reputation. However, websites, social media, advertising and direct marketing were not found to have significant influence. Research limitations/implications – The focus on two UK universities limits the generalisability of the findings. Future research should be conducted in other country settings in order to test the relationships identified in the present study. Also, future research may build on the study’s findings by investigating the attitudinal and behavioural consequences of brand identification in the higher education context. Practical implications – Professionals responsible for universities’ promotional and branding activities need to evaluate the relative contributions of the IMC antecedents of planned brand identity. Brand elements such as design, color and name, for example, should be reviewed to determine whether modifications are required in different international markets. The increasing prevalence of social media, one of the key antecedents of brand awareness, offers opportunities for universities to engage in brand co-creation by interacting with past, present and future students on relevant digital platforms. Finally, the place/country-of-origin cue is of particular relevance to institutions of higher education given the increasing numbers of students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels who are choosing to study abroad (Melewar and Akel, 2005). The attraction of the United Kingdom as a country to study in, or the appeal of individual cities such as London, should be fully integrated into universities’ IMC strategies. Originality/value – The study makes two main contributions. First, we make a theoretical contribution by identifying the core IMC antecedents and consequences of planned brand identity for universities and from this extrapolate key directions for future research. Second, we indicate a number of managerial implications designed to assist in the formulation of improved professional practice