Perceived corporate credibility as the emergent property of corporate reputation’s transmission process

Abstract

Starting from the analysis of corporate reputation construct, this research focuses on the emergent property of corporate reputation process that results from individual corporate image’s transmission within a informal network where various actors interact. This emergent property is conceptualised as perceived corporate credibility. The aim of this paper is to test the influence of individual cognitive structure - i.e. corporate associations - and the third party’s interaction on the corporate credibility perceived by individual decision-makers within customer’s organization. The theoretical model is examined in a particular business-to-business context: business catering supplying relationships