CORPORATE REPUTATION REVIEW最新文献

Young consumers are increasingly taking on the mantle of champions for sustainable behavior. However, notwithstanding the long-established and rich debate on sustainable consumption, studies are missing that delve deeper on how young consumers, especially Millennials and Gen Z, dialogically frame their sustainable consumption choices and their favor for sustainable brands. We conduct an in-depth netnographic investigation that provides a deep cultural understanding of the motivations and priorities that young consumers associate with sustainable choices in their social media conversations, which represent the most common ground where sustainable commitments are discussed. Considering that plastic-free refillable water bottles are emerging as the daily consumption choice that young consumers are adopting to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle, we see in that a compelling research context in which the motivations that young consumers prioritize when they embrace plastic-free brands can be explored. Our findings visually map and dig deeper into the complex constellation of the dominant themes and interplays among them that young consumers discuss in their conversations about the adoption of plastic-free refillable water bottles. Across all the conversations we analyzed, the notion of care emerges as the key priority for young consumers and sustainable consumption is depicted as a holistic form of self-care. Our paper contributes to delve deeper into those conversational dynamics in and through which the priorities related to sustainable consumption choices are shaped and constructed through the expressive and material capacities of the different social formations that are engaged into the discussion of sustainability issues. Our paper also provides a methodological blueprint for the investigation of the dialogic process of sustainable brand building.

Induced by worsening environmental conditions, pursuing purpose, not solely profit, now constitutes an ethical obligation for leaders of business organisations, towards future generations. Consequently, increasing numbers of businesses seek to become purpose-led (PLBs), but challenges exist. Despite the significant growth in PLB research since the turn of the millennium, attention has mainly focussed on multinational companies, although small- and medium-sized businesses (MSBs) hugely impact any economy. This research sets out to better understand the challenges faced by leaders of companies undergoing purpose-led MSB transitioning. Thematic analysis of the interview data from founders and leaders of B-Corp certified purpose-led MSBs revealed six specific challenges consistent with literature findings, but also provided uniquely useful insights from the leaders’ perspectives. Integrated business strategies or solutions, which meet multiple challenges simultaneously, revolve around a strong corporate reputation and organisational identity driven by corporate communication. Corporate communication engages stakeholders, builds trust, reinforces reputation, and serves as a strategic intervention for differentiating purpose-led MSBs in the marketplace, shaping organisational identity. Overall, the work provides leaders of MSBs with a practical guide for navigating their challenges and developing leadership practices to enable purpose-led transformations.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is interpreted and enacted differently in developed and transition countries. These differences can present a challenge for Western multinational companies (MNCs) that operate in emerging markets, as they are faced with inconsistent norms on CSR between home and host country. Drawing on Social Identity Theory and Attribution Theory, the current research addresses how employees of MNC subsidiaries situated in emerging markets evaluate internal (which directly benefits employees) and external (which benefits other stakeholder groups) CSR practices. A survey was conducted among professionals (N = 481) working at a subsidiary of a Western MNC in Russia. Our findings revealed that internal CSR positively affected organizational identification through perceived organizational morality. Interestingly, employees’ responses to external CSR appeared to be ambivalent. Whereas external CSR had a negative direct effect on perceived organizational morality, a positive mediation effect on perceived organizational morality was found through attributed extrinsic corporate motives. This research provides much-needed contextualized insights on the psychological mechanisms underlying employees’ judgments of CSR strategies in emerging markets.

We use a mixed-methodology to examine the influence of having international family on higher education (HE) reputation and loyalty. Employing qualitative research, we hypothesize that having family members in the international country where an international student plans to pursue higher education is a key source of information that activates not only awareness and positive associations of universities but also a social identity which in turn affects HE reputation and loyalty. We test our hypotheses using survey responses from international students of a HE institution based in Alberta, Canada. Our structural equation modeling results point to the significant role of having international family—relative to marketing activities—for building HE reputation and in turn for affecting HE loyalty. Our findings contribute to the literature on organizational reputation in an international context with an enhanced understanding of the determinants of HE reputation and insights into the psychological and social processes of reputation formation. This research has also implications for university international officers and HE marketers to help with attracting international students.

The media plays a key role in bridging information asymmetries between parties such as CEOs and third-party observers. However, current research suggest that the media is not just a carrier of information but can actively shape the impression of the audience. An open question remains, hence, whether media reporting is affected by certain CEO traits such as narcissism or humility, two key constructs in the literature. For instance, narcissistic CEOs’ belief in their own superiority may spillover to the media, thereby distorting the function as information carrier and favoring directly or indirectly certain CEO traits. Therefore, by drawing on the differential effects that narcissism and humility can have on the impression of an audience, the study employs a computer-aided content analysis of factual narcissistic and humble CEOs, identified via a video metric approach, and their evaluation through three key journalistic intermediaries (New York Times, Washington Post, and Financial Times). The quantitative data suggest that actual CEO narcissism is related negatively to external performance evaluations of CEOs in subsequent years. In addition, the data suggest that narcissism as well as humility scores increase the emotional tone employed depending on the journalistic orientation of the media outlet. Humble CEOs receive on average more media attention than narcissistic CEOs yet this result is insignificant, providing limited evidence for a systematic (i.e., number of articles) bias across and within journalistic outlets towards either narcissistic or humble CEOs. This suggests that widely considered “quality” media outlets resist to portray CEO traits in an overly positive/negative light.

Data breaches are increasingly consequential for many business organizations. How firms address data breaches has substantial ethical and societal implications. However, there is still uncertainty regarding why certain organizations experience more severe consequences than others following data breaches and what actions firms can take to minimize the negative outcomes. To answer these questions, we leverage insights from the literature on crisis communication strategies and attribution theory to predict stock market reactions. We argue that those reactions, as reflected in shareholders’ responses following a breach, depend on the nature of attributional information and are contingent upon firms’ responses and media sentiment. Analyzing a sample of 287 data breach events in 95 publicly traded US firms over a decade, we found that when shareholders attribute the data breach to internal and stable causes, the firm appears “broken,” resulting in a decline in stock market returns. However, our findings also indicate that firms’ ceremonial responses and media sentiment mitigate this negative relationship. Our discussion explores the benefits of understanding the role of crisis communication strategies and applying attribution theory within corporate-level studies. We also suggest potential avenues for future research.

To succeed in the ‘war for talent’, it is becoming increasingly important for companies to build a strong employer brand, with social media playing a key role in targeting potential applicants from Generation Z. Against this backdrop, more and more companies are turning to influencer marketing, hiring external third-party influencers, or appointing their own employees as corporate influencers. However, the use of social media influencers in the context of employer branding has been little researched, especially the specific contributions of corporate influencers compared to third-party influencers. Against this background, an online experiment (n = 214) was conducted. The results show that perceived company-influencer fit and parasocial interaction support positive effects of influencer communication on employer reputation, employer image and intentions to apply. Furthermore, corporate influencers were found to have a stronger positive impact than third-party influencers on the employer brand. While prior research on social media influencers has focused largely on the marketing of product brands, this study contributes to a better understanding of their impact on the corporate brand level. The results illuminate the potential of employees as communicators to shape perceptions and attitudes of external stakeholders.