Employer branding

About: Employer branding is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1555 publications have been published within this topic receiving 54897 citations.

Country branding through Olympic Games

Abstract: Recent geopolitical and economic events make it very clear that the global market place is highly interconnected and very competitive (Lee and Cull, 2010; Levin, 2010; Yung, 2011). To gain competitive advantage, countries, in conjunction with their own multinational firms, strive to develop and implement creative nation branding strategies and to promote positive country brand images (Anholt, 1998; Paswan et al, 2002; Loo and Davies, 2006; Szondi, 2006; Greyser, 2008). Countries compete with each other for foreign investment, for tourists, buyers, overseas students and skilled workers (Beverland and Lindgreen, 2002; Anholt, 2003; Black and Westhuizen, 2004; Dzenovska, 2005; Papadopoulos, 2004; Florek and Conejo, 2006; Dinnie, 2008). Several researchers (for example, O’Shaughnessy and O’Shaughnessy, 2000; Papadopoulos and Heslop, 2000, 2002; Paswan et al, 2002) have suggested that a country could be considered as a brand, and that countries can change their national brand image. Strategic and tactical activities have been suggested to influence a country’s brand image (Nebenzahl and Jaffe, 1991; Jaffe and Nebenzahl, 1993; Swart and Bob, 2004), including hosting major sporting events. However, to the best of our knowledge, few have examined the effect of hosting a major sporting event on country brand image, and where they have the focus was limited to the impact on the destination’s image and tourism (Gibson et al, 2008).

Corporate social performance as antecedent of consumer's brand perception

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to develop a model that closely examines the consequences of social and environmental corporate action. This is suggested by an increasing need for accomplishing an integrative view on business activities and social aims – the so-called corporate social responsibility – especially in the current environmentally turbulent time and a rising socially conscious consumer population. But doing business is often associated with brand- or corporate misconduct as well. Hence, corporate social responsibility forms the positive component of corporate social performance (CSP), consequently a favorable brand- or company behavior. Corresponding, corporate social irresponsibility or misconduct forms the negative part of such performance. Considering this definition a model is conceptualized to analyze the integrative effect of CSP on consumer perception of brands in terms of brand personality. This study examines how CSP as a whole, and social responsible behavior and brand misconduct individually, affect the brand personality. Furthermore, the investigation scrutinizes the causal connections between brand personality and behavior-oriented brand equity to consider the economic relevance of our case.

Brands and breakthroughs: How brands help focus creative decision making

Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of how brands can help managers navigate the complex process of creative judgment in order to successfully identify and develop original and valuable ideas. It investigates the problems facing companies in their attempt to generate and recognise creativity, arguing that too often companies rely on traditional market research techniques that limit depth and richness of knowledge, prevent intuitive decision making and encourage safe incremental change and seller-centric behaviour. The authors suggest that much traditional customer research dampens creativity, because it is essentially backward-looking. It makes the assumption that customers have the ability and imagination to envision the future, to know what they will desire tomorrow and to be able to articulate that desire. The argument is that the answer to successful judgment is a high level of situational intelligence: the shared knowledge and cultural milieu that encourage managers to focus on and connect with stakeholders, which in turn facilitates more intuitive and creative decision making. The authors assert that the brand provides an essential construct of this concept. This paper sets out to illustrate, via theoretical analysis and practical examples, how the brand can contribute to situational intelligence and in doing so can increase the level of an organisation's ability to innovate and create value. Not only does the paper argue against traditional business practices that inhibit creative behaviour and the ability or willingness of managers to make creative judgments, it also advocates a process of creative brand free-flow. This is highlighted by research into a number of globally innovative companies that rely on their brand values to help them break down traditional corporate barriers and help guide, focus and facilitate creativity. This paper is valuable in that it illustrates how a shift in managerial and corporate thinking can lead to higher levels of significant innovation and value creation.

The effects of affective and utilitarian brand relationships on brand consideration

Abstract: Most consumer brand relationship research concentrates on understanding the relationship between the consumer and the brand, and very little research investigates the consequences of those relationships. Given the plethora of brands on the market, each competing for the attention of the consumer and the opportunity to build a relationship with the consumer, understanding the effects of consumer-brand relationships (CBR) provides vital information to the brand manager about the types of brand relationships to attract and engage. This study looks at this under-researched area and investigates the effects of CBR on consideration and brand equity in the context of fast food and banking in Hong Kong. The results suggest that utilitarian brand relationships are best as they are likely to increase the chances of the brand being included in the consideration set, increase perceptions of brand uniqueness and a consumer’s propensity to pay more. These novel results are surprising given the amount of attention dedicated to affective brand relationships, brand love, and the building of emotional brands and/or brand connections in recent literature. These surprising results may help brand managers develop strategies to limit the number of brands in consideration set or to be first choice when purchasing.