The Corporate Reputation of Multinational Corporations : An Analysis of Consumers’ Perceptions of Corporate Reputation and its Effects Across Nations

200 Pages·2018·7.884 MB·English

by  Cathrin Huber (auth.)

Handel und Internationales Marketing
Retailing and International Marketing
Bernhard Swoboda · Thomas Foscht
Hanna Schramm-Klein Hrsg.
Cathrin Huber
The Corporate Reputation
of Multinational
Corporations
An Analysis of Consumers’ Perceptions
of Corporate Reputation
and its Effects Across Nations
Handel und Internationales Marketing /
Retailing and International Marketing
Edited by
Professor Dr. Prof. h.c. Bernhard Swoboda
Professor Dr. Thomas Foscht
Professor Dr. Hanna Schramm-Klein
The book series focuses on the fields of Retailing and International Marketing. The-
se two areas represent the research fields of the editors—each of them as a single
research area, but also in combination.
Both of these research areas are widely understood. Consequently, the series provi-
des a platform for the publication of doctoral theses and habilitations, c onference
proceedings and edited books, as well as related methodological issues that encom-
pass the focus of the series. The series is broad in the sense that it covers academic
works in the area of consumer-oriented marketing as well as the area of market-
oriented management.
In addition to academic works recommended by the editors, the book series also
welcomes other academic contributions. These may be submitted to the editors and
will be published in the book series after a positive assessment.
Edited By
Professor Dr. Prof. h.c. Bernhard Swoboda
Universität Trier, Germany
Professor Dr. Thomas Foscht
Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria
Professor Dr. Hanna Schramm-Klein
Universität Siegen, Germany
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/12697
Cathrin Huber
The Corporate Reputation
of Multinational
Corporations
An Analysis of Consumers’ Perceptions
of Corporate Reputation
and its Effects Across Nations
With a Foreword by
Professor Dr. Prof. h.c. Bernhard Swoboda
Cathrin Huber
Trier, Germany
Dissertation Trier University, 2017
Handel und Internationales Marketing / Retailing and International Marketing
ISBN 978-3-658-19763-6 ISBN 978-3-658-19764-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-19764-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017954988
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© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH 2018
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Foreword
Although multinational corporations increasingly use their reputation as an im-
portant differentiation criterion, little is known about the varying effects of cor-
porate reputation in an international context, particularly across nations. The
object(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:38)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:43)(cid:88)(cid:69)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:182)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:3)(cid:74)(cid:68)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:3)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:72)(cid:83)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:78)(cid:81)(cid:82)(cid:90)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:74)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:83)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:3)
reputation effects and their moderators across nations. Addressing these is-
(cid:86)(cid:88)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:38)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:43)(cid:88)(cid:69)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:182)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:86)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:88)(cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:29)(cid:3)
- Corporate Reputation Effects across Nations: The Moderating Role of Insti-
tutional Country Differences: This study examines the effects of corporate
reputation across nations, particularly the moderating role of important insti-
tutional country differences. To provide insight into these issues, the study
refers to hierarchical data on consumer evaluations of a multinational corpo-
ration in 40 countries. The results indicate a strong link between corporate
(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:83)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:88)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:182)(cid:3)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:92)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:87)(cid:92)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:83)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:73)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:70)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:71)i-
minished by cultural, economic, or knowledge differences between coun-
tries. These moderators represent important factors when managing corpo-
rate reputations across nations.
- Institutional Country Distances and Firm-specific Resources as Moderators
of Corporate Reputation Effects: Because the effects of an often centrally
managed but locally perceived reputation are likely to vary between coun-
tries, this study analyzes the moderating role of institutional distance and
firm-specific resources on reputation effects, two important aspects that
have not been considered in consumer-centered corporate reputation re-
search so far. The results of the multilevel models indicate that distance be-
tween home and host countries weakens reputation effects on both con-
sumer loyalty and trust, whereas firm-specific resources reinforce these ef-
fects. In particular, country experience and cultural-cognitive distance are
important when managing reputations across nations because they explain
high amounts of country-level variance.
- Corporate Reputation Perceptions Across Nations: The Role of National
Culture: This study addresses the important but often neglected differences
in national cultural value approaches in research on consumer behavior by
comparing the roles of the four major approaches for corporate reputation
across nations: Hofstede, Schwartz, the GLOBE study, and Inglehart. Dif-
ferent individual corporate reputation perceptions across nations are strong-
ly attributed to national culture. However, the cultural value approaches ex-
VI Foreword

plain the variance in CR perceptions differently (36.4%-77.3%). Particular
cultural value dimensions within each approach show varying explanatory
power and differ from those that are most important in the context of moder-
ation models. This study contributes to cultural research in marketing by
deepening our understanding of the various cultural approaches and their
importance for MNCs.
With her work Dr. Cathrin Huber makes a significant contribution to interna-
tional marketing research. She provides significant novel insights into the roles
of institutional country differences and distances as well as of cultural value
approaches for international marketing and management research. Her work
impresses on the one hand with the extent of attention paid to the conceptual-
ization but also with the combination of different types of studies and in par-
ticular methodologically. She applies the still novel multilevel structural equita-
tion modeling that distinguishes between explained variance on the consumer
and country levels to indicate the relative importance of every national mod-
erator.
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fourteenth dissertation at my chair for Marketing & Retailing at the University of
Trier. She has additionally organized the whole foreign language studies pro-
gram of the faculty during her four and a half years at my chair. I therefore
thank Dr. Cathrin Huber for these years in which she was working as a re-
search assistant at my chair. I got to know her as a very honorable and very
open minded person and I wish her very warmly all the best for her career as
well as for her private life in the future.
Professor Dr. Prof. h.c. Bernhard Swoboda
Acknowledgements
This thesis has been developed during my time as a research assistant at the
Chair of Marketing and Retailing (University of Trier). This time has been an
amazing and remarkable time in my life that I will never forget. I would like to
thank all those people who made it possible for me to work and finish this the-
sis. Among them are my supervisor, my colleagues, and last but not least my
dear family and friends.
In the beginning, I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Dr. Prof. h.c. Bern-
hard Swoboda. In the spring of 2012 he offered me the opportunity to receive
a doctoral degree and to work at his Chair and I am very thankful for this op-
portunity. Our many discussions, his continuous challenges and his support
have made this thesis what it is. He always gave me the support I needed to
develop my thesis further. Without him (cid:44)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:81)(cid:182)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:74)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:92)(cid:86)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)
this doctoral project and I am very grateful for that.
Moreover I thank my second advisor Prof. Dr. Katrin Muehlfeld-Kestan (Uni-
versity of Trier) for evaluating my thesis and Prof. Dr. Rolf Weiber (University
of Trier) for agreeing to chair the defense committee.
This doctoral thesis has also benefit from many fruitful discussions and in-
sights I gained at various conferences, doctoral colloquiums and workshops.
(cid:58)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:74)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:40)(cid:86)(cid:86)(cid:72)(cid:91)(cid:3)(cid:54)(cid:88)(cid:80)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:54)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:21)(cid:19)(cid:20)(cid:22)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:81)(cid:182)t be possible
for me to gain the necessary methodological background that is the base of
this thesis. My attendance and the presentation of my work at important inter-
national marketing and management conferences in Uppsala (Sweden), San
Antonio (USA) and Leuven (Belgium) gave me starting points to enhance the
impact of this thesis. I am very grateful for the people I have met at these con-
ferences and who have enriched my journey. In particular I would like to thank
Dr. Tassilo Schuster (Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg),
who has always been available for a scientific exchange and has also sup-
ported me during my defense preparation.
Furthermore, I would like to thank my colleagues who have accompanied and
enriched my time at the Chair of Marketing and Retailing. My thanks goes to
my former colleagues Dr. Edith Olejnik and Dr. Bettina Weimann who intro-
duced me to Mplus and the work at the Chair. Furthermore, I would like to
thank my colleagues Johannes Hirschmann, Lukas Morbe, and Dr. Julia
Weindel who have worked at the same time at the chair. I am very grateful for
VIII Acknowledgements

their continuous support, many fruitful (coffee-based) discussion rounds and
the many TBAs we had during these four years. In stressful times you always
had an open ear and often the crucial point for problems or at least some
sweets to make the problems less bitter.
A big thanks also goes to our secretary Ursula Fassbender. She always pro-
vided wide-ranged and moral support. Moreover, I would like to thank our stu-
dent assistants Nadine Batton, Christian Hennen and Alisa Theis for their sup-
port during the years.
My (cid:69)(cid:76)(cid:74)(cid:74)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:74)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:88)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:74)(cid:82)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:68)(cid:80)(cid:76)(cid:79)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:86)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:58)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:80)(cid:3)(cid:44)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:81)(cid:182)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:72)(cid:3)
able to finish this thesis and the time would have been much harder. First and
foremost I want to thank my parents for everything they have done for me.
(cid:58)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:92)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:3)(cid:44)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:81)(cid:182)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:72)(cid:3)the person I am today. You encouraged me to make
my own decisions and always supported me. I am also very grateful for the
support of my sister and friends. Thank you all for your patience when times
were stressful and your overall support.
I want to thank my husband Jörg. We met shortly before I started this thesis
(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:44)(cid:3)(cid:71)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:182)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:78)(cid:81)(cid:82)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:92)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:3)(cid:70)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:74)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:60)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:90)(cid:68)(cid:92)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:88)(cid:83)(cid:83)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)
my doing and gave me the freedom I needed to finish this thesis. Thank you
very much for being in my life and for being my partner. Without you and your
(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:88)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:88)(cid:83)(cid:83)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:81)(cid:182)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:82)(cid:86)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:69)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:41)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:79)(cid:92)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:44)(cid:3)
have to thank my daughter Emilia. Thank you for giving me the time and sleep
to work at this thesis. Without you both this journey would be much harder and
maybe impossible for me.
This thesis is dedicated to my beloved family.
Cathrin Huber
Content
Figures ............................................................................................................ XIII(cid:3)
Tables ............................................................................................................. XV(cid:3)
Abbreviations ................................................................................................. XIX(cid:3)
A.(cid:3) Introduction ................................................................................................ 1(cid:3)
1.(cid:3) Focus and Relevance .................................................................................. 1(cid:3)
2.(cid:3) Research Gaps and Literature Review ....................................................... 5(cid:3)
2.1.(cid:3)Overview .............................................................................................. 5(cid:3)
2.2.(cid:3)Measurements of Corporate Reputation ............................................. 6(cid:3)
2.3.(cid:3)Corporate Reputation from a Corporate Perspective .......................... 9(cid:3)
2.4.(cid:3)Corporate Reputation from a Consumer Perspective ....................... 13(cid:3)
2.4.1(cid:3) Studies with a National Focus ................................................. 13(cid:3)
2.4.2(cid:3) Studies with an International Focus ........................................ 18(cid:3)
2.5.(cid:3)General Research Objectives ........................................................... 21(cid:3)
3.(cid:3) Structure and Contribution of the Studies ................................................. 23(cid:3)
3.1.(cid:3)The Influence of Institutional Country Differences on Corporate
Reputation Effects Across Nations .................................................... 23(cid:3)
3.2.(cid:3)Institutional Distances, Firm-Specific Resources and their
Influence on Corporate Reputation Effects ....................................... 25(cid:3)
3.3.(cid:3)Cultural Value Approaches as Antecedents of Consumers
Corporate Reputation Perceptions .................................................... 27(cid:3)
4.(cid:3) Further Remarks ....................................................................................... 29(cid:3)
B.(cid:3) Study 1: Corporate Reputation Effects across Nations: The
Moderating Role of Institutional Country Differences ......................... 31(cid:3)
1.(cid:3) Introduction ................................................................................................ 31(cid:3)
2.(cid:3) Theoretical Foundation and Conceptual Framework ................................ 33(cid:3)
2.1.(cid:3)Corporate Reputation Effects ............................................................ 36(cid:3)
2.2.(cid:3)Country Differences as Moderators ................................................... 36(cid:3)