Consumers’ identification with corporate brands: Brand prestige, anthropomorphism and engagement in social media
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-05-2016-1199 |
| Date | 12 February 2018 |
| Pages | 3-17 |
| Published date | 12 February 2018 |
| Author | Urška Tuškej,Klement Podnar |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
Consumers’identification with corporate
brands: Brand prestige, anthropomorphism and
engagement in social media
Urška Tuškej and Klement Podnar
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to examine relationships between consumer-brand identification (CBI), brand prestige (BP), brand anthropomorphism
(BA) and consumers’active engagement in brand activities on social media in corporate brand settings.
Design/methodology/approach –Data collected with an online survey on a sample randomly drawn from an online panel of consumers were used
to test the proposed theoretical model.
Findings –Anthropomorphism and prestige of corporate brands were found to positively influence consumer-brand identification. Also, CBI
positively affects consumers’active engagement and fully mediates the effect of BP and BA on consumers-brand engagement (CBE) with
corporate brands.
Research limitations/implications –Further research in other markets and on a broader set of corporate brands would additionally validate
results and enable comparisons of impacts among different brand categories. The data were gathered in one country, so further research in other
markets would additionally validate results of this study.
Practical implications –Chief executives responsible for corporate brand management are provided with some insights on how appropriate
corporate brand identity management can strengthen CBI and stimulate CBE on social media.
Originality/value –This paper provides some novel insights into the research on consumer-brand identification. It is the first study (to the
authors’knowledge) that empirically supports the positive influence of brand anthropomorphism on CBI in corporate brand settings. It also
contributes to the clarification of previously inconsistent results of the influence of BP on CBI. By showing that consumers’identification with a
corporate brand plays a vital role in increasing consumers’active engagement on social media, the study contributes to the relatively sparse body
of research on CBE.
Keywords Corporate marketing, Anthropomorphism, Brand identification, Corporate branding, Brand engagement, Brand prestige
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
In the past two decades, ever since Balmer (1995) has
accentuated the importance of strategic management of
corporate brands and their identity, the vital role of
corporate brands as organisations’valuable strategic
resources and assets has been demonstrated (Brown and
Dacin, 1997;Ind, 1997;Gray and Balmer, 1998;Balmer,
2001a;Harris and de Chernatony, 2001;Einwiller and Will,
2002;Balmer and Gray, 2003;Balmer, 2012). Corporate
brands come to the foreground because the increasingly
sensitive and astute public wishes to know more about
organisations’ethical and environmental issues; thus,
organisations find it increasingly difficult to hide behind
their product brands (Balmer, 1995). The corporate brand
defines the organisation that stands behind the offering
(Aaker, 2004;Urde, 2013) and is a mean of creating both
shareholder and stakeholder value (Balmer, 2012). As
Balmer (2001a;2001b) points out, corporate brand
management goes beyond classic product brand
management, as, unlike for the product brand where only
the middle management is responsible, everyone in the
organisation has a responsibility for the corporate brand and
its maintenance. Corporate brand management requires the
constant attention of the chief executives and involves
decisions about the organisational identity that are taken by
the senior management and that have to meet the
expectations of a whole range of internal and external
stakeholders (for detailed comparison of product and
corporate brands, see Balmer, 2001b). Corporate brands
“are born out of corporate identities, but live in the minds of
groups and individuals”(Balmer, 2010, p. 186). As such,
corporate brand has become not only the key construct but
also the flag bearer of the corporate marketing (Balmer,
2001a;Abratt and Kleyn, 2012).Animportantinterestof
corporate-level marketing is how a company as a brand can
maintain ongoing relationships with customers and other
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
27/1 (2018) 3–17
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-05-2016-1199]
The authors would like to thank the Slovenian Institute for Market and
Media Research, Mediana, for supporting the research. The authors would
also like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments
and suggestions on the manuscript.
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