Reputation und Image: Grundlagen, Einflussmöglichkeiten, Management

Die Konzepte Image und Reputation weisen trotz ihrer historischen Verankerung in unterschiedlichen Fachdisziplinen enge Verbindungen aber auch klare Unterschiede auf. In beiden Fallen handelt es sich um Wahrnehmungsphanomene, bei denen ein Unternehmen hinsichtlich bestimmter Attribute wahrgenommen und bewertet wird. Wahrend sich Images jedoch im Individuum manifestieren, entsteht Reputation erst dann, wenn viele Menschen ein Reputationsobjekt wahrnehmen und Wissen und Bewertungen daruber interpersonell oder medienvermittelt austauschen. Eine starke Reputation ist fur ein Unternehmen ein Vermogenswert, der Wettbewerbsvorteile verschafft. Um die Potenziale der Reputation als Vermogenswert zu …

Countering accusations with inoculation: The moderating role of consumer-company identification.

Abstract Accusations of wrongdoing, baseless or justified, can severely tarnish a company's reputation. Once disseminated, even baseless accusations can persist and cause considerable damage for a company. This study examines the proactive crisis communication strategy of inoculating individuals against invalid accusations before they go viral. An experiment was conducted in a real world consumer context among members of an online consumer panel using an electronics discounter as the research stimulus. Expanding previous inoculation research on the role of value-relevant involvement for inoculation and the effectiveness of inoculation in the case of different preexisting attitudes, we find …

Media coverage about organisations in critical situations – Analysing the impact on employees.

Purpose– This research aims to investigate how critical media coverage of an organisation affects its employees. The authors expect the effects to be similar to the way media coverage about an individual would affect this person, termed “reciprocal effects”.Design/methodology/approach– Drawing on a framework for the analysis of reciprocal effects of mass media by Kepplinger and qualitative interviews among employees of 14 different organisations undergoing a crisis, the authors develop an employee-model of reciprocal effects for the context of organisational crises.Findings– This qualitative research shows that employees are affected by media coverage on a critical issue about their employe…

Disclosure Alignment and Transparency Signaling in CSR Reports

This chapter investigates companies' disclosure alignment and transparency signaling within the 2011 CSR annual reports of 36 U.S. firms in the Global Forbes 2000. DICTION 6.0 was used for the text analysis. The study found that CSR reports are fairly similar to corporate financial annual reports but can be classified more accurately as a hybrid discourse with normative elements matching genres emanating from science, business, government, religion, and social movements. Despite the relatively short time that CSR reports have been in existence, this chapter provides evidence that CSR reporting has become institutionalized quickly. The measures of transparency signaling and disclosure alignm…

Handling complaints on social network sites – An analysis of complaints and complaint responses on Facebook and Twitter pages of large US companies

Social media provide numerous possibilities for consumers and other stakeholders to voice their complaints about organizations in public. While this can damage the reputation of an organization, effectively handling complaints also bears considerable opportunities to win back complainants and to win over observers of the interaction. This study analyzes how large companies handle complaints on their Facebook and Twitter pages. Results reveal that the companies are not fully embracing the opportunities of social media to demonstrate their willingness to interact with and assist their stakeholders. Organizational responsiveness is only moderate, and companies often try to divert complainants …

Journalists’ Coverage of Online Firestorms in German-Language News Media

When people perceive events that conflict with their expectations they can easily express their agitation and concerns online and likely find others who share their opinion. When large quantities of messages containing negative word-of-mouth suddenly spread in social media we speak of an online firestorm. By covering the outcry, journalists elevate it onto a mainstream communication platform and support the process of scandalization. Content analysis was used to explore how journalists, working for German-language media, cover this phenomenon. Over a period of 16 months, 130 online firestorms were identified and analyzed. Based on a typology of online firestorms, we have found that the majo…

Corporate Attributes and Associations

Under What Conditions Do the News Media Influence Corporate Reputation? The Roles of Media Dependency and Need for Orientation

Previous research has assumed uniform effects of the news media's influence on corporate reputation. This study uses theories of media system dependency and ‘need for orientation’ to examine contingent conditions affecting the degree of the media influence. Our integrated measurement approach gauging media coverage and stakeholder evaluations on the same dimensions of reputation furthered the methodological approach to this research area. We found that stakeholders depend more on the news media to learn about reputation dimensions that are difficult to directly experience or observe and for which the news media are the main source of information.

Portrayals of Large Corporations in the English and German Version of Wikipedia – Exploring Similarities and Differences

High search results for Wikipedia articles in web search engines and the large number of Wikipedia articles about companies contribute to the online encyclopedia’s relevance for communication and reputation management. In this research, we compare Wikipedia articles of 30 US and 30 German corporations in both the English and German version of the online encyclopedia. Using content analysis, the articles’ structure, content and tone are analyzed and compared. Apart from broad similarities in regard to article structure, results reveal some striking differences between the versions. It shows that companies are portrayed more extensively in their domestic than in the foreign version of Wikiped…

The Effect of Incongruence Between CEO and Corporate Brand Personality on Financial Analysts’ Attitudes and Assessment of a Company’s Performance

This research assesses the role of two types of nonfinancial information in investor relations: The personality of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the personality of the corporate brand. As both personalities determine the identity of a company and the relationship with its stakeholders, we investigate their relevance and the effect of incongruence between these two personalities on financial analysts. Eleven semistructured interviews were conducted to answer the theoretically derived research questions. Empirical findings show that both personalities are relevant to analysts and that perceived incongruence between these personalities can cause adverse effects. Company size, stage of …

Examining the link between integrated communication management and communication effectiveness in medium-sized enterprises

On the basis of a framework for integrated communication management (ICM) derived from perspectives in the integrated marketing communications and communication management literature, we tested various hypotheses concerning the link between ICM and communication effectiveness. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 642 Swiss-based companies, with a focus on medium-sized enterprises. The data yielded insights as to the role of ICM in respect of both ‘soft’ psychological and ‘hard’ economic measures of communication effectiveness. Results include that aligning communication with the corporate strategy and mission, scripting communication concepts and having a designated function for market…

Integrated Reputation Analysis at Daimler

Einwiller and Kuhn then describe how Daimler has developed “SCORA,” its integrated system for corporate reputation analysis. To establish the system, Daimler firstly had to determine target variables, influencing factors, and relevant stakeholder groups. The authors explain how their company has identified relevant regions, benchmarks, and the appropriate methodology for its tool. “SCORA” combines media content analysis and stakeholder surveying to fully capture Daimler’s reputation. It additionally reveals relations between stakeholders’ perceptions and the depiction of the car manufacturer in the media. An example of such an analysis concludes this chapter.

Wenn der „Shitstorm“ überschwappt – Eine Analyse digitaler Spillover in der deutschen Print- und Onlineberichterstattung

„Digitale Druckwelle“, „Der Sturm der Entrustung im Netz“, „Amazon im Shitstorm“ – die Beispiele aus der massenmedialen Print- und Onlineberichterstattung sind zahlreich, in denen Organisationen oder Personen des offentlichen Lebens als Gegenstand der Entrustung kritischer Netzoffentlichkeiten thematisiert werden. Unternehmerische Entscheidungen werden zunehmend in Frage gestellt und unter Beteiligung einer kritischen Offentlichkeit diskutiert. Im Internet geauserte Kritik stellt dabei zunehmend eine Gefahr fur die Reputation von Organisationen und Personen dar.

Harmonization and differences in CSR reporting of US and German companies

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to extend the theoretical discussion and empirical evidence on harmonization as well as differences in CSR reporting, and to dismantle inconsistencies owing to the idiosyncratic methods applied in previous studies. While institutional and cultural differences suggest country-of-origin effects, the proliferation of global standards for CSR reporting is expected to promote harmonization.Design/methodology/approach– Based on a literature review hypotheses concerning harmonization and country-of-origin effects were derived. Reports were content analyzed using the software Leximancer. Harmonization effects were examined by comparing reports of companies that…