Marketing Intelligence & Planning

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to develop an effective measure of corporate reputation when stakeholders are faced with different decision situations.

Design/methodology/approach – The study research question was addressed using survey data from 500 respondents involved in four decision situations: purchasing products from a company, seeking employment, purchasing shares and supporting the operations of a company in their community.

Findings – The findings suggest that corporate reputation is a situational construct which is continuously redefined by stakeholders according to the decision they are considering. Thus, companies may not have the same reputation when seeking different kind of support from stakeholders.

Research limitations/implications – In order to generalise the findings, the collection of data by means of surveys of larger random samples from multiple countries are strongly encouraged.

Practical implications – The paper contributes to the development of effective measures of corporate reputation for individuals who may have hybrid stakeholder identity and are involved in diverse decisions regarding companies. This contribution is valuable in that it can be used by managers and companies to establish more effective corporate communication strategies, which directly address the information needs of individuals considering different relationships with firms.

Originality/value – The paper identifies the value placed on various reputation dimensions when individuals consider different relationships with companies. By doing so, we provide an innovative tool that can be utilised by marketing managers to measure the attractiveness of companies to potential consumers, employees, investors and community members.