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Acquirer’s corporate reputation in cross-border acquisitions: the moderating effect of country image

Michela Matarazzo (Department of Economic and Business Sciences, Marconi University, Roma, Italy)
Giulia Lanzilli (Department of Law, Economy, Management and Quantitative Methods, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy)
Riccardo Resciniti (Department of Law, Economy, Management and Quantitative Methods, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy)

Journal of Product & Brand Management

ISSN: 1061-0421

Article publication date: 16 November 2018

Issue publication date: 7 December 2018

710

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether, in the context of a cross-border acquisition, the acquirer’s country image (CI) could moderate the relationship between the acquirer’s corporate reputation (CR) and consumers’ repurchase intentions towards the products of the post-acquisition target.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examined the roles played by the acquirer’s CR and the acquirer’s CI on consumer behaviour by considering an Italian target firm with a high reputation and comparing four foreign acquiring firms with different combinations of CR (poor/good) and CI (high/low).

Findings

It was found that both CR and CI have a significant impact on Italian consumers’ intention to repurchase the products of the post-acquisition target. Furthermore, the results show a greater increase in consumers’ repurchase intentions when a good reputation of the acquirer is paired with a high CI for the acquirer, but a high CI cannot compensate for a poor CR.

Originality/value

The research investigates, in the context of cross-border acquisitions (CBAs), the impact of the acquirer’s CR and the acquirer’s CI on the host country consumers’ repurchase intentions after the CBA, which has not previously been thoroughly examined. It can help managers to understand the conditions under which CBAs will be favourably evaluated.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors are deeply grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the Guest Co-Editors of this special issue for their insightful comments on earlier versions of this paper. They are particularly grateful to Professor Nicolas Papadopoulos for the helpful comments we received at the XXXV AIDEA conference (Rome, 2017).

Citation

Matarazzo, M., Lanzilli, G. and Resciniti, R. (2018), "Acquirer’s corporate reputation in cross-border acquisitions: the moderating effect of country image", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 27 No. 7, pp. 858-870. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-10-2017-1640

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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