Search results

The paper aims to analyse the effect of abandoning a venerable brand name (Guinness) and all of the reputation value that it embodied in favour of a new, untested name (Diageo). The paper seeks to examine the extent to which this affects consumers' perceptions of the product and the corporation.

Six hypotheses were tested in the study by surveying corporate and product brand images among a group of consumers (n=411) using the Davies et al. Corporate Character Scale.

The survey establishes that a change of corporate name does affect the perceptions of the corporation but not the products. It also confirms that image spillovers occur between the corporate and the product levels. Corporate image is derived from product image, and vice versa, when the two share the same name.

Although the case study approach allows the gaining of a deep insight into a phenomenon, it is at the expense of generalisability.

The study implies that consumers fail to distinguish between product and corporate brand when the two share the same name. Managers may neutralise corporate images by attributing a different brand name to the corporation.

The paper seeks to fill the conceptual vacuum in which decisions to adopt a new corporate name and rearrange the brand architecture seem to be made.

The deference towards brands that motivated yesterday’s consumers to purchase is no longer so evident in today’s shopping environment. As consumers become more sophisticated in their assessment of brands and more demanding in their requirements, brand management will need to develop more substantive market models to regain the initiative. Outlines an empirical model of brand loyalty that provides diagnostic data to support the management of brand loyal behaviour and customer equity in grocery markets.

The purpose of this paper is to describe company renaming as a process among small firms, including the events and actors in and the reasons for company renaming.

The study presents an interpretative narrative process research approach. The empirical part is conducted as an instrumental multiple case study of six cases.

Company renaming is a long-lasting, complex, iterative and management-centric process among small firms. The process consists of six main events that are conducted more or less simultaneously but which need to be further divided into sub-events in order to reveal their order. The reasons for renaming are that the current company name is difficult to use or it is less known than the name of the company's well-known product among stakeholders.

The existing research on branding from the viewpoint of organisational change has been scarce. The study suggests that also other reasons than change in the organisation or in its environment may cause corporate rebranding. The empirical data from a specific contest, the B2B software industry, may limit the statistical generalizability of the results.

For small business managers, the study suggests actively involving stakeholders to the process. The new name can be developed cheaply, but the process can be long. For ensuring a shorter process, costs need to be accepted.

The use of interpretative narrative process research approach and an instrumental multiple case study provide methodological contributions to the field of corporate rebranding.

The purpose of this paper is to argue for the usefulness of the sociolinguistic perspective and sociolinguistic theories for knowledge production in corporate naming research.

Companies' naming practices have been researched from various aspects, mainly within the disciplinary frame of organisational studies, and with a focus on corporate branding. Because a company name is a sociolinguistic representation, and corporate naming a sociolinguistic process, it is logical to assume that corporate naming research can benefit significantly by embracing a sociolinguistic perspective.

The paper explains how (socio)linguistics can help organisational scholars to view corporate naming practices as interacting with cognition, society and social knowledge, and as a product of defined social circumstances. Once perceived as accredited within organisational studies, (socio)linguistics, the paper suggests, will become an integral part of theorising both organisational discourse and corporate naming as a part of that discourse.

An increased transdisciplinarity of the research into corporate naming practices will definitely contribute to the marketability and commercial value of the knowledge thus produced.

Advocating a dialogue between corporate naming research and (socio)linguistics, this paper constitutes yet another step towards overcoming limitations the disciplinary frame of organisational studies imposes upon research into discourse‐related issues within an organisation.

The paper aims to investigate both Western and Eastern corporate branding thoughts and examine the interrelation among four corporate branding dimensions (i.e. corporate name, image, reputation and loyalty) and their joint impact on consumers' product evaluation.

Building on extensive literature, a model of consumers' product evaluation that includes the major determinants of corporate branding is proposed. Based on a sample of 218 Japanese and American consumers, structural equation modeling and general linear model analyses are used to test hypotheses.

The research reveals that Japanese and American consumers have different perceptions with respect to the effect of corporate image and corporate loyalty. The corporate name was found to have a significant impact on corporate image and corporate reputation was found to have a significant affect on corporate loyalty. The corporate reputation is also found to be a mediator of the corporate image's effect on consumers' product evaluation.

The paper suggests that marketers should carefully consider the corporate name when designing their branding strategies. Marketers are also called on to adapt their corporate branding approaches to fit each marketing environment and enhance corporate loyalty to reduce the switching behavior of consumers.

The paper clarifies the interrelation among the four corporate branding dimensions and shows that consumers of different cultures do not perceive in the same way the impact of corporate branding determinants.

Companies changing their brand names are frequently reported in the business press but this phenomenon has as yet received little academic attention. This paper sets out to understand the drivers of the corporate rebranding phenomenon and to analyse the impact of such strategies on corporate brand equity.

A cross‐sectional sample of 166 rebranded companies provides descriptive data on the context in which rebranding occurs. Two case studies provide further detail on how the process of rebranding is managed.

The data show that a decision to rebrand is most often provoked by structural changes, particularly mergers and acquisitions, which have a fundamental effect on the corporation's identity and core strategy. They also suggest that a change in marketing aesthetics affects brand equity less than other factors such as employees' behaviour.

The paper proposes a conceptual model to integrate various dimensions of corporate rebranding. Analysing the rebranding phenomenon by assessing the leverage of brand equity from one level of the brand hierarchy to the other constitutes an interesting route for further research.

Managers are reminded that corporate rebranding needs to be managed holistically and supported by all stakeholders, with particular attention given to employees' reactions.

This paper is of value to anybody seeking to understand the rebranding phenomenon, including academics and business managers.

Investigates the effectiveness of corporate name change signaling in the services industry. Argues that previous studies on the subject are lacking because they failed to distinguish between the services and manufacturing sectors. Uses the trend analysis method and examines the movement of price‐earning ratios during a five‐year period before and after the name change. Evaluates the effectiveness of the name change signaling strategy by testing the difference in means of the “before and after” P/E ratios. Finds that firms who announce name change together with other managerial decisions and regularly release news on other firm‐specific activities fared much better than firms which did not release such information.

The purpose of this paper is to examine stock price and trading volume reactions to name changes of the Toronto Stock Exchange listed companies. Previous studies present conflicting evidence on reactions to corporate name changes in US and other capital markets.

This study uses the event study methodology to calculate abnormal returns and trading volume around the announcement, approval, and effective dates of corporate name changes. It also contrasts abnormal returns between major and minor name changes, signaling focused and diversified strategies, accompanied with a ticker symbol change and without a ticker change, structural and pure name changes, as well as brand adoption and radical name changes.

Companies tend to experience a significant run-up in stock price in the period preceding the announcement of a name change. The stocks also show a significant positive abnormal return around the effective date. In addition, corporate name changes are associated with significant increases in trading volume for several days starting from the approval date. Most importantly, the type of a name change matters, as reflected in significance levels of abnormal return and trading volume reactions to various types of corporate name changes.

The limitation of this study comes from the difficulty to precisely identify the date when the market learns about a possible corporate name change.

This study is the first to examine market reactions to name changes of Toronto Stock Exchange listed companies. Most importantly, whereas previous studies focus on the announcement day, this paper also considers the approval and effective days. It also contrasts responses between name changes accompanied with a new ticker and name changes without a ticker change.

Throughout sport, the incidence of commercial sponsorship is increasing and shows no signs of slowing. This case study examines the negative consequences that can arise when a corporate stadium naming rights partner (Enron) becomes embroiled in financial and ethical controversies and how its collapse affected the team that uses the stadium for its home games (Major League Baseball's Houston Astros). It examines public relations strategies and tactics the Astros used to disassociate themselves from Enron and to recapture public support.