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Because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, online platforms where travelers' comments and reviews are published have grown considerably. More specifically, in the tourism sector, these social evaluations have been shown to have a strong influence as online platforms, such as online travel agencies (OTA), represent a main touchpoint for the formation process of the online corporate reputation. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate how the pandemic has influenced the online reputation formation of tourism companies and which are the new reputation pillars emerging from the COVID-19. To achieve this research aim, we analyzed the customers' reviews as reported publicly on TrustPilot.com, an online platform that allows customers to review businesses after a purchase or contact with their customer service, before and after COVID-19 so as to identify significant changes in the corporate reputational drivers of LastMinute.com. With this study we have identified the four topic clusters and their sentiment in the two periods of consideration, and we have found that the corporate reputation of tourism companies is formed today starting from different consumer needs. Finally, managerial implications for communication professionals operating in tourism firms are presented.

In this chapter, we explore the multilevel nature of reputation from a shared value perspective. Building on a large body of literature surrounding corporate reputation, we discuss how the creation of reputational value at the firm level may also lead to value shared by the industries and countries in which a firm operates, and vice versa. In examining the recursive and dynamic relationships, strategic implications emerge with regard to managing reputations globally. We argue that the value of reputation is determined by the ability to meet the expectations of stakeholders with respect to what they as an audience perceive as important. Stakeholders’ expectations and perceptions of what is valuable fluctuate across different markets and the more heterogeneous the markets in which a firm diversifies internationally, the more difficult it will be to manage all these expectations. By building on our understanding of firm, industry, and country reputation, and the recursive relationships between them, we contend that creating shared value (CSV), as part of the global reputation management process (GRM), is likely to be easier when there is contextual similarity and limited product diversification. Building on previous frameworks, and employing signaling theory, we create a simplified model of GRM that highlights CSV in the form of multilevel reputation. Distinctions are drawn between being efficient and effective as part of the GRM process and a corresponding typology is created. The chapter concludes with a discussion of strategic implications, alongside a few recommendations, and possible directions for future research.

Scholarship on reputation in and of organizations has been going on for decades, and it always has separated along level of analysis issues, whereby the separate literatures on individual, group/team/unit, and organization reputation fail to acknowledge each other. This sends the implicit message that reputation is a fundamentally different phenomenon at the three different levels of analysis. We tested the validity of this implicit assumption by conducting a multilevel review of the reputation literature, and drawing conclusions about the “level-specific” or “level-generic” nature of the reputation construct. The review results permitted the conclusion that reputation phenomena are essentially the same at all levels of analysis. Based on this, we frame a future agenda for theory and research on reputation.

This chapter expands traditional approaches to Corporate Reputation Management by employing postmodernist approaches to value co-creation in order to identify how Facebook Features can be used to facilitate company–consumer Corporate Reputation co-creation.

Using content analysis of Facebook Fan Pages, the chapter explores how 29 of the world’s most reputable corporations use Facebook Features.

To a surprising degree, the corporations in the sample, despite having virtually limitless access to marketing communications resources, fail to make full use of the opportunities Facebook offers them. It appears that they have not yet fully adapted to this novel medium.

Facebook together with the locus has also shifted the focus of corporate communications from one-way company-controlled transmission of information to multiparty user-controlled conversations. Thus, Corporate Reputations can no longer be managed. Instead, by offering consumers experiences and emotional triggers, corporations can engage them into willingly marketing the corporation and its products to each other.

This is the first systematic analysis of the practices the world’s most prominent corporations utilize (or fail to employ) on Facebook. It illustrates that companies that adapt to the Social Media ecology can successfully orchestrate customer experiences that foster the co-creation of the desired Corporate Reputation.

The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of cultural distance on the reputation transferability from a made in Italy target firm to a foreign acquirer by analyzing local country consumers. The work compares two foreign acquiring firms a Chinese firm (large cultural distance to Italy) and a Spanish firm (small cultural distance to Italy). The findings show that Italian consumers have more negative attitudes toward the acquired firm and lower intentions to repurchase its products if the acquirer has large cultural distance rather than it has small cultural distance. Furthermore, the study aims at verifying that the case of small cultural distance fosters the reputation transferability more than the opposite case of large cultural distance. The work may be of value and interest because little has been studied dealing with the acquisition process in relation to market-based performance, particularly analyzing the consumer behavior toward a post-acquisition target.

Purpose – In business environment, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly an important issue for every stakeholder. Organizations are being reputable through CSR activities. The aim of this chapter is to examine the relationship between CSR and corporate reputation, and determine the role of CSR activities in corporate reputation building process.Design/methodology/approach – An extensive literature research is conducted in order to develop the theoretical framework that supports the positive role of CSR activities on corporate reputation.Findings – As CSR activities affect the consequences that have a positive impact on corporate reputation, findings show that CSR enables firms to improve reputation with a broad range of stakeholders including employees (internal customers), customers (external customers), suppliers, competitors, bankers, and investors.Research limitations/Implications – However this research is a theoretical study, for further studies an empirical research model may be developed for investigating the relationship between CSR and corporate reputation. These dimensions should be measured and the hypothesis about the positive relationship between CSR and corporate reputation may be statistically tested.Practical implications – This theoretical study may be useful for the board of directors and managers since they should become aware of the importance of one of the growing areas of corporate reputation and CSR. They are also increasingly being encouraged to engage CSR activities into their organization's vision, identity, brand, and reputation. Based on societal expectations of stakeholders, organizations should develop and improve their CSR programs and reflect these developments to their reputation mechanisms.Originality/Value of the paper – This study is valuable to understand the corporate reputation practices that enhance and demonstrate the value of reputable organizations. It is also attractive to compare other dimensions of corporate reputation such as emotional appeal, workplace environment, and corporate reputation with CSR.

The study provides explanations and empirical answers to (1) What country-level factors influence the formation of reputation as a strategic asset and (2) how can businesses better manage their reputations on a global basis? The study examines the effects of a national culture on managing global aspects of corporate reputation and brand image using social media (SM) with the use of Hall’s low versus high-context classification of culture. Using longitudinal time series approach, two surveys were conducted in 2011 and again in 2015. The study involved a total of 326 listed companies in the global stock exchange markets of: the United States – the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Japan – the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), and China – the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE). The study employs non-parametric inferential statistical methods. The results of the study show that the low-context culture group is more responsive and responds more quickly. It was clear that a nation’s culture directly affects SM ownership, reply time, and response styles (attitude). The findings may help multinational companies predict adoption of SM for their brand image and online reputation management and formulate more effective public relations marketing strategies by accommodating cultural influences.

Purpose – This chapter examines how irresponsible corporate activities (environmental pollution, human rights abuses, tax evasion, corruption and contract scandals) of some multinational oil companies in the Niger Delta influence stakeholders’ perception of their image/reputation in Nigeria.

Methodology – The objective of this chapter is accomplished through the review of literature on the activities of multinational oil corporations in the Niger Delta, supported by qualitative interviews and analysis of archival materials.

Findings – Three important findings emerged from this study. First, the participants were fully aware of the irresponsible behaviours of oil corporations in the Niger Delta, and some oil corporations were involved in these illicit acts. Second, the analysis of archival materials supports the participants' views with reference to the identities of the corporations involved in these criminal acts. Third, the absence of a strong corporate governance system in Nigeria makes it possible for the officials of oil corporations to tactically circumvent the law by involving in a maze of sophisticated corrupt acts.

Research/practical implications – The implication for the academics and practitioners is evident when a corporation implements corporate social responsibility dutifully; it generates positive impact on its corporate reputation rating. Conversely, when a corporation engages in irresponsible corporate misbehaviours, it attracts negative consequences on its reputation.

Originality – The originality of this chapter lies in the fact that it is the first empirical study to examine the impact of corporate social irresponsibility on the image/reputation of multinational oil corporations in Nigeria.