Search results

Through a systematic literature review, this paper aims to endeavor to present a thorough historical perspective on the evolution of employee-based brand equity (EBBE), offering a comprehensive understanding of its development. The study explores the general model, causes and effects of EBBE, as well as the role of culture, leadership and brand management in building EBBE. The paper proposes an integrative framework to understand the interrelationships between the various dimensions of EBBE and offers practical guidelines for future research and the business world.

The paper uses a systematic literature review approach to analyze and synthesize 30 studies on EBBE retrieved from SCOPUS and Web of Science. The analysis involves a thematic and content-based examination of the literature, which is organized into three thematic groups.

The review highlights the importance of EBBE as a driver of organizational performance and success. The paper identifies the evolution of the major themes, trends and debates in the literature and suggests areas for future research. It underscores the need for more qualitative, multi-level and longitudinal research on EBBE, as well as the exploration of the links between EBBE and other forms of brand equity.

This paper is one of the first systematic literature reviews of EBBE, offering a comprehensive and integrated view of the existing literature since the beginning of this concept. The paper’s originality lies in its proposed integrative framework that captures the interrelationships between the various dimensions of EBBE and provides practical guidelines for future research and the business world.

The purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual framework for measuring and managing employee-based brand equity. Drawing upon existing research, the authors argue that internal brand management should be approached from professional and socio-emotional perspectives.

The study establishes a comprehensive conceptual framework by thoroughly reviewing existing literature on employee-based brand equity and internal marketing. It builds upon existing research while adding unique insights to deepen the understanding of the subject.

The proposed conceptual framework highlights the importance of both professional and socio-emotional factors in building and managing employee-based brand equity. The framework emphasises the role of employees’ emotions, values and relationships in shaping their brand-related behaviours and their functional role in delivering brand promises.

This paper offers a theoretical foundation for future research in internal branding. However, the framework is not empirically tested, and further research is needed to validate and refine the framework. Organisations can develop more effective internal branding strategies that enhance brand equity by recognising the importance of both professional and socio-emotional factors in shaping employees’ brand-related behaviours.

Organisations can develop more effective internal branding strategies that enhance brand equity by recognising the importance of both professional and socio-emotional factors in shaping employees’ brand-related behaviours.

This study presents a novel approach to internal brand management, introducing a unique, dual-perspective model. This enriches the current body of literature and provides fresh insights for academics and practitioners in the field of marketing and brand management.

This study aims to expand the emerging body of literature on employer branding from the current employee perspective. It proposes that effective integrated communication helps an organization fulfill its employer value proposition or employment value proposition (EVP). A firm that fulfills its brand promise in terms of EVP will derive employee-based brand equity (EBBE) benefits. Integrated communication is effective when employees experience coordination and consistency in brand communication. This influences their perception of psychological contract fulfillment (in terms of EVP attributes), which results in positive employee behavior in the form of EBBE benefits.

The study draws insights from the signaling theory and psychological contract literature which is based on the social exchange theory. The literature on integrated communication, employer branding and internal branding was reviewed to propose the relationships between the variables of interest. Data was collected using a questionnaire survey on 520 employees from the information technology (IT)-business process management industry in India, which is a customer-oriented industry known for its exemplary employer practices.

The findings suggest that integrated communication effectiveness impacts the perceived fulfillment of EVP attributes and EBBE. Again, the fulfillment of the relational value dimension of EVP attributes partially mediates the relationship between integrated communication effectiveness and EBBE.

This study is one of the first to explore employees’ perception of integrated communication effectiveness and fulfillment in terms of EVP attributes as antecedents to EBBE.

The concept of employee-based brand equity (EBBE) has been the center of scholars' attention in the field of marketing and brand management. The brand is one of the most valuable intangible assets of any organization. This research is a novel step in examining the brand-specific transactional leadership role in implementing the new approach of brand-building behaviors (BBBs) and EBBE.

The statistical population of the current study is employees of five major insurance companies in Semnan city of Iran. Using the classified random sampling method, 136 employees of these insurance firms were chosen. Likert-based questionnaires were used to collect data. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze research data.

Findings show that brand-specific transactional leadership affects participation and retention positively and significantly. Also, the variables of participation, in-role brand-building behavior (IRBBB) and retention, have a positive and significant effect on the EBBE. However, no significant relationship has been found between brand-specific transactional leadership and the IRBBB.

The study was bound by access to firms and managers' availability. On the other hand, this research is a cross-sectional study, and its data have been collected in a certain period of time, while longitudinal research can provide a richer result. Future research can benefit from the impact of brand-specific transactional leadership and brand evangelism.

When selecting brand leaders, manager training programs need to evaluate whether a candidate has brand-specific transactional leadership traits that will enhance the successful internalization of brand values and improve EBBE.

Brand-specific transactional leadership increases employee responsibility and a greater desire to engage in citizenship behaviors. In addition, using partnerships to influence customer supportive behaviors creates a good image of the company and its services in the minds of customers. Also, this research is a novel step in examining the brand-specific transactional leadership role in implementing the new approach of BBBs and EBBE.

Though employees are important stakeholders of a brand, their role in building brand equity has long been neglected. This study aims to deepen the understanding of employees’ brand co-creation efforts and their contribution to employee-based brand equity (EBBE).

The study analyses implicit and explicit communication activities by employees on the social media network LinkedIn and quantifies the contribution of their posts to EBBE. Data has been gathered from more than 1,300 posts and 130 private accounts, representing different employee groups of five corporate brands.

The investigation illustrates the high importance of brand co-creation in social networks by employees and helps practitioners to better understand the underlying processes.

Case-study research has limitations of generalisability. However, the authors unveil important limits to exploiting the autonomy of employees’ word-of-mouth communication.

Under a co-creative perspective, every social media activity of an employee can be a positive contribution to a brand’s equity. Therefore, companies should closely monitor EBBE.

The authors draw on basic conceptual insights and empirical work by other researchers but extend and interpret them in a new context. The study provides initial indications of key antecedents of and barriers to successful management of employees’ brand co-creation activities.

The purpose of this paper is to present the first known empirically‐tested model of Employee Based Brand Equity (EBBE). In doing so, it seeks to provide insight into how organisations can not only effectively manage the internal brand building‐process but also, more importantly, appreciate the subsequent employee effects and organisational benefits.

Data were collected via an online survey of 371 employees who work in service organisations, sourced from a market research database list.

Strong support was found for nine out of the ten hypothesised relationships, thus providing strong validation for the proposed model.

The employment of surveys can present data collection problems stemming from such things as lack of willingness to participate on behalf of the respondent, loss of validity when using structured questionnaires, and inherent challenges of wording questions properly. However, in acknowledging these limitations, actions, such as the utilisation of a national database of “opt in” survey participants coupled with the good reliability results and the methodical four‐stage survey design process undertaken, it is suggested that every effort was made to negate the limitations.

Knowledge is gained from empirically validating a model of EBBE: it further enriches the application of traditional brand management techniques; provides a framework for brand communication training; increases organisational understanding of how to engender positive employee actions; and increases the accountability of such an internal investment by identifying measurable organisational benefits that accrue as a result of such efforts.

The paper makes three important contributions: expanding the existing brand equity literature to incorporate a third yet equally relevant perspective, that being the employee; the adoption of a multi‐disciplined approach to addressing a marketing issue and, in doing so, extending beyond the connectionist cognitive psychology view of brand equity to incorporate a contextual/organisation cultural element; and reflecting the perceptions of employees, who are currently under‐represented in the internal brand management literature.

The primary purpose of this research is to conceptualise and validate the comprehensive framework for effectively measuring and managing employee-based brand equity (EBBE) benefits. The study endeavours to integrate professional and socio-emotional facets of employees' into the proposed model, lending it a more holistic approach.

The study focusses on the banking sector in Kosovo, employing structural equation modelling to analyse data from a sample of 325 employees.

Both professional and socio-emotional perspectives significantly influenced brand knowledge, positively impacting EBBE benefits such as employee satisfaction, retention and positive word of mouth (WOM). These findings provide empirical support for the theoretical assumptions concerning the role of professional and socio-emotional perspectives in building EBBE.

Theoretically, this research could bridge marketing and organisational behaviour theories by highlighting employees' role in building brand equity. Moreover, it might expand the social identity theory within an organisational context, emphasising employees' identification with the brand as a crucial element.

The study offers practical implications for the banking industry and similar contexts, suggesting robust internal marketing strategies prioritising professional development and socio-emotional connectivity. Theoretically, this research could bridge marketing and organisational behaviour theories by highlighting employees' role in building brand equity. Moreover, it might expand the social identity theory within an organisational context, emphasising employees' identification with the brand as a crucial element.

The paper presents an original contribution to the field of brand equity research by proposing and validating a novel framework for EBBE that uniquely integrates both professional and socio-emotional dimensions of employees' experiences. This approach is particularly innovative within the context of the banking sector, offering new empirical insights.

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of how brand-specific transformational leadership (TFL) and transactional leadership (TRL) enhance employee-based brand equity (EBBE) by influencing employees’ perceived brand value congruence (EPBVC).

This study employed hierarchical linear modeling and chose moderating variables that are primarily related to the working environment: person–job fit (PJF) and person–group fit (PGF). The sample included managers and employees of the largest domestic bank in Taiwan.

Questionnaires were distributed to banking staff in the service industry. The results imply that both brand-specific TFL and brand-specific TRL require the mediation of PJF and PGF to influence EBBE, which then influences brand equity. Without these mediators, brand-specific TFL and brand-specific TRL have no effects on EBBE.

Compared to the results from other studies, these results imply a unique discovery that both brand-specific TFL and brand-specific TRL require the mediation of PJF and PGF to influence EPBVC, which in turn influences EBBE. Without these mediators, brand-specific TFL and brand-specific TRL do not have any effects.

This paper aims to examine the impact of employee-based brand equity (EBBE) and perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) on firm performance.

Data were collected through an e-mail survey from fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms in the UK and UAE. Sample sectors included cosmetics and toiletries, household care products, packaged food, soft drinks and tobacco firms. Quantitative data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The results suggest strong support for the hypothesized relationships, thereby providing strong validation for the proposed model. One interesting finding was that the PEU affected employee brand equity significantly stronger in the UK than in the UAE. This phenomenon is explained in the discussion section.

Although several studies have indicated several other elements for EBBE, such as brand commitment and brand citizen behavior, the authors borrowed King et al.’s (2012) EBBE concept and limited their variables on EBBE for brand endorsement, brand allegiance and brand consistent behavior.

Knowledge is expanded through an empirical study validating the proposed model, which provides meaningful insights for developing training tools for internal brand management. Firms have to increase the brand manager’s commitment to increase the employee brand equity, which in turn increases the firm’s performance.

This paper makes three imperative contributions to the branding literature: expanding the existing brand equity literature to incorporate employee brand equity; being the first known empirically tested PEU on employee brand equity; and empirically testing employee brand equity, which has been ignored in branding literature on firm performance.

This paper seeks to clarify the process that leads employees and prospective applicants to be attracted to remain with the organization or apply for a job offer in private companies in Zhejiang, China.

The paper applies concepts from marketing to people management, particularly the concept of brand equity. It proposes, on the basis of a literature review and preliminary interview data in three private companies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, that prospective applicants and employees evaluate job offers or organizational positions based both on organizational attractiveness (OA) and on employee‐based brand equity (EBBE) perceptions. It then presents a model of the relationship between OA and EBBE for future research in China, proposing the particular importance of the dimensions “economic value”, “development value” and “social value” for Chinese employees. It then suggests implications for future research and practice, especially the relationship between OA and EBBE for both Chinese employees, job seekers and applicants.

The private economy is significant to China, accounting for 65 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 56 per cent of total tax revenue. For Zhejiang, a private economy‐dominated province, talent recruitment and turnover are problems that hinder future development. OA and EBE may play a key role in intentions to accept a job offer, and as a mediator and a key variable in the initial recruitment.

The paper draws on preliminary interview studies in China to propose a framework for future research to clarify the role of OA and EBBE in Chinese job choice intentions and behaviours.

Recruitment messages and internal branding communications should focus on EBBE so as to influence OA perceptions and job intentions in China. Social, economic and development value are suggested as particularly important dimensions of EBBE in China.

The study clarifies the role of OA and EBBE in the process that leads to the intention to apply, respond to job offers, and remain with the organization, and discusses implications for further research and practice in China.