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From an integrated marketing communications perspective, this study aims to analyse what level of consistency among brand messages is more effective in terms of customer‐based brand equity. In particular it aims to evaluate its impact on brand knowledge structure, and how brand familiarity moderates this influence.

A sample of 194 subjects participated in a between subjects experiment. An integrated communication campaign composed of two different tools (advertising and nonmonetary promotion) was assessed by individuals. Brand familiarity (familiar brand vs unfamiliar brand) and consistency among messages (high vs moderate) were manipulated to test a set of hypotheses.

Results show that the effectiveness of consistency among messages depends on brand familiarity. For familiar brands moderately consistent messages improve their awareness (recall), enrich their network of associations, and generate more favourable responses and brand attitudes. However, for unfamiliar brands, no significant differences are found between high and moderate levels of consistency, except for brand recall, being higher when highly consistent messages are used.

Limitations of the study are those typically associated with the experimental methodology. Specifically, a single product category and only two communication tools were used in the experiment which may limit the generalisability of the results.

For unfamiliar brands, brand managers should focus on consistent brand messages to build awareness for these unknown brands. By contrast, for familiar brands the goal of the communication strategy must be to revive the interest in them through moderate consistent messages that can excite consumers and make them think again about these brands.

The originality of this study resides in incorporating the newest approach of communication management (integrated marketing communication or IMC) to illustrate how consistency among messages could be used to build the type of brand knowledge structure that nurtures brand equity. Furthermore, compared to previous studies of IMC, which have addressed this issue under a merely conceptual perspective, this paper offers empirical evidences using a more practical perspective and focusing on managing brand knowledge structures as a way for improving brand image.

This paper aims to examine how message consistency pursued through integrated marketing communications (IMC) can build a strong destination brand equity in a very dynamic environment and whether this process is affected by the perceived risk of COVID-19.

Data collection was conducted among 333 international tourists visiting Croatia, a destination that has experienced a remarkable boom in the summer/autumn season of 2021, regardless of the pandemic. Partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for data analysis.

Results show that IMC consistency has a significant impact on the four destination brand equity dimensions, i.e. awareness, image, perceived quality and loyalty. This influence is found to be the highest on destination brand awareness and the lowest on destination brand loyalty. Perceived risk of COVID-19 moderates the impact of message consistency on brand image and perceived quality.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines the role of IMC consistency in a tourism context during turbulent times. The impact of IMC consistency is analyzed on different components of destination brand equity, which addresses the most recent research call from tourism literature. The moderating effects of perceived risk are considered, thus providing additional implications in a context of high uncertainty. Finally, IMC consistency is assessed from the consumer rather than managerial viewpoints, thus adopting the necessary outside-in approach embedded in the IMC idea.

本文探讨了通过整合营销传播 (IMC) 追求的信息一致性如何在非常动态的环境中建立强大的目的地品牌资产, 以及这一过程是否受到 COVID-19 感知风险的影响。

在 333 名访问克罗地亚的国际游客中进行了数据收集, 该目的地在 2021 年夏季/秋季经历了非凡的繁荣, 无论大流行如何。偏最小二乘 - 结构方程建模 (PLS-SEM) 用于数据分析。

结果表明, IMC 一致性对四个目的地品牌资产维度有显着影响, 即意识、形象、感知质量和忠诚度。发现这种影响对目的地品牌知名度最高, 对目的地品牌忠诚度最低。 COVID-19 的感知风险缓和了信息一致性对品牌形象和感知质量的影响。

据作者所知, 这是第一项研究动荡时期 IMC 一致性在旅游环境中的作用。分析了 IMC 一致性对目的地品牌资产的不同组成部分的影响, 这解决了来自旅游文献的最新研究呼吁。考虑到感知风险的调节效应, 从而在高度不确定的情况下提供额外的影响。最后, IMC 一致性是从消费者而非管理的角度评估的, 因此采用了嵌入 IMC 理念的必要的由外而内的方法。

Este artículo examina cómo la coherencia del mensaje que se pretende conseguir a través de la Comunicación Integrada de Marketing (CIM) puede generar un fuerte valor de marca de un destino turístico en un entorno muy dinámico y si este proceso se ve afectado por el riesgo percibido del COVID-19.

La recogida de datos se ha llevado a cabo entre 333 turistas internacionales que visitaron Croacia, un destino que ha experimentado un auge turístico notable en la temporada de verano/otoño de 2021, independientemente de la pandemia. Para el análisis de datos, se ha empleado la técnica de mínimos cuadrados parciales PLS-SEM.

Los resultados muestran que la coherencia de la CIM tiene un impacto significativo en las cuatro dimensiones del valor de marca de un destino, es decir, notoriedad, imagen, calidad percibida y lealtad. Este impacto es más alto en el caso de la notoriedad y más bajo en el caso de la lealtad. El riesgo percibido del COVID-19 modera los efectos de la coherencia del mensaje en la imagen de marca y la calidad percibida.

Según el conocimiento de los autores, este es el primer estudio que examina el papel de la coherencia de la CIM en un contexto turístico durante tiempos inestables. Se analiza el impacto de la coherencia de la CIM en diferentes componentes del valor de la marca de destino, dando así respuestas a las llamadas más recientes de la literatura turística. Se consideran los efectos moderadores del riesgo percibido, proporcionando así implicaciones adicionales en un contexto de alta incertidumbre. Finalmente, la coherencia de la CIM se evalúa desde el punto de vista del consumidor, adoptando así el enfoque “de afuera hacia adentro”, que es uno de los principios base de la CIM.

In this paper, Yale model was adopted to understand how the characteristics of a green message (goal framing, argument volume and argument consistency), its source (source credibility) and its receivers (environmental consciousness) influence the communication process regarding the receivers' perceptions and attitudes (information value, persuasiveness and communication effectiveness) and their intention to spread the green message.

Eight scenarios of factorial design were developed to test the effects of a message on receivers' perceptions and attitudes. 1,157 valid questionnaires were used to conduct AMOS-SEM and ANOVA analyses.

The analytical results showed significant differences between the persuasive effects of Scenarios 1 and 8. A high level of environmental consciousness significantly affected the relationships between the message characteristics, source credibility and information value, leading to a higher intention to share the green messages.

The Yale model was applied to online persuasion to examine the receivers' perceptions of and attitudes toward a green message and their intention to share it on social networking sites (SNSs). Being environmentally conscious can strengthen the perception that the receivers of an online green message have of the source credibility and information value. The Yale model proved to represent the online green message-sharing context and explain how to persuade online users more effectively.

This study suggests that green message providers should present content emphasizing the losses associated with inaction, thus increasing the receivers' acceptance of the message's persuasiveness. Additionally, with the assistance of supportive measures, such as national education programs, government policies and actions showing corporate social responsibility, the environmental awareness of individuals can encourage them to share green message posts on SNSs and engage in green practices.

A significant effect of the message characteristics (goal framing × argument volume × argument consistency) was observed on SNS users' perceived source credibility and information value. Therefore, key opinion leaders, governments, and organizations who want to promote green ideas and attract public attention are encouraged to provide messages emphasizing the costs of inaction and contain arguments with a sufficient number of responses strongly supporting the original message. This could arouse the concern for green issues among online communities.

A Yale model research framework was developed to investigate the effect of message characteristics on the intention to share green messages online. Receivers' environmental consciousness played a vital role in this message-sharing process.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the synergistic effects derived from an integrated marketing communication (IMC) strategy with a criterion of strategic consistency in the message between two different communication tools (advertising and sponsorship) compared to a non‐integrated strategy. Specifically, it focuses on the synergistic effects that IMC has on consumer information processing, attitude and recall of the communication campaign.

The study uses the experimental methodology in order to compare two conditions (integrated campaign versus a non‐integrated campaign).

The results of this study show that a strategic consistency‐based integration has more positive effects on information processing, attitude and recall of the communication campaign compared to the non‐integration strategy.

This paper offers empirical evidence that might be useful for advertisers about the increased effectiveness of a strategic consistency‐based integration campaign. Research limitations in this paper provide avenues for future studies in order to validate the effectiveness of this strategic consistency‐based integration in others contexts.

The originality of this research resides in testing the synergistic effects of an IMC strategy by a new experimental methodology to operationalizing the strategic consistency in the message communicated between the two communication tools.

This study aims to investigate which messaging strategies employed in personalised newsletters could be used for improving the propensity of individuals to save or invest and secure their financial well-being.

The authors conducted a field experiment with 4,782 clients at an Estonian retail bank. For three months (after measuring baseline levels for a month), the participants received personalised monthly newsletters with either a praising or a scolding message based on comparing their recent investment decisions to their past decisions.

Their results suggest that newsletters could serve as an encouragement for those who already invest significant amounts each month and a reminder for those who have stopped regular investing for a month. The newsletters robustly increased investments in securities accounts for these groups.

The authors contribute to the marketing literature by examining praise and scolding messaging strategies within the same channel and company, focussing on the individual's past behaviour. They raise several hypotheses to be tested in future randomised controlled trials (RCTs).

The authors’ results show the importance of investor behaviour analysis as the effectiveness of the newsletter intervention largely depended on the type of customer it was served to. This highlights the importance of personalisation.

The results show that a given message tends to influence only specific groups of investors. Identifying these groups is valuable information for messaging strategies.

In the context of integrated promotion, it is essential to promote destination images consistently across multiple digital channels. This study aims to examine the consistency of online destination images projected through the official tourism websites and the Instagram accounts of five main destinations in Southeast Asia.

Previous studies have used correspondence analyses to measure the relationship between categorical variables. In the present study, a Spearman’s rank-order correlation was performed after the correspondence analyses to cross-check the results.

Destinations in Southeast Asia tend to project images that are similar to each other. The correspondence analyses and Spearman’s correlation found that only one country in the area projected relatively consistent destination images. By contrast, the other destinations tend to promote inconsistent images through their official websites and Instagram accounts.

Previous studies have assessed the consistency of projected destination image by comparing communication channels managed by government/public organisations with channels of private sector organisations. This was achieved by comparing printed materials with digital channels. By contrast, this study highlights the importance of assessing a destination’s online projected image consistency across different digital platforms (official tourism websites and official Instagram accounts) within the perspective of integrated promotion.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the communication strategies corporations adopt for Facebook and/or Twitter, and the consistency of communication strategies used on both Facebook and Twitter.

A content analysis of 2011 Fortune 1000 corporate Facebook and Twitter sites was undertaken. Specially, communication strategies on 63 Fortune 1000 Facebook sites and 65 Fortune 1000 Twitter sites in January 2012 were examined.

This study found that a majority of the examined Fortune 1000 companies emphasized a corporate ability communication strategy over a corporate social responsibility communication strategy on their Facebook and Twitter sites. Additionally, none of these companies used a true hybrid strategy on their social media sites (SMSs). Results also demonstrated that these companies were following the one message principle of integrated communication.

This study is limited to its samples size and the coding time frame.

Results of this study can help public relations and corporate communication professionals leverage multiple SMSs to build strong associations, improve engagement, and strengthen relationships with target stakeholders.

Through examining corporate communication strategies on SMSs, this study contributes to current social media research along with corporate communication/public relations scholarship. It replicated and extended prior work by examining how existing corporate communication strategies on traditional web sites were incorporated into two new mainstream media – Facebook and Twitter.

Aligning corporate communications through different information sources is a great challenge for marketers, especially those operating in the tourism sector, which has been harshly affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This paper provides a deep analysis of the implementation of seven basic principles of the integrated marketing communications (IMC) paradigm in a crisis situation.

In-depth interviews with tourism and hospitality service providers were conducted in the fourth quarter of 2021 in Croatia, a destination that showed remarkable results in terms of the number of international tourist arrivals during the pandemic.

Most firms successfully transitioned from tactical to strategic IMC implementation. Some problems were reported in the coordination of communication tools and channels. Whereas the use of digital technology was enhanced, database management did not receive sufficient attention. Message clarity represented the greatest challenge, while consumer-centric communication was the most neglected principle. Relationship building was pursued mainly through B2B rather than B2C communication, whereas brand equity development pursued through communication mix mostly focused on increases in awareness, perceived quality and attitudinal loyalty.

This research is qualitative in nature and provides opinions on IMC adoption from the managerial perspective only.

This paper provides guidelines for the successful integration of marketing communications (marcom) in an extremely ambiguous and uncertain environment.

The contribution of this work lies in the proposal of a new refined and expanded theoretical framework of IMC principles and numerous marcom strategies for operating during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus providing relevant implications for academia and industry.

Marketing organisations increasingly talk about the importance of integrating their communications, of aligning symbols, messages, procedures and behaviours across formal organisational boundaries. Often this implies tighter central control over communications and other organisational processes. This paper sets out to discuss potential negative consequences of such tight control in terms of organisational incapability to react to market changes in increasingly fluid environments due to a loss of sufficient corporate complexity and diversity.

In response, a flexible integration approach that draws attention to the handling of difference and variety within the context of an integrated communications project is articulated. The paper proposes a framework that balances centralisation and decentralisation through attention to dimensions of endogenous control, tight and loose couplings, networks, and common process rules.

The paper demonstrated that, in order to integrate its communications, an organisation needs to embrace diversity and variety and to balance the wisdom of its many voices with the effort to secure clarity and consistency in its overall expression.

The flexible integration approach advanced in this paper opens new avenues of research, practice and pedagogy, encouraging scholars, practitioners and teachers to explore the following dimensions of integrated communications: reception, variability, organisation, voice, couplings and transferability.

The paper contributes to the literature on integrated communications and corporate communications by addressing the organisational dimensions of integration and suggesting a new avenue of integrated communications research that is far more sensitive to the organisational context in which projects of integration exist and unfold.

The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, to investigate the interpersonal communication skills that human resource (HR) managers expect managers in supervisory positions possess. Second, to identify which of these skills HR managers expect managers use to engender subordinate commitment to the organisation. Third, the paper aims to investigate what interpersonal communication skills that enhance employee commitment to the organisation are most lacking in managers in supervisory positions.

The approach of the study is a series of in‐depth interviews with 32 senior HR managers in organisations with over 100 staff.

The paper finds that senior HR managers expected managers to be effective in interpersonal communication focusing mainly on the clarity and frequency of the messages, their ability to actively listen and the ability to lead in a collaborative way. The way messages were sent, especially their clarity, and a leadership style that engendered trust, was of the highest importance when HR managers wanted to enhance employee commitment to the organisation. However, these skills were also the ones found most lacking.

HR practitioners need to consider more explicitly what behaviours are important to promote organisational commitment.

This paper highlights that the interpersonal communication skills that enhance organisational commitment and are most valued by organisations are those that are most lacking in managers. This paper also provides insight for practitioners to the interpersonal communication skills areas that managers need to develop so that their interaction with staff may enhance commitment to the organisation.