Corporate brand identity and employee brand citizenship behaviour: A conceptual framework

This research paper aims to explore and identify the impact of corporate identity on brand citizenship behaviour within retail organisations. The study analyses the influence of corporate identity of an organisation, and more particularly on the employees' desire to engage in brand supporting behaviours. Relationships were identified between corporate identity, internal communication and composites of employee perception of corporate identity - resulting as determining influences on employee behaviour intentions. These relationships are presented as a conceptual model that depicts the influence of corporate identity on employee brand citizenship behaviours. The study makes contributions to the employee branding, services marketing, and organisational citizenship literature, but its main contribution is to extend the corporate identity literature into a new area of employee behaviour through internal communication.

Converting internal brand knowledge into employee performance

Purpose Internal branding efforts are essential in improving employee performance in services marketing. Drawing on reformulation of attitude theory, this paper aims to contribute to the internal branding literature by positing that while internal brand knowledge (IBK) is essential for transforming brand vision into brand reality, it is not brand knowledge per se but its integration with other brand- and customer-related aspects that drive superior employee performance. In particular, this paper develops a cognitive-affective-behaviour model of internal branding proposing that IBK results in higher levels of employee brand identification (EBI); this sense of identification then motivates employees to engage in both employee-related and brand- and customer-focussed behaviours (i.e. brand citizenship behaviour [BCB] and customer-oriented behaviour [COB]), which in turn foster employee performance. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses were empirically tested using a sample of 697 from services industry in Vietnam. Findings The findings indicate a sequential mediation model in that employee brand knowledge affects employee performance (both objective and subjective measures) through EBI, BCB and COB. Employee brand knowledge results in higher levels of EBI; this sense of identification then motivates employees to engage in employee-related brand and customer-focussed behaviours (BCB and COB), which in turn foster employee performance. Practical implications Firms should understand that IBK may not directly result in high levels of service performance, and instead should embrace the culture of self-driven positive brand-connection attitudes that motivate employees to engage in BCB and COB that are consistent with their sense of self. Originality/value This study makes a unique contribution to the internal branding literature by unravelling a pathway that integrates employees’ self-related psychological mechanism (EBI) and employee-related brand and customer-focussed behaviours (BCB and COB) through which employee brand knowledge is converted into employee performance.

The importance of employee brand understanding, brand identification, and brand commitment in realizing brand citizenship behaviour

Purpose This study aims to develop comprehensive definitions, conceptualizations and measures of four internal brand management (IBM) outcomes, namely, brand understanding, brand identification, brand commitment and brand citizenship behaviour (BCB). In doing so, it also aims to propose a model, which considers the relationships across these outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via an online survey of 375 employees who work in service organizations, sourced from an Australian, Web-based market research list. Findings In addition to the indirect effect of brand understanding on BCB via affective IBM outcomes (i.e. brand identification and brand commitment), the study exposes a direct effect of brand understanding on BCB. Therefore, the study shows that BCB is affected by cognitive and affective antecedents. Research limitations/implications Because this study focuses on IBM outcomes, future studies could propose and test relevant antecedents and moderators. As the empirical basis of this study comes primarily from the tourism and hospitality industry in one domestic market, the study should be replicated in other industries and countries to ensure the generalizability of the identified relationships. Practical implications This study not only delivers IBM outcome measures but also empirically validates that employees’ understanding of the brand is a foundation for affective and behavioural IBM outcomes. Therefore, managers, especially in service organizations, should provide sufficient IBM practices to enable such brand understanding. Originality/value This study contributes to IBM literature by developing comprehensive definitions, conceptualizations and measures of four important IBM outcomes. This study is the first to include brand understanding, brand identification, brand commitment and BCB simultaneously.

Employees Brand Citizenship Behaviour: Front-Liner Versus Backstage Employees’ Perspective

Brand citizenship behaviour is a relatively new construct developed in brand literature specifically in internal branding. The main assumption is that employees’ readiness and willingness to engage in brand-consistent behaviour could contribute to overall brand success. With a limited understanding of what constitutes brand-consistent behaviour, this study attempts to identify possible brand-consistent behaviour among hotel employees and compare both front-liner and backstage employees by extending the concept of organizational citizenship behaviour. Using 286 respondents from three- to five-star hotels, this study suggests a few theoretical and practical implications for the betterment of an organization’s sustainable brand competitive advantage. Keywords: Brand citizenship behaviour, brand-consistent behaviour, internal branding, brand management.