Investigating mediators between corporate reputation and customer citizenship behaviors

Recent corporate reputation research focuses on customers as an important stakeholder group for whom firm reputation matters. The authors hypothesize that customer-based corporate reputation (CBR) may affect customer citizenship behaviors (CCB) and that both commitment and loyalty mediate the CBR-CCB relationship. The tests of the hypotheses use a sample of 583 service customers who evaluate the reputation of service firms. These results suggest that commitment and loyalty mediate the relationship between CBR and one type of CCB, that is, helping the company. The authors discuss the implications for marketing research and practice.

[1]  F. Heider Attitudes and cognitive organization. , 1946, The Journal of psychology.

[2]  Shirley Taylor,et al.  Commitment to a friend, a service provider, or a service company—are they distinctions worth making? , 2008 .

[3]  Yer Van Hui,et al.  The antecedents of service quality and product quality and their influences on bank reputation: evidence from the banking industry in China , 2003 .

[4]  C. Shapiro Premiums for High Quality Products as Returns to Reputations , 1983 .

[5]  Randall S. Schuler,et al.  International Human Resource Management , 2008 .

[6]  T. Andreassen,et al.  Customer loyalty and complex services: The impact of corporate image on quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty for customers with varying degrees of service expertise , 1998 .

[7]  Cathy Goodwin,et al.  Friendship over the counter: How social aspects of service encounters influence consumer service loyalty , 1996 .

[8]  Kenneth A. Bollen,et al.  Total, Direct, and Indirect Effects in Structural Equation Models , 1987 .

[9]  Gianfranco Walsh,et al.  Customer-based corporate reputation of a service firm: scale development and validation , 2007 .

[10]  T. Gruen The outcome set of relationship marketing in consumer markets , 1995 .

[11]  S. Beatty,et al.  Service worker role in encouraging customer organizational citizenship behaviors , 2009 .

[12]  Mike W.-L. Cheung,et al.  Comparison of Approaches to Constructing Confidence Intervals for Mediating Effects Using Structural Equation Models , 2007 .

[13]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[14]  Sung-Un Yang,et al.  Student–university relationships and reputation: a study of the links between key factors fostering students’ supportive behavioral intentions towards their university , 2009 .

[15]  Bernhard Swoboda,et al.  Verticalization: the Impact of Channel Strategy on Product Brand Loyalty and the Role of Involvement in the Fashion Industry , 2008 .

[16]  Tim Ambler Marketing And The Bottom Line- The New Metrics Of Corporate Wealth , 2000 .

[17]  M. Spence Job Market Signaling , 1973 .

[18]  K. Reynolds,et al.  Hedonic shopping motivations , 2003 .

[19]  P. Kotler,et al.  A framework for marketing image management. , 1991, Sloan management review.

[20]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[21]  Lawrence A. Crosby,et al.  Psychological Commitment and Its Effects on Post-Decision Evaluation and Preference Stability among Voters , 1983 .

[22]  Stefan Schmid,et al.  Customers and Customer Relationships in Service Firms: The Perspective of the Resource-Based View , 2003 .

[23]  C. Osgood,et al.  The principle of congruity in the prediction of attitude change. , 1955, Psychological review.

[24]  Z. Kunda,et al.  Social Cognition: Making Sense of People , 1999 .

[25]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models , 2008, Behavior research methods.

[26]  Michael Song,et al.  The antecedents and consequences of manufacturer–distributor cooperation: an empirical test in the U.S. and Japan , 2008 .

[27]  Sabine Einwiller,et al.  Enough is enough! When identification no longer prevents negative corporate associations , 2006 .

[28]  C. Lengnick-Hall Customer Contributions to Quality: A Different View of the Customer-Oriented Firm , 1996 .

[29]  C. Fombrun,et al.  What's in a Name? Reputation Building and Corporate Strategy , 1990 .

[30]  Heiner Evanschitzky,et al.  The relative strength of affective commitment in securing loyalty in service relationships , 2006 .

[31]  W. DeSarbo,et al.  Response Determinants in Satisfaction Judgments , 1988 .

[32]  Jagdip Singh Performance Productivity and Quality of Frontline Employees in Service Organizations , 2000 .

[33]  Steen Thomsen,et al.  The Impact of Corporate Reputation on Performance:: Some Danish Evidence , 2004 .

[34]  M. Sirgy,et al.  Self-Concept in Consumer Behavior: A Critical Review , 1982 .

[35]  Z. Kunda,et al.  The case for motivated reasoning. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[36]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  The Behavioral Consequences of Service Quality , 1996 .

[37]  A. Greenwald,et al.  Audience Involvement in Advertising: Four Levels , 1984 .

[38]  G. Dowling,et al.  Corporate reputation and sustained superior financial performance , 2002 .

[39]  S. Hunt,et al.  The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing , 1994 .

[40]  Dwayne D. Gremler,et al.  Understanding Relationship Marketing Outcomes , 2002 .

[41]  S. Beatty,et al.  The involvement--commitment model: Theory and implications , 1988 .

[42]  S. O. Olsen Repurchase loyalty: The role of involvement and satisfaction , 2007 .

[43]  Markus Groth Customers as Good Soldiers: Examining Citizenship Behaviors in Internet Service Deliveries , 2005 .

[44]  Lance A. Bettencourt,et al.  Customer voluntary performance: Customers as partners in service delivery , 1997 .

[45]  P. Jackson,et al.  Examining the Antecedents and Consequences of Corporate Reputation: A Customer Perspective , 2009 .

[46]  Rogelio Oliva,et al.  Cutting Corners and Working Overtime: Quality Erosion in the Service Industry , 2001, Manag. Sci..

[47]  Charles J. Fombrun,et al.  Reputation: Realizing Value from the Corporate Image , 1996 .

[48]  R. Bennett,et al.  Reputation, trust and supplier commitment: the case of shipping company/seaport relations , 2001 .

[49]  Gianfranco Walsh,et al.  How do corporate reputation and customer satisfaction impact customer defection? A study of private energy customers in Germany , 2006 .

[50]  S. P. Raj,et al.  The Effects of Advertising on High and Low Loyalty Consumer Segments , 1982 .

[51]  H. Spotts,et al.  Developments in marketing science , 2000 .

[52]  C. I. Hovland,et al.  Social Judgment: Assimilation and Contrast Effects in Communication and Attitude Change , 1981 .