Kimberly M. Judson

Building a University Brand from Within: University Administrators' Perspectives of Internal Branding

The branding process has evolved into a role that suggests a promise to meet consumer expectations. This promise has typically been developed based on external promotional strategies such as advertising and sales promotion. More recently, the brand messages conveyed to employees of an organization have been recognized as an important aspect of an organizations positioning. The objective of this study is to investigate the internal promotion of the brand within an industry that only recently began to embrace integrated marketing efforts: higher education. Administrators in higher education who regularly have an opportunity to convey the university brand promise to outside constituencies are surveyed. Respondents from private institutions reported greater brand clarity than respondents at public institutions.

Building a University Brand from Within: A Comparison of Coaches' Perspectives of Internal Branding

ABSTRACT Branding efforts have typically focused on external promotional strategies to develop brand image. Recently, the brand messages conveyed to employees of an organization have been recognized as being equally as important as the brand messages sent to external stakeholders. This study investigates the internal communication of the university brand with college coaches as the internal recipients, as well as external senders. In order to assess institutional internal branding efforts, college coaches who regularly have an opportunity to convey the university brand promise to outside constituencies are surveyed. Differences are examined among the institutions to evaluate the internal branding techniques implemented at private and public universities and at institutions housing major and mid-major athletic programs.

The new product development process: let the voice of the salesperson be heard

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to provide an empirical examination of the role of the salesperson in the new product/service development process.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was mailed to 2,650 sales managers representing US firms across the nation, and the resulting sample size consisted of 246 respondents with a response rate of 9.3 percent. The survey sample included firms with a business‐to‐business emphasis, and those with a minimum of 50 employees.Findings – The majority of the respondents reported that salespeople are indirectly or directly involved in the new product/service development process. In spite of this contribution, many firms do not directly reward salespeople for their involvement. Offering appropriate incentives could greatly increase their efforts to collect information for new product/service idea generation.Research limitations/implications – Suggested future research includes the perspectives of salespeople, new product development directors, etc. In addition,...

Building brand community membership within organizations: a viable internal branding alternative?

Purpose – This paper seeks to propose and test the appropriateness of a brand community within an internal branding framework.Design/methodology/approach – Using the multidimensional constructs of brand community and the strengths of internal branding strategies, this study explores the theoretical underpinnings of combining the two constructs.Findings – Intraorganizational brand communities are presented as a viable strategic possibility for targeting internal branding participants. Results lend strong support to the need for and efficacy of internal brand communities, and provide an opportunity to examine the strategic synergies of pursuing such a strategy for internal as well as external audiences.Research limitations/implications – The study was delimited to domestic participants. Additional studies are recommended to further test the constructs of brand community membership in an internal brand community.Practical implications – External branding initiatives and communications can be used internally,...

Marketing the University to Student-Athletes: Understanding University Selection Criteria

ABSTRACT As competition for top athletes intensifies, and as challenges associated with recruitment increase, universities must develop and employ recruiting strategies based upon attributes that student-athletes identify as important to their decision-making process. The study investigates college choice decision attributes of student-athletes, identifies key choice criteria, and examines gender and ethnicity issues related to student-athlete college choice. Three of the four decision attributes identified as being most important focused on academic characteristics of the university. Male student-athletes placed a higher value on athletic characteristics of the university as compared to female student-athletes, and females placed a higher value on academic characteristics as compared to male student-athletes.

Consumer Grudgeholding: Does Age Make a Difference?

Bad service experiences potentially leading to long‐standing grudges can be quite costly for an organization. In many cases, corporate actions and policies cause grudges as consumers grow more and more frustrated about their interactions with large, impersonal companies. The primary objectives of this study were to examine through empirical research the causes of consumer grudgeholding, the behaviors undertaken by grudgeholders in response to their outcome, the impact of grudges against businesses, and whether differences exist depending on the grudgeholder’s age. The findings suggest that older consumers are more likely to discuss their concerns with store, company or organization employees, and in addition, they can be expected to tell more people outside of the firm than younger consumers. While neither younger nor older consumers appear highly inclined to purchase products or services from the firm following a bad experience, older respondents displayed a stronger aversion to the company, store or firm in question.

Brand community integration and satisfaction with social media sites: a comparative study

Purpose This paper aims to address two primary research questions: Why does a consumer integrate into a brand community and how does that impact overall satisfaction with the brand? Which of the main social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest) is more/less appropriate for cultivating a brand community? Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via an online survey of college students at two universities. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with AMOS software. Findings Results suggest that brand community does lead to satisfaction with a social media brand. Consumers are more likely to integrate into a brand community if they view the site as personally relevant. Relevancy is affected by the frequency with which the consumer visits the site. The analysis also indicates that there are interesting differences among the different sites. Research limitations/implications This study has some limitations due to the demographics of the respondents and the finite listing of sites. Practical implications Social media marketers looking to build brand community and increase satisfaction will be able to use the results of this study to make informed decisions regarding these efforts. Social implications Society could benefit from this study if marketers use the findings to engage consumers in brand communities through social media. Brand communities help participants to feel more engaged and connected to others. It is well known that people thrive in community settings and this togetherness, as opposed to isolation, will be good for the participants and society in general. Originality/value The understanding of why a consumer would integrate into a brand community is valuable information because it is generally known and accepted that there are positive results for the brand, but this study takes it a step further and looks at the specific social media sites to give guidance to marketing practitioners as to which ones are best for brand community building.