Managing Your Brand for Employees: Understanding the Role of Organizational Processes in Cultivating Employee Brand Equity

Ezgi Erkmen
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Ezgi Erkmen: School of Tourism and Hospitality, Laureate International Universities, İstanbul Bilgi University, Eski Silahtarağa Elektrik Santralı, Kazım Karabekir Cad. No: 2/13, 34060 Eyüpsultan İstanbul, Turkey

Administrative Sciences, 2018, vol. 8, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to understand how employee brand equity is cultivated in services. Specifically, a conceptual model, adopted from brand equity literature, was developed and tested to analyze the internal brand building process. To achieve this, a quantitative research methodology, using structural equation modeling, was used to understand the role of brand building mechanisms, namely the internal communication, external communication, and employee experience with the brand, in building employee brand equity. As a part of the service industry, data were collected from hotel employees who have direct contact with customers. The findings evidenced the distinguished role of each mechanism to build employee brand equity. That is, while internal communication enhances brand knowledge and role clarity, external communication and employee experience with the brand positively affect the brand commitment of employees. Therefore, as being the first study adopting customer service brand equity to employee context, this research confirmed the effect of brand building mechanisms on employee brand equity. In addition, the study proposes practical implications for organizations to design a balanced branding approach both internally and externally through the means of communication.

Keywords: brand management; brand communication; brand experience; employee brand equity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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