Reputation Transfer to Enter New B-to-B Markets Measuring and Modelling Approaches

An increasing number of products and services are not differentiated by inherent features, but by the vendors, particularly their reputation and marketing commu- cation. Consequently, a positive reputation provides competing vendors with a virtually inimitable competitive advantage. Contemporary research concerning antecedents and consequences of reputation in the domain of marketing is dominated by branding and line extension issues. Organizations’ communication efforts and the relation of reputation and the c- munication media are not fully understood; nor have they been challenged up to now. Moreover, customers’ perception of reputation is clearly embedded in their cultural context. However, contemporary marketing research restricts both conceptual and empirical considerations to Western-type cultures. Frequently, even the differences in Western-type cultures are neglected. Considering these shortcomings in contemporary marketing research, Dr. Christine Falkenreck investigates the opportunities and limits, and also the potential bene?ts and dangers of transferring a vendor’s positive reputation to product categories never produced or offered by the considered vendor. Embedding the empirical investigation of both reputation management and reputation transfer in a coherent theoretical framework, which is grounded in the Commitment-Trust theory, is her merit. She derives and validates an integrated model that appears to be valid in all cultures considered in her study. The results of this analysis contribute substantially to our understanding of reputation measuring and managing. These results are not restricted to academic interests and they provided practitioners with a variety of new insights. Thus, this thesis will ho- fully be widely discussed in bothacademia and management practice.

Definition of Research Problem. - Introduction;Structure of Work; Objective Targets of Thesis. - Theoretical Framework.- Commitment-Trust Theory and the Nature of Commitment; Resource-Based and Knowledge-Based View; Reputation as a Resource, an Intangible Asset and a Barrier. - Perspectives on Corporate Reputation and Reputation Transfer.-Perspectives of Relationship Marketing; Defining Corporate Reputation in B-to-B Relationships; A Standard Construct of Reputation–Useful and Appropriate?; The Concept of Reputation Transfer; The Relevance of Direct Marketing Media to Build CR; Defining and Quantifying Culture. - Development of Constructs and Related Hypotheses.- The C-OAR-SE Procedure for Scale Development; Formative versus Reflective Measurement Models; Moderating and Mediating Effects in Causal Models; Applying the Bonferroni-Holm’s Procedure; Development of Constructs; Related Hypotheses;Structural Model of Reputation and Reputation Transfer. - Empirical Survey.- Markets Under Consideration; The Measurement Model. - Results and Findings. - Synopsis of Measurement Criteria;Model Validation; Assessment of Research Hypotheses; Findings related to Countries and Stakeholder Groups; Discussion of Research Questions. - Conclusions, Implications and Research Suggestions. - Scientific Implications; Managerial Implications; Conclusions and Outlook. - References. - Annex.