IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/manint/v57y2017i5d10.1007_s11575-017-0313-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate Reputation Effects Across Nations: The Impact of Country Distances and Firm-Specific Resources

Author

Listed:
  • Bernhard Swoboda

    (University of Trier)

  • Cathrin Huber

    (University of Trier)

  • Tassilo Schuster

    (Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg)

  • Johannes Hirschmann

    (University of Trier)

Abstract

CEOs are responsible for the development of a strong corporate reputation, which is increasingly used by multinational corporations as an important differentiation criterion in foreign markets. Because the effects of an often centrally managed but locally perceived reputation are likely to vary between countries, this study analyzes the moderating role of institutional distance and firm-specific resources on reputation effects in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, two important aspects that have not been considered in consumer-centered corporate reputation research so far. The authors refer to signaling theory—advanced by institutional and resource-based thinking—and use data from 29,987 consumer evaluations of a multinational corporation in 43 countries. The results of the multilevel models indicate that distance between home and host countries weakens reputation effects on both consumer loyalty and trust, whereas firm-specific resources reinforce these effects. In particular, country experience and cultural-cognitive distance are important when managing reputations across nations because they explain high amounts of country-level variance.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernhard Swoboda & Cathrin Huber & Tassilo Schuster & Johannes Hirschmann, 2017. "Corporate Reputation Effects Across Nations: The Impact of Country Distances and Firm-Specific Resources," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 717-748, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:manint:v:57:y:2017:i:5:d:10.1007_s11575-017-0313-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11575-017-0313-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11575-017-0313-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11575-017-0313-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Srilata Zaheer & Margaret Spring Schomaker & Lilach Nachum, 2012. "Distance without direction: Restoring credibility to a much-loved construct," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(1), pages 18-27, January.
    2. Au, Kevin Y., 2000. "Intra-cultural variation as another construct of international management: a study based on secondary data of 42 countries," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 217-238.
    3. Oded Shenkar, 2001. "Cultural Distance Revisited: Towards a More Rigorous Conceptualization and Measurement of Cultural Differences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(3), pages 519-535, September.
    4. Jan Johanson & Jan-Erik Vahlne, 2009. "The Uppsala internationalization process model revisited: From liability of foreignness to liability of outsidership," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(9), pages 1411-1431, December.
    5. G Tomas M Hult & David J Ketchen & David A Griffith & Carol A Finnegan & Tracy Gonzalez-Padron & Nukhet Harmancioglu & Ying Huang & M Berk Talay & S Tamer Cavusgil, 2008. "Data equivalence in cross-cultural international business research: assessment and guidelines," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(6), pages 1027-1044, September.
    6. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    7. Swoboda, Bernhard & Elsner, Stefan & Olejnik, Edith, 2015. "How do past mode choices influence subsequent entry? A study on the boundary conditions of preferred entry modes of retail firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 506-517.
    8. John Antonakis & Samuel Bendahan & Philippe Jacquart & Rafael Lalive, 2010. "On making causal claims : A review and recommendations," Post-Print hal-02313119, HAL.
    9. Garry D. Bruton & David Ahlstrom & Han–Lin Li, 2010. "Institutional Theory and Entrepreneurship: Where Are We Now and Where Do We Need to Move in the Future?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(3), pages 421-440, May.
    10. Gatignon, Hubert & Anderson, Erin, 1988. "The Multinational Corporation's Degree of Control over Foreign Subsidiaries: An Empirical Test of a Transaction Cost Explanation," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 305-336, Fall.
    11. Bernhard Swoboda & Cathrin Puchert & Dirk Morschett, 2016. "Explaining the differing effects of corporate reputation across nations: a multilevel analysis," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 454-473, July.
    12. Foss, Nicolai J. & Pedersen, Torben, 2002. "Transferring knowledge in MNCs: The role of sources of subsidiary knowledge and organizational context," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 49-67.
    13. Yuan Lu & Lianxi Zhou & Garry Bruton & Weiwen Li, 2010. "Capabilities as a mediator linking resources and the international performance of entrepreneurial firms in an emerging economy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(3), pages 419-436, April.
    14. Leisinger, Klaus M., 2005. "The Corporate Social Responsibility of the Pharmaceutical Industry: Idealism without Illusion and Realism without Resignation," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(4), pages 577-594, October.
    15. Carlsson, Johan & Nordegren, Axel & Sjöholm, Fredrik, 2005. "International experience and the performance of Scandinavian firms in China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 21-40, February.
    16. Siah Hwee Ang & Mirko H. Benischke & Jonathan P. Doh, 2015. "The interactions of institutions on foreign market entry mode," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1536-1553, October.
    17. Strizhakova, Yuliya & Coulter, Robin A. & Price, Linda L., 2011. "Branding in a global marketplace: The mediating effects of quality and self-identity brand signals," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 342-351.
    18. Pekka Stenholm & Zoltán J. Ács & Robert Wuebker, 2015. "Exploring country-level institutional arrangements on the rate and type of entrepreneurial activity," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 20, pages 387-404, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Ryan J Orr & W Richard Scott, 2008. "Institutional exceptions on global projects: a process model," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(4), pages 562-588, June.
    20. Walsh, Gianfranco & Bartikowski, Boris, 2013. "Exploring corporate ability and social responsibility associations as antecedents of customer satisfaction cross-culturally," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 989-995.
    21. Jan-Benedict E M Steenkamp & Rajeev Batra & Dana L Alden, 2003. "How perceived brand globalness creates brand value," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(1), pages 53-65, January.
    22. Deephouse, David L. & Newburry, William & Soleimani, Abrahim, 2016. "The effects of institutional development and national culture on cross-national differences in corporate reputation," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 463-473.
    23. Sarstedt, Marko & Wilczynski, Petra & Melewar, T.C., 2013. "Measuring reputation in global markets—A comparison of reputation measures’ convergent and criterion validities," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 329-339.
    24. Birger Maekelburger & Christian Schwens & Ruediger Kabst, 2012. "Asset specificity and foreign market entry mode choice of small and medium-sized enterprises: The moderating influence of knowledge safeguards and institutional safeguards," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(5), pages 458-476, June.
    25. Harmsen, Hanne & Jensen, Bjarne, 2004. "Identifying the determinants of value creation in the market: A competence-based approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(5), pages 533-547, May.
    26. Johnson, Devon & Grayson, Kent, 2005. "Cognitive and affective trust in service relationships," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 500-507, April.
    27. Caruana, Albert & Ewing, Michael T., 2010. "How corporate reputation, quality, and value influence online loyalty," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(9-10), pages 1103-1110, September.
    28. Heather Berry & Mauro F Guillén & Nan Zhou, 2010. "An institutional approach to cross-national distance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(9), pages 1460-1480, December.
    29. George R Franke & R Glenn Richey, 2010. "Improving generalizations from multi-country comparisons in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(8), pages 1275-1293, October.
    30. Schmid, Stefan & Kotulla, Thomas, 2011. "50 years of research on international standardization and adaptation--From a systematic literature analysis to a theoretical framework," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 491-507, October.
    31. Oana Branzei & Teri Jane Ursacki‐Bryant & Ilan Vertinsky & Weijiong Zhang, 2004. "The formation of green strategies in Chinese firms: matching corporate environmental responses and individual principles," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(11), pages 1075-1095, November.
    32. Bartikowski, Boris & Walsh, Gianfranco & Beatty, Sharon E., 2011. "Culture and age as moderators in the corporate reputation and loyalty relationship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(9), pages 966-972, September.
    33. Steenkamp, Jan-Benedict E M & Baumgartner, Hans, 1998. "Assessing Measurement Invariance in Cross-National Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 25(1), pages 78-90, June.
    34. Walsh, Gianfranco & Beatty, Sharon E. & Shiu, Edward M.K., 2009. "The customer-based corporate reputation scale: Replication and short form," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(10), pages 924-930, October.
    35. Krishna Jayakar & David Waterman, 2000. "The Economics of American Theatrical Movie Exports: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 153-169.
    36. Pedersen, Torben & Petersen, Bent, 1998. "Explaining gradually increasing resource commitment to a foreign market," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 483-501, October.
    37. Bent Petersen & Torben Pedersen & Marjorie A Lyles, 2008. "Closing knowledge gaps in foreign markets," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(7), pages 1097-1113, October.
    38. Ali, Raza & Lynch, Richard & Melewar, T.C. & Jin, Zhongqi, 2015. "The moderating influences on the relationship of corporate reputation with its antecedents and consequences: A meta-analytic review," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1105-1117.
    39. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    40. Boyd D. Cohen & Thomas J. Dean, 2005. "Information asymmetry and investor valuation of IPOs: top management team legitimacy as a capital market signal," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7), pages 683-690, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Paul Brockman & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Ying Zheng, 2022. "Does social trust affect international contracting? Evidence from foreign bond covenants," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(6), pages 1011-1044, August.
    2. Junjian Gu, 2019. "A Potential Risk of Increasing Cross-National Distance: Evidence from Less Sustainable Tax Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-22, May.
    3. Svenja Damberg & Yide Liu & Christian M. Ringle, 2024. "Does culture matter? Corporate reputation and sustainable satisfaction in the Chinese and German banking sector," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 6-24, March.
    4. Paul Brockman & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Ying Zheng, 0. "Does social trust affect international contracting? Evidence from foreign bond covenants," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 0, pages 1-34.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bernhard Swoboda & Cathrin Puchert & Dirk Morschett, 2016. "Explaining the differing effects of corporate reputation across nations: a multilevel analysis," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 454-473, July.
    2. Bernhard Swoboda & Carolina Sinning, 2021. "Endorsement of Global Product Brands by Global Corporate Brands – A Consumer Perspective Across Nations," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 563-598, August.
    3. Jacobs, Nele & Swoboda, Bernhard, 2023. "The role of national institutions in the effects of consumers’ perceived customer orientation and firm innovativeness," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5).
    4. Oded Shenkar & Stephen B Tallman & Hao Wang & Jie Wu, 2022. "National culture and international business: A path forward," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(3), pages 516-533, April.
    5. Srivastava, Saurabh & Singh, Shiwangi & Dhir, Sanjay, 2020. "Culture and International business research: A review and research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    6. Heinberg, Martin & Ozkaya, H. Erkan & Taube, Markus, 2018. "Do corporate image and reputation drive brand equity in India and China? - Similarities and differences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 259-268.
    7. Christian Schwens & Florian B Zapkau & Keith D Brouthers & Lina Hollender, 2018. "Limits to international entry mode learning in SMEs," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(7), pages 809-831, September.
    8. Goudarz Azar & Rian Drogendijk, 2019. "Ex-post Performance Implications of Divergence of Managers’ Perceptions of ‘Distance’ From ‘Reality’ in International Business," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 67-92, February.
    9. Jane W. Lu & Hao Ma & Xuanli Xie, 2022. "Foreignness research in international business: Major streams and future directions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(3), pages 449-480, April.
    10. Bartikowski, Boris & Walsh, Gianfranco & Beatty, Sharon E., 2011. "Culture and age as moderators in the corporate reputation and loyalty relationship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(9), pages 966-972, September.
    11. Hutzschenreuter, Thomas & Kleindienst, Ingo & Lange, Sandra, 2014. "Added Psychic Distance Stimuli and MNE Performance," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 38-54.
    12. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk & Björn Ambos & Phillip C Nell, 2018. "Conceptualizing and measuring distance in international business research: Recurring questions and best practice guidelines," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(9), pages 1113-1137, December.
    13. Stevens, Charles E. & Makarius, Erin E. & Mukherjee, Debmalya, 2015. "It Takes Two to Tango: Signaling Behavioral Intent in Service Multinationals' Foreign Entry Strategies," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 235-248.
    14. Messner, Wolfgang, 2022. "Cultural Heterozygosity: Towards a New Measure of Within-Country Cultural Diversity," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(4).
    15. Rosalie L Tung & Günter K Stahl, 2018. "The tortuous evolution of the role of culture in IB research: What we know, what we don’t know, and where we are headed," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(9), pages 1167-1189, December.
    16. Kotler, Philip & Manrai, Lalita A. & Lascu, Dana-Nicoleta & Manrai, Ajay K., 2019. "Influence of country and company characteristics on international business decisions: A review, conceptual model, and propositions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 482-498.
    17. Del Bosco, Barbara & Cristina Bettinelli, 2020. "How Do Family SMEs Control Their Investments Abroad? The Role of Distance and Family Control," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 1-35, February.
    18. Popli, Manish & Akbar, Mohammad & Kumar, Vikas & Gaur, Ajai, 2016. "Reconceptualizing cultural distance: The role of cultural experience reserve in cross-border acquisitions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 404-412.
    19. Schlägel, Christopher & Sarstedt, Marko, 2016. "Assessing the measurement invariance of the four-dimensional cultural intelligence scale across countries: A composite model approach," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 633-649.
    20. Osakwe, Christian Nedu & Ruiz, Belén & Amegbe, Hayford & Chinje, Nathalie B. & Cheah, Jun-Hwa & Ramayah, T., 2020. "A multi-country study of bank reputation among customers in Africa: Key antecedents and consequences," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:manint:v:57:y:2017:i:5:d:10.1007_s11575-017-0313-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.