Marketing communication: principles and practice

I D E N T I T Y
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I M A G E
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A N D R E P U T A T I O N
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with, the central functions and operations of the corporation.
A false reputation can be built by convincing publics that the corporation
possesses certain desirable characteristics which it does not have. The danger
of discovery is that the whole reputation is damaged, not just the attribute
that was simulated or hidden.
Reputation management is not an annual event! A communication
planning process must be part of the managing system so that it involves
managers and communication facilitators daily as part of their basic work.
According to Kay (1993) reputation, in the long run, can only be based
on the provision of high quality in repeated trials. Consumers come to rec-
ognize high quality through much experience and further experience to
recognize that it is consistently high. Reputation is spread most rapidly in
markets in which consumers are inclined to share their experience –
reputations are created and destroyed relatively quickly in such markets as
retail stores, restaurants, and cinema. In markets such as personal hygiene,
financial services, and health, consumers are less likely to wish to discuss their
needs and interest because of embarrassment, and these present great
opportunity for profitable and enduring reputations, once established.
Often reputation may arise from another source of competitive advantage,
such as innovation.
At a point in time a corporate reputation may be absolutely stable (the
nature and extent of its public image or ‘social identity’) and relatively stable
(compared to other corporations). At other times it may be unstable – its
distribution of attributes assigned to it by interested parties changes.
Attributes of reputation become more salient under certain conditions.
Corporations make different impressions on different groups for two reasons:
1 they present themselves differently to each group
2 the groups are interested in different aspects of the corporation and their
values, policies, activities, and so on
The corporation’s reputation is a set of reputations in various interest groups
(stakeholders or publics), or the intersection of these reputations. A clear
public image requires a clear corporate identity. However, a clear public image
may be stereotyped and false when idiosyncratic behaviour of members is
taken as representative. Because a particular reputation is specific to a public,
the policy-making of a corporation can be difficult when different publics
may perceive the policy of benefit or harmful.