دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی هویت برند شرکت های کوچک و متوسط (SME) - امرالد 2017

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance effects of brand identity in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine whether brand identity mediates the relationship between brand orientation and brand performance, and further, whether brand performance leads to better financial performance. The authors also study whether these performance effects are moderated by customer type and industry type. Differing from earlier research, this study analyzes brand identity through its constituent components: brand values, brand vision, and brand positioning. The data includes altogether 721 effective responses from Finnish SMEs. Structural equation modeling is used for testing the research hypotheses. Findings – Brand positioning and brand vision have a direct positive effect on brand performance, which in turn positively affects financial performance. Brand orientation drives the components of brand identity. Importantly, there is variation in some of the relationships between brand orientation, brand values, brand vision, and brand positioning across B2B firms and B2C firms, and across firms in service industries and in production industries. Research limitations/implications – The research is based on a single-country sample. Including additional factors to the model with the potential to moderate the described relationships is also called for. Future research could also consider new potential brand identity components currently not addressed in the paper. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the literature by increasing the knowledge of SME branding.

Future research

There are several avenues for future research. First, including new factors with the potential to moderate the hypothesized paths would add depth to the knowledge of SME branding. For example, firms may have different goals regarding internationalization, making the level of internationalization (or orientation towards internationalization) a potential moderator. That is, while some firms prefer to operate only in local markets, others aim for international markets even right from the inception (i.e. representing so-called born globals; see e.g. Gabrielsson, 2005). In addition, extending the research beyond national boundaries to various geographical areas could offer interesting opportunities for cross-national comparisons. Secondly, this study did not explicitly examine the concept of internal branding and the involvement of employees in translating brand identity into business performance. By adding employee brand orientation to the model (to serve as a mediator and/or a moderator variable), the effects of brand identity on business performance could be further understood. Given that the bootstrapping results indicate that there might be potential mediators currently omitted from the model, investigating such concepts appears a feasible avenue for future research. Moreover, we find brand orientation and brand identity to be important, both when developing brands at the company level (corporate brands) and at the level of products (product brands), given that in both cases firms need to develop a brand identity, measure its impacts on performance, and also ensure proper organizational support through the development of a brand orientation. However, we nevertheless consider it as interesting for future research to examine whether there are differences between the brand types.