M.Comm. / Die waarde van hierdie ondersoek hou verband met die bemarking van 'n onderneming en die handhawing van 'n mededingende voordeel deur die projektering van 'n positiewe beeld (Anon., 1995a:92; Bateman & Zeithaml, 1993:75; Caminiti, 1992:50; Kotler & Armstrong, 1991:240). Hierdie aspek neem toe in belangrikheid soos wat die besigheidsmilieu in Suid-Afrika verander, veral wat betref die toetrede van buitelandse maatskappye tot die Suid-Afrikaanse mark.

This research explores the attitudes held by marketing managers about building their company's corporate reputation, and about the impact of their actions on performance. In an environment of costly brand building, declining customer loyalty, and increasing scrutiny from stakeholders who demand corporate responsibility and transparency, a concern for corporate reputation is increasingly important for everyone in the company, including marketing managers. The marketing literature, however, has not explored how managers who are concerned about the reputation of their companies can effectively adapt marketing strategy for reputation enhancement. The theoretical justification for this research is grounded in stakeholder theory, dynamic capabilities theory, and strategic choice theory. The study contributes to the marketing strategy literature and the nascent field of stakeholder marketing. It makes a theoretical connection between the corporate-level construct of reputation orientation, and its impact on functional-level decisions about marketing strategy. Reputation orientation is the concern that top management and employees share about their company's commitment to nurturing a positive corporate reputation among key stakeholders. A scale for reputation was conceptually defined and empirically tested (Churchill, 1979). It consists of three dimensions: consciously created corporate identity, internal identity dissemination, and external stakeholder impact. Reputation orientation was found to be a valid and reliable construct that was further tested within the framework of how marketing managers formulate, implement, and evaluate their strategic marketing decisions. This research also tested the impact of stakeholder-conscious marketing strategy on corporate reputation and marketing performance. / The results from the empirical research indicate that organizations with a reputation orientation devise and select marketing strategies that focus on the needs and concerns of customers and other key stakeholders. Reputation orientation guides a stakeholder-conscious marketing strategy, such that marketing strategy decisions take into consideration both the impacts on corporate reputation and marketing performance without sacrificing either. The implications for marketing practice is that marketing managers can deliberately choose marketing strategies that build a strong corporate reputation by considering the concerns of customers and other key stakeholders at the earliest stages of marketing strategy formulation. / by Deborah Goldring. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web. FboU

The brand architecture of an organisation has become increasingly important to global management and marketing professionals, as it deals with structures and designs of brands which are constantly influenced by a changing environment. The market realities and changes brands face continuously impact the reputation of the brand, which is critical to sustain competitive advantage. The primary purpose of the study was to investigate the impact brand reputation has on brand architecture strategies, and an automotive company was chosen as the focus of the research. This research aims to help managers, marketers and brand owners make informative decisions regarding the brand architecture of a company. A quantitative content analysis methodology was used along with a webpage keyword counting application (WebWords). The application was used based on the principles outlined by Corporate Brand and Reputation Analysis (COBRA), which uses a four step progressive filtering process in filtering traditional and consumer generated media. The results from WebWords were then aligned to the brand architecture strategies from the brand relationship spectrum (BRS) to gain insight as to which of the strategies from the BRS were most vulnerable to reputational damage. The study found that the branded house and sub-brand strategies were most vulnerable to reputational damage based on the number reputational hits received. The connection between the master brand and the sub-brands could cause both brands to be affected should any reputational issues arise.