Internal branding has recently been introduced to the literature as an enabler of the organisation's success in ensuring the delivery of the brand promise by their employees, particularly the customer-interface employees. Relatively few studies have been carried out to understand the internal branding concept from the viewpoint of employees, despite its importance. Moreover, there is only an assumption that when employees are identified with, committed and loyal to the brand, they would behave in ways that support the brand reality. Therefore, this research's aim was to explore the employees' perceptions regarding their role in the promise delivery process because they are as important as those of management and researchers. Furthermore, this study provided empirical evidence to support the link between internal branding and employees' brand attitudes and brand behaviours. Following a case study strategy using the hotel industry in Thailand as a single unit of study with mixed methodologies, the author could perform data triangulation by incorporating the literature review with the findings from the qualitative and the quantitative phase. This thesis revealed the important role of employees and their perceptions of the relevant internal branding mechanisms, including internal communications and training. Importantly, this thesis empirically supported the contention that internal branding affects employees' brand identification, commitment, and loyalty. It also provided empirical evidence supporting the previously assumed link between internal branding and employees' brand behaviour. Furthermore, it added to the existing knowledge that these attitudes, particularly brand identification and loyalty, need to be positively influenced because of their mediating roles. Finally, it revealed the moderating factors in the internal branding process that were identified by the internal audience. As such, this thesis sends an overriding message to management that the coordination between marketing and human resource departments with support and understanding from management is necessary to optimise the success of any internal branding campaigns in aligning employees with the brand.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:487867 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Punjaisri, Khanyapuss |
| Publisher | University of Strathclyde |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://oleg.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=21937 |
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