Defining and Measuring Company Image

Abstract

Some terms are so basic to a discipline that it is difficult to define them using only other terminology from within a discipline. The concept of corporate image is one such foundational term. The purpose of this paper is to review the various definitions of corporate image which have been proposed over the years and to attempt to develop a synthesis. A model is developed to differentiate among the concepts of corporate personality, corporate identity and company image. A special emphasis is placed on identifying the dimensions which underlie corporate image. Recommendations are made for measuring this important concept, depending upon the stakeholder group of interest to the researcher.