Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Employees as a second audience: the effect of external communication on internal brand management outcomes

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Brand Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although external communication affects both customers as external target groups and employees as internal target groups, internal brand management research regarding the effect of external communication on employee-related internal brand management outcomes remains limited. Therefore, this study seeks to shed light on the effects of external communication on internal brand management outcomes such as employees’ brand understanding, brand commitment, and brand citizenship behaviour. An empirical study with 790 respondents of a German tourism company suggests that external communication congruence, or the degree to which external communication is in line with actual products and services, actual values, and internal communication, positively affects all internal brand management outcomes with the strongest effect on brand understanding. These findings indicate how organizations can address important internal and external stakeholders with a single organizational practice, thus enhancing both the effectiveness and the efficiency of external communication. Managers must avoid exaggerating the externally communicated brand promises, ensure that the externally communicated values portray the firm’s actual values, and align the external communication with internal communication. In addition to several managerial implications, this study offers directions for further research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acito, F., and J.D. Ford. 1980. How advertising affects employees. Business Horizons 23(1): 53–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, N.J., and J.P. Meyer. 1990. The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization. Journal of Occupational Psychology 63(1): 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aurand, T.W., L. Gorchels, and T.R. Bishop. 2005. Human resource management’s role in internal branding: An opportunity for cross-functional brand message synergy. Journal of Product and Brand Management 14(3): 163–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, T.L., A. Rapp, T. Meyer, and R. Mullins. 2014. The role of brand communications on front line service employee beliefs, behaviors, and performance. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 42(6): 642–657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. 1977. Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R.M., and D.A. Kenny. 1986. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51(6): 1173–1182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumgarth, C., and M. Schmidt. 2010. How strong is the business-to-business brand in the workforce? An empirically-tested model of ‘internal brand equity’ in a business-to-business setting. Industrial Marketing Management 39(8): 1250–1260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergstrom, A., D. Blumenthal, and S. Crothers. 2002. Why internal branding matters: The case of Saab. Corporate Reputation Review 5(2/3): 133–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, L.L. 1981. The employee as customer. Journal of Retail Banking 3(1): 33–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burmann, C., and S. Zeplin. 2005. Building brand commitment: A behavioural approach to internal brand management. Journal of Brand Management 12(4): 279–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burmann, C., S. Zeplin, and N. Riley. 2009. Key determinants of internal brand management success: An exploratory empirical analysis. Journal of Brand Management 16(4): 264–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Celsi, M.F.W., and M.C. Gilly. 2010. Employees as internal audience: How advertising affects employees’ customer focus. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 38(4): 520–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, A., H.H. Chiang, and T.S. Han. 2012. A multilevel investigation of relationships among brand-centered HRM, brand psychological ownership, brand citizenship behaviors, and customer satisfaction. European Journal of Marketing 46(5): 626–662.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Chernatony, L., S. Drury, and S. Segal-Horn. 2003. Building a services brand: Stages, people and orientations. Service Industries Journal 23(3): 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Chernatony, L., S. Cottam, and S. Segal-Horn. 2006. Communicating services brands’ values internally and externally. Service Industries Journal 26(8): 819–836.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dean, D., R.E. Arroyo-Gamez, K. Punjaisri, and C. Pich. 2016. Internal brand co-creation: The experiential brand meaning cycle in higher education. Journal of Business Research 69(8): 3041–3048.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delgado-Ballester, E., J.L. Munuera-Alemán, and M.J. Yagüe-Guillén. 2003. Development and validation of a brand trust scale. International Journal of Market Research 45(1): 35–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamantopoulos, A., and H.M. Winklhofer. 2001. Index construction with formative indicators: An alternative to scale development. Journal of Marketing Research 38(2): 269–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eatough, E.M., C.-H. Chang, S.A. Miloslavic, and R.E. Johnson. 2011. Relationships of role stressors with organizational citizenship behavior: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology 96(3): 619–632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fornell, C., and D.F. Larcker. 1981. Evaluating structural equations models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research 18(1): 39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • George, W.R., and L.L. Berry. 1981. Guidelines for the advertising of services. Business Horizons 24(4): 52–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilly, M.C., and M.F. Wolfinbarger. 1992. Does advertising affect your nurses? Journal of Health Care Marketing 12(3): 24–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilly, M.C., and M.F. Wolfinbarger. 1998. Advertising’s internal audience. Journal of Marketing 62(1): 69–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, J.W. 1991. An essay on organizational citizenship behavior. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal 4(4): 249–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J.F., C.M. Ringle, and M. Sarstedt. 2011. PLS-SEM: Indeed a silver bullet. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice 19(2): 139–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J.F., M. Sarstedt, C.M. Ringle, and J.A. Mena. 2012. An assessment of the use of partial least squares structural equation modeling in marketing research. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 40(3): 414–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J.F., M. Sarstedt, C.M. Ringle, and S.P. Gudergan. 2018. Advanced issues in partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, F., and L. de Chernatony. 2001. Corporate branding and corporate brand performance. European Journal of Marketing 35(3/4): 441–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henkel, S., T. Tomczak, M. Heitmann, and A. Herrmann. 2007. Managing brand consistent employee behaviour: Relevance and managerial control of behavioural branding. Journal of Product and Brand Management 16(5): 310–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, D.E. 2013. This ad’s for you: The indirect effect of advertising perceptions on salesperson effort and performance. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 41(1): 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ind, N. 2001. Living the brand: How to transform every member of your organization into a brand champion. London: Kogan Page.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ind, N. 2003. Inside out: How employees build value. Journal of Brand Management 10(6): 393–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis, C.B., S.B. Mackenzie, and P.M. Podsakoff. 2003. A critical review of construct indicators and measurement model misspecification in marketing and consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research 30(2): 199–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, R.L., D.M. Wolfe, R.P. Quinn, J.D. Snoek, and R.A. Rosenthal. 1964. Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. New York, NY: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, D., and R.L. Kahn. 1978. The social psychology of organizations. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimpakorn, N., and G. Tocquer. 2009. Employees’ commitment to brands in the service sector: Luxury hotel chains in Thailand. Journal of Brand Management 16(8): 532–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, C. 2010. ‘One size doesn’t fit all’: Tourism and hospitality employees’ response to internal brand management. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 22(4): 517–534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, C., and D. Grace. 2010. Building and measuring employee-based brand equity. European Journal of Marketing 44(7/8): 938–971.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, C., and D. Grace. 2012. Examining the antecedents of positive employee brand-related attitudes and behaviours. European Journal of Marketing 46(3): 469–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, C., D. Grace, and D.C. Funk. 2012. Employee brand equity: Scale development and validation. Journal of Brand Management 19(4): 268–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kock, N. 2015. Common method bias in PLS-SEM: A full collinearity assessment approach. International Journal of e-Collaboration 11(4): 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kock, N., and G.S. Lynn. 2012. Lateral collinearity and misleading results in variance-based SEM: An illustration and recommendations. Journal of the Association for Information Systems 13(7): 546–580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Löhndorf, B., and A. Diamantopoulos. 2014. Internal branding: Social identity and social exchange perspectives on turning employees into brand champions. Journal of Service Research 17(3): 310–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacKenzie, S.B., P.M. Podsakoff, and C.B. Jarvis. 2005. The problem of measurement model misspecification in behavioral and organizational research and some recommended solutions. Journal of Applied Psychology 90(4): 710–730.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahnert, K.F., and A.M. Torres. 2007. The brand inside: The factors of failure and success in internal branding. Irish Marketing Review 19(1/2): 54–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J.P., and N.J. Allen. 1997. Commitment in the workplace: Theory, research, and application. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J.P., D.J. Stanley, L. Herscovitch, and L. Topolnytsky. 2002. Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: A meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior 61(1): 20–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, S.J., and W.G. Mangold. 2004. A conceptualization of the employee branding process. Journal of Relationship Marketing 3(2–3): 65–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, S.J., W.G. Mangold, S. Asree, and J. Revell. 2011. Assessing the employee brand: A census of one company. Journal of Managerial Issues 23(4): 491–507.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, C. 2002. Selling the brand inside. Harvard Business Review 80(1): 99–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morhart, F.M., W. Herzog, and T. Tomczak. 2009. Brand-specific leadership: Turning employees into brand champions. Journal of Marketing 73(5): 122–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nyadzayo, M.W., M.J. Matanda, and M.T. Ewing. 2015. The impact of franchisor support, brand commitment, brand citizenship behavior, and franchisee experience on franchisee-perceived brand image. Journal of Business Research 68(9): 1886–1894.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nyadzayo, M.W., M.J. Matanda, and M.T. Ewing. 2016. Franchisee-based brand equity: The role of brand relationship quality and brand citizenship behavior. Industrial Marketing Management 52: 163–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piehler, R. 2018. Employees’ brand understanding, brand commitment, and brand citizenship behaviour: A closer look at the relationships among construct dimensions. Journal of Brand Management 25(3): 217–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piehler, R., S. Hanisch, and C. Burmann. 2015. Internal branding—Relevance, management and challenges. Marketing Review St. Gallen 32(1): 52–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piehler, R., C. King, C. Burmann, and L. Xiong. 2016. The importance of employee brand understanding, brand identification, and brand commitment in realizing brand citizenship behaviour. European Journal of Marketing 50(9/10): 1575–1601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piehler, R., D. Grace, and C. Burmann. 2018. Internal brand management: Introduction to the special issue and directions for future research. Journal of Brand Management 25(3): 197–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, P.M., S.B. MacKenzie, and W.H. Bommer. 1996. Meta-analysis of the relationships between Kerr and Jermier’s substitutes for leadership and employee job attitudes, role perceptions, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology 81(4): 380–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, P.M., S.B. MacKenzie, J.-Y. Lee, and N.P. Podsakoff. 2003. Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology 88(5): 879–903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, P.M., S.B. MacKenzie, and N.P. Podsakoff. 2012. Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology 63: 539–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K.J., and A.F. Hayes. 2008. Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods 40(3): 879–891.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Punjaisri, K., and A. Wilson. 2011. Internal branding process: Key mechanisms, outcomes and moderating factors. European Journal of Marketing 45(9/10): 1521–1537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Punjaisri, K., A. Wilson, and H. Evanschitzky. 2008. Exploring the influences of internal branding on employees’ brand promise delivery: Implications for strengthening customer-brand relationships. Journal of Relationship Marketing 7(4): 407–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ringle, C.M., S. Wende, and A. Will. 2005. SmartPLS 2.0 (M3) Beta. Hamburg, Germany.

  • Ringle, C.M., M. Sarstedt, and D.W. Straub. 2012. A critical look at the use of PLS-SEM. MIS Quarterly 36(1): 3–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rönkkö, M., and J. Ylitalo. 2011. PLS marker variable approach to diagnosing and controlling for method variance. In International conference on information systems 2011 proceedings, eds. D.F. Galletta and T.-P. Liang, Vol. 1; 4–7 December, Shanghai, China, 2054–2069. Red Hook, NY: Curran Associates.

  • Saleem, F.Z., and O. Iglesias. 2016. Mapping the domain of the fragmented field of internal branding. Journal of Product and Brand Management 25(1): 43–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terglav, K., M. Konečnik Ruzzier, and R. Kaše. 2016. Internal branding process: Exploring the role of mediators in top management’s leadership-commitment relationship. International Journal of Hospitality Management 54: 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, K., L. de Chernatony, L. Arganbright, and S. Khan. 1999. The buy-in benchmark: How staff understanding and commitment impact brand and business performance. Journal of Marketing Management 15(8): 819–835.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vallaster, C., and L. de Chernatony. 2005. Internationalisation of services brands: The role of leadership during the internal brand building process. Journal of Marketing Management 21(1/2): 181–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dyne, L., J.W. Graham, and R.M. Dienesch. 1994. Organizational citizenship behavior: Construct redefinition, measurement, and validation. Academy of Management Journal 37(4): 765–802.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wentzel, D., S. Henkel, and T. Tomczak. 2010. Can I live up to that ad? Impact of implicit theories of ability on service employees’ responses to advertising. Journal of Service Research 13(2): 137–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wetzels, M., G. Odekerken-Schröder, and C. van Oppen. 2009. Using PLS path modeling for assessing hierarchical construct models: Guidelines and empirical illustration. MIS Quarterly 33(1): 177–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfinbarger, M.F., and M.C. Gilly. 1991. A conceptual model of the impact of advertising on services. Psychology and Marketing 8(3): 215–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfinbarger, M.F., and M.C. Gilly. 2005. How firm advertising affects employees’ trust, organizational identification, and customer focus: Report No. 05-106. MSI-Reports 05(2): 21–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiong, L., C. King, and R. Piehler. 2013. ‘That’s not my job’: Exploring the employee perspective to becoming brand ambassadors. International Journal of Hospitality Management 35: 348–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yi, M.Y., and F.D. Davis. 2003. Developing and validating an observational learning model of computer software training and skill acquisition. Information Systems Research 14(2): 146–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, X., J.G. Lynch Jr., and Q. Chen. 2010. Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and truths about mediation analysis. Journal of Consumer Research 37(2): 197–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair of Innovative Brand Management, Faculty of Business Studies & Economics, University of Bremen, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Rico Piehler, Michael Schade & Christoph Burmann

Authors
  1. Rico Piehler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael Schade
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Christoph Burmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rico Piehler.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 8.

Table 8 Scale items
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Piehler, R., Schade, M. & Burmann, C. Employees as a second audience: the effect of external communication on internal brand management outcomes. J Brand Manag 26, 445–460 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-018-0135-z

Download citation

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-018-0135-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation