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The airline aviation industry is both capital-intensive and competitive. Hence, the evolution of the sector needs original marketing strategies. To study the relationships between corporate branding and corporate image, taking into account two views, namely, corporate strategy and corporate expression in airline identity, this paper aims to analyze the main indicators of the corporate branding that affect the outcomes of the corporate image.

To inspect the theories, the foundational configural model was assessed through the perceptions of 395 employees in Indian aviation companies. By using complexity theory, this study matched the concept of equifinality and it examined the data via a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis.

Findings show that corporate strategy positively influences the corporate image and corporate expression. Corporate expression offers the verbal and visual facets of a brand. Surprisingly, the paper shows that there is no link between corporate expression and corporate image. It also suggests that corporate expression, including corporate community, corporate promise and corporate personality, are all components of a corporate brand and do not influence the corporate image. Finally, the study highlights that corporate image positively affects superior business performance, which influences superior retailer preference.

The study identifies the corporate identity’s indicators (corporate strategy and corporate expression) that affect the corporate image, which results in stronger, superior business performance and retailer preference. It suggests that managers in the airline industry should follow the recommendations of this research by adopting more objective and fairer procedures to attain superior business performance and retailer preference. In addition, the continued growth and the financial impact of the airline sector require the use of pioneering branding strategies. Future study is needed in various nations to advance the generalizability of the research findings.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the paper is the first to study corporate brand, its sub-dimensions (corporate strategy and corporate expression) and their individual links to brand image, which involves experience, relationships and visual identity.

The purpose of this paper is to design and test a model for the internal anchorage of a business‐to‐business brand via corporate brand orientation.

Data from 261 usable responses to a questionnaire distributed in the German business‐to‐business sector, were applied to model estimation by the “soft modelling” partial‐least‐squares regression technique.

The structure of the brand orientation model is supported by the results. The findings demonstrate the positive influence of brand orientation on market and economic performance. Smaller business‐to‐business companies exhibit lower levels of brand orientation than larger counterparts, to their strategic disadvantage. Line of business and management type had no influence on brand orientation in this survey.

Business‐to‐business brand managers now have empirically‐based evidence for the benefits of intensive implementation of brand orientation. The associated four‐level conceptual model of the phenomenon offers them an enhanced understanding of the process, procedures and probable outcomes. It can be used for management control as well as strategic planning and implementation.

The paper is the first empirical study to examine the internal aspects of branding in the business‐to‐business sector, and one of the first large‐scale surveys that is not industry‐specific to analyse the link between brand management and company performance.

The purpose of this research is to explore how consumers co-create sustainable corporate brands (SCBs) by framing brands with a newly adopted sustainability orientation.

The qualitative data were generated from four focus groups consisting of altogether 25 Finnish millennial consumers. The data were analysed using thematic analysis, and the resulting themes were classified as different framings.

The findings indicate three ways of framing SCBs: as signs of corporate hypocrite, as threats that increase societal fragmentation and as signs of corporate enlightenment. These framings are based on two components: the perceived attributes and activities of the corporate brand.

The role of corporate brands is expanding from the business sphere towards actively influencing society. Yet, sustainability activities can be risky if consumers, as primary stakeholders, deem them unacceptable, unethical or untrustworthy. This research supports brand managers to succeed in co-creating SCBs as contributors to societal and environmental well-being, at a time when multiple stakeholders consider this a worthwhile endeavour.

The theoretical contribution is twofold: firstly, the paper extends the sustainable corporate branding literature by demonstrating how SCBs are co-created through an interactive framing process between the corporation and primary stakeholders, and, secondly, it contributes to the constitutive approach to corporate social responsibility communication (CSRC) research by showing how millennial consumers frame corporate brands that communicate corporations' newly adopted sustainability orientation.

This paper aims to study the effect of internal branding on brand supporting behaviour (in-role and extra-role) of bank employees in Egypt. It proposes a model which examines the relationship between internal branding and employees’ brand supporting behavior, mediated by employees’ role clarity, affective commitment and continuance commitment, to provide insights into the way in which employees can become brand champions.

A single cross-sectional descriptive research was employed. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 400 frontline bank employees. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the validity of the scales, and structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results showed that internal branding did not have a direct significant impact on employees’ in-role and extra-role behaviour. However, that impact only took place through employees’ role clarity and their affective commitment.

The findings suggest that banks can differentiate their offers and build powerful corporate brands through their employees’ brand supporting behaviour. Therefore, bank managers need to consider internal branding within the context of a corporate marketing orientation. Moreover, enhancing employees’ role clarity and affective commitment will ensure sustainable brand supporting behaviour.

This research is the first quantitative study to examine the impact of role clarity and continuance commitment as possible mediators to the proposed relationship. It further adds up to the internal branding literature, which is mostly qualitative or conceptual and thus suffers from limited conclusive evidence in terms of internal branding benefits and practical implications.

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between corporate branding and market driving. This is achieved by focusing on key dimensions of brand identity such as brand values and staff behaviours, while acknowledging the role of vision and organisational culture. The links between these brand constituents and the actual activities of the firm in a market are explored through interactions with stakeholders.

This research is based on an in‐depth case study of IKEA at a corporate level and its local market activities in Russia. The single‐case approach is used to generate insights into how corporate branding is related to market driving practices and to identify the mechanisms of market driving in the Russian market.

The corporate brand provides a further source of the “leap” in customer value recognised as a requirement for a market driving approach. Through a case study of IKEA in Russia it is shown that the core values of the brand guide both the behaviour and activities of internal stakeholders and the relationships with external stakeholders, and the interactions between the corporate “global” brand values and local market level activities are explored.

The paper provides insights on the role of a corporate brand as a driving force of market driving from a broad stakeholder perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to use managerial vision of corporate brand in relation to consumers, dealers and frontline employees to generate brand benchmarks. These benchmarks are sets of perceptions on how managers envision corporate brand to be positioned in minds of consumers, dealers and frontline employees. Additionally, this study explores managerial views concerning the importance of corporate branding in relation to an organization and its stakeholders. One of the most important strategic decisions that managers make concerns positioning of a corporate brand in the minds of key internal and external stakeholders.

Insights are drawn from the in-depth semi-structured interviews with 22 senior managers from the three car manufacturers based in Australia and engaged in the corporate branding strategy.

Although managers viewed corporate brand as a “strategic tool” and “the DNA” of an organization, the findings suggest that corporate brand strategy is ultimately driven by consumers rather than multiple stakeholders. Practical (utilitarian) components of the brand value were emphasized by the managers as key brand benefits communicated to consumers and also to dealers and frontline employees. Although managers recognized the importance of being seen as a “trustworthy partner” by dealer principals and customer-facing staff, the idea of dealer networks playing a role of a “supportive mechanism” for enhancing consumer experience, was domineering.

The views expressed by the interviewees in this paper may not fully reflect the views of the whole organization regarding the corporate brand. As this study is conducted in the car manufacturing industry, its findings may not be directly applicable in other industries. As corporate branding a relatively new area, organizations do not always appreciate its scope and what such a branding strategy involves. However, organizations need to move beyond a “product branding thinking” to a strategic perspective as corporate brands build the images formed and held by key external and internal stakeholders.

Generating benchmarks for corporate brands using top management’s aspirations can assist organizations in generating focused and more nuanced understanding of how they wish corporate brand to be perceived by the key stakeholders and effectively build corporate brand.

Managerial vision of corporate brand was used as a starting point in developing reference points (i.e. benchmarks) for the desired brand identity, which may potentially be developed into relevant standards and best practices in corporate branding within an organization.

Recent academic work has introduced a series of innovative concepts to the branding debate. In particular, the concept of brands that are embedded throughout the organisation has come to the fore. This paper uses a literature review and three mini‐case studies to explore the issues in the branding debate and to illustrate how brand management is changing in response to market and environmental changes.

This study aims to fill a gap in branding literature concerning the effect of corporate brand relationships on brand value through the case study method in a business-to-business (B2B) context. The objectives of this study can be framed in the following three questions: what are the main constituents of a corporate brand; how does a corporate brand generate tangible and intangible brand value for their business customers; and how do tangible and intangible brand benefits influence relationship initiation and management practices of the case companies?

The study adopts a qualitative multiple cases study design by using archival data and both in-depth telephone and online interviews with senior representatives of the case study companies to investigate corporate branding and associated issues in a B2B context.

From a managerial perspective, this study reveals that corporate business culture, brand relationships, products and corporate identity and personality as the main constituents of a corporate brand in a B2B context. The results show that a corporate brand can generate intangible and tangible brand value benefits for business customers. The findings also note the importance of brand value in enhancing relationship initiation.

The study contributes to the branding literature by developing a conceptual model that explains the development and role of the corporate brand in a B2B context with its associated value creation and brand management outcomes. The findings advance brand management literature on business relationships, which addresses a gap in B2B contexts rather than mainly about product brand management and value creation in business-to-consumer contexts.

With the aim of developing a better understanding of why some consumers still excuse corporate brands that engage in transgressions, this study tests whether extrinsically religious people tolerate corporate brands more than intrinsically religious individuals at different transgression levels (severe and mild) and punish them less than the latter.

This study adopts a 2 × 2 experimental design to manipulate corporate brand transgression levels (mild vs severe) and religiosity orientations (intrinsically religious vs extrinsically religious) on a convenience sample of 134 subjects who live in Turkey, a country where Islam shapes religious context. It uses a scenario technique and projective approach.

While the main effect of corporate brand transgression on punishing behaviour does not appear in the analysis, religiosity’s main effect on the latter does. Unexpectedly, extrinsically religious consumers punish corporate brand transgressors more than their intrinsically religious counterparts regardless of the transgression severity levels.

Although the study does not refer to any religion in particular, countries predominated by religions other than Islam may yield different consumer reactions. Future studies should focus on transgressions in such different settings.

Corporate brand transgressors should immediately take up good causes to attract the attention of intrinsically religious consumers. Otherwise, for the sake of showing off, extrinsically religious people may punish the transgressor for its intentional mistakes, which may harm corporate brand associations.

This study examines the link between religiosity and corporate branding. Unique in this way, it introduces religiosity as a valid contributor that can explain why some consumers do not punish corporate brand transgressors, especially in countries like Turkey where religiosity is intertwined with the developments in the liberal economy which led to the emergence of a new middle class.