The impact of the corporate identity mix on corporate reputation

The concepts of corporate identity (CI) and corporate reputation (CR) receive extensive investigation within their separate domains. Recent strategic marketing literature calls for these two fields of study to be brought closer together. This article answers this call by developing a five-construct research model with four hypotheses. The model proposes that the corporate identity mix (CIM) plays a distinct and independent role in driving CR alongside daily experiences of business operations (BO). Furthermore, the model proposes that the impact of CIM on CR is mediated through corporate brand beliefs. The study is based on the professional service sector and assesses the model and hypotheses using data collected from a questionnaire completed by 126 customers. Partial least squares structural equation modelling technique is used to analyse the data. Results indicate that customer experiences of the CIM and daily BO of the organization have independent and significant impacts upon the development of CR. As a further contribution, the study operationalizes, and provides new measure of, the CIM. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.