Using corporate stories to build the corporate brand: an impression management perspective

Abstract

Purpose – A recent area of academic interest within corporate branding and reputation is the use of storytelling in order to differentiate the corporate brand, however there is little empirical research exploring the contents of corporate stories, and how they are used by organisations to build the corporate brand. This paper aims to utilise impression management theory to bring insight into the potential role of corporate stories in shaping the corporate brand. Design/methodology/approach – Corporate stories were identified from the web sites of 99 organisations in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, and content analysis conducted on the stories, using a deductive approach to identify the story elements present in the stories. Findings – There are wide variations in the inclusion of different elements in the stories, indicating that organisations place greater importance on the inclusion of some elements in their corporate stories than others. Research limitations/implications – The paper highlights the point that while organisations are using corporate stories, they are not sufficiently leveraging them to build their corporate brand. There is a gap between storytelling theory and practice, in that the literature emphasises the importance of including benefits for stakeholders, emotion, and aspects of the corporate strategy in stories, whereas organisations frequently neglect these aspects and instead focus mainly on their accomplishments. Originality/value – This study has found impression management theory to be a useful perspective on exploring corporate storytelling, and identifies links between the elements of stories and impression management strategies and behaviours. This indicates that the corporate story could influence the impressions that audiences form of the organisation and therefore build the corporate brand.

Corporate social responsibility and international business: examining the nexus and gaps from a developing economy perspective

“…Its origin is in psychology (Brennan et al 2009), however the theory has subsequently been applied to different disciplines including management (Spear, & Roper, 2013), thereby justifying the decision to apply it to the study of CSR and IB in Ghana. Another justification being that impression or reputation management gives second chances when crisis occur (Harris et al, 2007) just the same way that firms use their CSR activities to project a strong impression in times of crisis and crisis are not uncommon with IBs.…”

“…This therefore makes the Impression Management (IM) Theory, worth considering in studying CSR and IB in Ghana. Harris et al, (2007) defines Impression Management as "the process by which individuals try to influence the impressions others have of them" while Spear and Roper, (2013) describes it as "any action purposefully designed and carried out to influence an audience's perception of an organisation." With increasing public scrutiny on the operations of firms particularly multinationals, it stands to reason that they would, given the opportunity, use CSR to project a positive impression of themselves as asserted in the explanation of IM theory by Spear and Roper, (2013) and Harris et al (2007).…”

Designing for User and Brand Experience via Company-wide Experience Goals

“…HCI researchers with long history in user-centered design can bring a more human perspective to brand image development. There seems to be need for the human approach now that brands increasingly build on the stories of and by individuals inside the company [7].…”

Deliberate storytelling in big data analytics adoption

“…Despite an extensive literature on organization‐driven stories (Denning, ; Marshall & Adamic, ; Marzec, ; Spear & Roper, ), only a limited number of studies have discussed story types (Table ). In particular, two bodies of literature (Denning, ; Spear & Roper, ) appear to provide some explanation of the differences between narrative patterns and storytelling themes suitable for different business purposes and affecting different stakeholders. Less attention in the prior literature has been paid to the combined use of different story types for a common business purpose as a key characteristic of effective storytelling.…”

“…This study builds on the latter level of analysis and explores how organization-driven stories influence employees' attitudes toward BDA. Despite an extensive literature on organization-driven stories (Denning, 2006;Marshall & Adamic, 2010;Marzec, 2007;Spear & Roper, 2013), only a limited number of studies have discussed story types (Table 1). In particular, two bodies of literature (Denning, 2006;Spear & Roper, 2013) appear to provide some explanation of the differences between narrative patterns and storytelling themes suitable for different business purposes and affecting different stakeholders.…”