Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Understanding the nature of corporate reputation and its role as a trust-building resource for public relations can help organizations cope with today’s challenges of growing mediatization and the constant pressure to demonstrate and maintain legitimacy. While significant research has been done in the field of reputation, its relationship with trust and its influence on trustworthy behavioral intentions in different stakeholder groups needs further exploration. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the interrelations between corporate reputation, trust and behavioral intentions among members of four key stakeholder groups (N=1892) via structural equation modeling techniques.
Reputation was measured as an attitudinal construct comprising cognitive and affective dimensions. The study shows that different publics apply different facets within each of the reputation dimensions in evaluating reputation. The detailed analysis could help public relations to successfully address various publics through addressing those facets that contribute to building reputation and trust. Results confirm that in all groups reputation contributes significantly to build trust and trustworthy behavioral intentions.