Internal brand co-creation: The experiential brand meaning cycle in higher education

Dean, Dianne; Arroyo-Gamez, Ramon E.; Pich, Christopher; Punjaisri, Khanyapuss

doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.01.019

Internal brand co-creation: The experiential brand meaning cycle in higher education

Dean, Dianne; Arroyo-Gamez, Ramon E.; Pich, Christopher; Punjaisri, Khanyapuss

Authors

Dianne Dean

Ramon E. Arroyo-Gamez

Christopher Pich

Khanyapuss Punjaisri

Abstract

Higher education (HE) institutions need to adapt to the global environment but the complex nature of HE highlights the role of marketing and the internal market in realizing the brand identity, creating a challenge for developing a shared brand meaning. This research explores how employees co-create brand meaning through their brand experiences and social interactions with management, colleagues and customers. Using a phenomenological approach, the findings highlight that brand meaning commences from historical, superficial brand interactions. Employees then develop brand meaning further through a series of brand interactions and social interactions. Bridging the internal branding and the co-creation literature, this study conceptualizes the evolving, co-created nature of employees’ brand meaning in the experiential brand meaning cycle. This study extends Iglesias and Bonet’s (2012) work and illustrates the function of employees as readers and authors of brand meaning, emphasising the crucial role of brand co-creation in guiding employees’ brand promise delivery.

Citation

Dean, D., Arroyo-Gamez, R. E., Pich, C., & Punjaisri, K. (2016). Internal brand co-creation: The experiential brand meaning cycle in higher education. Journal of business research, 69(8), 3041-3048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.01.019

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Nov 1, 2015
Publication Date	Aug 1, 2016
Deposit Date	Dec 17, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Nov 23, 2017
Journal	Journal of business research
Print ISSN	0148-2963
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	69
Issue	8
Pages	3041-3048
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.01.019
Keywords	Brand identity, Co-creation, Internal branding, Brand meaning, Higher education
Public URL	https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/382935
Publisher URL	http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296316000321
Additional Information	Authors' accepted manuscript of article published in: Journal of business research, 2016, v.69, issue 8.
Contract Date	Nov 23, 2017

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©2017, Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/