University of Twente Student Theses

Managing reputation and organizational-public relationships in the banking industry : the influence of initial beliefs and past behaviours on the evaluation of the organization-public relationship.

Wiele, C.L. van der (2016) Managing reputation and organizational-public relationships in the banking industry : the influence of initial beliefs and past behaviours on the evaluation of the organization-public relationship.

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Abstract:	Context. The environment of the banking industry has changed due to technological innovations within the past years. In order to face all these challenges, banks should focus on public relations activities such as creating a distinctive organizational reputation and maintaining good relationships with their stakeholders on a whole new level. Aim. This study focused on the organization-public relationship and organizational reputation within the banking industry. Stakeholders evaluate the reputation of an organization based on their initial beliefs and the observations of past behaviours, which influences the organizationpublic relationship. Furthermore, it is argued that a high communication frequency positively influences the relationship building between an organization and its publics. Building on this, this study investigated the relative share of initial beliefs and past behaviours within an organizational reputation and the influence of this on the evaluation of the organization-public relationship with communication frequency as the moderating variable. Method. In order to test the hypotheses and to answer the main research question, an online questionnaire was employed in which the respondents were asked to answer questions about their bank, the reputation of their bank and their relationship with their bank. In total 282 respondents answered the questionnaire. Results. The results confirmed that initial beliefs and past behaviours have a positive significant effect on the evaluation of the organization-public relationship in general. Furthermore, the relative share of past behaviours is larger than the relative share of initial beliefs within an organizational reputation. However, different results were found per bank in the relative share of initial beliefs and past behaviours. Moreover, it was found that the communication frequency from customer to bank only moderates the influence of initial beliefs on the evaluation of the organization-public relationship. Research contribution. The findings of this study gave valuable insight into the effects of initial beliefs and past behaviours on the evaluation of the organization-public relationship. Moreover, it was unknown what the relative share of initial beliefs and past behaviours within an organizational was. The research findings are also relevant for bank managers who manage organization-public relationships and the organizational reputation. A strong organizational reputation and good relationships helps to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage.
Item Type:	Essay (Master)
Faculty:	BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:	05 communication studies
Programme:	Communication Studies MSc (60713)
Link to this item:	https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/69716
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