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'Double Dutch' : c orporate reputation and the emphasizement of country of origin at a Dutch postal company

Bendsneijder, Jennifer (2016) 'Double Dutch' : c orporate reputation and the emphasizement of country of origin at a Dutch postal company.

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Abstract:This case study at PostNL was focused on the emphasizement of ‘the Dutch feeling of PostNL’ also mentioned as; the country of origin (COO) of the company; the Netherlands. The goal of this research was to see if the communication strategy, making use of extra affective country of origin cues in communication expressions of the organisation, positively contributed to the corporate reputation of PostNL among consumers in the Netherlands. The research consisted of two studies, namely a focus group study among PostNL employees and an online questionnaire among Dutch consumers. In the focus group study, four focus groups with a diverse group of PostNL members took place. Based on these results; three corporate advertisements, containing extra affective COO cues were designed. These three corporate advertisements and one neutral corporate advertisement were examined by 246 respondents participating in the online questionnaire, measuring the effect of these advertisements towards corporate reputation. The effect of country image towards behavioural intentions, the moderating effect of national identification between the corporate advertisements and corporate reputation and the influence of corporate reputation on behavioural intentions were also taken in account. Results of the questionnaire showed that the advertisements containing extra affective COO cues, did not differed significantly from the neutral condition in the effect towards corporate reputation. This was also the case for the effect of country image towards behavioural intentions. What the results did show, was that national identification had a moderating effect and that corporate reputation had a positive effect on behavioural intentions. Therefore, it is concluded that making use of the positive country image of the Netherlands could be helpful in a communication strategy for PostNL. Further research should be done, to get to know how to emphasize this ‘Dutch feeling’ specifically.
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/69436
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