Does Country Really Matter? Exploring the Contextual Effect of Individual Self-construal in Reaping the Relational Benefits of Customer-based Reputation

Abstract

Corporate reputation is a strategic asset leading to numerous positive firm-level outcomes. Motivated by the prediction that the translation of customer-based corporate reputation to customer-level outcomes (trust, customer–company identification, and word-of-mouth intentions) might be highly context-dependent, we investigate the moderating role of national culture (particularly, individualism–collectivism dimension) and individual trait (self-construal) in the association between reputational dimensions (product and service efficacy, market prominence, and societal ethicality) and their outcomes. Using survey data from two countries (US and India, N = 812), we estimate the effects of corporate reputation on focal outcomes, moderated by country as a proxy for individualism/collectivism and independent self-construal (IND)/interdependent self-construal (INTER). The results strongly suggest that when individual-level variables are taken into account, the country-level variable does not affect the translation of reputational dimensions to customer-level outcomes. Moreover, individuals high on IND are more responsive to utilitarian (egoistic) reputational dimensions of product and service efficacy, whereas individuals high on INTER are more sensitive to the group-oriented reputation for market prominence and society-oriented reputation for social ethicality. The reported findings have major implications for cross-country reputational research and global reputation management strategies.

Citation

Agarwal, J. and Osiyevskyy, O. (2019), "Does Country Really Matter? Exploring the Contextual Effect of Individual Self-construal in Reaping the Relational Benefits of Customer-based Reputation", Global Aspects of Reputation and Strategic Management (Research in Global Strategic Management, Vol. 18), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 95-125. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1064-485720190000018005