Internal Brand Management and the Effects on International Firm Performance: An Abstract

While extant branding literature has focused on external communication, internal branding has received much less research attention. Internal brand management can be characterized as a subset of internal marketing and it requires a mid-term to long-term effort to change structures and processes (Piehler et al. 2015). Drawing upon contingency theory, stakeholder theory and other conceptual foundations, this study investigates the antecedents and consequences of internal branding in internationally operating firms.

A conceptual model is developed, and the study employs a quantitative, survey-based approach. The hypotheses are tested through structural equation modelling, i.e. Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modelling using SmartPLS 3 (Ringle et al. 2015) based on data collected from managers of firms with international business activities in Central and Eastern Europe. Data analysis includes the assessment of common method bias, the evaluation of the reflective measurement model (Hair et al. 2014), i.e. internal consistency, indicator reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity using HTMT ratio (Henseler et al. 2015), and the evaluation of the structural model based on the bootstrapping procedure using 5000 subsamples (Hair et al. 2014).

The results of the structural model show the positive outcomes of both standardized employee behavior and leadership. Various antecedents contribute to enhancing performance in internationally operating firms. Thus, a standardized strategy of internal branding measures is feasible for internationally operating firms. Moreover, the importance of leadership has to be highlighted in terms of managerial implications. The limitations are discussed from a conceptual and empirical point of view. Future research could investigate alternative variables and conceptual models including moderating variables, as well as different empirical settings. The results contribute to the branding literature where international studies are scant.