Internal Marketing: Issues and Perspectives for Internal Customer-Centric Management

In recent years, the spotlight has increasingly focused on internal marketing, a subject that weaves intricate relationships, principles, and theories. Both academic circles and industry practitioners have seen a surge in interest, primarily because of the underlying belief that internal marketing has the potency to drive competitive advantage.

This chapter puts forward a synthesized outline of the state of knowledge in the field of internal marketing (IM). It aims to indicate the role of available IM studies in human resource (HR) management, to consider the contribution of the new data to the current body of knowledge, and to direct researchers and practitioners studying the ongoing issues and findings.

Internal marketing (IM) progressively institutionalizes organizational values, modifies people's commitment, and increases customer satisfaction. Creating IM changes would Have a plan for its perceptual improvement and simplify the organization, enabling it to reach strategic goals, like customer orientation, organizational performance, and commitment.

Internal marketing (IM) leads to the development of relationships between employees in organizations, ultimately, culminating in the organization's growth and the acquisition of competitive advantages. This chapter examines the effective barriers and drivers of implementing an IM strategy in organizations.

Employer branding has become one of the key aspects of organizational strategy in recent years. In this chapter of the book, we present the concepts, dimensions, and processes of two inseparable elements of employer branding, i.e., internal marketing and talent management, and show how these two elements play a role in the formation of an employer brand.

This research aims to investigate employer branding programmes and their antecedents (brand orientation, employer brand personality, corporate reputation, employer branding orientation and person–corporate fit, and consequences in four categories—(1) performance, (2) perceptions, (3) behaviours, and (4) intentions—over three levels by applying the integrating signalling theory and social identity theory.

Despite the importance of the concept of internal marketing (IM) in marketing, it has been used only rarely in practical terms, and this concept has not yet achieved the widespread recognition and inclusion among managers it deserves.

Organizations are currently struggling to attract and retain valuable human capital. The ongoing health and economic crises have fuelled a reduction in the number of participants in the workforce with result that many employers are struggling, with fewer employees than they require to successfully execute their business strategy.

Internal marketing (IM) has been widely studied from various perspectives. However, despite its potential to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty, further exploration is needed, as many organizations have yet to fully embrace the concept. In response, internal marketing mix (IMM) has developed a unique set of components to assist organizations in achieving their IM objectives. This chapter seeks to enhance the understanding of IMM as a context-dependent practice and its evolution over the years. The authors address the following questions through a comprehensive literature review: How has IMM evolved over recent decades, and what are the primary approaches in IMM? How can these approaches be implemented in an organizational context? The authors discuss three dominant approaches to IM: transactional internal marketing (TIM), relational internal marketing (RIM), and guanxi internal marketing (GIM), which effectively address the role of employees in organizational success. Following the discussion of the three dominant approaches to IM, the authors delve into each approach individually by examining the 4Ps of marketing mix. The chapter’s insights and findings provide a comprehensive insight into the complex facets of IM and its impact on effective organizational management, as well as enhancing employee engagement, satisfaction, and well-being. This understanding equips strategists and practitioners with valuable knowledge to make informed decisions.

This chapter examines internal marketing (IM) and human resource analytics (HRA), where the former refers to strategies used to market services to employees, and the latter is a tool to enhance human resource (HR) policies. Despite HRA's immaturity, the chapter aims to connect these two concepts through internal marketing analytics (IMA).

This chapter examines the importance of leadership style and its impacts on internal marketing (IM). To assess the connections amidst job performance, the IM concepts, and leadership style in the organization, a theoretical model is proposed through focusing on experiences, and it is pointed out that a significant effort is needed to realize these impacts.

This chapter discusses the internal brand development process based on the value co-creation approach. For this purpose, concepts such as brand identity and its components are introduced. Next, the cycle of internal branding is discussed. We conclude that creating a common corporate brand identity is a dynamic process in which several stakeholders communicate, internalize, contest, and elucidate.

This chapter reviews the effect of internal marketing (IM) on employee and customer loyalty to the brand and discusses the role of employee psychological empowerment, between employee loyalty, employee innovativeness, and customer loyalty.

The purpose of this chapter is to develop a comprehensive understanding of corporate brand stakeholders’ communication, its aspects (management vision; core values; ownership and loyalty; no vision-driven desire) and its interactions with internal stakeholders. Researchers and practitioners have observed the significance of internal stakeholders’ communication, and noticed its connections to intergroup relations, mental health, and academic and occupational achievement.