Perceptions of large Korean corporations from a social cognition perspective

ABSTRACT

Large corporations can be important symbols in the lives of Korean consumers, but little is known about the way their corporate imagery might be seen by the public. The imagery of 10 such companies was found to be described by and grouped around three theorized image dimensions: warmth, competence, and status. The same dimensions predicted satisfaction and brand-person congruence. We tested competing theories of whether status associations are independent of competence evaluations or are their antecedents. Our data supported the former view. We also tested the theory that warmth evaluations best predict satisfaction and brand-person congruence and found only qualified support.

KEYWORDS:

• Corporate image
• large corporations
• social cognition theory
• South Korea

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

YongGu Suh

YongGu Suh is Professor of Marketing at Sookmyung University in Seoul. He received a doctoral degree from Oxford University in 1996 and worked for KIET as a research fellow before he joined the University. He has published more than 12 books. His academic papers appeared in International and major Korean academic journals. He had been a founding director of the LCB Hospitality MBA programme from 2006 to 2010 and he served as the Chairman of the KODIA (Korea Distribution Association) from 2014 to 2015.

Gary Davies

Gary Davies is Professor of Business Strategy of Chester within the Business Research Institute. He is also Emeritus Professor of Strategy at Manchester Business School. His main areas of research are in the influence of image and reputation on business success. His current research includes modelling the factors that explain performance in international markets, personal branding and corporate branding. His work has been published in the Strategic Management Journal, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of International Business, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, British Journal of Management and the Harvard Business Review.

Regina Burnasheva

Regina Burnasheva is an Affiliated Research Fellow at Sookmyung Business School. She holds her PhD degree in Business Administration from Sookmyung Women’s University, South Korea. Her research interests include cross-cultural understanding of consumer behaviour, e-business and advertising.