본 연구에서는 개별 브랜드의 애호도 구축과정에서 기업 브랜드가 수행하는 역할을 구조적으로 규명하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 기존 연구에서 많이 다루었던 단일 차원의 기업이미지 개념에서 벗어나 기업연상을 핵심적인 두가지 연상유형(기업 능력연상, 기업의 사회적 책임 연상)으로 분류하고, 이들 연상 유형이 브랜드 애호도에 미치는 영향을 기업수준과 브랜드 수준에서 동시에 살펴보는 이중 경로모형을 제안하였다. 모형의 첫 번째 경로는 브랜드 수준의 경로로 기업연상이 개별 브랜드에 대한 소비자 신뢰와 감정으로 직접 전이되고, 다시 브랜드 애호도에 까지 영향을 미치는 기업연상 브랜드 신뢰/브랜드 감정 브랜드 애호도로 구성하였다. 두 번째 경로는 소비자와 기업 간 관계에 초점을 둔 기업수준의 경로로 기업연상이 소비자와 기업 간의 정서적 관계를 통해 브랜드 애호도에 영향을 미치는 기업연상 기업정체성 매력 소비자-기업 일체화 기업 애호도 브랜드 애호도로 구성하였다. 분석결과, 이중 경로모형을 구성하였던 7개 경로가설은 가설에서 예상했던 내용과 방향대로 모두 유의적인 결과를 나타내, 기업연상과 브랜드 애호도 간의 관계가 이중경로로 구성됨을 확인할 수 있었다. 이는 개별 브랜드의 자산 가치 제고를 위해서는 소비자와 개별 브랜드 간의 관계 뿐 아니라 소비자와 기업 간의 관계도 매우 중요하며, 결과적으로 이들 두 가지 경로관계에 대한 병행관리가 매우 필요함을 제기하는 결과라 할 수 있다. 특히 긍정적 기업이미지 관리라는 기존의 일반적이고 단일 차원적 접근에서 벗어나, 목표로 하는 구체적인 기업연상 유형을 선정하고, 이를 활용한 체계적인 기업정체성 관리의 필요성이 있음을 확인할 수 있었다.
Brands, which are typically used as an effective means of product differentiation, has been a subject of much interest in recent years within the academic arena as well as within the industry where brands have been considered an important intangible asset subject to strategic management. Today, however, as numerous brands emerge within a single product category, the brand is losing its cutting edge as a source of product differentiation. Moreover, the overuse of brand extensions has caused additional problems for firms seeking effective branding strategies. These problems are especially evident within corporate groups that need to manage various individual brands. The present study attempts to provide insight into these issues by reevaluating the role of the corporate brand. Specifically, it examines the role of the corporate brand in building loyalty for individual brands. Unlike product-level brands, the management of corporate brands requires the consideration of the company`s products, social activities, and stakeholders. Despite these differences, most of the current theories on brands do not differentiate between corporate and individual brands. In the present study, the literature on individual brand extensions is extended to the corporate brand construct, and the relationship between individual and corporate brands as well as the critical factors that affect this relationship is addressed. Based on marketing theories of brands and corporate associations, and the social psychological theory of identity, the effects of the corporate brand on individual brand loyalty were established via two major routes. The first route in which the corporate brand affects individual brand loyalty is such that corporate associations affect consumer trust and affect, which in turn, influences brand loyalty. This effect is at the product level. The second route, on the other hand, appears at the corporate level and involves the formation of an emotional connection between the consumer and the firm. This route is depicted as the following: corporate associations → corporate identity attractiveness → consumer-corporate identification → corporate loyalty → brand loyalty. This latter route is based on the formation of an affect-laden relationship between corporate identity and consumer identity, which is captured by the construct of consumer-corporate identification. The antecedent of the overall effect, corporate associations, has two distinct categories. The first type of associationis based on social expectations toward the firm and concerns the competence of the firm. The second type of association relates to corporate social responsibility. The empirical study is based on the response of 500 subjects who participated in a field survey. The valid responses of 401 subjects were subject to data analysis. The effect of corporate associations on individual brand loyalty was tested via 7 pathways, which resulted in support for the main predictions. Corporate associations affected the formation of individual brand loyalty both at the product level (i.e., corporate associations → brand trust/affect → brand loyalty) and at the corporate level (i.e., corporate associations → corporate identity attractiveness → consumer-corporate identification → corporate loyalty → brand loyalty). Finally, in terms of relative strength, firm ability associations were found to affect brand trust more than corporate social responsibility associations. The two types of associations however did not differ in terms of their strength on brand affect. Contrary to what was hypothesized, firm ability associations had a stronger effect on corporate identity attractiveness compared to corporate social responsibility associations. The present study contributes to the academic literature in that it disentangles the construct of the corporate brand from that of the individual brand and investigates the structural relations between the two. The research applies existing brand theories to the corporate brand and derives managerial implications from this application. Furthermore, the impact of corporate social responsibility on firm performance is highlighted from a marketing perspective. The significance of consumer-corporate identification is established in the present work and implications for brand equity management are suggested.