What and how to communicate about a corporate brand with the consumers: An exploratory study

The present exploratory study investigates the differential impact of various relevant corporate brand associations on consumers' cognitive (product attitude and purchase intention) and affective responses (affective corporate commitment) in the three sectors, namely durables, services and fast moving consumer goods. The findings reveal that corporate brand associations can be categorised into two categories - universal associations, which are influential in all the sectors, and sector-specific associations, which have a differential effect on consumers in different sectors. Thus, this study reveals that corporate branding is important to consumers in all the sectors, but a single corporate brand story does not work in all the sectors. Further, corporate associations do not always have a positive effect on the consumers; under certain circumstances, these might either have no effect or have a negative effect on the consumers. Finally, there are two routes by which corporate brand associations can influence consumers - by affecting their cognitive responses or by influencing their affective responses towards the company. The recognition of the important corporate brand associations in the three sectors, and the routes (cognitive or affective) through which these associations influence consumer choices would enable marketers to develop more sophisticated corporate communication strategies.