The corporate reputation of multinational corporations: An analysis of consumers' perceptions of corporate reputation and its effect across nations, Cathrin Huber, Springer Gabler 2017. ISBN 978‐3‐658‐19763‐6

• Author: Natalia Agudelo Meneses,Ana María Parente‐Laverde
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1962
• Published date: 01 November 2019
• Date: 01 November 2019

BOOK REVIEW

THE CORPORATE REPUTATION OF

MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS: AN

ANALYSIS OF CONSUMERS' PERCEPTIONS

OF CORPORATE REPUTATION AND ITS

EFFECT ACROSS NATIONS

Cathrin Huber

Springer Gabler 2017. ISBN 978‐3‐658‐19763‐6

Corporate reputation (CR) has been broadly studied in the marketing

field, especially in the context of individual countries, Cathrin Huber's

aims to study the concept from a new perspective, taking into account

cross‐national differences in CR and its effects on consumer behavior.

The book presents the findings of the author's research about the

reputation of multinational corporations (MNC) in an international

context through a marketing and consumer perspective, focusing on

cultural, demographic, and political factors.

The book is divided into five chapters. Initially, it explains the focus

and relevance of the research, reviews the literature, and presents the

gaps. In the subsequent chapter, the author studies in detail the effect

of corporate reputation—across nations—on consumer's loyalty, find-

ing a direct effect of both elements, influencing consumer's intentions

and readiness to purchase multinational corporations' offers. This rela-

tionship is moderated by the institutional distance between countries.

With the first study, the author recognizes that CR of MNC is

mostly managed at the home country but its perceptions are different

in each host country, which is a reason why MNC need to consider

their firm‐specific resources to respond to local environments. This

statement results on the second research aim, which is to study the

institutional country distances and firm‐specific resources as modera-

tors of CR effects (loyalty and trust). This chapter delivers a disruptive

result, mentioning that consumers are aware of institutional differ-

ences between the home and host country of MNCs due to explicit

and tacit CR information which is formed by the environment of the

MNC home country—not host country.

Finally, the book focuses on the role of national culture as a deter-

minant of consumer's perception of CR across countries. To do so, the

author addresses Hofstede's, Swartz, and globe study dimensions as

“cultural value approaches”that have a different effect in the study

of consumer's perceptions across nations. The authors deliver an

important managerial implication in this part of the book, suggesting

managers to notice the dimensions that are used to explain the differ-

ences of CR among countries in a process of attracting consumers.

The book is an exceptional work from the academic, methodolog-

ical, and managerial perspective. For academics in marketing, the book

allows to study CR from a multi‐country perspective, focusing on

different elements that affect and form consumer perspective; addi-

tionally, it helps to fill a gap in the international marketing field and

opens space for new studies that may include as influential factors

other stakeholders and host country elements like country image.

Furthermore, the research contributes through a strict application of

the scientific method to MNC reputation managers, by giving them

insights on host countries consumer perceptions and the elements

that influence it in order to support international decision‐making

processes related to corporate branding and management.

Natalia Agudelo Meneses

Ana María Parente‐Laverde

Universidad de Medellín, Medellín, Colombia

Correspondence

Ana María Parente‐Laverd, Universidad de Medellín, Medellín, Colombia

Email: amparente@udem.edu.co

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1962

J Public Affairs. 2019; :e1962.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1962

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of119