RELATIVE CORPORATE REPUTATIONS OF AIRLINE COMPANIES: TURKISH AIRLINES VERSUS PEGASUS

Abstract

Corporate reputation is the net perception of a company’s ability to meet the expectations of all its stakeholders. It is assessed by means of sub-dimensions classified as customer orientation, good employer, reliable and financially strong company, product/ service quality, social and environmental responsibility. The aims of this research are to evaluate corporate reputations of Turkish Airlines and Pegasus depending on the perceptions of three primary stakeholder groups –employee of competitor, employee of corporate, customer- and to ascertain whether there is any statistically meaningful difference among them. According to this, Corporate Reputation Scale was conducted to 191 participants in Ankara, by means of purposive and convenience sampling methods. Results demonstrated that the corporate reputation of Pegasus is perceived more reputable than Turkish Airlines and the most important dimension is employer image. The stakeholder group who has the most positive attitude towards both brands is corporates’ employees. Moreover, employees of Pegasus believe that Turkish Airlines reputation is more powerful and they display a similar attitude with Turkish airlines’ customers. Turkish Airlines has a stronger employer brand image compared to Pegasus even though it has relatively a poor corporate reputation.

Keywords

• Corporate Reputation,Stakeholder,Airline Company,Turkey

Havayolu İşletmelerinin Karşılaştırmalı Kurumsal İtibarı: THY ve Pegasus

Abstract

Kurumsal itibar, tüm paydaşların beklentilerinin karşılanma düzeyinin algılanışıdır. Bu beklentilerin karşılanma düzeyi; müşteri odaklılığı, iyi işveren, güvenilir ve finansal açıdan güçlü işletme, ürün kalitesi, sosyal ve çevresel sorumluluklar olarak sınıflandırılan alt boyutlarla değerlendirilmektedir. Bu araştırmanın amacı Türk havayolu işletmelerinin kurumsal itibarının işletme çalışanları, rakip işletme çalışanları ve müşteriler olmak üzere 3 temel paydaş grubuna göre karşılaştırmalı olarak değerlendirilmesi ve paydaşlar arasında farklı bir algılama olup olmadığının saptanmasıdır. Buna göre, Kurumsal İtibar Ölçeği amaçlı ve kolayda örnekleme yöntemleri kullanılarak Ankara ilinde 191 kişiye uygulanmıştır. Sonuç olarak, Pegasus’un kurumsal itibarının THY’ninkinden daha olumlu olarak algılandığı ve bu algıyı etkileyen en önemli boyutun “iyi işveren” boyutu olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Her iki işletme için de en olumlu görüş bildiren paydaş, işletmelerin kendi çalışanlarıdır. Pegasus çalışanları THY işletmesini daha itibarlı olarak görmekte ve THY müşterileri ile benzer yaklaşımlar sergilemektedir. THY çalışanları ise Pegasus müşterilerine kıyasla, Pegasus işletmesinin itibarını daha zayıf görmektedir.

Keywords

• Kurumsal itibar,Paydaş,Havayolu İşletmesi,Türkiye

References

1. Aaker, D.A. (1996). Building Strong Brands. New York: The Free Press.
2. Ambler, T. (1997). How much of brand equity is explained by trust?. Management Decision, 35(4), 283-292.
3. Ambler, T. & S. Barrow (1996). The Employer Brand. Journal of Brand Management 4(3), 185 –206.
4. Backhaus, K. & S. Tikoo (2004). Conceptualizing and Researching Employer branding. Career Development International 9(4/5), 501–517.
5. Balmer, J.M.T. (1998). Corporate Identity and The Advent of Corporate Marketing. Journal of Marketing Management 14(8), 963–996.
6. Balmer, J.M.T. & E.R. Gray (2003). Corporate Brands: What Are They? What of Them?. European Journal of Marketing 37(7/8), 972–997.
7. Berthon, P., M. Ewing & L. Hah (2005). Captivating company: dimensions of attractiveness in employer branding. International Journal of Advertising 24(2), 151–172.
8. Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2003). Consumer–company identification: A framework for understanding consumers’ relationships with companies. Journal of Marketing, 67(2), 76-88.

9. Bickerton, D. (2000). Corporate reputation Versus Corporate Branding: The Realist Debate. Corporate Communications 1, 42–48.
10. Bromley, D.B. (2000). Psychological Aspects of Corporate Identity, Image and Reputation. Corporate Reputation Review 3(3), 240–252.
11. Businessweek (1984). Oops: Who’s excellent now?. 5 November 1984.
12. Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2002). Faktör Analizi: Temel Kavramlar ve Ölçek Geliştirmede Kullanımı. Eğitim Yönetimi Dergisi, 32, 470- 483.
13. Carrington, L. (2007). Designs on The Dotted Line. People Management Magazine (18 October), 36 –39.
14. Cramer, J. M. (2008). Organising corporate social responsibility in international product chains. Journal of Cleaner Production, 16(3), 395-400.
15. de Chernatony, L. (1999). Brand Management Through Narrowing The Gap Between Brand Identity and Brand Reputation. Journal of Marketing Management 15(1–3), 157–180.
16. de Chernatony, L. (2001). From Brand Vision to Brand Evaluation. London: Butterworth- Heinemann.
17. de Chernatony, L. & F. Harris (2000). Developing Corporate Brands Through Considering Internal and External Stakeholders. Corporate Reputation Review 3(3), 268–274.
18. Dowling, G.R. & Uncles, M. (1997). Do customer loyalty programs really work?. Sloan Management Review, 38(4), 71–82.
19. Fombrun, C.J. (1996). Reputation: Realizing the Value from the Corporate Image. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
20. Freeman, R.E. (1984). Strategic Management: a Stakeholder Approach. MA/Pitman: Marshall.
21. George, D. & M. Mallery (2010). SPSS for Windows Step by Step: A Simple Guide and Reference. 17.0 update (10a ed.) Boston: Pearson.
22. Harris, F. & L. de Chernatony (2001). Corporate Branding and Corporate Brand Performance. European Journal of Marketing 35(3/4), 441–456.
23. Hart, S. & J. Murphy (1998). Brands: The New Wealth Creators. Basingstoke: Macmillan Business.
24. Hatch, M.J. & M. Schultz (2001). Are the Strategic Stars Aligned for Your Corporate Brand?. Harvard Business Review February, 128–134.
25. Hatch, M.J. & M. Schultz (2003). Bringing the Corporation into Corporate Branding. European Journal of Marketing 37(7/8), 1041–1064.
26. Ind, N. (1997). The Corporate Brand. Basingstoke: Macmillan Business.
27. Ind, N. (1998). An Integrated Approach to Corporate Branding. The Journal of Brand Management 5(5), 323–329.
28. Kotler, P., Wong, V., Saunders, J., & Armstrong, G. (2005). Principles of Marketing, 4th European Edition. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
29. Lichtenstein, D. R., Netemeyer, R. G., & Maxham III, J. G. (2010). The relationships among manager-, employee-, and customer-company identification: Implications for retail store financial performance. Journal of Retailing, 86(1), 85-93.
30. Lloyd, S. (2002). Branding from the Inside Out. BRW 2(10), 64–66.
31. Long, M.M. & Schiffman, L.G. (2000). Consumption values and relationships: segmenting the market for frequency programs. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17(3), 214-32.
32. Luo, X., & Bhattacharya, C. B. (2006). Corporate social responsibility, customer satisfaction, and market value. Journal of Marketing, 70(4), 1-18.
33. Moroko, L. & M. Uncles (2008). Characteristics of Successful Employer Brands. Journal of Brand Management 16(3), 160–175.
34. Netemeyer, R.G., Bearden, W. O. & Sharma, S. (2003). Scaling procedures: issues and applications., California: SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks
35. Peters, T. & R.H. Waterman (1982). In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best Run Companies.
36. Pringle, H. & W. Gordon (2001). Brand Manners: How to Create the Self-Confident Organization to Live the Brand. Chichester: Wiley
37. Roper, S. & C. Fill (2012). Corporate reputation, brand and communication. Pearson Higher Ed.
38. Rotchanakitumnuai, S., & Speece, M. (2003). Barriers to Internet banking adoption: a qualitative study among corporate customers in Thailand. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 21(6/7), 312-323.
39. Sullivan, J. (2004). Eight Elements of a Successful Employment Brand. ER Daily, 23 February.
40. Tabachnik, B.G. & L.S. Fidell (2013). Using Multivariate Statistics (6th Edition) Boston: Pearson.
41. van Riel, C.B.M. & C.J. Fombrun (2007). Essentials of Corporate Communication. Abingdon: Routledge.
42. Walsh G. & S. Beatty (2007). Customer-based Corporate Reputation of a Service Firm: Scale Development and Validation. Journal of Marketing Science (35): 127-145.
43. Wilson, A. (2001). Understanding Organizational Culture and The Implications for Corporate Marketing. European Journal of Marketing 35, 353–368.
44. Wilson, R. (1997). Corporate Branding. The Journal of Brand Management 4(5), 303–310.