Journal of Distribution Science (유통과학연구)

Korea Distribution Science Association (한국유통과학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

The Role of Brand Knowledge in Explaining Relationship between Brand-Centered Communications and Brand Commitment: Evidence from Public Banks Pakistan

  • Muhammad, Shoaib (School of Business Management, (COB), University Utara Malaysia) ;
  • Salleh, Salniza Md. (School of Business Management, (COB), University Utara Malaysia) ;
  • Yusr, Maha Mohammed (School of Business Management, (COB), University Utara Malaysia)
  • Received : 2018.11.22
  • Accepted : 2019.01.05
  • Published : 2019.01.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which internal brand communication (IBC) impacts on brand commitment (BC). Research design, data, and methodology - A structured questionnaire has been built and distributed on a total sample of 650 banking staff working in five public banks in Pakistan. Results - The findings of PLS-SEM revealed that besides the indirect effect of internal brand communication (IBC) on brand commitment via brand knowledge, the study also exposes a direct positive effect of IBC on brand commitment. This study also reveals that brand commitment is affected by brand knowledge and internal brand communication practices. The result of mediation reveals that brand knowledge partially mediated the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Practical implications- This study empirically validates that internal brand communication and brand knowledge are prerequisites for brand commitment. Therefore, managers, particularly in-service enterprises, should provide sufficient IBC practices and appropriate brand knowledge to enhance employees' brand commitment. Conclusions - The comprehensive analysis of the impact of brand knowledge on the proposed relationship. It further adds up to the branding literature, which is mostly qualitative and lacks empirical validation.

Keywords

1. Introduction

The services industry act as a mainstay of the world economies and it is one of the fastest and emerging sectors in the world economy (Zameer, Wang, Yasmeen, Mofrad, & Waheed, 2018). This sector accounts for the largest (65.1%) percentage of world GDP and a major employer of labor in high-income countries. Banks are competing intensely in a highly competitive environment to offer quality services according to customers’ expectations (Arokiasamy, 2013). According to Adjei (2014), service companies cannot fight the intense market competition successfully, without integrating employee commitment in their overall internal branding (IB) programs. Service companies deliberately try to create a better working environment where, commitment and superior brand performance are assured (de Chernatony & Cottam, 2006; Vatankhah & Darvishi, 2018).

Employee brand commitment (BC) has been viewed as the most influencing factor in building a strong brand in many industries (Ahn, Hyun, & Kim, 2016; Kemp, Williams, & Bordelon, 2012; Tsang, Lee, & Li, 2011; Tuškej, Golob, & Podnar, 2013). Service organizations need to develop a higher level of employee commitment that leads to brand success and customer satisfaction, however, to instill commitment among employees is still a challenging task for many organizations (Burmann & Zeplin, 2005; Burmann, Zeplin, & Riley, 2009).

Gaining the importance of the commitment construct among managers and practitioners, research studies pertinent to brand commitment is scared. Although the effect of employee commitment on brand citizenship behaviors has already been studied (Terglav, Ruzzier, & Kaše, 2016). However, still, it remains unclear what drives employees’ brand commitment (Terglav et al., 2016). Likewise, O'Callaghan (2013) contended that studies on commitment have frequently been externally focused while little attention is paid to internally oriented commitment. In spite of all these efforts, the concept of employee commitment towards the brand still appears to be ignored (Kimpakorn & Tocquer, 2010). Hence, in the extant branding literature, a significant amount of consideration has been given to reconnoitering the antecedents of employee commitment (Terglav, Ruzzier, & Kaše, 2016).

Caruana and Calleya (1998) cautioned that lack of commitment from workers can be detrimental to a company, resulting in poorer performance arising from lower service standards and higher costs. Thus, banks to succeed, employees’ commitment must be ensured (Vazifehdoost & Hooshmand, 2012). Cauana and Calleya (1998), and Farzad, Caruana, and Nahavandi (2008) propounded that companies can achieve such coveted commitment through the effective use of internal branding programs.

In the economic scenario of Pakistan, the services sector contributes one third in employment and accounts for 54% of GDP (Islam, Ali, Aamir, Khalifah, &Ahmad, 2015). Several causes of the lackluster performance of the banking sector in South Asia including Pakistan have been cited by the world bank, low employee commitment is among one of them (Namgyel, 2003). Only a few studies have been conducted to examine the factors affecting employees’ commitment in the Pakistani banking sector (UlHaq, Jindong, Hussain, & Anjum, 2014; Imam, Raza, Shah, & Raza, 2013; Ramay, 2012). According to Danish, Humayon, Shahid, and Nawaz (2015) employee brand-building behavior which is a permanent feature of internal branding (IB) needs to be assessed through their attitude such as commitment (Danish, Humayon, Shahid, &Nawaz, 2015).

On the basis of aforementioned discussion regarding commitment, this study investigates internal brand communication (IBC) as an important predictor of employees’ brand commitment (Du Preez & Bendixen, 2015; Olannye, 2016). Punjaisri, (2008) argued that IBC has the potential to influence brand performance through its affect on employee’s brand commitment.

In the present study employee brand knowledge (BK) is used as a mediator variable to examine the mediating effects of BK on the relationship between IBC and brand commitment. Hence, this has necessitated the need to carry out this study. The main objective of the study is to empirically investigate the mediating role of employee BK on the initial relationship between IBC and BC among banking staff of public sector banks operating in Pakistan.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Employee Brand Commitment

Reviews of the extant literature have shown that the construct of commitment has been studied extensively since the 1960s to understand the relationship between the employee and the organization (Jonsson & Jeppesen, 2012). Brand commitment is a key concept in marketing and brand management perspectives, due to its significant influence on employees attitude and behavior (Buil, Catalán, & Martínez, 2016). In the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) literature, Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine and Bachrach (2000) reported that organizational commitment (OC) is the most highly recognized determinants of employees organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Likewise, in the instance of service brands, brand commitment (BC) is understood as synonymous with OC (Burmann et al., 2009; King & Grace, 2012; Shaar et al., 2012; Du Preez & Bendixen, 2015). Burmann and Zeplin (2005), and King and Grace (2012) claimed that one of the desired outcomes of IBM effects is brand commitment.

Contrary to positive effects of commitment, a lack of commitment is demonstrated by inappropriate behavior during service delivery with the consequence of eroding customer loyalty, that results in deteriorating firms’ brand equity (Kimpakorn  & Tocquer, 2009).

The current study defines brand commitment as the degree to which employee identify with and emotionally attached to the organizations' brand and exhibiting a willingness to put in additional efforts for the organization (brand) to achieve its goals and objectives, and strong desire to remain with the organization (Kimpakorn & Tocquer, 2010). In order to realize the true benefits of a committed workforce, there is a growing amount of attention in the branding literature to reconnoiter the antecedents of employee brand commitment(Terglav, Ruzzier, & Kaše, 2016).

2.2. Internal Brand Communication (IBC)

Some scholars viewed brand communication as a useful tool for creating and maintaining a positive brand image and reputation for the business organizations in the external market (Argenti & Forman, 2002; Tench & Yeomans, 2006), While others view it as a relationship management and commitment building function (Cutlip, Center, & Broom, 2006; Jo & Shim, 2005). Researchers argued that IB initiatives start only when appropriate brand information is transmitted to employees in a meaningful way to enable them to deliver a high-quality customer-brand experience in accordance with brand standards (Baker, Rapp, Meyer, & Mullins, 2014).

Internal brand communication is one of the fundamental attributes of brand commitment, and according to few researchers IBC is a precursor of brand commitment and affects it positively (Bambacus & Patrickson, 2008; Burmann & Zeplin, 2005; Porricelli, Yurova, Abratt, & Bendixen, 2014).

In this study, IBC refers to as communicating with employees inside a company and to create and implement behavioral changes (Punjaisri & Wilson, 2007). To achieve this, it depends on the selection of appropriate IBC practices, which should have the ability to establish employee brand knowledge, strengthen their commitment in order to reflect distinct brand values through their behavior (Brexendorf, Tomczak, Kernstock, Henkel, & Wentzel, 2012; Miles, Mangold, Asree, & Revell, 2011; Du Preez, 2017; Xiong, King, & Piehler, 2013). Contrary to this, ineffective IBC dissemination is believed to have a negative impact on employees commitment (Punjaisri, 2008).

2.3. The Relationship between Brand Communication and Brand Commitment

Internal brand communication dissemination is a conscious effort from the employer to develop a workforce that is highly committed to the set of organizational (brand) goals and values (Dryl, 2017). Chen, Silverthorne, and Hung (2005) noted that those enterprises where there is a higher level of top-down communication prevail among management and employees will generate a higher level of commitment and organizational performance that helps to drive business success. Several notable branding scholars such as Burmann, Jost-Benz and Riley (2009), Chang (2009), Jou, Chou and Fu (2008), and Punjaisri and Wilson (2007) argued that one of the key variables for strengthening brand commitment is IBC and declared that internal branding is primarily worked through effective IBC programs.

Research examining the associations between IBC and brand commitment is limited. Moreover, studies that investigated linkages between communication and commitment have appeared to argue that communication is an antecedent of commitment and effects it positively (Bambacus & Patrickson, 2008; Bregoli, 2013; Burmann, Jost-Benz, & Riley, 2009; de Chernatony & Segal-Horn, 2003; Porricelli, Yurova, Abratt, & Bendixen, 2014).

For instance, the study of Punjaisri, Evanschitzky, and Wilson (2009) revealed that among key drives of brand commitment, IBC influenced the most. In particular, the study by Zeffane, Tipu, and Ryan (2011), the findings of their evidence that communication seems apparently to have a relationship with employee’s trust, and according to these researchers, trust is anteceded to communication, which in turn affects commitment. Likewise, the study of Sharma and Kamalanabhan, (2012) on the perception of Indian public-sector employees provided empirical evidence supporting that IBC has a positive impact on employees’ brand commitment. A recent study of Du Preez and Bendixen (2015) and Porricelli, Yurova, Abratt, and Bendixen (2014) found that IBC indirectly influenced employees’ brand commitment. Whereas, Almgren and Goransson (2012) study found the contrary. Thus, it can be concluded that messages from top management contribute to employees’ brand understanding and awareness, which is necessary to engender employees’ brand commitment (Miles, Mangold, Asree, & Revell, 2011; Xiong, King, & Piehler, 2013). This results in the following hypothesis;

H1: Internal brand communication has a positive significant effect on brand commitment

2.4. The Relationship between Internal Brand Communications and Employee Brand Knowledge

Brand management literature emphasized that employees’ brand knowledge is as important as customers’ knowledge regarding the organization’s products and services. Organizations need to ensure that brand knowledge is adequately developed through internal brand communication practices as both IBC and brand knowledge dissemination are important determinants of employee commitment (Ahn et al., 2016; King & Grace, 2010). More importantly, the higher level of employees’ brand commitment is regarded as one of the key outcomes of effective brand knowledge dissemination (Burmann & Zeplin, 2005, 2008; King, 2010; Miles, Mangold, Asree, & Revell, 2011; Xiong, King, & Piehler, 2013). In this study, employee brand knowledge is defined as the extent to which employees understand their organization’s brand meaning, knowledge of customers’ needs and expectations and understanding of their responsibility to successfully deliver the brand promise (Kimpakorn & Tocquer, 2009).

Evidently, in the absence of an appropriate brand knowledge will result into role ambiguity and confusion (King & Grace, 2010; Piehler, 2018), that will negatively impact on commitment (Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, & Topolnytsky, 2002). Past studies indicate that employees’ brand knowledge is expected to be increased in the presence of IBC dissemination. For instance, Boukis and Lings, (2017) study the consequences of internal marketing orientation specifically brand communication on employee brand knowledge in the high contact European service industries such as hotels, restaurant chains, and banks, and the result of their study evidenced that IBC dissemination had influenced considerably on employees’ brand knowledge.

Therefore, in this study, it is hypothesized that those employees who have sufficient knowledge of the organization’s brand due to IBC dissemination enable them to deliver on the brand promise and exhibit brand-aligned behavior. Branding literature pertaining to IB indicates the positive effects of IBC on employees’ brand knowledge. Therefore, the following hypothesis is offered.

H2: Internal Brand communication has a significant positive effect on brand knowledge.

2.5. The Relationship between Brand Knowledge and Brand Commitment

Brand knowledge is considered as one of the most important dimensions of brand commitment (Piehler, 2018), in addition to that, this dimension turns up in several internal branding models (e.g. Kimpakorn & Tocquer, 2009). More specifically, firms can channelize employees’ brand knowledge into their brand attitude (e.g. identification & commitment) and brand behavior (e.g. brand performance) that leads to brand success.

However, mixed results have been reported on the relationship between brand knowledge and brand commitment (e.g. King & Grace, 2012; Terglav, 2017; Xiong, King, & Piehler, 2013). For instance, King (2010) in hospitality and tourism (H&T) industry studied the relationship between organizational BK dissemination and H&T employees’ commitment. The results of his study showed that the brand knowledge dissemination had a significant effect on H&T employees’ commitment to the brand. Contrary to this, King and Grace (2012), concluded that even though service staff brand-building behavior is considerably affected by their brand-specific knowledge of how to deliver the brand successfully, however, their brand commitment was not influenced by such knowledge. Likewise, the findings of Kimpakorn and Tocquer (2009) demonstrated that employees’ brand knowledge insignificantly influences employees’ brand commitment. This assertion is further supported by a recent study of Xiong, King, and Piehler (2013), where the researchers found no significant relationship between employee brand knowledge and brand commitment.

On the basis of above discussion, it can be asserted that appropriate’ brand knowledge is a prerequisite to enhance employees’ brand commitment (Miles, Mangold, Asree, &Revell, 2011; Xiong, King, & Piehler, 2013). Accordingly, the following hypothesis is offered.

H3: Brand knowledge has a significant positive effect on brand commitment.

3. The Mediating Role of Employee Brand Knowledge among Internal Brand Communication and Brand Commitment

In the internal branding context, it is propounded that appropriate and accurate brand knowledge enhance employees brand commitment (King & Grace, 2010; Porricelli, Yurova, Abratt, &Bendixen, 2014 ; Xiong, King, & Piehler, 2013). Internally oriented IBC initiatives drive employees brand knowledge and role clarity, which in turn positively affect the brand commitment of employees (Miles, Mangold, Asree, &Revell, 2011; Xiong, King, & Piehler, 2013). Therefore, banks managers have to make sure that brand promises and values have the same meaning for all service employees to deliver on customers expectations. Specifically, the current study hypothesizes that IBC dissemination affects employees brand commitment via brand knowledge which acts as a mediator in this study. In earlier studies, brand knowledge has been used as a mediator (e.g. study of Bataineh &Alfalah, 2015; Terglav, Ruzzier, & Kaše, 2016). As such, IBC affects on employees’ brand commitment through brand knowledge that is embedded in their memory.

According to marketing and management scholars (e.g. Aseleage &Eisenberger, 2003; Allen, Shore, & Griffeth, 2003; Flynn, 2005), the relationship between internal employees and the company can be better explained by social exchange theory (SET). While numerous facets of social exchange exist, however, the most dominant is reciprocity behavior, where positive and fair exchanges between organization and employee result in favorable attitudes and behaviors (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). SET suggests that usually employees are inspired to engage in a relationship when they perceive that their relationship with the company is established on fairness, and also perceive that their expectations have been met sufficiently (Coyle-Shapiro & Kessler, 2000; Turnley, Bolino, Lester, & Bloodgood, 2003), which in turn motivates them to build a long-term commitment with the organization and reciprocate with positive attitude and behavior.

Based on the aforementioned discussion, the theoretical interrelationship among IBC and Brand commitment has been established, but there is a lack of study to evaluate the mediating effects of brand knowledge on the proposed relationship between IBC and brand commitment, accordingly, the following hypothesis is offered.

H4: Brand knowledge mediates the relationship between internal brand communication and brand commitment.

4. Method

4.1. Sampling Procedure

The financial industry of Pakistan is divided into banking and non-banking financial sector. Banking sector of Pakistan represents 95% of the financial industry. Pakistan banking sector comprises of public banks, private and foreign banks, Islamic banks, Microfinance Banks (Umrani, 2016). However, only public sector banks have been included in the study for data collection purposes. Five public banks namely, First Women Bank, Khyber Bank, Bank of Punjab, Bank of Sindh, and National Bank of Pakistan are currently functioning in Pakistan. According to state bank of Pakistan (2017) statistics, total 27,585 employees are working in these five public banks and operating through a network of 2,360 branches nationwide.

The reason for selecting the banking sector is because it is one of the fastest growing industry in Pakistan, therefore it is suitable to test the model. Further, this industry (1) is a highly resource intensive industry (Low &Lee, 2014), (2) offering highly nonphysical services (Shostack, 1977), and (3) usually involves a relatively long-term relationship with customers (Boshoff &Allen, 2000; Gonzales &Garazo, 2006).

To test the conceptual model, a structured questionnaire on a sample consisted of banking employees from five public sector banks in Pakistan was used. A total of 650 questionnaires were distributed among bank employees, and 150 branches of five public banks functioning in four provincial capitals (Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, &Quetta) of Pakistan were considered on the basis of proportionate stratified random sampling. In total 325 questionnaires were received making the response rate of 50%. Of this number, 62 were unusable thus leaving 263 valid questionnaires, the survey response rate was 40.46%. Summary of the number of public banks and their branches in the country given below.

Table 1: Number of Public Banks and Branches in Pakistan

OTGHB7_2019_v17n1_33_t0001.png 이미지

Data from single questionnaires raises the danger of common method bias (CMB), which may cause systematic measurement error and bias in relationship estimation among theoretical constructs (Liang et al., 2007; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, &Podsakoff, 2003). In an effort to minimize CMB, a few procedural remedies were adopted in this study (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Harman’s single-factor test (Podsakoff et al., 2003) was used, indicating that a maximum variance that is explained by a single factor was only 38.18%, which is less than 50% of the total variance. Thus, it can be concluded that the data in the study is not suffered from CMB bias.

4.2. Measures

The employee brand knowledge used Kimpakorn and Tocquer (2009) reliable 10-item scale to rate an employees’ understanding of their organization’s brand values, exhaustive knowledge of customer’s needs and expectations, and their critical role in delivering the brand promise according to brand standards. The scale used a five-point response format (1= “strongly disagree”, 5= “strongly agree”). Sample item was “I know clearly who is the bank (brand) target customers”.

Similarly, bank employees had to respond to 10 items adopted from the study of Punjaisri, Evanschitzky and Wilson (2009) to measure the extent to which IBC programs inform and reinforce the desired pattern of behaviors among employees to successfully deliver on the brand promise. Sample item was “Briefings contain all essential information for me to provide services according to the brand expectations”. Lastly, brand commitment measurement items were adopted from the study of Kimpakorn and Tocquer (2010). These items showed employees extent of emotional attachment towards the brand, which influences their willingness to exert a great deal of additional effort towards reaching brand goals and objectives. Sample item was “I know this bank (brand) is excellent in its service”.

4.3. Data Analysis and Results

Following data screening and evaluation, the available data has been cleaned to further examine to get reliable and useful results. This study used SPSS version 25.0 for demographic and descriptive analyses, while PLS 3.0 was used for testing the hypothesis. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) data analysis technique usually achieves high levels of statistical power with smaller sample sizes, compared to the Covariance Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) (Henseler, 2010; Reinartz, Haenlein, &Henseler, 2009).

4.4. Profile of Respondents

A total of 263 questionnaires were received at the end of the data collection process. There were no missing values in all the usable question naire. Of the 263 employees who participated in the survey, 67% were male. The age groups of 31-40(35%) and 21-30(32.7) accounted for the biggest portion of the sample, meanwhile, the age group of more than 50 (3.85%) was the smallest in the sample. All educational levels were represented, a very high proportion of respondents (61%) had a postgraduate degree. The majority of the respondents(37.6%) had worked for the banks for 11years or more, while approximately(21%) respondents had work experience between 5 to 10 years, and only(16.7%) respondents had work experience of 5 years or fewer. The profiles of the respondents were analyzed according to gender, age, education, and occupation as summarized in Table 2.

Table 2: Demographic profile of respondents

OTGHB7_2019_v17n1_33_t0003.png 이미지

4.5. Measurement Model

PLS involved two stages: evaluation of measurement model (CFA) and assessment of structure model (SEM) (Henseler, Ringle, &Sinkovics, 2009). The goodness of measurement was evaluated to confirm the reliability and validity of measurement items. Table 2 shows indication of individual constructs reliability, convergent validity, and offers good discriminant validity for all the constructs. This study used CFA analysis to assess measurement model by focusing on the relationship between indicators and their respective constructs.

Further, Table 3 shows the correlations across the variables. As seen in Table 3, all the individual items of reflective constructs in the model, whose standardized loadings are above or at the suggested cut off value of 0.70, thus, considered reliable (Henseler et al., 2009). In addition to that, the Cronbach’s Alpha values and composite reliability (CR) values both are good at the prescribed cut off values of 0.70, as required for good research (Nunnally, 1978).

Table 3: Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

OTGHB7_2019_v17n1_33_t0002.png 이미지

Likewise, criterion convergent validity was also met, because the average variance extracted (AVE) values related to each reflective variable were above the threshold of 0.50 (Henseler et al., 2009). Finally, researchers assessed the divergent validity of reflective latent variables by using a variety of methods. The discriminant validity can be examined by using cross-loading of indicator, Fornell and Larcker criterion and Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) ratio of correlation (Henseler et al., 2009). Using the HTMT as a criterion involves comparing it to a predetermined threshold. If the value of the HTMT is higher than this threshold, one can conclude that there is a lack of discriminant validity. Some authors suggest a threshold of 0.85, whereas, Gold, Malhotra and Segars (2001) proposed a more liberal value of 0.90.

Table 4: Mean and Fornell &Larcker Test

OTGHB7_2019_v17n1_33_t0004.png 이미지

Table 5: Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio

OTGHB7_2019_v17n1_33_t0005.png 이미지

4.6. Hypothesis Testing

To measure the role of mediating variables in any given study, the tests introduced by Sobel (1982), and Baron and Kenny (1986) are most commonly used methods. Similarly, this study employed employee brand knowledge as a mediating variable to estimate the mediation. However, the studies of MacKinnon, Lockwood, Hoffman, West, and Sheets (2002) and Biesanz, Falk and Savalei (2010) criticize these tests and argued that these methods have low power to measure mediation effects as compare to modern techniques, so these methods are no more recommended. Therefore, in this study, we estimated the mediation effect using PLS 3.0 SEM (e.g., Marcoulides &Schumacker, 2013). Table 6 and Figure 1 contain findings concerning our hypotheses of the study. Firstly, internal brand communication (β=0.328, t=5.484, p=0.000) is found to exert a positive influence on employee brand commitment, hence, H1 is supported. Secondly, the result also showed that IBC (β=0.689, t=19.224, p=0.000) positively influenced employee brand knowledge, therefore, H2 is also supported. Similarly, brand knowledge (b=0.533, t=10.298, p=0.000) is found to have a significant predictor of brand commitment, therefore, H3 is also supported.

OTGHB7_2019_v17n1_33_f0001.png 이미지

Figure 1: Conceptual Model of the effects of Brand Knowledge on the relationship between brand-centered communication and brand commitment

Table 6: Path coefficients and hypothesis testing

OTGHB7_2019_v17n1_33_t0006.png 이미지

To test H4, regarding the indirect effects of brand knowledge on the relationship between IBC and brand commitment, researchers adopted Preacher and Hayes’s (2004) approach. In a bootstrap test with 5,000 subsamples (Hayes, 2009; Preacher &Hayes, 2004), the indirect effect was significant (b=0.368, t=9.206, p=0.000), and zero was absent from the 99% bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap confidence intervals (CI lower level=0.295; CI upper level=0.450). Results of the study demonstrated that brand knowledge partially mediated the relationship between IBC and employee brand commitment, thus, H4 is also accepted.

OTGHB7_2019_v17n1_33_f0002.png 이미지

Figure 2: Structural Path Model

The R2 value also indicates a magnitude value for goodness of fit. In this study, the R2 value for the endogenous variable is 0.582 which suggest that the exogenous variables were able to explain 0.582 (adjusted R2 of 0.631) variance in brand commitment. It indicates a moderately strong statistical effect of BCom and BK upon BC, indicating goodness of fit for the model. The Q2 value is the cross-validated R2 . The Q2 for SmartPLS 3.0 is determined using the blindfolding procedure which iteratively removes and predicts values of replacements as the process progresses. The Q2 values for brand knowledge (Q2=0.229) and brand commitment(Q2=0.287) are both greater than the value of zero, thus suggesting that the study model has predictive relevance (Fornell &Cha, 1994).

5. Discussion and implications

5.1. Discussion

This research has provided an empirical link for the association between IBC and brand commitment among employees of public sector banks in Pakistan. As a result of an in-depth review of the extant literature, the mediating effect of brand knowledge on the relationship between IBC and employees’ brand commitment was hypothesized to provide a better explanation for the proposed relationship in the Pakistani banking sector context. The results of the study evidenced that the relationship between IBC and employees’ brand commitment was significant. This finding was similar to the result of previous studies that capture empirical evidence on the effect of IBC on BK (de Chernatony &Cottam, 2006; Thomson, de Chernatony, Arganbright, &Khan, 1999), and brand commitment (Burmann et al., 2009; Du Preez &Bendixen, 2015; Punjaisri &Wilson, 2011).

The results of the study also confirmed that employee brand knowledge has partially mediated the relation between IBC and employee brand commitment. Although IBC has a direct impact on employees’ brand commitment, however, the results demonstrated that employee brand knowledge strengthens the relation between IBC and brand commitment. Thus, the researchers believe this study not only confirms the theoretical basis, but it also expands the body of knowledge on an empirical basis.

The findings of the study also supported the social exchange theory, which suggests that when firms disseminate adequate brand knowledge through IBC dissemination to internal employees, they will reciprocate and exhibit higher brand commitment that further strengthen organization’s brand and helps drive business and brand success. Hence, all type of corporate businesses especially banks needs to adopt IBC practices that help employees to build specific brand knowledge to develop favorable brand attitudes and behaviors in order to perform their role as brand ambassadors. Given the scarcity in earlier studies exploring the impact of IBC on employee commitment, researchers consider this particular theoretical effort is a significant one.

5.2. Theoretical contributions

The main objective of this study was to advance the literature pertaining to IBM particularly brand commitment, which is one of the coveted outcomes of internal branding efforts. From a theoretical perspective, the findings contribute to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the direct and indirect effects of IBC on employee brand commitment through brand knowledge as a mediator. The current study elucidates on the less studied construct of brand knowledge. The first contribution of the current study confirms that brand knowledge partially mediated the positive relationship between IBC and brand commitment and also an important precursor of employee brand commitment (Piehler, King, Burmann, &Xiong, 2016; Terglav, 2017). Further, comparison of indirect effects, the results also evidenced that the more organization engage in IBC practices, the higher employees ’brand knowledge and commitment to the organization where they work now. Hence, the presence of mediation of brand knowledge to IBC can positively influence employee commitment significantly.

The second contribution of the study is the practical support of the anticipated effect of IBC on employees’ brand commitment. Precisely, the results revealed that if IBC dissemination is line with organizations’ products, services, and values, it will affect employees brand knowledge (i.e. cognitive) and brand commitment (i.e. affective) which is one of the desirable outcomes of IBM efforts (Piehler, 2018). The third theoretical contribution of this study is the explanation of theoretical interrelationships among the aforementioned constructs through social exchange theory (SET). Following from Blau (1964) SET, the current study proposed that when management is successful in communicating brand values in such a way that translates into specific brand knowledge that is beyond technical know-how, enables employees to understand the brand and expected behaviors related to service delivery, thus, employees are more likely to demonstrate positive attitudes and affectively engage with the brand (King &Grace, 2010). Given the scarcity in earlier studies exploring the impact of internal corporate brand communication on employee commitment, researchers consider this particular theoretical effort is a significant one.

6. Practical Contributions

The findings of this study offer few practical and managerial implications for organizations. This study has shown that effective brand-centred communication can affect both employee brand knowledge and brand commitment positively (Burmann et al., 2009; Morhart, Herzog, &Tomczak, 2009; Punjaisri &Wilson, 2011). Employees must also need to understand that the brand is important for the company’s success and that their role is critical to the overall brand’s success. By making employees aware of internal communication, corporate businesses such as banks can enhance their brand understanding and brand commitment, because it helps employees feel valued and recognized as an important target group. As regards to internal branding, management should use all available IBC tools such as workshops, briefings, group meetings, internal announcements, and top-down internal communication strategy to pass on brand-specific information inside the organization (Burmann &Zeplin, 2005).

Brand commitment has an important role to manage employee brand and work-related behaviors. Especially in-service organizations, where employee behavior is a critical success factor, therefore, managers should work hard to build strong connections between employees and the brand as enduring commitment is a long-term strategy that requires management’s support and endless efforts. Similarly, brand knowledge is a prerequisite for employees’ affective brand commitment to support the organization’s brand building efforts.

However, limited research points out this important aspect of IBM literature, and this study attempted to bridge that gap and highlighted a few critical factors of brand knowledge that has a considerable impact on employees brand commitment. Additionally, managers should check their service employees’ level of brand knowledge on an ongoing basis to determine their readiness to strictly meet the service standards as set by the organization.

7. Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research

Despite employing a stringent method to collect and analyze the data through the structured questionnaire, the present study has also a few limitations that future research might like to address. First, as with all types of quantitative studies, the findings of the present study are not generalizable beyond the banking sector. Therefore, to improve the generalizability of these findings, researchers recommend additional studies need to be conducted in other industries besides banking sector, including larger samples to ensure better generalizability of these findings. Lastly, this study does not include any moderators to affect the brand commitment outcomes. Brand knowledge can be measured more objectively during training sessions.

Appendix

References

  1. Ahn, Y. J., Hyun, S. S., & Kim, I. (2016). City residents' perception of MICE city brand orientation and their brand citizenship behavior: A case study of Busan, South Korea. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 21(3), 328-353. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2015.1050422
  2. Allen, D.G., Shore, L.M. and Griffeth, R.W. (2003). The role of perceived organizational support and supportive human resource practices in the turnover process. Journal of Management, 29(1), 99-118. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920630302900107
  3. Almgren, D., Ek, P., & Goransson, O. (2012). The Relationship Between Internal Branding and Affective Commitment. Retrieved from http//www.inu.divu.portal.org.
  4. Ann, S., & Herman, B. (2008). Internal branding as a learning process: How employees adapt their behavior after a brand change in service organization. Retrieved March 12, 2008, from www.escpeap.net/conferences/marketing/2008_cp/Materiali/Paper/Fr/Scheys_Baert.pdf
  5. Arokiasamy, A. (2013). The impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty and intentions to switch in the banking sector in Malaysia. Journal of Commerce, 5(1), 14-21.
  6. Asif, S., & Sargeant, A. (2000). Modelling internal communications in the financial services sector. European Journal of Marketing, 34(3/4), 299-318. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090560010311867
  7. Baker, T.L., Rapp, A., Meyer, T., & R. Mullins. (2014). The role of brand communications on front line service employee beliefs, behaviors, and performance. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 42(6), 642-657. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0376-7
  8. Bataineh, A.Q., Alfalah, T.F. (2015). The Role of Knowledge Management in Building Employees' Brand Commitment: Employees' Brand Knowledge as Mediating Variable International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 6(10).
  9. Baumgarth, C., & Schmidt, M. (2010). How strong is the business-to-business brand in the workforce? An empirically-tested model of 'internal brand equity 'in a business-to-business setting. Industrial Marketing Management, 39(8), 1250-1260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2010.02.022
  10. Biesanz, J. C., Falk, C. F., & Savalei, V. (2010). Assessing mediational models: Testing and interval estimation for indirect effects. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 45(4), 661-701. https://doi.org/10.1080/00273171.2010.498292
  11. Blau, P.M. (1964). Exchange and Power in Social Life. New York, NY: Wiley.
  12. Bravo, R., Montaner, T., & Pina, J. M. (2010). Corporate brand image in retail banking: Development and validation of a scale. The Service Industries Journal, 30(8), 1199-1218. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642060802311260
  13. Brexendorf,T. O., Tomczak, T., Kernstock, J., Henkel, S. & Wentzel, D. (2012). Der Einsatz von Instrumenten zur Forderung von Brand Behavior, in: Tomczak, T., Esch, F. R., Kernstock, J. & Herrmann, A. (eds): Behavioral Branding, 3rd edition, Gabler, Wiesbaden, 337-371
  14. Buil, I., Catalan, S., & Martinez, E. (2016). The importance of corporate brand identity in business management: An application to the UK banking sector. BRQ Business Research Quarterly, 19(1), 3-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brq.2014.11.001
  15. Burmann, C., & Konig, V. (2011). Does internal brand management really drive brand commitment in sharedservice call centers? Journal of Brand Management, 18(6), 374-393. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2010.50
  16. Burmann, C., Jost-Benz, M., and Riley, N. (2009a). Towards an identity-based brand equity model. Journal of Business Research,62(3), 390-397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2008.06.009
  17. Burmann, C., Zeplin, S., & Riley, N. (2009b). Key determinants of internal brand management success: An exploratory empirical analysis. Journal of Brand Management, 16(4), 264-284. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2008.6
  18. Burmann, C., Schaefer, K., & Maloney, P. (2008). Industry image: Its impact on the brand image of potential employees. Journal of Brand Management, 15(3), 157-176. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.bm.2550112
  19. Burmann, C., & Zeplin, S. (2005). Building brand commitment: A behavioural approach to internal brand management. Journal of brand management, 12(4), 279-300. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.bm.2540223
  20. Bushra, F., Ahmad, U., & Naveed, A. (2011). Effect of transformational leadership on employees' job satisfaction and organizational commitment in banking sector of Lahore (Pakistan). International journal of Business and Social science, 2(18).
  21. Chang, A., Chiang, H. H., & Han, T. S. (2012). A multilevel investigation of relationships among brandcentered HRM, brand psychological ownership, brand citizenship behaviors, and customer satisfaction. European Journal of Marketing, 46(5), 626-662. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090561211212458
  22. Caruana, A. P. (1998). The effect of internal marketing on organizational commitment among retail bank managers. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 16(3), 108-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/02652329810213510
  23. Cutlip, S., Center, A. and Broom, G. (2006). Effective Public Relations, Pearson International Edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
  24. Danish, R. Q., Humayon, A. A., Shahid, A. U. & Nawaz, M. M. (2015). Association of affective commitment with organizational citizenship behaviour and task performance of employees in banking sector. Journal of Yasar University, 10(39), 56-67.
  25. De Chernatony, L., & Cottam, S. (2006). Internal brand factors driving successful financial services brands. European Journal of Marketing, 40, 611-633. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090560610657868
  26. Dhar, R. L. (2015). Service quality and the training of employees: The mediating role of organizational commitment. Tourism Management, 46, 419-430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2014.08.001
  27. Du Preez, R., & Bendixen, M. T. (2015). The impact of internal brand management on employee job satisfaction, brand commitment and intention to stay.
  28. Du Preez, R. (2017). Internal branding experiences in the financial services sector in South Africa. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 22(1), 24-32. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 33(1), 78-91. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41264-017-0018-5
  29. Erkmen, E., & Hancer, M. (2015). Linking brand commitment and brand citizenship behaviors of airline employees: "The role of trust". Journal of Air Transport Management, 42, 47-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2014.08.001
  30. Farzad, A., Caruana, A., & Nahavandi, N. (2008). The effect of internal marketing on organizational commitment in Iranian banks. American Journal of Applied Sciences, 5(11), 1480-1486. https://doi.org/10.3844/ajassp.2008.1480.1486
  31. Fernandez-Lores, S., Gavilan, D., Avello, M., & Blasco, F. (2016). Affective commitment to the employer brand: Development and validation of a scale. BRQ Business Research Quarterly, 19(1), 40-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brq.2015.06.001
  32. Foster, C., Punjaisri, K., & Cheng, R. (2010). Exploring the relationship between corporate, internal and employer branding. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 19(6), 401-409. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610421011085712
  33. Fornell, C., & Cha, J. (1994). Partial least squares. In R. P. Bagozzi (Ed.), Advanced methods of marketing research. Cambridge: Basil Blackwell
  34. Garas, S. R. R., Mahran, A. F. A., & Mohamed, H. M. H. (2018). Internal corporate branding impact on employees' brand supporting behaviour. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 27(1), 79-95. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-03-2016-1112
  35. Gelb, B. D., & Rangarajan, D. (2014). Employee contributions to brand equity. California Management Review, 56(2), 95-112. https://doi.org/10.1525/cmr.2014.56.2.95
  36. Gold, A. H., Malhotra, A., & Segars, A. H. (2001). Knowledge management: an organizational capabilities perspective. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18(1), 185-214. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421222.2001.11045669
  37. Hair, J. F., Black. W. C., Babin., B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis, a global perspective. New Jersey. Pearson. Ed, 7, 816.
  38. Hossein Vazifehdoost and Sima Hooshmand (2012). The Effects of Internal Marketing and Organizational Commitment on Bank's Success. International Journal of Business and Commerce, 1(9).
  39. Howitt, D. and Cramer, D. (2010) Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology. 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall, London.
  40. Henkel, S., Tomczak, T., Heitmann, M., & Herrmann, A. (2007). Managing brand consistent employee behaviour: Relevance and managerial control of behavioral branding. Journal of product & brand management, 16(5), 310-320. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610420710779609
  41. Imam, A., Raza, A., Shah, F. T., & Raza, H. (2013). Impact of job satisfaction on facet of organizational commitment. World Applied Sciences Journal, 28(2), 271-277.
  42. Islam, T., Ali, F. H., Aamir, M., Khalifah, Z., Ahmad, R., & Ahmad, U. (2015). Employees' perception of CSR and organizational citizenship behavior. Science International, 27(3), 2417-2419.
  43. Jou, J. Y., Chou, C. K., & Fu, F. L. (2008). Development of an instrument to measure internal marketing concept. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 13(3), 66.
  44. Kim, W.G., Brymer, R.A., 2011. The effects of ethical leadership on manager job satisfaction, commitment, behavioral outcomes, and firm performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30 (4), 1020-1026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2011.03.008
  45. Kimpakorn, N., & Tocquer, G. (2009). Employees' commitment to brands in the service sector: Luxury hotel chains in Thailand. Journal of Brand Management, 16(8), 532-544. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.bm.2550140
  46. King, C., So, K. K. F., & Grace, D. (2013). The influence of service brand orientation on hotel employees' attitude and behaviors in China. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 34, 172-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2013.03.004
  47. Lohndorf, B., & Diamantopoulos, A. (2014). Internal branding: Social identity and social exchange perspectives on turning employees into brand champions. Journal of Service Research, 17(3), 310-325. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670514522098
  48. MacKenzie, S. B., Podsakoff, P. M., & Jarvis, C. B. (2005). The problem of measurement model misspecification in behavioral and organizational research and some recommended solutions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 710. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.4.710
  49. MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., Hoffman, J. M., West, S. G., & Sheets, V. (2002). A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological methods, 7(1), 83. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.7.1.83
  50. Mangold, W. G., & Miles, S. J. (2007). The employee brand: Is yours an all-star? Business Horizons, 50(5), 423-433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2007.06.001
  51. Marcoulides, G. A., & Schumacker, R. E. (2013). Advanced structural equation modeling: Issues and techniques. Psychology Press.
  52. Meyer, J. P., Stanley, D. J., Herscovitch, L., & Topolnytsky, L. (2002). Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: A meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences. Journal of vocational behavior, 61(1), 20-52. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.2001.1842
  53. Miles, S. J., Mangold, W. G., Asree, S., & Revell, J. (2011). Assessing the employee brand: A census of one company. Journal of Managerial Issues, 491-507.
  54. Mishra, K., Boynton, L., & Mishra, A. (2014). Driving Employee Engagement, The Expanded Role of Internal Communications. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(2), 183-202. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488414525399
  55. Morhart, F. M., Herzog, W., & Tomczak, T. (2009). Brandspecific leadership: Turning employees into brand champions. Journal of Marketing, 73(5), 122-142. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.73.5.122
  56. Namgyel, T. (2003). Voluntary Retirement Scheme in South Asian Banking Sector [Scholarly project]. In World Bank. Retrieved October 6, 2016, from http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/civilservice/rightsizing/VRS in South Asian Banks 6-03.doc
  57. Nancarrow, C., Brace, I., & Wright, L. T. (2001). "Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies": Dealing with socially desirable responses in market research. The Marketing Review, 2(1), 55-69. https://doi.org/10.1362/1469347012569427
  58. Nyadzayo, M. W., Matanda, M. J., & Ewing, M. T. (2015). The impact of franchisor support, brand commitment, brand citizenship behavior, and franchisee experience on franchisee-perceived brand image. Journal of Business Research, 68(9), 1886-1894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.12.008
  59. O'Callaghan, E. (2013). Internal brand commitment, a multi-dimensional construct? Case study evidence within a collaborative independent retail network context. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 23(5), 478-492.
  60. Olannye, A. P. (2016). Driving Employee Affective Commitment through internal branding in deposit money banks in Nigeria. American International Journal of Social Science, 5(3).
  61. Patil, B. S. (2018). Augmenting Employee Productivity through Employee Engagement: Evidence from Indian Banks. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 18(1), 45-53.
  62. Piehler, R. (2018). Employees' brand understanding, brand commitment, and brand citizenship behaviour: a closer look at the relationships among construct dimensions. Journal of Brand Management, 25(3), 217-234. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-018-0099-z
  63. Piehler, R., King, C., Burmann, C., & Xiong, L. (2016). The importance of employee brand understanding, brand identification, and brand commitment in realizing brand citizenship behaviour. European Journal of Marketing, 50(9/10), 1575-1601. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-11-2014-0725
  64. Piehler, R., Hanisch, S., & Burmann, C. (2015). Internal branding-Relevance, management and challenges. Marketing Review St. Gallen, 32(1), 52-61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11621-015-0506-8
  65. Piehler, R., Schade, M., & Burmann, C (2018). Employees as a second audience: the effect of external communication on internal brand management outcomes. Journal of Brand Management, 1-16.
  66. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. 2003. Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879-903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
  67. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Paine, J. B., & Bachrach, D. G. (2000). Organizational citizenship behaviors: A critical review of the theoretical and empirical literature and suggestions for future research. Journal of management, 26(3), 513-563. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920630002600307
  68. Porricelli, M. S., Yurova, Y., Abratt, R., & Bendixen, M. (2014). Antecedents of brand citizenship behavior in retailing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(5), 745-752. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2014.06.002
  69. Punjaisri, K., & Wilson, A. (2011). Internal branding process: Key mechanisms, outcomes and moderating factors. European Journal of Marketing, 45(9/10), 1521-1537. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090561111151871
  70. Punjaisri, K., Evanschitzky, H., & Wilson, A. (2009). Internal branding: An enabler of employees' brandsupporting behaviours. Journal of Service Management, 20(2), 209-226. https://doi.org/10.1108/09564230910952780
  71. Reinartz, W., Haenlein, M., & Henseler, J. (2009). An empirical comparison of the efficacy of covariancebased and variance-based SEM. International Journal of research in Marketing, 26(4), 332-344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2009.08.001
  72. Punjaisri, K. (2008). Brand promise delivery from the customer-interface: Employees' perspective (Doctoral dissertation), University of Strathclyde.
  73. Sharma, N., & Kamalanabhan, T. J. (2012). Internal corporate communication and its impact on internal branding: Perception of Indian public-sector employees. Corporate communications: An International Journal, 17(3), 300-322. https://doi.org/10.1108/13563281211253548
  74. Terglav, K. (2017). Employees as brand builders: a multilevel approach to internal branding (Doctoral dissertation, Univerza v Ljubljani, Ekonomska fakulteta). Accessed 12 November 2018 Retrieved from: http://www.cek.ef.uni-lj.si/doktor/terglav_k.pdf.
  75. Terglav, K., Ruzzier, M. K., & Kase, R. (2016). Internal branding process: Exploring the role of mediators in top management's leadership-commitment relationship. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 54, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2015.12.007
  76. Thomson, K., De Chernatony, L., Arganbright, L., & Khan, S. (1999). The buy-in benchmark: How staff understanding and commitment impact brand and business performance. Journal of Marketing Management, 15(8), 819-835. https://doi.org/10.1362/026725799784772684
  77. Turnley, W. H., Bolino, M. C., Lester, S. W., & Bloodgood, J. M. (2003). The impact of psychological contract fulfilment on the performance of in-role and organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Management, 29(2), 187-206. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920630302900204
  78. UlHaq, M., Jindong, Y., Hussain, N., & Anjum, Z. (2014). Factors affecting organizational commitment among bank officers in Pakistan. Journal of Business and Management, 16(4), 18-24.
  79. Vallaster, C., & Lindgreen, A. (2013). The role of social interactions in building internal corporate brands: Implications for sustainability. Journal of World Business, 48(3), 297-310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2012.07.014
  80. Vatankhah, S., & Darvishi, M. (2018). An empirical investigation of antecedent and consequences of internal brand equity: Evidence from the airline industry. Journal of Air Transport Management, 69, 49-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2018.02.002
  81. Wallace, E., de Chernatony, L., & Buil, I. (2013). Building bank brands: How leadership behavior influences employee commitment. Journal of Business Research, 66(2), 165-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.07.009
  82. Xiong, L., King, C., & Piehler, R. (2013). "That's not my job": Exploring the employee perspective in the development of brand ambassadors. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 35, 348-359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2013.07.009
  83. Yang, J. T., Wan, C. S., & Wu, C. W. (2015). Effect of internal branding on employee brand commitment and behavior in hospitality. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 15(4), 267-280. https://doi.org/10.1177/1467358415580358
  84. Zameer, H., Wang, Y., Yasmeen, H., Mofrad, A. A., & Waheed, A. (2018). Corporate image and customer satisfaction by virtue of employee engagement. Human Systems Management, 37(2), 233-248. https://doi.org/10.3233/HSM-17174
  85. Zeffane, R., Tipu, S. A., & Ryan, J. C. (2011). Communication, commitment & trust: Exploring the triad. International Journal of Business and Management, 6(6), 77.