The Effect of Customer Empowerment on Corporate Reputation Perception

Abstract

Corporate reputation perception is an effective variable in shaping customer behaviors. A positive perception of reputation leads to positive outcomes such as loyalty, positive word-of-mouth marketing, low perceived risk, and commitment. In the marketing literature, it has been observed that the factors affecting the perception of corporate reputation have not been sufficiently analyzed and certain factors such as satisfaction, trust, corporate social responsibility, and financial strength have been focused on. In this study, unlike the factors in the literature, the effect of customer empowerment on the perception of corporate reputation is examined. Customer empowerment is considered an important tool in the competitive race in marketing. Within the scope of this research, data were collected from 343 consumers by questionnaire technique. Consumers were asked to indicate their degree of agreement with the statements in the questionnaire by thinking about the clothing store they visit most frequently. SPSS 18 and AMOS 18 package programs were used in the analysis of the data obtained. In the reliability analyses, customer empowerment and corporate reputation scales were found to be reliable. As a result of the confirmatory factor analysis of the scales, it was seen that the fit index values of the scales met the reference values. It was determined that the AVE values of the scales also met the reference values. Normality test was also performed for the data in the study. Since the skewness and kurtosis values of the variables were within the reference values, it was observed that the data met the normality assumption. Then, the relationship between variables was analyzed. Partial correlation analysis was preferred for the determination of this relationship. In this direction, correlation analysis was carried out by controlling gender, age, education, and income status variables. As a result of the correlation analysis, it was observed that there is a positive relationship between customer empowerment and corporate reputation. After the determination of the relationship between the variables, path analysis was performed with the AMOS program to test the research hypothesis. In the analysis, it was seen that the fit indices of the research model provided the reference values. In addition, it was determined that customer empowerment positively and significantly effects the perception of corporate reputation.