Role of internal brand communities in building a strong

Abstract

Internal brand Management is a highly researched field with leadership,effective internal and external brand communication and brand-centered human resource management as its proven antecedents (Chang, Chiang, & Han, 2012), and brand commitment, brand knowledge and brand citizenship behaviours as its key consequences (Burmann & Zeplin, 2005; Löhndorf & Diamantopoulos, 2014). The scant research literature pertaining to the role of internal brand communities in the above equation is highly dispersed (P. R. Devasagayam, Buff, Aurand, Judson, & Judson, 2010). In that direction, the study reviews the literature on internal brand management, brand community dynamics and social identity theory and proposes a conceptual model to show the way employee participation in intra-organisational brand communities impacts their brand commitment. This conceptual model gives an innovative yet organic route of building strong corporate brands within the organisations.