Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring the role of online consumer empowerment in reputation building: Research questions and hypotheses

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Brand Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aim of this article was to identify the main factors that affect online brand reputation as reinforced by the empowerment of consumers. The article draws together the relevant literature from different but related disciplines, in order to identify the relationships between the critical factors of online consumer empowerment, the social processes of reputation building and e-reputation. Using assessments of this kind, research questions and hypotheses about potential indicators of online empowerment are presented. It is argued that empowered consumers can play the role of mediation in reputation building when they operate within particular ‘social Webs’, such as reputation-based systems and/or opinion platforms, blogs and so on. The study is somewhat limited by the use of a literature-based approach, in that the article can constitute only a starting point in the study of this relatively unexplored area. Subsequent research will be necessary to investigate the importance of individual indicators in determining a company's e-reputation, as summarised in the research agenda presented herein. From a theoretical point of view, we attempt to increase our knowledge of e-marketing and suggest that the management of brand reputation may be an interpretative key to a new e-marketing concept. In practical terms, the identification of the decisive factors that underpin a firm's e-reputation can indicate how the firm could take advantage of online consumer empowerment, without being overwhelmed by it.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. OECD (2007) defines UCC as content: (i) made publicly available over the Internet, (ii) that reflects a ‘certain amount of creative effort’, and (iii) that is ‘created outside of professional routines and practices’.

  2. Each search engine calculates link popularity in a different way. For instance, Google uses a special link analysis system to rank webpages, the basic assumption being that not all inbound links are equal but have a different weight according to their relevance. Other search engines only calculate the total number of incoming links.

  3. In the Valcucine example, the article considers a total value of link popularity (February 2010) that sums the different values resulted in Google, Yahoo, Live, AlltheWeb and AltaVista.

  4. Although the views and ideas expressed in this article are those of Alfonso Siano, Agostino Vollero and Maria Palazzo. The sections ‘INTRODUCTION' and ‘RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION' are attributed to Alfonso Siano, the sections ‘RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES' and ‘LIMITATIONS AND RESEARCH AGENDA' are attributed to Agostino Vollero, and the section ‘LITERATURE REVIEW' is attributed to Maria Palazzo.

References

  • Allen, F. (1984) Reputation and product quality. The RAND Journal of Economics 15 (3): 311–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, E.W. (1998) Customer satisfaction and word of mouth. Journal of Service Research 1 (1): 5–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Argyriou, E., Kitchen, P.J. and Melewar, T.C. (2006) The relationship between corporate websites and brand equity: A conceptual framework and research agenda. International Journal of Market Research 48 (5): 575–599.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, R. and Kottasz, R. (2000) Practitioner perceptions of corporate reputation: An empirical investigation. Corporate Communications: An International Journal 5 (4): 224–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bikebiz. (2004) The pen is mightier than the….u-lock. 16 September 2004, http://www.bikebiz.com/news/23471/The-pen-is-mightier-than-theu-lock, accessed September 2009.

  • Bolton, G.E., Katok, E. and Ockenfels, A. (2004) How effective are online reputation mechanisms? An experimental study. Management Science 50 (11): 1587–1602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boynton, A., Pine, B.J. and Victor, B. (1993) Making mass customization work. Harvard Business Review 71 (5): 108–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunting, M. and Lipski, R. (2000) Drowned out? Rethinking corporate reputation management for the internet. Journal of Communication Management 5 (2): 170–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chun, R. and Davies, G. (2001) E-reputation: The role of mission and vision statements in positioning strategy. Journal of Brand Management 8 (Spring): 315–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conger, J.A. and Kanungo, R.N. (1988) The empowerment process: Integrating theory and practice. Academy of Management Review 3: 471–482.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constantinides, E. and Fountain, S.J. (2008) Web 2.0: Conceptual foundations and marketing issues. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice 9 (3): 232–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cova, B. and Pace, S. (2006) Brand community of convenience products: New forms of customer empowerment – The case ‘my Nutella the community’. European Journal of Marketing 40 (9–10): 1087–1105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahan, E. and Hauser, J.R. (2002) The virtual consumer. Journal of Product Innovation Management 19 (5): 332–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Bussy, N.M., Watson, R.T., Pitt, L.F. and Ewing, M.T. (2000) Stakeholder communication management on the Internet: An integrated matrix for the identification of opportunities. Journal of Communication Management 5 (2): 138–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Chernatony, L. (2001) Succeeding with brands on the Internet. Journal of Brand Management 8 (3): 186–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dellarocas, C. (2003) The digitization of word of mouth: Promise and challenges of online feedback mechanisms. Management Science 49 (10): 1407–1424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fombrun, C.J. (1996) Reputation: Realizing Value from the Corporate Image. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fombrun, C.J. (2001) Corporate reputations as economic assets. In: M.A. Hitt, E.R. Freeman and J.S. Harrison (eds.) The Blackwell Handbook of Strategic Management. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fombrun, C.J. and Rindova, V.P. (2001) Fanning the flame: Corporate reputations as social constructions of performance. In: J. Porac and M. Ventresca (eds.) Constructing Markets and Industries. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fombrun, C.J. and van Riel, C.B.M. (1997) The reputational landscape. Corporate Reputation Review 1 (1/2): 5–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fombrun, C.J. and Shanley, M. (1990) What's in a name? Reputation building and corporate strategy. Academy of Management Journal 33 (2): 233–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, E. and Resnick, P. (2001) The social cost of cheap pseudonym. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 10 (2): 173–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs, C., Prandelli, E. and Schreier, M. (2010) The psychological effects of empowerment strategies on consumers’ product demand. Journal of Marketing 74 (65): 65–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorry, G.A. and Westbrook, R.A. (2009) Winning the Internet confidence game. Corporate Reputation Review 12: 195–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gotsi, M. and Wilson, A.M. (2001) Corporate reputation: Seeking a definition. Corporate Communications: An International Journal 6 (1): 24–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, F. and De Chernatony, L. (2001) Corporate branding and corporate brand performance. European Journal of Marketing 35: 441–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris Interactive/Novatris. (2006) NetObserver® Europa, December.

  • Harrison, T., Waite, K. and Hunter, G.L. (2006) The Internet, information and empowerment. European Journal of Marketing 40 (9–10): 972–993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herbig, P. and Milewicz, J. (1995) To be or not to be.…credible that is: A model of credibility among competing firms. Marketing Intelligence & Planning 13 (6): 24–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huffman, C. and Kahn, B.E. (1998) Variety for sale: Mass customization or mass confusion? Journal of Retailing 74: 491–513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvenpaa, S., Tractinsky, N. and Vitale, M. (2000) Consumer trust in an Internet store. Information Technology and Management 1 (1–2): 45–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis, J. (2007) Dell learns to listen. Business Week 4056: 118–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, J.P. (1999) How to Use Advertising to Build Strong Brands. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keser, C. (2002) Trust and Reputation Building in e-Commerce. Yorktown Heights, NY: IBM Watson Research Center. Working Paper.

  • Kollock, P. (1999) The production of trust in online markets. In: E.J. Lawler, M. Macy, S. Thyne and H.A. Walker (eds.) Advances in Group Processes, Vol. 16. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Konana, P., Menon, N. and Balasubramanian, S. (2000) Exploring the implications of online investing. Communications of the ACM 43 (1): 34–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotha, S. (1998) Competing on the Internet: How Amazon.com is rewriting the rules of competition in the book retailing industry. Advances in Strategic Management 15: 239–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotha, S., Rajgopal, S. and Rindova, V. (2001) Reputation building and performance: An empirical analysis of the top-50 pure Internet firms. European Management Journal 19 (6): 571–586.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kucuk, S.U. (2008) Negative double jeopardy: The role of anti-brand sites on the internet. Journal of Brand Management 15 (3): 209–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kucuk, S.U. and Krishnamurthy, S. (2007) An analysis of consumer power on the Internet. Technovation 27 (1–2): 47–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macleod, S. (2000) The evaluation of PR on the Internet. Journal of Communication Management 5 (2): 179–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahon, J.F. and Wartick, S.L. (2003) Dealing with stakeholders: How reputation, credibility and framing influence the game. Corporate Reputation Review 6 (1): 19–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melewar, T.C. and Smith, N. (2003) The internet revolution: Some global marketing implications. Marketing Intelligence and Planning 21 (6): 363–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milgrom, P. and Roberts, J. (1986) Price and advertising signals of product quality. The Journal of Political Economy 94 (4): 796–821.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milne, G.R. and Culnan, M.J. (2004) Strategies for reducing online privacy risks: Why consumers read (or don’t read) online privacy notices. Journal of Interactive Marketing 18 (3): 15–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2007) Participative Web and User-created Content. Paris, France: OECD.

  • Ogawa, S. and Piller, F.T. (2006) Reducing the risks of new product development. Sloan Management Review 47 (2): 65–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Reilly, T. (2005) What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software, http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html, accessed October 2008.

  • Oswald, E. (2005) iPod Nano may have some big problems. BetaNews, http://www.betanews.com/article/iPod-Nano-May-Have-Some-Big-Problems/1127743011, accessed 1 September 2009.

  • Perkins, D. and Zimmerman, M. (1995) Empowerment theory, research and application. American Journal of Community Psychology 23 (5): 569–579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pires, G.D., Stanton, J. and Rita, P. (2006) The internet, consumer empowerment and marketing strategies. European Journal of Marketing 40 (9–10): 936–949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pitt, L.F., Berthon, P.R., Watson, T.R. and Zinkhan, G. (2002) The internet and the birth of real consumer power. Business Horizons 45 (4): 7–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prahalad, C.K. and Ramaswamy, V. (2004) Co-creation experiences: The next practice in value creation. Journal of Interactive Marketing 18 (3): 5–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajagopalan, B., Konana, P., Lee, C. and Wimble, M. (2004) Extracting relevance from virtual investing-related community postings. In: C. Bullen and E. Stohr (eds.) Proceedings of the Tenth Americas Conference on Information Systems, 5–8 August, New York. Atlanta, GA: AIS, pp. 1–6.

  • Ramani, G. and Kumar, V. (2008) Interaction orientation and firm performance. Journal of Marketing 72 (January): 27–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao, H. (1994) The social construction of reputation: Certification contests, legitimation, and the survival of organizations in the American automobile industry: 1895–1912. Strategic Management Journal 15: 29–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Resnick, P., Zeckhauser, R., Friedman, E. and Kuwabara, K. (2000) Reputation systems. Communications of the ACM 43 (12): 45–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rezabakhsh, B., Bornemann, D., Hansen, U. and Schrader, U. (2006) Consumer power: A comparison of the old economy and the internet economy. Journal of Consumer Policy 29: 3–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rindova, V.P., Williamson, I.O., Petkova, A.P. and Sever, J.M. (2005) Being good or being known: An empirical examination of the dimensions, antecedents, and consequences of organizational reputation. Academy of Management Journal 48 (6): 1033–1049.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schibrowsky, J.A., Peltier, J.W. and Nill, A. (2007) The state of Internet marketing research. A review of the literature and future research directions. European Journal of Marketing 41 (7–8): 722–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shankar, V. and Malthouse, E.C. (2007) The growth of interactions and dialogs in interactive marketing. Journal of Interactive Marketing 21 (2): 2–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, C. (1983) Premiums for high quality products as returns to reputations. Quarterly Journal of Economics 98 (1): 659–679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheth, N.J. and Sharma, A. (2005) International e-marketing: Opportunities and issues. International Marketing Review 22 (6): 611–622.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Srivastava, R.K., Fahey, L. and Christensen, H.K. (2001) The resource-based view and marketing: The role of market-based assets in gaining competitive advantage. Journal of Management 27: 777–802.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, D.W. and Pavlou, P.A. (2002) From consumer response to active consumer: Measuring the effectiveness of interactive media. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 30 (4): 376–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, K.J. (1999) Transference as a means of building trust in World Wide Web sites. In: P. De and J.I. DeGross (eds.) Proceedings of the Twentieth International Conference on Information Systems, 13–15 December, Charlotte, NC. Atlanta, GA: Association for Information Systems, pp. 459–464.

  • Sundaram, D.S., Mitra, K. and Webster, C. (1998) Word-of-mouth communications: A motivational analysis. Advances in Consumer Research 25 (1): 527–531.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toms, E.G. and Taves, A.R. (2004) Measuring user perceptions of web site reputation. Information Processing and Management 40 (2): 291–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urban, G. (2004) The emerging era of customer advocacy. MIT Sloan Management Review 45 (2): 77–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wartick, S.L. (2002) Measuring corporate reputation: Definition and data. Business & Society 41 (4): 371–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weigelt, K. and Camerer, C. (1988) Reputation and corporate strategy: A review of recent theory and applications. Strategic Management Journal 9 (5): 443–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, A.M., Anderson, E. and MacInnis, D.J. (1999) Reputation management as a motivation for sales structure decisions. Journal of Marketing 63 (4): 74–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, L.T., Newman, A. and Dennis, C. (2006) Enhancing consumer empowerment. European Journal of Marketing 40 (9–10): 925–935.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wysocki, P.D. (1999) Cheap Talk on the Web: The Determinants of Postings on Stock Message Boards. Ann Arbor, MI: Business School, University of Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie, E., Teo, H.H. and Wan, W. (2006) Volunteering personal information on the Internet: Effects of reputation, privacy notices, and rewards on online consumer behavior. Marketing Letters 17 (1): 61–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication Sciences, University of Salerno, Via Ponte Don Melillo, 84084 (SA), Fisciano, Italy

    Alfonso Siano, Agostino Vollero & Maria Palazzo

Authors
  1. Alfonso Siano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Agostino Vollero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Maria Palazzo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alfonso Siano.

Additional information

2holds a PhD in ‘Marketing and Communication’ from the University of Salerno (Italy), where he is Lecturer and Research Fellow in Marketing at Department of Communication Sciences, University of Salerno (Italy). His primary research interests are in the areas of corporate communication and CSR, corporate reputation and e-marketing. He has published 1 book and various articles in Italian and international journals. He presented several competitive papers at international conferences.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Siano, A., Vollero, A. & Palazzo, M. Exploring the role of online consumer empowerment in reputation building: Research questions and hypotheses. J Brand Manag 19, 57–71 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2011.23

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2011.23

Keywords

Search

Navigation