Employees as a Second Audience - A Scale Development Approach for the Measurement of Quality of External Communications from the Employee's Perspective

摘要

The brand behavior of employees is an important driver of brand success. In this regard, external communications which are perceived by employees to be of high quality represent a crucial determinant of employees' brand behavior. However, the nature and dimensions of the so-called quality of external communications construct is still unclear. The present paper addresses this research gap. The aim is to develop a measurement instrument for quality of external communications and to examine its effect on employee brand behavior. The empirical findings show that quality of external communications comprises the following six dimensions: timing, target group-specificity, distinguishability, accurate presentation of employees, comprehensibility, and appropriate expenses. In addition, the findings report that quality of external communications positively affects - via brand identification -employees' brand behavior.