Similarity among consumers can be identified as a major factor that attracts consumers towards a company or a brand.Interactions between consumers by perceptual similarity can be determinant of corporate image and as a potent source of competitive advantage . The purpose of this study was to investigate how the formation of a corporate image through perceptual similarity consumer from other customers and the impact on the corporate marketing performance. Population studied Iran Khodro's customers are located in the city of Isfahan that 172 person selected randomly and to collect data from these were used to questionnaires that its justifiability was confirmed by the supervisors, advisors and management specialists and experts and its reliability was confirmed 0/89 by Cronbach alpha .Collected data analyzed by SPSS and AMOS softwares. This research including of a main hypothesis (studying a significant effect of perceptual similarity consumer from other customers on corporate marketing performance) and eight sub-hypotheses (studying a significant effect of perceptual similarity consumer from other customerst on consumer emotional attachment to the company and consumer – company identification , studying a significant effect of consumer emotional attachment to the company on consumer – company identification and the corporate image, studying a significant effect of the consumer – company identification on corporate image , studying a significant effect of corporate image on customer behavioural loyalty and purchase / repurchase intention and customer extra- role behaviours )that based on the results, all of research hypotheses were confirmed . Results of this study showed that the fourth sub-hypothesis (impact of consumer emotional attachment to the company on corporate image ) with the path coefficient 0/90 has the greatest impact and the third sub-hypothesis ( effect of consumer emotional attachment to the company on consumer – company identification ) with the path coefficient 0/68 is the least affected.
Aaker, J.L. (1997), “Dimensions of brand personality”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 347-56.
Ahearne, M., Bhattacharya, C.B. and Gruen, T. (2005), “Antecedents and consequences of customer-company identification: expanding the role of relationship marketing”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 90 No. 3, pp. 574-85.
Ashfort, B.E. and Mael, F. (1989), “Social identity theory and the organization”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 20-39.
Balmer, J.M.T. (1998), “Corporate identity and the advent of corporate marketing”, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 14 No. 8, pp. 963-96.
Balmer, J.M.T. (2001), “Corporate identity, corporate branding and corporate marketing: seeing through the fog”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33 Nos 3/4, pp. 248-91.
Balmer, J.M.T. and Greyser, S.A. (2006), “Commentary: Corporate marketing: integrating corporate identity, corporate branding, corporate communications, corporate image and corporate reputation”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 40 Nos 7/8, pp. 730-41.
Belk, R.W. (1975), “Situational variables and consumer behaviour”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 2, December, pp. 157-64.
Bettencourt, L.A. (1997), “Customer voluntary performance: customers as partners in service delivery”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 73, pp. 383-406.
Bhattacharya, C.B. and Sen, S. (2003), “Consumer-company identification: a framework for understanding consumers’ relationships with companies”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 67 No. 2, pp. 76-88.
Brown, T.J. and Dacin, P.A. (1997), “The company and the product: corporate associations and consumer product responses”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 61 No. 1, pp. 68-84.
Byrne, D., Griffitt, W. and Stefaniak, D. (1967), “Attraction and similarity of personality characteristic”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 82-90.
Clark, T. and Martin, C.L. (1994), “Customer-to-customer: the forgotten relationship in relationship marketing”, in Sheth, J.N. and Parvatiyar, A. (Eds), Handbook of Relationship Marketing, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 327-54.
Festinger, L. (1954), “A theory of social comparison processes”, Human Relations, Vol. 7, pp. 117-40.
Fombrun, C.J., Gardberg, N.A. and Sever, J. (2000), “The reputation quotientsm: a multi-stakeholder measure of corporate reputation”, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 241-55.
Gruen, T.W., Summers, J. and Acito, F. (2000), “Relationship marketing activities, commitment, and membership behaviors in professional associations”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 64 No. 3, pp. 34-49.
Gwinner, K.P. and Swanson, S. (2003), “A model of fan identification: antecedents and sponsorship outcomes”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 275-92.
Hall, D.T., Schneider, D.T. and Nygren, H.T. (1970), “Personal factors in organizational identification”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 15, pp. 176-90.
Hansen, R.A. and Deutscher, T. (1978), “An empirical investigation of attribute importance in retail store selection”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 60 No. 2, pp. 105-22.
Harris, F. and De Chernatony, L. (2001), “Corporate branding and corporate brand performance”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 35 Nos 3/4, pp. 441-56.
Martin, C.L. and Pranter, C.A. (1989), “Compatibility management: customer-to-customer relationships in service environment”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 5-15.
Martin, C.L. and Clark, T. (1996), “Networks of customer-to-customer relationships in marketing: conceptual foundations and implications”, in Iacobucci, D. (Ed.), Networks in Marketing, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, pp. 146-69.
Pratt, M.G. (1998), “To be or not to be? Central question in organizational identification”, in Whetten, D.A. and Godfrey, P.C. (Eds), Identities in Organizations: Building Theory through Conversations, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 171-207.
Rosenbaum, M.S. and Massiah, C.A. (2007), “When customers receive support from other customers: exploring the influence of inter-customer social support on customer voluntary performance”, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 257-70.
Scott, S.G. and Lane, V.R. (2000), “A stakeholder approach to organizational identity”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 43-62.
Sirgy, J.M. and Samli, C. (1985), “A path-analytic model of store loyalty involving self-concept, store image, geographic loyalty and socio-economic status”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 265-91.
Smith, J.B. (1998), “Buyer-seller relationships: similarity, relationship management, and quality”, Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 15, January, pp. 3-21.
Tajfel, H. and Turner, J.C. (1979), “An integrative theory of intergroup conflict”, in Austin, W. and Worchel, S. (Eds), The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations, Brooks-Cole, Monterey, CA.
Tauber, E.M. (1972), “Why do people shop?”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 46-59.
Thompson, E.R. and Phua, F.T.T. (2005), “Reliability among senior managers of the Marlowe-Crowne short-form social desirability scale”, Journal of Business and Psychology, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 541-54.
Timmermans, H.J.P., van der Heijden, R. and Westerveld, H. (1982), “Perception of urban retailing environments: an empirical analysis of consumer information and usage fields”, Geoforum, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 27-37.
Turban, D.B. and Jones, A.P. (1988), “Supervision-subordinate similarity: types, effects on mechanism”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 73, pp. 228-34.
Copyright: © 2013 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
