One of the business management indicators that has gained greater importance in recent years is, without a doubt, corporate reputation. We could say that it is the evolution of the classic concept of a company's image, but understood at a more strategic level and involving fusion database not only a company's customers, but also different reference groups.
Corporate reputation is the set of perceptions that are formed about a company, and obviously, this reputation can be positive or negative, with the consequences that this entails. The main companies in the world ─but above all, the large international corporations─ consider their reputation with absolute importance and seriousness, since a series of implications or aspects are generated from it that can favor or harm them in their progress.
Before commenting on these implications or aspects, it is pertinent to consider that corporate reputation depends on the “glass through which it is viewed”, that is, reputation can vary depending on the different reference groups related to companies, such as customers, the public, the press, the government, employees of the organization, among others. It is important that each company fully identifies each of these reference groups and acts on them (Villafañe & Asociados (2013)).
Another point to note is that when we talk about corporate reputation, we are dealing with perceptions, and I emphasize this because these do not necessarily match reality, and can generate distortions since they are different levels. For example, it may be true that a company actually “behaves well” in the market, but there may also be a negative perception of its corporate reputation; this may be due to a lack of communication with its public by not disseminating the positive activities that the company carries out (Reputation Institute (2015)).
Let us now talk about those implications or aspects that are a consequence of a good reputation, in this case, we can call them favorable behaviors. Let it be clear that if companies do not take the initiative to build a healthy corporate reputation, the market itself will take care of doing so based on the perceptions we have been discussing.
A first favorable behavior toward a company that enjoys a good reputation is that its customers will continue to buy its products. It is clear that this good reputation generates trust in the services and products of that company. Food companies, especially dairy companies, diligently cultivate a good reputation, precisely to encourage the repurchase of their products by consumers, especially housewives.
A second positive behaviour has to do with speaking positively about the company. A good reputation generates free publicity: customers spontaneously make good comments that benefit the company. Companies in sectors linked to technology are concerned with maintaining a good reputation among their customers and society as a whole, precisely to generate favourable opinions about themselves.
