Reputation

Within the context of business, reputation (also known as corporate reputation) can be defined as the product of collective judgments in relation to a company's past actions and future prospects and its ability to create value in relation to competitors (Brammer and Millington 2005; Fombrun 1996; Rindova et al. 2005). Eberl and Schwaiger (2003) note that reputation has a cognitive and affective dimensions. The cognitive dimension refers to judgments concerning company's competence while the affective dimension refers to feelings of "sympathy" experienced by publics with regard to a company. These judgments are based on the observer's assessment of the company's financial, social, and environmental performance over a period of time. Reputation is often confused with image, but these concepts have different meanings. Image is the product of impressions of a company's "distinct collection of symbols" (Barnett, Jermier, & Lafferty, 2006). In other words, it is what comes to mind when one hears a company’s name or sees its logo (Gray & Balmer, 1998). Image is intimately connected with brand, and is the product of marketing and promotional efforts. By contrast, reputation is a resource that is carefully cultivated over lengthy periods of time, and cannot be “sold” in the same way as image or brand. It is more deeply linked with the “personality” of the company (Eberl & Schwaiger, 2003).