Positioning and differentiation by using brand personality attributes Do mission and vision statements contribute to building a unique corporate identity?

摘要

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the current state of mission and vision statementsrnon corporate web sites and to analyze differentiation strategies through the use of online brandrnpersonality attributes in order to find if and how the attributes are effectively used to build up a uniquerncorporate identity.rnDesign/methodology/approach - Content analysis is used to investigate similarities andrndifferences between sectors and industries in Switzerland, based on the brand personality scale ofrnAaker. Also, the paper focuses on the impact of the communication of brand personality elements, inrnterms of positioning and differentiation, using correspondence analysis.rnFindings - The claim that companies do present brand personality by frequently communicatingrnrespective attributes through mission and vision statements published on their web site are supported.rnHowever, top management does not seem to be geared towards industry norms when phrasing thernstatements, as a considerable similarity in statement content is found across industries. The resultsrnshow that companies position themselves using their competitors as a frame of reference.rnResearch limitations/implications - The results may lack generalizability to small andrnmedium-sized businesses and other industries.rnPractical implications - As most companies in the study position themselves using the samernattributes and specifically emphasize "competence," the results include practical implications for thernneed to develop uniqueness and differentiation by other means.rnOriginality/value - This paper discovers a gap between the claim that organizations seekrnuniqueness in their personality attributes and the reality of their involvement in mutual coorientationrnwhen defining their identity, forcing them to adapt to each other.