DOI: 10.14457/tu.the.2014.11
title: Corporate rebranding in service context: its effects on relationship strength and future share of wallet

description: Corporate rebranding is one of the business strategies a company implements when encountering changes in its business environment.  However, there is no guarantee of the outcome of the rebranding strategy, especially with service companies—whether there will be success in terms of relationship management with their customers.The purpose of this research is to study corporate rebranding in the service industry context, and its consequences with customer perceptions.  This will be done by developing a model incorporating aspects related to changes with company employees and service systems, with the change of the corporate brand as the core element of service company rebranding. These aspects best fit and explain resultant consequences on customer response, through change of the customer-brand partner quality.  This empirical study examines the role of each element of corporate rebranding in the service industry context including—from the customer perspective—the perceived similarity between new brand and old brand, the perceived change in employee attitudes and behaviors, and the perceived change in service systems.  This study seeks to explain the related influences on customer response in terms of change in relationship strength and future share of wallet, through change in brand partner quality.The research design uses a survey approach with a questionnaire.  An English version of the questionnaire was prepared and submitted to academic experts for review.  The questionnaire was translated from English to Thai and from Thai to English.   Then, the questionnaire was adjusted recursively responding to the experts’ comments.  Once the questionnaire was approved, data was collected regarding two rebranded service firms in the telecommunications industry and financial services industry.  Five hundred samples were collected for each company.  Data analysis was conducted using structural-equation modeling. The findings show that the perceived similarity between new brand and old brand has statistically insignificant effects on the change in brand partner quality.  The perceived change in employee attitudes and behaviors, and perceived change in service systems have statistically significant effects on change in relationship strength and future share of wallet, through the change in brand partner quality.  Hence, the research hypotheses are well supported, except one relationship between the perceived similarity between new brand and old brand, and the change in brand partner quality.               This dissertation is anticipated to expand knowledge pertaining to the effects of corporate rebranding in the service industry context in terms of change in customer relationship strength and future share of wallet.  After carrying out the rebranding strategy, a service firm must focus on the employees interfacing with customers and its service systems in order to retain the customers by creating a positive perceived change so that brand partner quality increases.  Consequently, the customer response likelihood in terms of change in relationship strength and future share of wallet is improved.