Page 1
Progress Madzvamuse
G11M4627
Supervisors: Mbongi Ndabeni
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RHODES UNIVERSITY’S ACADEMIC BRAND
IMAGE AND THE UNIVERSITY’S ABILITY TO COMPETITIVELY ATTRACT
SKILLED NON-ACADEMIC TALENT AMONGST RHODES UNIVERSITY STUDENTS:
AN EXPLORATORY STUDY.
This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of
Commerce with Honours in organisational psychology.
Rhodes University
October 2011
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank and express my sincere appreciation to the following persons:
Mbongi Ndabeni, my supervisor, for his constant support and guidance throughout my research.
Bernadette King, my supervisor, for taking time to oversee and guide my research.
1 | P a g e
Page 2
Rhodes University Dean of students and the Registrar for allowing me to step in and conduct my
research using Rhodes students.
I would like also to thank the students who agreed to be interviewed, without whom this research
would not have been possible.
I would like to thank and express my humblest appreciation to my sponsor, the prestigious Andrew
Mellon scholarship that funded me throughout my research.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………………………..
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..
Brand and branding…………………………………………………………………………
Employment branding……………………………………………………………………..2 | P a g e
Page 3
Brand and Brand extension………………………………………………………………
Talent attraction………………………………………………………………………
Employment branding and talent attraction…………………………………………..
Flow chart…………………………………………………………………………..
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………
Aims………………………………………………………………………....................
Research question……………………………………………………………………………..
Research approach………………………………………………………………………….
Sample and Sampling………………………………………………………………….
Data collection………………………………………………………………………
Data processing……………………………………………………………………….
Data analysis……………………………………………………………………………
Validity and reliability of results……………………………………………………….
Ethical considerations…………………………………………………………………..
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION……………………………………………………….
Discussion………………………………………………………………………………..
Summary of results………………………………………………………………………
CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………….
Discussion of results………………………………………………………………………
Validation of results……………………………………………………………………….
Limitations of the research………………………………………………………………….
Recommendations for future research………………………………………………………
References ………………………………………………………………………………….
3 | P a g e
Page 4
Appendix A…………………………………………………………………………………
Informed consent form………………………………………………………………………….
Appendix B……………………………………………………………………………………
CHAPTER ONE
LIRETATURE REVIEW TO BE EXPANDED (12-15 pages);
1. INTRODUCTION
This research proposal will begin by reviewing literature that is relevant to the current research
topic. Due to the length limitations of the paper the review will be brief and cover only key
theoretical concepts and relevant documented empirical research. The review of literature will be
done under the context section. Methodology as it relates to how the data will be collected and
analysed in the current study, who will participate in the study and how the sample will be drawn
from the population of Rhodes University postgraduate students will follow after the context
section. Finally, ethical issues pertinent to the current research will be addressed. 4 | P a g e
Page 5
2. CONTEXT
This section highlights the context within which the current study takes place. This will be done
through the review of theoretical and empirical literature relevant to the research topic i.e. branding,
employer branding, brand extension and talent attraction. The next section reviews the concept of
branding. The review shall highlight the interrelatedness of concepts in a manner similar to a
conceptual framework.
2.1Brand and branding
A brand is a product or service made distinctive by its market positioning relative to the competition
and by its personality (Bainbridge, 1997). Consumer behaviour theories (e.g. utility maximization
and product positioning) suggest that the purpose of a brand is to differentiate between products or
services. Branding is a sign of identification through; inter alia, the label which differentiates one
product from those of competitors (Scott, 2000). A brand can be richly understood if metaphorically
viewed as an iceberg. Many organizations were forced into liquidation because of their failure to
recognise the impact of the hidden part of the brand. Underestimating the power of a brand is
similar to underestimating the effects of an iceberg (Chernatony, 2001). Davidson (1997) postulated
a brand iceberg model that has become popular in marketing circles. The model stressed out that the
visible part of the brand namely the logo and the name constitute a paltry 15 percent and the
invisible but most important part which includes values, intellect and culture constitute a hefty 75
percent.
Branding can also be viewed as an orthogonal projection of a cluster of values that were injected
into the production of a product and ideally the nature of many products is multifaceted. Such a
branding definition entails a cluster of values which might include quality, innovation, value for
money, fun, authenticity, freedom, individualism, success and sense of challenge among others (de
Chernatony, 2004). People associate certain brands with subtle meanings, for example, Nokia is
associated with durability just as Samsung is associated with affordability if cell phone products are
being ranked and rated. Likewise in the motoring industry Mercedes Benz is associated with
success and executive lifestyle while Royce rolls is for the classy lifestyle. Ferrari on the other hand
is associated with sporty lifestyle coupled with trendy, speedy lifestyle and Toyota is associated
with quality such that market segmentation can be done on the basis of lifestyles for these products
(Mody, 2003). Mainly branding can be done using a brand as a logo, legal instrument, ageing
entities and name. These forms of branding will be explored in the next paragraphs using examples.
5 | P a g e
Page 6
The definition of brand as a logo is deeply seated in visual signifiers primarily as a basis for
differentiation purposes as witnessed by the notable examples of Apple Mac which has the part-
eaten apple ,the BMW`s rotating blue and white turbine ,MacDonald wavy m logo (de
Chernatony ,2001). Universities also use visual signifiers as their differentiation modes for example
Rhodes University uses the purple colour as its official brand colour while the brand colour for
University of Wits is blue.
When branding is done using a legal instrument, it is done in parameters wherein one ensures that a
brand is legally enforceable and that a statement of ownership is availed. This might have been
done due to the reason that branding represents investment which organisations safeguard by
seeking legal ownership of title as protection against imitators. Examples of brands that are also
legal instruments include trademarks, patents and franchises. A trademark is defined as any
registered sign for example words, designs, letters, numerals or shape of packaging capable of being
represented graphically and capable of distinguishing goods or services from one undertaking to
another undertaking (Murphy &Hart, 1998). Franchising is a form of licensing, by which the owner
(franchisor) of a product obtains exclusive rights to distribute a branded product through an
established network of affiliated dealers (franchisees) (Stobart, 1994). Similar to franchising are
organisational letterheads which are part of branding in such a way that letters printed on them are
more recognised than those which are not ,for example, a letter with a university letterhead carries
more weight than any other letter though all may have originated from the same university
Branding can be done using the concept of ageing entities since brands have been found to be
unique, dynamic offerings which evolve over time reflecting the changing demands of customers.
Despite the fact that brands evolve over time, the brand’s core values do not change which however
is not the case for the peripheral values of the brand. Core values of a brand are values that an
organisation will remain true to regardless of external changes while peripheral values are values of
a secondary nature to the organisation which will be changed to suit the challenge in time (Tybout
&Calkins, 2005).
Over a long time brands have been shown to fail and one of the reasons of failure include brand
amnesia whereby brands just like old people forget their values. A notable example is the new coke
formula that failed to make it in the market in 1985. Brand ego can also assist in brand failure for
example if Harley Davidson tries to sell perfume it is most likely that it will fail. Sometimes brand
megalomania which exists when brands want to expand into every product category adds up to
failure as mistrust will be rampant (Haig, 2003). Understanding how an institution of higher
education might be affected by branding is essential for the planning and implementation of focused
6 | P a g e
Page 7
marketing and recruitment strategies because Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are also affected
by the perception of their image.
A brand name is the name of the given organization or institution for example Rhodes University. A
brand mark, which is known as a logo, is an extension that is visually communicated but not spoken
(Shank, 2005). Many at times HEIs enjoy advantages that arise from using logos as brands which
include generation of additional revenues as has been the case with Wits University which has
managed to secure huge funding for its sporting facilities and sports teams. Some of the advantages
attributed to HEIs include soliciting for corporate partners with great easy, for example ,Rhodes
University managed to gather a bunch of corporate partners during the main library renovation in
2011 and garner national media exposure, all of which was made possible by use of name, colours,
symbols, and logos to communicate a sense of brand identity.
Branding therefore is a sign of identification through; inter alia, the label which differentiates one
product from those of competitors (Scott, 2000). Branding can be done by a tagline that is created
nicely, is attractive or a punch line for one`s brand that gives it a significant visibility in all branding
efforts. The tag line should be in accordance with your organization values, goals, work etc. so that
it reflects an overall image of the brand everywhere. Rhodes University has employed the brand
tagline “where leaders learn” to differentiate itself from competitors. Within the discipline of
psychology, a brand is analogous to personality applied to a service or a product. Features of a
product contribute to how it is perceived by current and/or prospective consumers in the market.
Such perceptions may be positive or negative. An example of how features may contribute to a
brand being perceived positively are the features of the Mercedes Benz brand highlighted in, among
others, its excellent safety features, quality and reliability (Schmemann, 2000).
Similarly, pricing and perceptions about safety make the brand more exclusive and therefore a
status symbol than competitor brands. This exclusivity also helps Mercedes Benz to target its
typical consumer/customer since a certain category of people will more likely associate with these
attributes. If the brand promise is consistent with the brand quality then the expectations and
perceptions about that brand are met. When perceptions about a brand are good, and customer
expectations based on those perceptions are met, repeat buying is likely to occur (Doyle, 2002).
When this line of reasoning is applied to human resources in the employment relationship, it is
referred to as employee attraction and retention. When the same logic is applied to Higher
Education Institutions, this may be achieved through the prestige of degrees offered as well as
availability and quality of necessary facilities e.g. libraries and student residences. Like features in
cars, these facilities also mean that fees in these institutions become more expensive, meaning that
7 | P a g e
Page 8
the University mainly attracts students of a certain calibre or background (both academically and
socio-economically). This study therefore seeks to investigate whether or not the University’s
attributes that attract students extend to students’ intentions to work for the University.
2.1.1Employment branding
Employer branding is a relatively new area of HR that came up as a result of the current war and
competition for skilled talent and is based on the general assumptions used in the concept of
branding but now applied to employment. Employer branding is a concept that stems from the
organisation’s vision, values, culture or relationship with the environment. One central question in
the employment branding literature is: what differentiates one organization from the next and, why
should prospective employees choose one organization over others? It is defined as the efforts of an
organization (both within and outside the organization) to promote a clear view of attributes which
make them a desirable, unique employer (Ambler and Barrow, 1996; Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004;
Balmer and Greyser, 2002). For example the Virgin groups of companies` values include value for
money, innovation, good quality, brilliant customer service and fun heavily influences its
employment brand. They are therefore able to attract employees who value fun and innovation or
all of these values.
Increasingly, firms are using employer branding to attract recruits and assure that current employees
are engaged in the culture and the strategy of the firm. The employer brand puts forth an image
showing the organization a “good place to work.”
Its aim is to develop an image of the organization as an “employer of choice” in the minds of
existing and potential employees, as well as other stakeholders including customers and recruiters.
The objective is not only to offer these tangible benefits, but to also develop an emotional link with
them. A strong employer brand should connect an organization’s values, people strategy and HR
policies and be linked to the company brand (Gioia and Thomas, 1996). An employer brand is the
full physical, intellectual, and emotional experience of people who work there, and the anticipated
experience of candidates who might work there. It is both the vision and the reality of what it means
to be employed there. It is both the promise and the fulfillment of that promise (Van Dick, 2004).
The employer brand radiating out of an organization’s name inspires loyalty, productivity, and a
sense of pride. Lievens et al., (2007) argued within the social identity theory paradigm using a
theory called the Cocktail Party Theory observable at company social parties that if an employee
mentions which organisation he works for and the audience have low regard for it, they will most
likely change the direction of the conversation as they will be avoiding negative talk about such an
8 | P a g e
Page 9
organisation. However, if there is high regard for such an organisation, then they will keep talking
about that organisation mainly praising the good attributes of such an organisation. Low regard and
high regard therefore are good indicators of whether the employer is low-end or high-end product.
Just like tangible products, HEIs can be evaluated using the social identity theory whereby the
employer brand can be categorised into either low-end or high-end. The social identity theory in this
instance postulates that people’s identity and self esteem are partly determined by their membership
of social organizations they work for or their specific workgroup(Haslam & Ellemers, 2005).
Although social identity theory was originally developed to explain intergroup relations, it has
heavily influenced research on organizational identity and identification in the last 15 years (Golden
& Shortell, 2002). The basic premise is that organizational members develop a sense of who they
are, their goals, attitudes and what they ought to do from their organizational membership
(Lievens& Highhouse, 2003). It is further posited that both the perceived organizational identity
(i.e. insiders’ perception of what the organization stands for) and the construed external image (i.e.
insiders’ perception of what outsiders think the organization stands for) of an organization are
related to people’s identification with that organization (Hatch & Schultz, 2000).
The employer brand is an authentic description of an experience, similar to a consumer brand. It
includes pay, working conditions, culture, job title, intangible rewards, and the emotional
connection employees have with the organization and manager (Keller, 1993). It tells candidates
who the organization is, what they want, and what they stand for. Just as a marketer attracts
customers with a compelling product brand, a company attracts candidates with a compelling
employer brand (Barber, 1998).
An employer brand is more than a one-way description of “what it’s like to work in an
organization.” It’s a multidimensional conversation among the company’s leadership, its
employees, and candidates in the marketplace, alumni, and even outsiders such as the press,
bloggers, and anyone else who has an opinion (Dohm, 2000). Therefore the employer brand
includes the company’s professional reputation, a description of company culture, and news reports
about the company, both good and bad (Rynes, 1991).
It also includes word-of-mouth statements about the company, a description of the company’s
future, how the employer’s brand compares to the competition (Aaker, 1996). Beyond conversation,
it’s also a set of subjective candidate experiences, such as applying for a job on the organization`s
web site or via e-mail, interviewing for a position, talking to employees and walking through the
workplace sites, using products, services, or customer help, the company’s impact in the candidate’s
9 | P a g e
Page 10
community(Aaker & Biel,1993). An employer brand can be used to help organizations compete
effectively in the labour market and drive employee loyalty through effective recruitment,
engagement and retention practices. All organizations have an employer brand, regardless of
whether they have consciously sought to develop one. Their brand will be based on the way they are
perceived as a ‘place to work’, for example by would-be recruits, current employees and those
leaving the organization.
To be effective, the employer brand should not only be evident to candidates at the recruitment
stage, but should inform the approach to people management in the organization. For example, the
employer brand can inform how the business tackles: induction, performance management and
reward, managing of internal communications, promoting effective management behaviors, exits
from the organization (Barber and Roehling, 1993). It is important that the employer brand is not
merely rhetoric espousing the organization’s values, but is reflective of the actual experience of
employees.
The ability of the business to add value rests on its front-line employees, or 'human capital'.
Organizations that wish to succeed have to get the most out of this resource. In order to do this,
employers have to know what employees expect from the work. The employer brand can be seen as
an attempt by the employer to define the psychological contract with employees so as to help in
recruiting and retaining talent. The psychological contract which is defined as “the perceptions of
both parties to the employment relationship, organization and individual, of the reciprocal promises
and obligations implied in that relationship” offers a framework for monitoring employee attitudes
and priorities on those dimensions that can be shown to influence performance (Breaugh & Starke,
2000).
Employer branding is very important, though it may not very necessarily be displayed explicitly in
every organization. Most organizations, especially in the service industry, are now waking up to the
realization that their business sustenance comes through their workforce. In this scenario, attracting
and retaining good talent is crucial and therefore projecting the employer brand is an essential to
this goal. An organization prefers to work inside out having a strong commitment to employees
which is depicted as a part of an organization’s vision and values. Employees carry the brand
forward and are more than willing to invite friends and family to share the experience as the part of
the organization (Keller, 1993). Therefore developing a good employer brand is crucial; as it helps
to attract people that would fit well into the organisation. It acts as a filter that ensures that only
10 | P a g e
Page 11
suitable candidates applied for vacancies, and would also help to retain current employees, thus
decreasing employee turnover and saving on the costs of dismissal and hiring procedures.
Understanding how an institution of higher education is perceived is essential for the planning and
implementation of focused marketing and recruitment strategies because Higher Education
Institutions (HEIs) are also affected by the perception of their image. Livingstone (2006) said that a
University is constantly battling an image problem as this image may negatively influence the
decision-making process of prospective university staff. The choice of an organization is affected
by value for money, cognitive dissonance and self image therefore branding of HEIs tends to affect
employees.
Organizations are assumed to be attractive employers when prospective employees view them
positively in terms of their organizational image (Yoo & Donthu, 2001). This may be based on
perceptions about work environments, and embracing of issues of diversity (Daniel et al., 1997).
One of the key aspects of an organisation that is likely to lead to attraction of talents is
organizational image (Lievens, Van Hoye & Anseel, 2007). Organizations that possess a good
image are likely to attract more employees and thus afford to be more selective in choosing high-
quality applicants to interview compared to organizations with a poor brand image (Turban and
Cable, 2003). This is particularly important for organizational sustainability particularly in a
country with acute skills shortage as South Africa. Rhodes University also has a set of values that
set it apart from other universities. These are the respect for diversity, aspiration for academic
excellence, fostering of an African identity, etc. On the basis of this, this study seeks to measure
whether Rhodes University’s brand as an academic institution extends to attraction of skilled
employees particularly the non-academic professionals. This will be done by investigating whether
current students’ experiences as students extend to intentions to work for Rhodes University. For
this research, third year students or honours students who are about to enter the labour market will
be used as the study sample. In the next section brand extension concept will be reviewed.
2.1.1 Brand and Brand extension (very brief)
A successful brand can be used as a platform to launch related products and exploit benefits of an
existing brand (Doyle, 2002). That strategy in consumer behaviour is called brand extension
alternatively called brand name extension and it involves taking advantage of the widespread name
recognition of the original brand (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001). Brand extension is about
leveraging the values and/or status of a brand in order to take the brand into new markets/sectors
using familiarity of the brand name. Positive images and strengths of existing brand / parent brand
11 | P a g e
Page 12
are leveraged to bring another success story for new product. For example the extension of the
Apple brand from personal computers (iMac) to cell phones (iPhones) or the Virgin brand from
airways, soft drinks, mobile phones and the financial markets is based on the success of Virgin in
preceding markets (preceding meaning before the introduction of new service/ product lines).
Over the years brand names have been trademarked and successfully developed resulting in them
being valuable assets for organisations (Dacin & Smith, 1994; Keller & Aaker, 1992). For this
reason, an increasing number of organisations have turned to leveraging their existing brand names
by introducing new products under these established names (Pitta & Katsanis, 1995). Brand name
extension is most likely to be successful when there is existence to a higher degree, of linking
between the brand name and the new product. Successful brand extensions have three
characteristics: perceptual fit wherein the consumer must perceive the new item to be consistent
with the parent brand, benefit transfer which means consumers must be able to identify tangible
benefits offered by the parent brand that have been transferred and is desired by consumers of
products in the new category and competitive leverage wherein the new items must match up
favourably to established items in the new category ( ).
Brand extensions can be classified as either vertical or horizontal extensions. Typically, horizontal
brand extensions either apply or extend an existing product’s name to a new product in the same
product class or to a product category new to the company. There are two varieties of horizontal
brand extensions which differ in terms of their focus (Aaker and Keller, 1990). Diet Coke and Diet
Pepsi are examples of line extensions since they focus on the diet conscious segment for colas not
served by their parent products. Most of the recent research in brand extension has focused on
horizontal extensions.Vertical extensions involve introducing a related brand in the same product
category but with a different price and quality balance.
The advantages of brand extension are reduced risk with a new product, cross fertilization which
advertising the core brand can bring for example, Diet Cherry Coke benefited from the advertising
and familiar packaging of Diet Coke despite the fact that no television ad was ever made for Diet
Cherry Coke, consumers could easily recognize the package and realize that it was a distinct
product, yet was familiar .brand extension also results in enhancing of the core the core product.
Like a successful offspring, an extension may reinforce the core product’s brand image instead of
weakening it. Diet Cherry Coke is clearly positioned as a tasty, low-calorie soda and reinforces Diet
Coke’s association with low calorie content and good taste.
12 | P a g e
Page 13
However brand extensions can end up as failures. Some examples of brand extensions failures
include McDonald’s Arch Deluxe for adults which failed because McDonald’s primary association?
For arch deluxe was as fast-food for kids, Volvo 850 GLT sports sedan which failed because
Volvo’s primary association is with safety whereas the Volvo 850 GLT was primarily a boxy
armoured car and Bayer “Aspirin-free” which turned into failure due to the reason that Bayer’s
primary association is with aspirin (Daye,2007).
Researchers have predominantly investigated brand extensions amongst tangible goods despite the
fact that notable brand extension activity has taken place in services, for example, Virgin moving
into radio stations, airline, financial services, and bridal services (Keller 1998). In line with this, the
current study will investigate whether Rhodes academic brand image extends to the attraction of
skilled non-academic professional employees using the pool of students who are more ready to
enter the labour market. In the labour market an employment brand is said to be strong if it helps to
attract prospective and retain current employees (Collins & Stevens, 2002). Literature on talent
attraction and its relationship to employment branding is reviewed next.
2.2Talent attraction (very brief)
Talent attraction is a relatively new concept of human resources psychology which is defined as the
planning process done to persuade skilled, high potential, scarce and/or relatively scarce and
experienced would-be-employees to apply for a job (Woodruffe, 1999). This definition is going to
be used as the operational definition of talent attraction in this study. Such a subject has become
important in the current work environment which has witnessed a marked increase in competition
for skilled talent unprecedented since the agricultural and industrial revolution (Barber, 1998).
Consistent with this, this research will use final year students as the focus of the study.
Talent attraction is a by-product of talent management which is defined as a range of elements that
exists in a “value cycle” of employee issues. Talent management is comprised of 3 phases that
include: the attraction phase, development phase, reward and retention phase (Cojer, 2010). The
attraction phase focuses on recruiting and contingent staffing of employees. The development phase
of talent management is a phase in which issues of competency management; leadership
development and assessment are observed and met. Reward and retention phase involves workforce
performance management, compensation and succession planning.
Tubridy (2010) argued that HR strategies attract and retain high performers in these magnitudes:
79% who stay because of opportunities for advancement, 69% who stay because their job is
13 | P a g e
Page 14
redesigned and 65% who stay because they are learning new skills. He also stressed that careful
planning into recruitment and orientation, development, deployment, performance, succession,
rewards, engagement; retention will result in attraction of skilled personnel.
Corporate Leadership Council (1999) highlights that increased competition in the labour market has
led to changes on how employees and prospective employees view working life. The Council
further highlights that the labour market today is much more fluid because of more and better
information that is readily available to employees than ever before meaning employees in this
environment are coming to view their employment offer like a product in market. As such, it has
become more difficult for many organisations to retain current employees and/or recruit new ones
using old and traditional methods. One of the key measures of organizational success/effectiveness
is therefore its ability to competitively attract and retain skilled talent. The next paragraphs review
the relationship between employment branding and talent attraction.
2.2.1 Employment branding and talent attraction (very brief)
Building on the preceding paragraphs, this sub-section shows how employment branding
strategically positions organizations to attract employees. Prospective employees of the 21 st century
are attracted by employer value propositions such as work life balance, corporate social
responsibility, commitment to employee development, good working environment, respect for
diversity,etc (Wasmer, Williams and Stevenson (1997). Examples of some of the top organisations
that use these value propositions as a talent attraction strategy include Google, Virgin, Apple and
Microsoft (Samuel, 2011).
Effective employer branding leads to employees being more committed to the organisational goals,
increased employee retention, reduced recruitment costs, improved reputation as employees
recommend your organisation as a good place to work (Corporate Leadership Council, 2010). By
concentrating on the employer brand and by increasing their appeal to the right candidates,
organisations will gain a distinct advantage in the labour market. This is enabled by the fact that
there is a clear link between talent management and employer branding. Deloitte (2010) hinted that
the depth and quality of planning today will separate the talent winners from the talent losers
tomorrow.
Empirical research supports the existence of a relationship between employer branding and talent
attraction. For example, in a study involving a sample of 101students conducted in Pakistan, results
showed that employer branding is positively related to talent attraction (Shahzad, Gul, Khan and
Zafar, 2011). In a similar study done in India involving a sample of 125, results showed that
14 | P a g e
Page 15
employer branding was positively related to talent attraction (Agrawal and Swaroop, 2009). The
same results were observed in a Swedish study conducted on both students and young employees in
Sweden using online questionnaires (Melin, 2005). However, these results cannot be generalised to
Africa because of previous study limitations like small sample sizes, different socio-economic
conditions in these regions and different cultural environments.
Another study that investigated this relationship was an explorative case study done by American
researchers from Troy University (Lee, Miloch, Kraft and Tatum, 2008). Their findings also
showed that employer branding was positively related to talent attraction. Much of the empirical
evidence is on the relationship between overall brand image and talent attraction but not with
specific dimensions of employer brand such as brand extension and talent attraction. Following
these studies, the current study will apply the consumer psychology concepts of branding and brand
extension, as well as HR concept of employment branding to investigate whether or not RU’s
academic brand image may be used as a competitive to advantage to attract skilled non-academic
professionals.
Flow chart
Backhaus and Tikoo (2004) highlighted that employer brand establishes the firm as an employer of
choice and thereby enables it to attract the best possible workers. The circular relationship between
branding, employer branding and talent attraction is in the brand extension that may be possible if
the brand is a strong brand. The distinctiveness of a brand allows the organization to acquire scarce
15 | P a g e
Brand and branding
Employment branding(employer image)
Brand extension
Talent attraction(employer attraction)
Page 16
skilled employees and because organisational identity is an attitudinal contributor to employer
brand loyalty (Mosley, 2007). Assuming that an employer brand is developed on the basis of the
organization’s values, it is most likely to result in loyalty and satisfaction. The employer brand is
the cognitive image held by an organisation’s members about the organisation. It can be conceived
as the collective attitude about the employees working in the organization. This is made possible by
the fact that people seek to identify with an organisation that has values they value, and will readily
do so if they find the organisational image to be attractive or unique.
CHAPTER TWO
3. METHODOLOGY (5-8 pages)
3.1 Aims
The current study sought to:
1. Investigate whether or not there is a relationship between Rhodes University’s academic
brand image held by current students and the university’s ability to competitively attract
non-academic talent amongst Rhodes University Students;
2. Investigate the main organizational attributes that influence RU students’ intentions to work
for the university as non-academic employees;
3. On the basis of results, and if the relationship does indeed exist, give suggestions on what
that translates into if embraced by Rhodes University as competitive advantage in attracting
scarce skills non-academic professionals.
3.1.1 RESEARCH QUESTION
This study sought to address the following research questions:
Is there a relationship between the Rhodes University academic brand image and its ability to
competitively attract skilled non-academic employees among Rhodes students?
Is this relationship strong enough (i.e. statistically significant) to be used as a competitive advantage
to attract professionally qualified students?
16 | P a g e
Page 17
3.2 Research approach
The current study employed a quantitative research approach. The explanatory power of numbers
(e.g. correlation co-efficient) was useful in explaining the relationship between brand image and
talent attraction. The strength of the relationship was better explained in numbers rather than
qualitatively.
3.3 Sample and Sampling
The current study will use a sample of at least seventy Rhodes University students who will include
students from various faculties. Post-graduate and final year students from the departments of
accounting, economics, pharmacy and psychology department will be used in this study because
they are currently looking for employment or are likely to start doing so in the near future. Students
in these faculties have specifically been targeted since they are in professional fields that are highly
sought after by private sector employers. A non-probability sampling will be used since it will mean
that only this category of students (i.e. in these departments) will be targeted as opposed to the
entire final year and postgraduate student population (Terre Blanche, Durrheim &Painter, 2006).
Once the permission has been granted by the Dean of Students and the Registrar the researcher will
visit the respective lecture halls and seminar venues to administer the questionnaire. Permission to
do so will be negotiated with lecturers.
4. Data collection
For this research two scales which are the brand image scale and talent attraction scale were
developed. The brand image scale measured brand image perceptions. The talent attraction scale
measured students’ intentions to work for Rhodes University. Both scales asked the participants to
agree or disagree with statements on a five point Likert-type scale where 1 =strongly agree;
2=agree; 3=neutral; 4=disagree and 5 =strongly disagree. The brand image scale measured
perceptions about Rhodes ` academic brand and asked questions like, “Rhodes University actively
encourages embracing of diversity” while the talent attraction scale measured why such students
intend to work for Rhodes University and will ask questions like, “I will join Rhodes University
not because of the money”. The rationale for developing such an instrument is that most of the
questionnaires for example Universum online survey questionnaire used in previous research were
not tailor-made for students.
5. Data analysis
17 | P a g e
Page 18
Data collected was largely ordinal in nature (i.e. ranked order showing high and low scores) since a
Likert-type scale was be used (De Vellis, 1991; Fife-Schaw, 1995). Collected raw data was coded
using Excel spreadsheet and then analysed using STATISTICA, a software that analyses descriptive
and inferential statistics and is mostly used by social scientists conducting similar research. Coding
was done to simplify analysis. For example, variables like gender were coded 0 for female and 1
for male. Two independent scales were used in this research wherein descriptive statistics for
example the differences in means was used in establishing the strength or level of certain variables
within a group. Inferential statistics for example Correlation Coefficient at 5% level of significance
were used to test whether there was a significant relationship between talent attraction and brand
image. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire i.e. validity and reliability were covered in
data analysis section.
6. Validity and reliability
On the one hand, validity is defined as the degree to which the tool measures what it purports to
measure (Coolican, 1994) and produces findings that are convincing and believable (Terre Blanche
et al, 2006, p.93). Reliability (i.e. dependability) on the other hand refers to the degree to which
consistency is maintained in measurement such that the test can be repeated without producing
marked differences in results (Blaikie, 2004). Since the scale has never been used before there is no
information about its validity and reliability. To ensure validity and reliability before it is actually
used in the study the instrument will be pilot tested using a sample of Rhodes University
employees. The researcher will then make sure these pilot study participants do not participate
again in the actual study. This will avoid possible biases brought in through history and maturation.
7. Ethical considerations
Ethical issues that are going to be considered in this research are informed consent, confidentiality,
anonymity (Kumar, 2005). The participants will sign a consent form to show that they agree to
participate in this research. The informed consent form will inform the participants about the nature
and purpose of the study and all relevant information that they may use to decide whether or not to
participate. Since participation will be voluntary, participants will be informed of their freedom to
withdraw any time after the study has commenced if they decide so. To ensure confidentiality, data
about the participants will not be divulged to any other person and the researcher will not discuss
the outcomes of the study with anyone else unless the participants have consented to that. The
questionnaire will also not ask for personal identifiers like names or students numbers. The study
will not mention personal identifiers like names and student numbers in the report or during data
collection. The study will not mention personal identifiers in the actual report as well.18 | P a g e
Page 19
CHAPTER THREE
DISCUSSION ((15-20 pages)
Respondents were tasked to rate their perceptions on a 5-point likert scale as either 1, 2, 3,4 or 5
which translated respectively into disagree, strongly disagree, neutral, agree and strongly agree on
the brand image scale which primarily measured brand image perceptions of Rhodes university. The
talent attraction scale which measured students’ intentions to work for Rhodes University was also
rated using a five-point likert scale rated also as either 1,2,3,4 or 5 for respective responses
disagree, strongly disagree,neutral,agree and strongly agree.
Data was collected from Rhodes university students using a questionnaire which was handed to
80students.participants were from the department of psychology, pharmacy, economics,
management, computer science and information systems. The numbers and percentages portrayed
in the charts and raw data tables are based on participants’ answers and their individual perceptions
on Rhodes university brand image perceptions and intentions to work for Rhodes University.
Descriptive statistics
The results from the questionnaires were coded onto an excel spreadsheet and were run on a
statistical package named STATISTICA.The results were represented in the diagrams and tables
that will occupy following paragraphs.
Gender
19 | P a g e
Page 20
Figure 1
Frequency table: Gender (Spreadsheetchairo.sta)
Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent
Male 27 27 33.75000 33.7500
Female 53 80 66.25000 100.0000
Missing 0 80 0.00000 100.0000
Figure 1 shows that they were a total of 80 participants that served as the sample for this study.
Demographics reveal that the majority of the participants were females. Female participants
amounted to 66% while the male participants amounted to 34%. Respectively the female
participants’ percentage translated to 53 females while the 34% male participants’ percentage also
translated to 27 participants. This suggests that the dominating perceptions might have been from
the female participants as well.
20 | P a g e
Page 21
Age
Figure 2
Frequency table: Age (Spreadsheetchairo.sta)
Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent
18-21 20 20 25.00000 25.0000
22-25 55 75 68.75000 93.7500
25+ 5 80 6.25000 100.0000
Missing 0 80 0.00000 100.0000
Figure 2, shows that in the current study, 55 participants were mainly aged between 22-25 years and
constituted 69% of the research participants. 20 participants participants were aged between 18-21
years and constituted 25% percent of the total participants while the remaining 6% was for
participants aged over 25 years of age who totalled a paltry 5 . This means that the main perceptions
came from the 22-25 age group.
21 | P a g e
Page 22
Year of study
34 third year students participated in this study and 46 fourth year students which respectively
translates to 43% and 57%as depicted in figure 3. This seems to suggest that the main perceptions
about this study were from fourth years that are generally mature and ready to get into the labour
industry.
Figure 3
Frequency table: Year of study (Spreadsheetchairo.sta)
Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent
3rd year 34 34 42.50000 42.5000
4th year 46 80 57.50000 100.0000
Missing 0 80 0.00000 100.0000
University residence status
In general, a great number of participants were living off the campus as depicted in figure 4 wherein
the actual figure totalled 54 out of the 80 participants. 26 of the participants were living in the
university residences. Approximately 33% of the participants were living in the university
22 | P a g e
Page 23
residences while 68% of the participants were living outside the university residences. Generally,
this implies that the views of the study were from students who were living off the campus.
Figure 4
Frequency table: Living (Spreadsheetchairo.sta)
Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent
yes 26 26 32.50000 32.5000
no 54 80 67.50000 100.0000
Missing 0 80 0.00000 100.0000
Nationality
The information from the figure 5 postulates that 45 participants were South Africans and 35
participants were non-south Africans and from the total research participants, 56% of the
participants were locals while the remaining 44% were non-South Africans. Generally, this
impacted on the results on the perceptions on Rhodes University’s brand image and the university`
23 | P a g e
Page 24
ability to competitively attract non-academic talent as the measurements were main indicators of the
largest group of participants which were South Africans.
Figure 5
Frequency table: SA (Spreadsheetchairo.sta)
Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent
yes 45 45 56.25000 56.2500
no 35 80 43.75000 100.0000
Missing 0 80 0.00000 100.0000
Living with parents
The information from Figure 6 postulates that 9 of the research participants were staying with
parents while studying and 71 participants were not staying with their parents while studying.
Ideally, the pie chart depicts that 11% of the participants were staying with their parents while
studying and 89% of the participants were not staying with their parents while studying.
Therefore the indications on the perceptions of the Rhodes University’s brand image and the
university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent was greatly attributed to mostly
students who were not staying with parents.
24 | P a g e
Page 25
Figure 6
Frequency table: staying with parents (Spreadsheetchairo.sta)
Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent
yes 9 9 11.25000 11.2500
no 71 80 88.75000 100.0000
Missing 0 80 0.00000 100.0000
Residing in Eastern Cape
The pie chart for eastern-capers that participated in this study in figure 7 indicated that 24 % were
indeed from Eastern Cape while the remaining participants constituted 76%. The actual figures for
eastern capers who participated in this study were 19 while the remaining 61 participants were not
from Eastern Cape. This significantly implies that the perceptions posited from this study are an
indication of perceptions of Rhodes students as mainly perceived in the eyes of non-eastern capers.
Figure 7
25 | P a g e
Page 26
Frequency table: eastern caper (Spreadsheetchairo.sta)
Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent
yes 19 19 23.75000 23.7500
no 61 80 76.25000 100.0000
Missing 0 80 0.00000 100.0000
Grahamstowner Participants
Out of the total research participants, 15 of them were residing in Grahamstown while 65 were non-
Grahamstown residents whose nationalities were either South African or African in general. Ideally,
81% of the participants were non-Grahamstowners while 19% of the participants were
Grahamstowners as depicted in figure 8.The perceptions on Rhodes University’s brand image and
the university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent in this study therefore is what
non- Grahamstown students perceive of Rhodes university brand image.
Figure 8
26 | P a g e
Page 27
Frequency table: Grahamstowners (Spreadsheetchairo.sta)
Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent
yes 15 15 18.75000 18.7500
no 65 80 81.25000 100.0000
Missing 0 80 0.00000 100.0000
Participants from sadc
Sadc is an acronym for Southern African Development Community. Sadc is a region that stretches
all over Southern Africa. In this study, participants were mainly from sadc as indicated in Figure 9
wherein 96% were sadc members while 4% were non-sadc members. Therefore whatever results
indicate on the whether the Rhodes university brand image extends to talent attraction is an
aggregation of the perceptions of sadc member students.
Figure 9
27 | P a g e
Page 28
Frequency table: sadc member (Spreadsheetchairo.sta)
Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent
yes 77 77 96.25000 96.2500
no 3 80 3.75000 100.0000
Missing 0 80 0.00000 100.0000
Participants with parents working for Rhodes
Out of the 80 participants, 74 indicated that they had no relatives working for Rhodes while 6 had
parents working for Rhodes University.93 % of the participants had no relative working for Rhodes
University while 8 % had one or tow relatives working for the university. Therefore the perceptions
of students on Rhodes University’s brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract
non-academic talent is a reflection of students whose relatives don’t work for Rhodes University.
Figure 10
28 | P a g e
Page 29
Frequency table: have parents working for Rhodes (Spreadsheetchairo.sta)
Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent
yes 6 6 7.50000 7.5000
no 74 80 92.50000 100.0000
Missing 0 80 0.00000 100.0000
Correlation co-efficient
The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to investigate whether or not there is a relationship
between Rhodes University’s academic brand image held by current students and the university’s
ability to competitively attract non-academic talent amongst Rhodes University Students. After the
data was run on the statistical programme called STATISTICA,the correlation co-efficient was
deduce for the relationship between this two variables and depicted in a diagram A correlation co-
efficient is a measure of the degree of linear relationship between two variables. The degree of
correlation between Rhodes University’s brand image and the university` ability to competitively
attract non-academic talent was 0; 28045. This meant that there is a slightly positive linear
29 | P a g e
Page 30
relationship between Rhodes University `s brand image and the university `ability to attract non-
academic talent. The Cartesian plane approach results show that there is a slight linear relationship
between Rhodes University’s brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract non-
academic talent.
Figure 11
Hypothesis testing
Pearson product moment correlation co-efficient were used as seen in both figure 11 and Table 1.
This enables us to look at whether there is a linear relationship between Rhodes University’s brand
image and the university` ability to competitively attract.
H0: There is no significant linear relationship between Rhodes University’s brand image and the
university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent
H1: There is a significant linear relationship between Rhodes University’s brand image and the
university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent30 | P a g e
Page 31
r=0.28045, n=80, p-value=0.012
Since the p-value is less than 0.05, we reject the null hypothesis which postulates that there is no
significant linear relationship between Rhodes University’s brand image and the university` ability
to competitively attract non-academic talent.
In such an instance, we are 95% confident that there is a linear relationship between Rhodes
University’s brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract.
This is shown graphically in figure 11 above. The graph above graphically portrays the talent
attraction scale against the brand image scale and it is clear from figure 11 that the results show a
linear relationship between Rhodes University’s brand image and the university` ability to
competitively attract
Table 1
However according to scale of correlation, the correlation coefficient is very small to significantly
attract non-academic talent to come and be employed despite there existing a linear relationship
which would suggest that brand image is associated with the level of talent attraction.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
The results indicated that there is weak association between Rhodes university’s brand image and
its ability to competitively attract non-academic talent especially university graduates. In this
research only students were used and in this study no names were mentioned. There was no
significant relationship between Rhodes University’s brand image and its ability to competitively
attract non-academic talent. Therefore there is significant evidence to conclude that the Rhodes
university brand image does not easily extend to attraction of talent.
CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
Discussion of results
31 | P a g e
Page 32
Since there was no relationship between Rhodes brand image and the university to competitively
attract non-academic talent suggestions could be made to the HR department on how to attract
university graduates. The next section reviews suggested strategies that can be used in attracting
non-academic professionals.
Suggested strategies that Rhodes University’s human resources can use to effectively attract
skilled non-academic professionals
HR can always conduct stay interviews in which they can interact with the employee and ask them
regarding their career prospects, their alignment with the company, their feedback regarding their
concerned departments, etc. These feedbacks can be analysed and used for different purposes by
which one can create an internal brand image of the company. The HR department can conduct exit
interviews which carry a fair chance of initiating the chain reaction among the employees. Care
should be taken in analysing the exiting reasons so that organization can overcome the justified
ones in the future.
The HR Department should design policies very strategically. A policy should be designed in such a
way that it holds good even after a long period of time. A frequent internal policy change sends a
message to the outer world that the company is not consistent and knowledgeable and reliable.
Customer orientation focus may help Rhodes University HR department because customers are
always the most important factor. HEI`S workforce are mainly motivated towards delivery of
customer oriented services. These customers can be of either type, internal for example other
departments within Rhodes University or external.
Employee participation which is the oldest trick in HR practice book will help the HR division in its
attracting talent. This is assertion is just as true as the results from the study which have shown that
maximum participation from the employee side, either in terms of internal events participation or
external events would lead to effective attraction of skilled non-academic professionals.
Trained employees are the equivalent of interest on human capital. Therefore the department should
advocate proper training of employees before they are engaged in work. This training should be in
all the aspects like policies, vision, mission, organization. This will project a good picture of
organization on the new employee. These are few to count with but based on the requirement and
strategy, the list may increase or shorten during the training process.
32 | P a g e
Page 33
Limitations of the research
The limitation of this research lies in the fact that I piloted the questionnaire using students thereby
reducing the pool of participants as they were automatically omitted from the actual study. During
my data collection, I faced a challenge in accessing professional employees as access to the HR
DIRECTORY could not be granted in time by the gatekeepers. I however strongly believe the
findings of the results might have been slightly different from what could have been gathered from
the current employees of Rhodes.
If this study was to be repeated, it might be suggested that the participants be employees from
Rhodes University. Justification of doing research using employees of HEIs is because they already
employed but could have chosen other organizations to work for and therefore might outline what
attracted them to Rhodes University.
Students proved not to be good predictors of the relationship between Rhodes University’s brand
image and the university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent as they
Another aspect of data collection that may have affected the results was the difficulty of gaining
participants. Due to difficulty of access, students were used rather that employees
Recommendations for future research
This study has various implications for HR professionals. HR professionals must pay attention to
various needs of employees. Some of them want to see a clear picture of the company. The old
social contract of the employee being loyal to the company and the company taking care of the
employee until retirement no longer holds. Employees are now more responsible for managing their
own careers. According to this study, potential employees still want to see the advancement
opportunities in the companies (Daft R., and Marcic D., 2007).
Another implication for HR practitioners is assessing periodically their brand strength in the labour
market. Employer branding is an integral activity that is used to establish an image of the
organization and communicate this in a number of different ways to either current or potential
employees. So the corporations who want to attract integrators should identify organizational
values, by clarifying the advantages and the benefits of work place. As well as conversations with
the employees to clarify what the organization needs in terms of values, attributes and
characteristics is needed.
33 | P a g e
Page 34
For further research, I have some suggestions to the academicians and practitioners who are
interested in the employer branding concept. A longitudinal study of whether employer branding
leads to brand extension in an organisation exhibited by talent attraction would be ideal and
possibly will be a good indicator of whether this assertion maybe true.
When looking at descriptive statistics, one could argue that a qualitative study would have produce
much depth of the employer brand attributes that leads to talent attraction for HEIs as they struggle
to recruit graduates.
Finally, apart from the fact that several authors highlight the importance employer branding in the
context of human resource management and marketing, I would urge that the aim of the scholars
and practitioners should be finding the integration points of these two disciplines in organisations.
34 | P a g e
Page 35
REFERENCE LIST
Aaker, D. A. (1996). Building strong brands. New York: The Free Press.
Aaker, D.A. and Keller, K.L. (1990), “Consumer evaluations of brand extensions”, Journal of
Marketing, Vol. 54 No. 1, pp. 27-41.
Aaker, D. A., & Biel, A. L. (1993). Brand equity and advertising. Hillsdale, New Jersey : Erlbaum.
Agrawal, R.K., & Swaroop. (2009). Effect of employer brand image on application intentions of
B-school undergraduates, Journal of Marketing 13(3), 245-299
Ambler, T., & Barrow, S. (1996). ‘The employer brand’, Journal of Brand Management, 4(2),
185–206.
Backhaus, K., & Tikoo, S. (2004). “Conceptualizing and Researching Employer Branding”,
Career Development International, 9(5), 501-517.
Bainbridge, J. (1997). “Who wins the national trust?” Journal of Applied Social Psychology
13(1), 21-30.
Balmer, J. M. T., & S. A. Greyser (2002). ‘Managing the multiple identities of the corporation’,
California Management Review, 44(1), 72–86.
Barber, A. E. (1998). Recruiting employees: Individual and organizational perspectives. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
Barber, A. E., & Roehling, M. V. (1993). Job postings and the decision to interview: A verbal
protocol analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 845–856.
Blaikie, N. (2004). Analyzing Quantitative Data. London: SAGE Publications.
Breaugh, J. A., & Starke, M. (2000). Research on employee recruitment: So many studies, so many
remaining questions. Journal of Management, 26, 405–434.
Cable, D.M.,&Turban, D.B. (2003), The value of organizational reputation in the recruitment
context: a brand-equity perspective, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33(11),
35 | P a g e
Page 36
2244-2266.
Chaudhuri, A., & Holbrook, M.B. (2001). The chain of effects from brand trust and brand affect to
brand performance: the role of brand loyalty. Journal of Marketing, 65(1), 81-93.
Cofer, D. (2010). Sector based talent: Attraction and retention. Economic Development journal,
9(2), 40-46.
Collins, C.J., & Stevens, C.K. (2001). Initial Organizational Images and Recruitment: A
Within-Subjects Investigation of the Factors Affecting Job Choices, Center for Advanced
Human Resource Studies (CAHRS). London: Working Paper Cornell University ILR
School.
Collins, C.J., &Stevens, C.K. (2002).The Relationship between Early Recruitment-related Activities
and the Application Decisions of New Labour-market Entrants: A Brand Equity Approach
to Recruitment, Journal of Applied Psychology,87(6), 1121-1133.
Coolican, H. (1994). Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology (2nd ed).
London: Hodder & Stoughton
CorporateLeadership Council (2010).Improving HR Budgeting and Benchmarks.Virginia.Corporate
leadership council.
Corporate Leadership Council (1999).The employment brand: Building Competitive advantage in
the labour market, Washington D.C. Corporate Leadership Council.
Dacin, P.A. and Smith, D.C. (1994), ``The effect of brand portfolio characteristics on consumer
evaluations of brand extensions'', Journal of Marketing Research,31(6) 229-242.
Daniel, B., Turban. D. B., & Greening, D.W. (1997). Corporate Social Performance and
Organizational Attractiveness to Prospective Employees, The Academy Management Journal,
40(3), 658-672
Daye,D.(2007, April 14). Exploring Brand Extension. Branding strategy insider. Retrieved
September 06, 2011 from http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2007/04/exploring_brand.html
36 | P a g e
Page 37
de Chernatony, L. (2001), ``Integrated brand building using brand taxonomies'', Journal of
Product and Brand Management, 6(1), 56-63.
de Chernatony, L. and McDonald, M. (1992),Creating Powerful Brands, Butterworth Heinemann,
Oxford.
De Vellis, R.F. (1991). Scale Development: Theory and Applications. London: SAGE.
Dohm, A. (2000). Gauging the labour force effects of retiring baby boomers. Monthly Labor
Review, 123(7), 17–25.
Doyle, P. (2002).Marketing management and strategy. (3rd rev edition)Harlow: Prentice hall.
Fife-Schaw, C. (1995). Levels of Measurement. In (G. M. Breakwell, S. Hammond & C Fife-
Schaw (Eds) Research Methods in Psychology. London: SAGE.
Gioia, D. A. & J. B. Thomas (1996). ‘Image, identity,and issue interpretation: sense making during
strategic change in academia’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(1), 370–403.
Golden,B.R. & Shortell,S.M.(2002).‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: the impact of
organisational identification, identity, and image on the cooperative behaviours of physicians’,
Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(1), 507–533
Haslam, S. A. & N. Ellemers (2005). ‘Social identity in industrial and organisational psychology:
concepts, controversies and contributions’. In G. P. Hodgkinson (ed.), International Review of
Industrial and Organisational Psychology, Vol. 20(1), 39–118. Chichester: Wiley.
Hatch, M. J. & M. Schultz (2000). ‘Scaling the tower of Babel: relational differences between
identity, image, and culture in organizations’. In M. Schultz, M. J. Hatch and M. H. Larsen (Eds),
the Expressive Organization. New York: Oxford University Press.
Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer based brand equity.
Journal of Marketing, 57, 1–30.
Keller, K.L. and Aaker, D.A. (1992), ``The effects of sequential introductions on brand
extensions'', Journal of Marketing Research,29(1), 35-50.
37 | P a g e
Page 38
Kumar, R. (2005). Research Methodology (2nd ed). London: SAGE Publications.
Lee, J., Miloch, K., Kraft, P & Tatum, L. (2008). Building the Brand: A Case Study of Troy
University. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 17(1), 78-182.
Lievens, F. and S. Highhouse (2003). ‘The relation of instrumental and symbolic attributes to a
company’s attractiveness as an employer’, Personnel Psychology, 56(1), 75–102.
Lievens, F., Van Hoye, G., & Anseel, F. (2007), Organizational identity and employer
framework: towards a unifying framework, British Journal of Management, 18(1),
45-59.
Melin,E. (2005).Employer branding: Likenesses and differences between external and internal
employer brand images.
Mosley, R. W. (2007). Customer experience, organisational culture and the employer brand.
Journal of Brand Management, 15(2), 123–134.
Pitta, D.A. & Katsanis, L.P. (1995),``Understanding brand equity for successful brand extension'',
Journal of Consumer Marketing,12(4), 51-64.
Rynes, S. L. (1991). Recruitment, job choice, and post-hire consequences. In M. D. Dunnette & L.
M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (2nd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 399–
444).
Samuel, E. (2011, July 12). Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands: Apple and Google Top the
Chart. International Business Times. Retrieved from
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/178588/20110712/top-100-global-brands-2011-apple-
google.htm.
Schmemann, S. (2000, August 06).Behind the wheel/Mercedes-Benz CL500; My Car Is Smarter
than Your Car. The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2011 from
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/06/automobiles/behind-the-wheel-mercedes-benz-cl500-
my-car-is-smarter-than-your-car.html?src=pm
Scott, D. (2000). One day and a lifetime of brand lessons. Brand week, 41(34), 30-32.
Shahzad, K., Gul, A., Khan, K.,& Zafar,R.(2011). Relationship between Perceived Employer
38 | P a g e
Page 39
Branding and Intention to Apply: Evidence from Pakistan, 18(3), 462-467
Terre Blanche, M., Durheim, K., &Painter, D. (2006).Research in practice. Applied methods
for the social sciences. Cape Town: UCT Press.
Tubridy, D. (2010). Attracting & retaining top talent through great employer branding. HR Summit
Melbourne Quantum Management Journal,1(2) ,1-31
Van Dick, R. (2004). ‘My job is my castle: identification in organisational contexts’. In C. L.
Cooper and I. T. Robertson (eds), International Review of Industrial and Organisational
Psychology, pp. 171–203. Chichester: Wiley.
Wasmer, D.J., Williams, J.R., & Stevenson, J. (1997). A reconceptualisation of the
marketing mix: Using the 4 C’s to improve marketing planning in higher education.
Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 8(2), 29-35.
Woodruffe, C. (1999), Winning the Talent War. New York: Wileys.
Yoo, B., & Donthu, N., (2001). Developing and validating Multi-Dimensional Consumer-based
Brand Equity Scale. Journal of Business Research. 52(1), 1-14.
Appendix A
Informed consent form
Appendix B
39 | P a g e
