| Popis: |
While the gap between desired identity [how organisations present their identities to the public] and actual identity [how employees perceive organisations' corporate identities] has been explored to a great extent in the corporate identity literature, there is a lack of empirical evidence into how customers perceive companies' corporate identities [perceived identity]. In order to address this apparent gap, the aim of this thesis is to examine the role of corporate identity in the UK's fast fashion retail sector [H&M, Zara, Primark, Topshop / Topman] by exploring customers' perceptions of corporate identity and analysing the gap between desired identity and perceived identity. Building upon recent developments in the literature on corporate identity, a number of key constructs have been identified. To explore these empirically, case study research approach has been employed based on documentation analysis, interviews and survey questionnaire. Fashion retailers' desired identities were derived from case companies' secondary sources which are available from the public domain. Customers' perceived identities were generated from forty semi-structured interviews with fashion customers in the preliminary stage of the study. Survey was then used to further measure customers' perceptions of retailers' corporate identities. Research procedures were employed to ensure the reliability and validity of the questionnaire have been achieved. A response of 442 research sample was achieved. The results show that customers' interpretation of corporate identity can be attained, especially within the fast fashion retail sector where customers can identify all aspect of the retailers. Moreover, the main findings suggest that desired-perceived identity gap exists in all case companies with some cases were apparent than others. The outcomes of this study contribute to the literature of corporate identity and fast fashion retailing as it investigates the ways in which customers perceive retailers' corporate identities in the U.K. fast fashion retail sector. The thesis also provides fruitful insights for the fast fashion retailers in managing their corporate identities. |
