Issue management and brand reputation in real estate sector in Turkey

The real estate sector has a position that significantly affects the country's economy. Therefore, in this study, it was aimed to evaluate the effect of issue management practices in the real estate sector on brand reputation. Issue management is very important in terms of preventing possible crises that may occur as a result of the pressure of the stakeholders on the corporations, and increasing the compliance by reducing the conflicts that may arise as a result of wrong corporational practices. These negative processes can cause changes in brand reputation perception. Therefore, issue management has a direct impact on ensuring brand reputation. In this context, research questions were created on the basis of the five-stage issue management model of Kerry Tucker and Bill Trumpfheller (1993), and a descriptive analysis of the impact of issue management on brand reputation was carried out by field research conducted in real estate companies. The data of the research were obtained by semi-structured interview method. A total of 9 unit managers who accept the research from real estate companies operating in Istanbul are included. According to the results; It has been determined that issue management significantly affects brand reputation. It has been evaluated that it is critical to identify the problems or crises that will damage the brand reputation with the issue management before they emerge, It is stated that all technics in this field will directly affect brand reputation. It has been determined that the determination of the persons who will be authorized to improve the position of the corporation differs in the companies and in some companies it is deficient. Companies have been making plans against the issues that may arise in the political environment and they have taken precautionary measures recently. In terms of brand reputation, it was determined that they remained at an equal distance to each political segment. It has been evaluated that it is impossible to fully foresee issues, that the country's internal dynamics can be easily affected by global events, and that issue management increases the brand reputation as well as it can be an important protector against opportunities and threats. Keywords: Issue Management, Brand Reputation