Research of relationship between and mediator roles of corporate reputation, brand value, advertising and corporate social responsibility

The main purpose of this study was to the impact of corporate social responsibility on corporate reputation and brand value. It was also examined in this study that advertising plays an intermediary role in influencing corporate reputation and brand equity. It was assumed that in today's competitive environment, corporations cannot survive or differentiate themselves only with products in the long run. It was believed that institutional social responsibility was one of the most important key factor contributing sustainable profitability, growth and existence for today's corporations by effectively impacting corporate reputation and brand value. The study was conducted with 324 people who were users of one of the three mobile phone service providers/operators currently operating in Turkey. The questionnaire, which was developed by the researcher with a pilot study, consists of Corporate Reputation Scale, Brand Value Scale, Corporate Social Responsibility Scale and Advertisement Scale. In order to research corporate social responsibility's impact on corporate reputation and brand value simple linear regression analysis was conducted. Statistical mediation analyses (via multiple linear regression analysis) were conducted to determine if advertising and corporate social responsibility mediate the relationship between corporate reputation and brand value. In addition, independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to research if GSM users' perception level of corporate reputation, brand value, corporate social responsibility and advertising were significantly differentiated (depending on the demographic characteristics of the study group). As a result of the study, it was found that Corporate Social Responsibility had an influence both on corporate social reputation and brand value. Moreover, it was found that both advertising and corporate social responsibility statistically significantly partially mediate (mediator role) the relationship between corporate reputation and brand value. As a result of the difference analysis, it was observed that woman's, young people's (18-24 years old), and users of X and Y mobile service providers' perception regarding the corporate reputation, woman's, and users of X and Y mobile service providers' perception regarding the brand value, woman's, and users of X and Y mobile service providers' perception regarding the corporate social responsibility and woman's, and users of X and Y mobile service providers' perception regarding the corporate advertisements were significantly higher/more positive than the other groups. On the other hand, it had been observed that education and marital status were not leading any significant differentiation among the users perception of the mentioned scales.