An exploratory case study of the use of internal marketing in an expanding Irish regional airline: understanding cross-cultural processes of employee identification with a brand

N'Diaye, Astou (2018) An exploratory case study of the use of internal marketing in an expanding Irish regional airline: understanding cross-cultural processes of employee identification with a brand. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

In an inherently unstable and competitive market, sustainable strategies are essential for the airline service industry. The role of employees becomes every more important as interactions with passengers are seen as the essence of how consumers perceive the brand. This has extended traditional ideas of the marketing mix to focus marketing activity with a company as internal marketing. Marketing thus overlaps with human resource functions to encourage employee-brand identification that can be part of a company culture entirely focused on providing customer satisfaction. To date, academic work in this area has been conceptual. There has been insufficient focus within marketing research on how internal marketing might best be utilised. This dissertation describes an exploratory case study of how internal marketing can address the quality of employee-brand identification. This subject of the case study was an Irish regional airline that had acquired new bases in Scandinavia. Data were collected from ninety participants who were newly-recruited airline staff at three Scandinavian bases. Ten focus groups were conducted and data were analysed using focus-group-specific analytic techniques inspired by grounded theory methods. The analysis yielded fifteen themes that were organised under four superordinate themes: Belonging to CityJet, Knowing who we work for, Different in our sameness: developing a new culture, and Knowing what has to be done. Findings indicated interactive processes of internal communication and employee-brand identification, while serving to highlight how these processes both emerge from and impact on company culture. This was clear evidence of the theoretical link between internal marketing and customer satisfaction. Interesting insights are offered in terms of how this can be mediated by the degree to which employees experience a sense of internal company identity, and how company culture can be constructed through reciprocal internal communication. Limitations and suggestions for future research are explored.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Specific Industries > Aviation Industry H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing > Branding H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing
Divisions:	School of Business > Master of Science in Marketing
Depositing User:	Caoimhe Ní Mhaicín
Date Deposited:	09 Jan 2020 15:01
Last Modified:	09 Jan 2020 15:01
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/4126

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