Human resource management’s role in internal

branding: an opportunity for cross-functional

brand message synergy
Timothy W. Aurand
Department of Marketing, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, USA
Linda Gorchels
Fluno Center, Executive Education Center, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, and
Terrence R. Bishop
Department of Management, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, USA

Abstract
Purpose – Many articles and books have been written about building, measuring and managing brand equity – primarily from the perspective of the
marketing function. However, the management of the “internal touchpoints” necessary to deliver on the brand promise has received less attention. The
paper aims to study these.
Design/methodology/approach – A two-wave e-mail survey was administered to business seminar participants. Multi-item measures and a six-
point Likert scale were developed and analyzed to better understand the perceived involvement of human resource (HR) in internal branding efforts and
the relationship between HR involvement and the incorporation of the brand message into work activities and attitude toward the brand.
Findings – In spite of well-documented internal branding initiatives, there appears to be room for improvement among HR departments in terms of
successfully delivering the corporate branding message. However, there does appear to be a strong personal attitude toward the brand among US
professionals, and a strong relationship exists between HR involvement in internal branding and the incorporation of the brand into work activities.
Practical implications – Employees seem to have a more positive attitude toward the brand and are more likely to incorporate this image into their
work activities when there is some degree of HR involvement in the internal branding process.
Originality/value – The successful promotion of the internal branding doctrine may be as dependent on HR initiatives as on those developed in the
marketing department. By involving HR in internal branding projects, firms can better use internal communications to give employees a deeper
understanding of the brand and the role that they play in enhancing the brand promise.

Keywords Brands, Internal marketing, Human resource management

Paper type Research paper

An executive summary for managers and executive supporting the significant impact that HR can have on the
readers can be found at the end of this article. development and implementation of strategic business
initiatives – including the brand promise, remains limited.
Academicians and practitioners can barely envisage the
Introduction impact that someone like Chip Bell, a receptionist at
The human resource (HR) management role in organizations Patagonia, has on the hundreds of customers, suppliers,
continues to grow in importance. As the academic and the retailers, and other stakeholders he comes in contact with
business communities learn more of the dramatic impact that each day. Mr Bell is an 11-time world Frisbee champion,
informed, well trained, and motivated employees can have on environmentalist, and surfing instructor. In turn, he embodies
the successful development and implementation of strategic the Patagonia brand, or as Ind (2001) reports, he lives the
plans, there are increasing calls for HR to become more brand. Anyone dealing with Mr Bell is directly exposed to the
engaged in core business processes (Ulrich, 1998; Becker Patagonia brand message and its inherent value. Patagonia
et al., 1997). While the need for an increased HR role has subsequently benefits tremendously from Mr Bell’s personal
been met with little to no adversarial rebuttal, research commitment to the firm’s brand message, as well as a similar
level of commitment from employees throughout the
company.
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at
Because of the success of firms such as Patagonia, calls
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
have been made for organizations to do more to increase
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at employee commitment and performance through
www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm engagement in branding and marketing efforts specifically
(Mitchell, 2002). Employees who are in consensus with an
organization’s brand are more likely to act consistently in
Journal of Product & Brand Management ways supporting how the organization hopes that external
14/3 (2005) 163– 169
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
constituencies perceive it and its products/services. This
[DOI 10.1108/10610420510601030] belief is consistent with the concepts associated with the

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Timothy W. Aurand, Linda Gorchels and Terrence R. Bishop Volume 14 · Number 3 · 2005 · 163 –169

service-profit chain (Heskett et al., 1994). The experience of Unfortunately, in many organizations there is a
external customers in their interactions with an organization fundamental disconnect between the external and internal
and its products/services are dependent on such internal branding systems:
factors as “internal service quality,” “employee satisfaction,” Many companies do a brilliant job of advertising and marketing to
“employee retention,” and “employee productivity.” By customers. Then comes the hard part; delivering. While they put millions of
dollars into marketing [external branding], most companies invest little to
establishing effective systems for the management of ensure that employees transform brand messages into reality in terms of the
human resources, an organization may engage its customer’s experience. It’s one thing to tell customers who you are and quite
employees in its mission and plans (strategic, tactical and another to show them who you are. Employees have to be engaged to make
the brand come alive. Therefore, the messages sent to employees about the
operational). This engagement of employees in the brand, brand are just as important as the ones sent to customers (Boone, 2000,
leading to their representation of brand qualities to outside p. 36).
constituents is often times referred to as internal branding,
employee branding, or internal marketing (Keller, 2003; Due to the substantial potential for synergy between internal
D’Innocenzo, 2002; Mitchell, 2002). and external branding initiatives, those in both the academic
This study explores the degree to which managers perceive and business communities are devoting more of their time to
that activities typically associated with HR functions are the doctrine. Ind (1997, 2001), LePla and Parker (1999),
utilized in internal branding initiatives, and the impact that Schiffenbauer (2001), Duboff (2001), and Hatch and Schultz
these HR activities have on employees’ personal attitude (2001), all stress the importance of a coordinated internal and
toward the brand and their incorporation of the brand external branding program and the inherent benefits of
message into their work activities. marketing efforts that address not only the needs and wants of
the target market, but the proper hiring, training, and
motivation of those who must deliver the brand’s promise.
Branding, internal branding, employee branding, Examples of business community efforts to develop
and internal marketing synergistic, well-coordinated internal and external branding
A brand is a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a initiatives are readily available in the literature. At 3M for
example, Anne Greer calls the firm’s brand training and
combination of them, intended to identify the goods and
education “The Seven Steps to Mobilizing Employees and
services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate
Maximizing Your Branding Efforts” (Davis, 2000, p. 244).
them from those of competition” (American Marketing
Greer states that “successful delivery of a brand promise
Association definition (see Keller, 2003, p. 3)). A strong
depends on virtually every employee – from the executive
brand has been found to be instrumental in the facilitation of
who runs the business, to the scientist who refreshes a brand
numerous marketing goals including: improved brand loyalty,
through product innovation, to sales representatives and other
brand-based price premiums and higher margins, improved
‘front-line’ people” (Davis, 2000, p. 245).
successful new product introductions, greater shareholder and
Within Hallmark, a group of internal managers is
stakeholder returns, and clear, valued and sustainable points
responsible for brand training and education. Hallmark has
of differentiation as well as the simplification of consumer
regular brand training sessions, a brand-based intranet site,
decision making, the reduction of consumer risk, and the
internal publications, a speaker series, and even daily brand
establishment of expectations (Davis, 2000; Keller, 2003). promise reminders on the start-up screens of employees’
The role of perception in branding is therefore critical: computers. Hallmark consistently focuses on conducting
The challenge for marketers in building a strong brand is ensuring that internal assessments of employees’ perceptions of the brand
customers have the right type of experiences with products and services and
their accompanying marketing programs so that the desired thoughts, with the intent of focusing on gaps between internal
feelings, images, beliefs, perceptions, opinions, and so on become linked to perceptions and marketplace perceptions (Davis, 2000,
the brand (Keller, 2003, p. 59). p. 244).
At the Mayo Clinic new employee orientation is designed to
While branding initiatives most frequently focus on external emphasize and strengthen the patient-first brand promise by
stakeholders, internal marketing, employee branding and/or demonstrating the role that all staff play in affecting patients’
internal branding efforts establish systems/processes and care and well-being (Berry and Bendapudi, 2003).
consequent employee behaviors that are consistent with the Furthermore, at Lexus, sales compensation was changed to
external branding efforts. The terms employee branding and be consistent with the low-key sales process that was part of
internal branding are essentially synonymous in the literature the brand promise (Strout, 2000).
and internal marketing has also been used to describe these The value of a well-coordinated program aimed at
activities and programs (Mitchell, 2002). For the sake of educating and training employees on the brand message and
parsimony, the term internal branding will be used how to incorporate it in their work appears to be growing
throughout the remainder of the paper to describe these significantly. But the importance and specific role of the HR
processes and outcomes. management department remains somewhat cloudy. Through
The concept of internal branding is not new to corporate a wide variety of HR plans, processes and actions, it is
America. Promoting the brand to employees, and educating possible to make a tremendous impact on the branding
them about brand values, is steadily growing in popularity success of an organization. While none of this constitutes a
among corporate giants such as Southwest (D’Innocenzo, revelation – the role of HR in influencing branding (both
2002), Standard Register, Cisco, Ernst & Young (Boone, externally and internally) has been recognized in isolated
2000), BASF (Buss, 2002), Sears, BP, IBM, Nike and Miller ways, ways that are certainly intuitive – the need for HR to be
Brewing (Mitchell, 2002). All are examples of firms that have more comprehensive in its role to support branding efforts has
realized the inherent power of an informed workforce not been recognized a great deal in the literature, nor has it
committed to delivering the brand promise. been revealed in the actions of most HR professionals.

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The work of Gotsi and Wilson (2001) identifies what is involvement and the incorporation of the brand message
necessary to close the gap between what an organization is into work activities and attitude toward the brand, multi-item
saying to its external constituents and what is believed and measures and a six-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 –
practiced by internal constituents. The respondents suggested strongly agree to 6 – strongly disagree were developed for two
that HR management practices such as recruitment policies, of the three basic concepts. Basic HR activities starting with
performance appraisal, and training need to be aligned with staffing and continuing through an employment cycle
brand values to avoid sending conflicting messages. This including communicating, training, evaluating (annual
study looks at the relationship between specific HR internal performance reviews) to ultimately “living the brand” were
branding activities, the incorporation of the brand message all included in the measure. Incorporation of the brand
into work activities and employee personal attitude toward the message into work activities was addressed using six items that
brand to determine the degree to which cross-functional typify managerial activities: time organization, handling
synergy between internal and external branding initiatives is customer requests, staffing, communicating, training and
being realized in the business community. coaching direct reports.
A third measure, attitude, was quantified by incorporating a
Methodology semantic-differential scale used to measure attitudes. The
questions come from the work of Zaichkowsky (1985) dealing
To understand better the relationship between internal
with measuring the involvement construct. Six items were
branding initiatives and the degree to which the brand
selected from her list of 20. All items and scale means are
message is incorporated in work activities, a systematic
presented in Tables I-III.
random sample of 1,177 e-mail addresses was drawn from a
Churchill (1979) recommends that Cronbach’s alpha be the
list of participants from business seminars at a large
primary measure of reliability when assessing the quality of a
Midwestern university. The survey instrument was pre-
scale. Alpha was calculated for both the multi-item scales and
tested (and subsequently modified), by two sections of an
evening MBA class. Seminar participants were contacted by the involvement construct and it is noted in each respective
e-mail and asked to link to a server containing the table. All the scales offered satisfactory results of a . 0:70
questionnaire, then complete it and return it via e-mail. (Peter, 1979).
Two waves were administered, and after adjusting for non-
deliverable addresses, the “true” sample size was 922. Three Table I Human resources involvement in internal branding
weeks after the final wave was sent, the final number of
Statement Mean
completed questionnaires was 201, for a response rate of 21.8
percent. The (brand) values are reinforced through internal 2.53
communications
Description of participants Training is provided to help employees use these values 3.34
Survey participants represented a broad spectrum of the US The skill set necessary to deliver these values is considered 3.28
business community. Business-to-business companies in staffing decisions
represented about half of the participants, with the Annual performance reviews include metrics on delivering 3.74
remaining from companies selling to consumers, the values
government agencies, physicians and others. Nearly 42 Departmental plans include employees’ roles in living 3.65
percent were manufacturers. Company size (in terms of the brand values
number of employees) ranged from fewer than 60 to as many Overall mean 3.31
as 300,000, with mean and median numbers of 7,431 and 500
employees, respectively. A wide variety of business positions Notes: 1 ¼ Strongly agree; 6 ¼ Strongly disagree; Alpha: 0.9102
were also represented. Approximately 22 percent of
respondents were in marketing/sales, 16 percent in general
management, and 15 percent in project management, with Table II Incorporation of the brand message into work activities
the remaining 47 percent spread across positions in
purchasing, engineering, transportation/logistics, Statement Mean
administration, manufacturing, information systems, and I use my knowledge of my company’s brand values to better 3.22
finance/accounting. Over half of the respondents organize my time
represented middle management or higher job levels (25 The brand values influence my decisions on external customer 2.19
percent from middle management, 22 percent from upper requests
middle, and 10 percent from upper management) with an I am confident in my ability to clearly explain the brand values 2.12
additional 16 percent from professionals with no direct to my direct reports
reports. Rounding out the job levels were respondents from
I include information on brand values in the training I provide 2.51
technical specialist, supervisory, team leader and entry-level
to my direct reports
positions. The amount of contact respondents had with their
I know what skills are necessary to deliver on the brand value, 2.59
firm’s customers varied from daily (25.9 percent) to
and use that information in my staffing decisions
irregularly (28.9 percent) to never (16.9 percent).
I coach my direct reports on ways to build the brand values 2.83
into their daily activities
Findings Overall mean 2.68
To understand better HR’s perceived involvement in internal Notes: 1 = Strongly agree; 6 = Strongly disagree; Alpha = 0.9294
branding efforts and the relationship between HR

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Table III Personal involvement in the brand Relationship between HR involvement in internal
branding and the incorporation of the brand message
To me personally, incorporating the brand image in my
into work activities and personal involvement in the
work is: Mean
brand
(1) Relevant-(5) Irrelevant 2.09 While perceived HR involvement in internal branding and the
(1) Valuable-(5) Worthless 1.98 incorporation of the brand message into work activities appear
(1) Fundamental-(5) Trivial 2.16 moderate at best within US businesses, there is a relatively
(1) Significant-(5) Insignificant 2.15 strong relationship between the means of the two variables. As
(1) Appealing-(5) Unappealing 2.16 the findings in Table IV indicate, the relationship between
(1) Essential-(5) Non-essential 2.22 mean HR involvement in internal branding and mean
Overall mean 2.14 incorporation of the brand message as well as the
relationship between mean HR involvement in internal
Note: Alpha = 0.9549 branding and mean personal attitude toward the brand, are
significantly correlated. In other words, respondents who
perceived a stronger involvement of the HR function in
HR involvement in internal branding internal branding were more likely to incorporate the brand
The degree of HR involvement in internal branding was message in work activities and/or had a more positive personal
evaluated using the mean of the five-item measure presented attitude toward the brand.
in Table I. The measure’s mean of 3.31 on a six-point scale (1
– strongly agree; 6 – strongly disagree) does not indicate a HR involvement in internal branding and the
strong degree of HR involvement in internal branding incorporation of the brand message into specific work
activities. In fact, fully one-fifth of the respondents generally activities
or strongly disagreed that brand value training is provide or Not only does a strong relationship exist between mean HR
that the knowledge is used in staffing decisions. More than 30 involvement in internal branding and mean incorporation of
the brand message, but a relatively strong relationship also
percent generally or strongly disagreed that annual
exists between mean HR involvement and each of the specific
performance reviews or departmental plans consider the
work activities tested. In each case a significant, positive
brand values. It is apparent that HR is not heavily involved in relationship can be found, as well as possible opportunity for
the internal branding process, and/or that internal branding is enhance brand integration among American professionals (see
not considered a high priority function at most American Table V).
firms. When asked who within the company delivers the
brand message, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of
Managerial implications
respondents indicated it was top management, followed by
marketing personnel (35 percent), the immediate supervisor The preceding findings offer both timely and timeless insights
(27 percent), and human resources (16 percent). Since into the significance of HR involvement in internal branding,
respondents were able to check more than one response, it is as well as the potential positive impact these activities have on
apparent that in many cases more than one individual in the assimilating the brand message on the job. In other words,
employees seem to have a more positive attitude toward the
company delivers the brand message, and the involvement of
brand and are more likely to incorporate this image into their
HR could be stronger.
work activities when there is some degree of HR involvement
in the internal branding process.
Unfortunately, teaching employees about corporate brand
Incorporation of the brand message into work activities values and asking that they incorporate these values in their
The incorporation of the brand message into work activities is work is not a simple process. HR policies typically focus on
not particularly strong. With an overall mean of 2.68 on a six- the internal workings of a company rather than the
point scale (1 – strongly agree; 6 – strongly disagree), it interconnectedness of these activities with external
constituencies. HR managers may be adept at working with
appears that American professionals do not emphasize the
employees, but not necessarily in the context of fostering
integration their firm’s brand message into their general work brand values. Furthermore, marketing and brand managers
activities, at least at the level one might expect given recent may be adept at communicating the message externally, but
accounts in business and academic literature. not in projecting it internally. At the heart of the problem is a
lack of adequate models for the coordinated marketing-HR
involvement in internal brand building.
A company achieves its greatest advantage when employee
Personal involvement in the brand
actions and brand identity reinforce each other. A desired
Respondents’ attitude toward the company brand was
brand identity may need to change due to market, technology,
stronger than may have been suspected by the human
or organizational shifts. These shifts may demand new models
resource involvement and the incorporation of the brand of HR management, but business systems are often trapped in
message into work activities. The measure’s mean of 2.14 on a the past. The failure to achieve breakthrough innovations in
six-point scale illustrates a relatively strong respondent internal branding may be due to the lack of integration
attitude toward their respective brands, and possible between the marketing and HR functions.
opportunity for furthering the development of incorporation On a strategic level, it may be necessary to weave cultural
the brand in work activities. changes throughout the organization to be able to deliver on

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Table IV Human resources involvement in internal branding and mean incorporation of the brand message into work activities and mean personal
involvement in the brand
Dependent variable Adjusted R2 Beta F-prob Significance
Incorporation of the brand message into work activities 0.414 0.646 137.970 0.000
Personal involvement in the brand 0.223 0.477 58.233 0.000
Note: p , 0:05

Table V Human resources involvement in internal branding and the incorporation of the brand message into specific work activities
Dependent variable Adjusted R2 Beta F-prob Significance
I use my knowledge of my company’s brand values to better organize my time 0.319 0.568 87.539 0.000
The brand values influence my decisions on external customer requests 0.233 0.487 55.757 0.000
I am confident in my ability to clearly explain the brand values to my direct reports 0.252 0.506 56.236 0.000
I include information on brand values in the training I provide to my direct reports 0.319 0.569 70.893 0.000
I know what skills are necessary to deliver on the brand value, and use that information in my staffing 0.325 0.574 71.618 0.000
decisions
I coach my direct reports on ways to build the brand values into their daily activities 0.383 0.622 90.247 0.000
Note: p , 0:05

the brand promise. If a brand promises an understanding of accomplish these ends, both marketing and HR have to
and association with diverse markets, HR may need to be overcome well-worn stereotypes. Marketing must turn its
involved in the selection and hiring of appropriate diversity in attention inward – contrary to the image of marketing as
personnel to deliver this promise. (For example, it may being the externally-focused prodigal son and HR must rise
require hiring people with specific language or cultural above its traditional reputation as an internally-oriented
competencies.) If the promise is one of continual advocate for bureaucracy.
technological innovations, HR may need to be involved in
staffing the research and development (R&D) department Conclusions
with experts capable of delivering the innovations.
Compensation systems that motivate and reward behaviors In spite of well-documented internal branding initiatives by
that support the brand must be designed and implemented. noteworthy US corporations, there appears to be room for
On a more tactical level, the brand may need to be improvement among HR departments in terms of successfully
incorporated into work in more subtle ways. It can be part of delivering the corporate branding message to their employees.
As Mitchell (2002, p. 99) states: “Unfortunately, in most
new employee training and/or departmental training. It can be
companies, internal marketing (branding) is done poorly, if at
translated into specific corporate values that become part of
all” and few companies, “understand the need to convince
initial performance expectations and subsequent performance
employees of the brand’s power – they take it as a given.”
evaluations. And it can influence the priorities employees
On the other hand, there does appear to be a strong
place on managing their time. HR policies and employment
personal attitude toward the brand among American
practices will also subtly influence the brand delivery. It is
professionals, and a strong relationship exists between HR
often said that employees will deliver the service that they involvement in internal branding and the incorporation of the
themselves receive. For both the internal brand and the brand into work activities. This relationship identifies a
external brand, the promise must match reality. For some tremendous opportunity for the HR personnel to work in
organizations, particularly those in adversarial labor- conjunction with marketing personnel to deliver an agreed on
management relationships, the required changes will be brand message to a firm’s employees. Once a clear branding
more difficult to accomplish. message is developed, provided, and repeated, the synergy
For a brand to flourish over the long run, a company should between a well-delivered branding message and the
pursue incremental improvements in employee brand incorporation of the brand’s key attributes into employee
assimilation. A well-crafted brand identity is useless unless it work activities can be realized. Both internal and external
is turned into real customer image through the actions of stakeholders can benefit dramatically by exposure to a
employees. Employees will not do much to reinforce the consistent message cross-functionally delivered through a
brand promise if no one in the organization shares with them wide variety of touch points, resulting in a brand image that is
what is going on and what you expect of them. Together HR consistent, relevant, and powerful.
and marketing can work to make it happen. Certain hurdles Documented work by a number of dominant firms suggests
must be overcome for this to be accomplished. Structural and that a corporate commitment to internal branding exists, but
cultural barriers often impede cross-functional action and this study finds that American firms overall may have not
coordination. These must be dealt with successfully to committed to cross-functionally developed and implemented
facilitate the cross functional effort in presenting and internal branding initiatives. The successful promotion of the
reinforcing the brand to employees. Furthermore, to internal branding doctrine may therefore be as dependent on

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HR initiatives as those developed in the marketing Strout, E. (2000), “Training reps to speak your brand”, Sales
department. By involving HR in internal branding projects, & Marketing Management, Vol. 152 No. 11, p. 109.
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a deeper understanding of the brand and the role that Harvard Business Review, Vol. 76 No. 1, pp. 124-34.
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brand positioning confusion resulting from misaligned construct”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 12,
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promise, that the total impact of the brand can be realized.
Executive summary
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Timothy W. Aurand, Linda Gorchels and Terrence R. Bishop Volume 14 · Number 3 · 2005 · 163 –169

Internal marketing is not just about talking to employees seem to have a more positive attitude toward the brand and
The reason why internal marketing is lessened by the are more likely to incorporate this image into their work
exclusion of HRM is because it is not just about the activities when there is some degree of HR involvement in the
communications. Internal marketing must encompass internal branding process.” If we do not include the HR
recruitment, training and motivation, not just promote the department we are missing a trick – our brand
corporate brand and product. To get the brand message communications are weaker.
embedded in these processes requires HR managers to first,
appreciate the role and significance of the brand and second,
Internal brand marketing is about corporate culture – and that
incorporate such understanding into their process for means people
recruiting, training and managing employees. Finally, internal marketing requires changes in the culture of
So the starting point for our marketing is to teach the HR the organization. We want our people to be excited by the
managers about the brand, its promise and its role in the brand, motivated by the challenge of building and brand and
business. And this begins with opening up the development of rewarded by the successful expansion of the market. For most
brand strategies to the input of HR and vice versa. HR organizations this is an enormous cultural change and
professionals are trained in the understanding and requires the active involvement of senior management across
appreciation of the way in which people work, how they are all functions. The brand values must form part of the
motivated and what matters about relationships. recruitment guidance, the training programme, the reward
To get employee communications and internal brand structure and the motivation of employees.
marketing to work, we have to get employees to buy into the Without the involvement of HR it will be impossible to
brand promise itself – first, by recruiting people who fit the deliver on this aspect of brand management – marketers can
profile of buyers. It is not about our employees being made to develop the strategies but implementation requires HR
use our product, but about them wanting to use the product. involvement and input. Given this it is far better to get HR
At Survival Aids, a UK outdoor clothing and equipment management to work with us in designing the strategy rather
company, employees wear and use the product. Chances are than, as is more often the case, to get them to implement a
that when you ring up, the person on the telephone will know strategy they do not own. For HR people there is the
what it is like to wear the boots or use the sleeping bag. opportunity to get away from the bureaucracy and become
engaged in the more rewarding process of building an
HR people talk to employees more than marketers effective brand culture within the organization.
The next important consideration for internal marketing is Aurand et al. present a call for us to get on with improving
that HR people do talk to employees – and not just when they internal marketing and, in doing so, to get out of our
have a problem. As marketers we face outside the company, traditional functional positions and develop strategies that
concentrating on the target markets for our brand. HR marry the complementary skills of HR professionals and
professionals look inside the business focusing on the means marketers.
to develop employees. The HR people are better at talking to
staff than marketers. (A précis of the article “Human resource management’s role in
Aurand et al. demonstrate that the involvement on HR in internal branding: an opportunity for cross-functional brand
internal branding generates a more positive response from message synergy”. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for
employees. Indeed the authors conclude that: “employees Emerald.)

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