An Investigation of Corporate Image Effect on WOM: The Role of Customer Satisfaction and Trust
The use of positive corporate image by companies continues to be a popular method to support the customer satisfaction, and to encourage his/her trust on the company, and lead the customer to own more positive word of mouth about the company and its brand. When the customers have the positive corporate image they focus on aspects of a company, in addition, they usually express it by using the positive words of mouth, and which in turn is considered the goal of any company. The reason that lies behind using corporate image is its direct and indirect strong impacts that build customer satisfaction and makes customers more trust to speak positively about the company. This theoretical paper develops a conceptual framework that explains how independent variable (corporate image) effects on dependent variable which is called word of mouth when trust and customer satisfaction are mediating. A study carried out in Saudi Arabia using 150 respondents as consumers who used any kinds of car service. Path analysis confirmed that, corporate image had positive impact on customers' satisfaction and trust. In addition, the study illustrated that customer's trust had greater positive impact on customer's word of mouth than customer's satisfaction.