The Effect of Corporate Brand Personality on Customer-Contact Employee’s Prosocial Behavior and the Mediating Effect of Brand Identification in Japanese Automotive Service Sector

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of corporate brand personality on customer-contact employee’s prosocial behavior and the mediating effect of brand identification on the relationship between corporate brand personality and organizational commitment in Japanese automotive service sector. Sampling method used was quota sampling. There were 1,061 valid questionnaires out of 1,800 questionnaires which were collected through both post and personal gathering. Data analysis employed including Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results revealed that corporate brand personality had an influence on personal and social identification. Secondly, personal identification had an influence on social identification. However, it had no direct effect on personal behavior but it had indirect effect on prosocial behavior via social identification and organizational commitment. Thirdly, social identification had both direct and indirect effects on prosocial behavior via organizational commitment. Finally, organizational commitment had direct effect on prosocial behavior.