ABSTRACT

Today, it is more complicated and difficult than before for companies to manage their businesses. Under such a circumstance, the corporate advertisements designed to publicize its social contribution or concern about social and environmental problems play an important role in forming its new image or improving its conventional image.

With such basic conceptions in mind, this study was aimed at reviewing the roles of corporate adverting as effective marketing tool under changing market conditions, and thereby, exploring some effective corporate advertising strategies. In particular, this study was focused on the effects of the advertisements by B2B companies, which become more and more important recently. To this end, types of the corporate advertisements by B2B companies were categorized to analyze their effects on corporate images, while the audience's attributes as parameters were selected to determine the differences of the image depending on their demographic variables and psychological factors.

In order to test the hypotheses, a questionnaire was used for a face-to-face interview. The types of corporate advertisements were categorized into company ideology, company activities, public interest and dispute, and a virtual company was selected to produce its advertisement. Then, through a questionnaire survey, elements of corporate image (22 items), consumers' values (socially or individually oriented) (9 items) and their demographic variables were measured.

After all, a total 226 responses excluding 14 unserious ones were used for the analysis. The collected data were processed for factor analysis and Cronbach's alphas before testing of hypotheses, and for 3-way ANOVA for testing of hypotheses.

As a result of the factor analysis, the corporate image could be divided into business manage, business identity and social contribution. These three dependent variables were subject to ANOVA. Since the reliability among measurement items was high enough (.07 or higher) to be admitted by any social science research, all items were used for analysis.

As a result of the analysis, the hypothesis 1 about differences of corporate image depending on types of corporate advertisements was partially supported. In terms of business management image, the advertisements oriented at a public interest was less effective than the other types. In contrast, the advertisements for business activities were less effective in terms of company's contribution to the society than the other types. However, no significant differences of effects depending on advertisement types were found in terms of business identity image.

Next, the hypothesis 2 about different corporate images depending on audience's demographic variables and their psychological attributes was supported partially. In case of business management image, the business factor among the demographic variables was effective significantly depending on types of advertisements, while the interaction between business types and sexes were effective. On the other hand, individual and social orientations among consumers' values were found important variables. The effects of sex was not significant.

In case of business identity image, the interaction between corporate advertisement types and business types was significant, while the interactions among corporate advertisement types, social orientation and individual orientation was significant. However, the interactions between corporate advertisement types and sexes, or among corporate advertisement types, sexes and business types, or between corporate advertisement types and social orientation, or between corporate advertisement types and individual orientation were not significant.

Lastly, as a result of analyzing the social contribution image, it was found that the interaction between corporate advertisement types and business types was significant, while the interactions between corporate advertisement type of social contribution image and sex and the effects related with consumers' values were not significant.

Keywords: corporate advertisement, corporate image, B2B company, consumers' value