CORPORATE REPUTATION IN THAILAND : AN ANALYSIS OF INDICATORS

Abstract

This research, “Corporate Reputation in Thailand: An Analysis of Indicators”, examines  indicators to  measure  reputation for 16 different industries, in four major sectors: consumer goods and services, health care, tourism and manufacturing. Focusing on Thailand’s private sector, the study’s objectives are to determine what indicators consumers of these industries’ products and services as well as the public in general use to determine their attitudes towards different businesses and companies. A  quantitative method  was  employed  in which  a sample  of  2500  persons completed  a survey  questionnaire. The sample includes respondents from Bangkok and provinces representing the country’s four regions: Central –  Chonburi; Northern – Chiang Mai; Northeastern – Nakhorn Ratchasima; and Southern – Songkhla.

The Rep-Trak®   Scorecard with   23   attributes, divided   into seven factors and four characteristics was employed.  The data from these standardized Rep-Trak® Scorecard developed by the Reputation Institute   were   analyzed using   SPSS   for   Windows.   The   data in- cluded descriptive statistics, including number, percentage, mean and deviation, and inferential statistics for multiple regression.

Research results showed that the businesses with a strong positive reputation displayed, or reflected,   four   characteristics: esteem, admiration, trust, and liking.  All of the businesses had esteem as their highest characteristic indicator except fashion and clothing, which had liking ranked the first. The results also found that the most important indicators for measuring business reputation in Thailand were products and services. The other indicators were likely to  have  less influence  on  a business reputation and good governance showed no influence on a business reputation  in  Thailand  in  this  study  of  16  differ- ent industries. The respondents all showed different attitudes in  the  answers about the  industries.