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Organisationsidentitet och image - Diskrepans och likriktning

Björkman, Daniel LU and Bakosi, Anna LU (2012) SKDK01 20121
Department of Strategic Communication
Abstract (Swedish)
Många organisationer arbetar aktivt med att kommunicera sin identitet genom värdeord, för att, förutom genom sina produkter, framhäva och placera sig på marknaden. Internet växer som plattform för organisationer att synas för sin publik och detta har lett till att många organisationer använder sin webbplats åt att kommunicera med sina publiker. Inte sällan uppstår dock en diskrepans, där en organisations publik bär på en image som inte överensstämmer med dessa värdeord. Samtidigt som organisationer använder sig av kommunikativa insatser försöker differentiera sig från sina konkurrenter, tenderar dessa kommunikationsaktiviteter, paradoxalt nog, att efterlikna varandra allt mer.
Syftet med vår studie är att identifiera hur sex... (More)
Många organisationer arbetar aktivt med att kommunicera sin identitet genom värdeord, för att, förutom genom sina produkter, framhäva och placera sig på marknaden. Internet växer som plattform för organisationer att synas för sin publik och detta har lett till att många organisationer använder sin webbplats åt att kommunicera med sina publiker. Inte sällan uppstår dock en diskrepans, där en organisations publik bär på en image som inte överensstämmer med dessa värdeord. Samtidigt som organisationer använder sig av kommunikativa insatser försöker differentiera sig från sina konkurrenter, tenderar dessa kommunikationsaktiviteter, paradoxalt nog, att efterlikna varandra allt mer.
Syftet med vår studie är att identifiera hur sex organisationer i olika branscher kommunicerar sina identitetsbärande värdeord via respektive webbplats, och kartlägga vad publikens uppfattningar kring respektive organisations varumärke tycks vara. Vidare har vi undersökt hur en diskrepans yttrar sig, och vad det finns för möjliga förklaringar för detta fenomen. Samtidigt har vi analyserat hur likriktningen tar form och hur den påverkar publikens image.
Genom textanalyser på organisationers webbplatser, samt genom fokusgrupper på organisationernas publik, sprider denna studie ljus på den diskrepans som kan uppstå mellan en organisationsidentitet och dess image, samt ger en förklaring till att kommunikationen kring värdeord kan ses som exempel på organisatorisk likriktning.
Resultatet visar att det går att finna en tydlig likriktning kring organisationers kommunikation kring identitet; främst genom generella formuleringar och genom kommunikation kring socialt och miljömässigt ansvarstagande. Studien visar att diskrepansen mellan publikens uppfattning och organisationens identitet var större när organisationen försökte förändra, snarare än förstärka, sin identitet genom värdeord. De organisationer som tycks ha ett transmissionsinriktat sätt att kommunicera tenderar att se sin publik som okritisk och passiv. Detta resulterar i en ökad diskrepans mellan organisation och publik. (Less)
Abstract
Many organizations communicate their identity through words of value, in order to, other than through their products, expose and place themselves on the market. Internet is a growing platform for organizations to be viewed by the public. Because of this, many organizations use their websites to communicate with their audiences. However, it is common for a discrepancy to arise, where an audience carries an image which does not correlate with the values of the organization. Organizations use communicative measures to differentiate themselves from their competitors. At the same time, these measures tend to, in a contradictory manner, resemble one another even more.
The purpose with our study is to identify how six organizations, in different... (More)
Many organizations communicate their identity through words of value, in order to, other than through their products, expose and place themselves on the market. Internet is a growing platform for organizations to be viewed by the public. Because of this, many organizations use their websites to communicate with their audiences. However, it is common for a discrepancy to arise, where an audience carries an image which does not correlate with the values of the organization. Organizations use communicative measures to differentiate themselves from their competitors. At the same time, these measures tend to, in a contradictory manner, resemble one another even more.
The purpose with our study is to identify how six organizations, in different lines of business, communicate their corporate identities, through words of value on their websites. The purpose is also to map how the audiences of the organizations perceive these brands. Further on, we have analyzed how a discrepancy manifests, and what the possible explanations to this phenomenon could be. At the same time, we have analyzed how the homogenization of these words takes form and affects the image of the public.
Through text analysis on the websites of the organizations, and through focus groups with the audiences of the organizations, this study increases knowledge on the discrepancy that can arise between the corporate identity and the corporate image. It also gives an explanation on how the communicated values can be seen as examples of organizational homogenization.
The results show a clear homogenization concerning the communication about corporate identity; mainly through general formulations and through communication about environmental and social responsibility. The study shows that a discrepancy between the public image of the organization, and the corporate identity was larger when the organization tried to change, rather than, enhance their identity through words of value. An organization that seems to communicate in a way that corresponds to the transmission model of communication tends to view its audience as uncritical and passive. This leads to an increased discrepancy between organization and public. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Björkman, Daniel LU and Bakosi, Anna LU
supervisor
organization
course
SKDK01 20121
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Keywords: Corporate image, corporate identity, neo-institutionalism, discrepancy, homogenization, strategic communication, brand, Corporate Social Responsibility, online communication, internet, creating value Nyckelord: image, organisationsidentitet, neoinstitutionalism, diskrepans, likriktning, strategisk kommunikation, varumärke, CSR, webbkommunikation, värdeskapande
language
Swedish
id
2688557
date added to LUP
2012-08-29 10:51:57
date last changed
2014-09-04 08:36:18
@misc{2688557,
  abstract     = {{Many organizations communicate their identity through words of value, in order to, other than through their products, expose and place themselves on the market. Internet is a growing platform for organizations to be viewed by the public. Because of this, many organizations use their websites to communicate with their audiences. However, it is common for a discrepancy to arise, where an audience carries an image which does not correlate with the values of the organization. Organizations use communicative measures to differentiate themselves from their competitors. At the same time, these measures tend to, in a contradictory manner, resemble one another even more.
The purpose with our study is to identify how six organizations, in different lines of business, communicate their corporate identities, through words of value on their websites. The purpose is also to map how the audiences of the organizations perceive these brands. Further on, we have analyzed how a discrepancy manifests, and what the possible explanations to this phenomenon could be. At the same time, we have analyzed how the homogenization of these words takes form and affects the image of the public.
Through text analysis on the websites of the organizations, and through focus groups with the audiences of the organizations, this study increases knowledge on the discrepancy that can arise between the corporate identity and the corporate image. It also gives an explanation on how the communicated values can be seen as examples of organizational homogenization. 
The results show a clear homogenization concerning the communication about corporate identity; mainly through general formulations and through communication about environmental and social responsibility. The study shows that a discrepancy between the public image of the organization, and the corporate identity was larger when the organization tried to change, rather than, enhance their identity through words of value. An organization that seems to communicate in a way that corresponds to the transmission model of communication tends to view its audience as uncritical and passive. This leads to an increased discrepancy between organization and public.}},
  author       = {{Björkman, Daniel and Bakosi, Anna}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Organisationsidentitet och image - Diskrepans och likriktning}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}