National cultural value models and reputation of MNCs

The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical and empirical comparison of four major national cultural value models for perceived corporate reputation (CR) of multinational corporations (MNCs) across nations: Hofstede, Schwartz, the GLOBE study and Inglehart.

Two consumer surveys on an MNC and on competitors in 25 countries in the year 2015 (n=20,288 and 25,397) were used for the first time to compare the roles of the cultural value models as antecedents of CR, using multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM), which disentangles the explained variances on the country level and on the individual level.

National culture is strongly attributed to individual CR perceptions of MNCs across nations. However, the four conceptual cultural value models explain the variance differently (46.2–84.6 percent) as do particular cultural value dimensions within each model. The results are stable for both surveys.

Novel insights into the roles of cultural value models are provided for international business research. For MNCs aiming to use their CR to attract target groups in foreign countries, this study identifies the most influential cultural value model and particular dimensions.

This study contributes to cultural research by deepening the understanding of the various cultural value models and their importance for MNCs. Moreover, the authors add to the CR research by providing new insights into perception differences and using the still novel MSEM.