Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 23, 2026
08:27
Applying an eMASS Customization Program as a Research Tool to Evaluate Consumer Benefits
Published on: September 27, 2019
Examining corporate reputation judgments with generalizability theory.
Scott Highhouse1, Alison Broadfoot, Jennifer E Yugo
1Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA. shighho@bgnet.bgsu.edu
The Journal of Applied Psychology
|May 20, 2009
Summary
Corporate reputation judgments are reliable, according to generalizability theory. Experts agree on how they weigh corporate performance, supporting reputation construct theory and enabling stable global reputation estimates.
Area of Science:
- Business Administration
- Organizational Behavior
- Marketing
Background:
- Contemporary corporate reputation literature lacks empirical validation of its theoretical constructs.
- Understanding the reliability of reputation judgments is crucial for accurate corporate assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To apply generalizability theory to assess the consistency of corporate reputation judgments.
- To determine if these judgments align with current corporate reputation theories.
Main Methods:
- University professors (n=86) from finance, marketing, and human resources management provided repeated judgments on the general reputations of prominent American corporations.
- Generalizability theory was employed to analyze the sources of variability in these judgments.
Main Results:
- Minimal judgment variability was attributed to items, time, individuals, and specialization fields.
- Experts across different fields demonstrated significant agreement in evaluating corporate performance aspects for global reputation.
Conclusions:
- The findings generally support the theoretical construct of corporate reputation.
- Stable global reputation estimates are achievable using a limited number of items and experts.
Related Concept Videos
01:15Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory
Correspondent inference theory, proposed by Jones and Davis in 1965, seeks to explain how individuals infer stable personality traits from observed behaviors. It suggests that people attribute actions to underlying dispositions rather than external circumstances, particularly when the behavior appears intentional and socially significant.Voluntary Behavior and Dispositional AttributionAccording to this theory, individuals are more likely to attribute behavior to personal traits when it appears...
01:29Theory of Attribution II: Kelley's Covariation Theory
Attribution theory plays a crucial role in social psychology, helping to explain how individuals interpret the causes of behavior. One prominent model within this field is Harold Kelley's covariation theory, which provides a systematic approach to determining whether internal traits or external circumstances drive a person's actions. The model posits that individuals rely on three key types of information—consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness—to make these judgments.Consensus: Comparing...
00:56Attribution Theory
Behavior is a product of both the situation (e.g., cultural influences, social roles, and the presence of bystanders) and of the person (e.g., personality characteristics). Subfields of psychology tend to focus on one influence or behavior over others. Situationism is the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings. In contrast, dispositionism holds that our behavior is determined by internal factors (Heider, 1958). An internal factor is an...
02:13The Representativeness Heuristic
The representative heuristic describes a biased way of thinking, in which you unintentionally stereotype someone or something. For example, you may assume that your professors spend their free time reading books and engaging in intellectual conversation, because the idea of them spending their time playing volleyball or visiting an amusement park does not fit in with your stereotypes of professors.
01:14Fundamental Attribution Error
According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is called the fundamental attribution...
02:16Stereotype Content Model
The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) was first proposed by Susan Fiske and her colleagues (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick & Xu, 2002; see also Fiske, 2012 and Fiske, 2017). The SCM specifies that when someone encounters a new group, they will stereotype them based on two metrics: warmth—or that group’s perceived intent, and how likely they are to provide help or inflict harm—and competence—or their ability to carry out that objective. Depending on the warmth-competence categorization, a person will feel...