Stakeholder relationships, brand equity, firm performance: A resource-based perspective

The present research investigates the links among stakeholder relationships, corporate brand equity, and firm performance. Using the resource-based theory (RBT), the authors propose an integrative conceptual framework in which a firm's relationships with multiple stakeholders drive corporate brand equity, which then leads to firm performance. The empirical analysis features firm-level, secondary data from a sample of 282 firm-year observations obtained from 81 multinational companies during 2005-2008. The empirical results indicate a positive relationship between the quality of stakeholder relations and brand equity. Furthermore, brand equity mediates the link between stakeholder relations and firm performance. This research thus offers new insights into the strategic effects of stakeholder relationships in a brand domain.