GENDER AND REPUTATION ON INSTAGRAM
Gendered Organizational Identity and Reputation via Instagram: Stories or posts?
Thomai Voutsa 11571675
Master’s Thesis
Graduate School of Coccumincation Master’s Program Communication Science
Supervisor: Dhr. Dr. Pytrik Schafraad Date: 31.01.2019
Abstract
One of the ultimate goals of an organization, especially in regard with communication practices, is positive reputation. Reputation can be achieved through many ways, one of which is identity expression. However, one element of identity, gender, has never been examined in academia in relation to reputation attitudes. This research aims at filling this gap and examines gendered organizational identity and whether it affects organizational
reputation. This relationship is also examined in relation to social media, and specifically Instagram, as it is one of the most prevalent platforms nowadays. More specifically, two affordances of Instagram are examined: paid stories and posts. Gendered identity and medium affordances are examined in relation to six reputation dimensions: workplace environment, product and services, vision and leadership, financial performance, social and environmental responsibility and emotional appeal of an organization. Using an online experiment (N = 191), participants were exposed to four videos simulating Instagram’s environment. Results indicate that reputation is not affected by the gender of the
organizational identity. When examining medium affordances, only posts are effective as they significantly improve all reputation dimensions for both feminine and masculine identity. The results of this research are not consistent with the proposed hypotheses, but the present paper still contributes to communication and organizational theory by underlying that Instagram posts are more efficient way for positive organizational identity than Instagram stories. Regardless of whether an organization is feminine or masculine, communication professionals are advised to invest more time and money in paid Instagram posts in order to achieve the ultimate goal of positive reputation.
Gendered Organizational Identity and Reputation via Instagram: Stories or posts?
Today’s huge technological advances and globalization have changed the
environment in which organizations operate. Due to that, a need for corporations to adapt to the new reality of media exposure and change their branding strategies has emerged.
Corporate branding is the expression of the organization’s visual identity, the organizational personality and the brand promise (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). Corporate branding is of high importance for every organization, in order to gain a competitive advantage, brand awareness among its stakeholders and ultimately good reputation (Firestein, 2006). Positive reputation is the strongest criterion of any organization’s sustainability (Firestein, 2006). As such,
corporate branding and corporate identity are key elements for positive organizational reputation (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). Corporate identity refers to the core, long lasting attributes of an organization, and essentially is a set of attributes that differentiate the organization from its competitors (Gioia, Schultz & Corley, 2000). In the social media era, corporate identity is accessible to every stakeholder (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012) in different ways than with traditional media and becomes open and vulnerable to different interpretations.
As social media became a part of everyday life, one’s abstinence from them is quite unusual. The Internet 2.0-based social media platforms are becoming more and more popular every day. Through social media networks, individuals can express their views, ideas and everyday experiences. As such, social media platforms have become a contemporary way of identity and image expression. Because of their great popularity, social media are a fruitful environment for organizations to massively communicate their identity. Furthermore, since social media presence is a lot about self-presentation, organizations too, attempt to manage their stakeholders’ impression via corporate branding strategies (Russmann & Svensson,
2016). Voorveld, van Noort, Muntinga and Bronner (2018) highlight the importance of context, arguing that different social media platforms have different effects on stakeholders’ engagement with a brand and that different organizational identity attributes are also at play.
At the moment, Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms
worldwide, which enables their users to share their experiences through posts and stories with their followers. Large corporations invest huge amounts of money for corporate branding and advertising through Instagram stories and posts, in order to express their corporate identity and gain positive stakeholder impressions. However, not all enterprises have the same resources. Small-medium enterprises (SME) do not have the capital to invest in both posts and stories in order to express their identity.
Consequently, the overarching aim of this paper is to investigate the most efficient way to express organizational visual identity of SME on Instagram, in regard to the different organizational identity types. Every organization can be identified from certain
characteristics. In this research, the focus lies on gender attributes of organizational identity expressed in Instagram paid posts and stories. Since Instagram became popular only recently, there is a gap in corporate communication literature in regard to this medium. Prior scholars have investigated the concept of social media and organizations in qualitative manners (Guidry, Jin, Orr, Messner & Meganck, 2017; Russmann & Svensson, 2016), for political communication (Russmann & Svensson, 2016), in contrast with Twitter (Guidry et al., 2017) and usually emphasizing the difference between visual and textual expression. As such, a closer examination of the different affordances within the same medium is necessary in order to gain deeper knowledge for Instagram.
Moreover, there is lack of knowledge about the different effects of an organizational identity that is expressed by paid posts or stories on reputation. As reputation consists of
stakeholders’ attitudes towards an organization, its fluidity makes reputation a
multidimensional concept. Furthermore, stories, from their nature, are more playful and short, since their duration is maximum 15 seconds, while posts in the feed are more informative and persistent. Therefore, there is a need to explore the effects of feminine and masculine
organizational identity expression on reputation and the effect of this expression in different medium formats. To investigate this topic, an online experiment was conducted in order to answer to the following question:
What is the effect of SME organizational feminine or masculine identity expression via Instagram on organizational reputation, and how is this relationship affected when the
expression is communicated through stories or posts?
This paper aims to close the academic gap of the visual communication via stories and posts that have not been investigated yet, taking into consideration the concept of gender. Moreover, this paper has remarkable practical implications, as SME can now have empirically proven guidelines on how to manage their budget in order to express their identity on social media more efficiently. Additionally, having the knowledge of whether a masculine or feminine expression leads to different perceptions of reputation, enables communication professionals to plan their strategic image management according to the dimension of reputation they wish to improve.
Figure 1. Conceptual model
Organizational identity and gender Organizational identity
Corporate communication scholars have highlighted the importance of identity as a distinctive internal and external element of corporations. Gioia and colleagues (2000) define corporate identity as the core, distinctive and long-lasting attribute of an organization. It is a collective perception of the organizational members of the characteristics considered to be core and permanent to the organization, and that these are the features that differentiate the organization from its competitors (Gioia et al., 2000). Internally, organizational identity can unite the members that can identify themselves as part of the group and externally, enables the organization to cope with the high competition. Hatch and Schultz (2002) argue that organizational identity is a dynamic social process. The new complex environment that
organizations operate in, leads to an increase of their exposure to the public sphere (Hatch & Schultz, 2002), making organizations social actors bearing features (Gioia et al., 2000).
Organizations are social entities with certain attributes that constantly exchange identity features with their environment in a fluid process (Gioia et al., 2000, Hatch & Schultz, 2002). More specifically, every organization bears features that are expressed in public. Consequently, the organizational identity leaves impressions to the external audience which in return will be reflected in the organizational culture (Hatch & Schultz, 2002). As a result, organizational identity occurs from a dialectic process between the organizational culture and the image that stakeholders hold for the organization. Hatch and Schultz (2002) argue that organizational identity is constantly socially created, sustained and changed by the exchange “between internal and external definitions of the organization offered by all
organizational stakeholders” (Hatch & Schultz, 2002). Hence, as organizations get more exposed to the public sphere, stakeholders have greater influence in organizational identity. Gendering organizational theory
One of the principal elements of identity is gender. The concept of gender is a central institutional element of societal structure (Hofstede, 1983). From a psychoanalytic and societal point of view, when we talk about identity of individuals, the concept of gender is a key element for differentiation and identification (Britton, 2000). In the organizational level, by accepting organizations as legal social entities, one “body” operating in society (Britton, 2000), we can reflect social gender to organizations as well. As such, when we talk about organizational identity, gender is inherent to the nature of organizations, exactly as it is for individuals. According to gendering organizational theory, “organizations are inherently and essentially gendered” (Britton, 2000).
Although, gender in the societal level has been discussed since the first social and psychological theories (Benjamin, 1988), gendering theory on the organizational level has existed since 1990 (Britton, 2000). In today's globalized environment, the increase of technological advancements and social media use empowers individuals and encourages public discourse. As a result, many societal movements spreading across social media brought the idea of gender again in the forefront. As gender issues are more relevant than ever, gender connotations still exist in the minds of individuals. Depending on social gender, the social environment has certain expectations from individuals. Smith and Sanderson (2015) in their content analysis of athletes’ image, argue that social gender roles create expectations in image management in social media environments.
According to Hofstede (1983) although the only activity that is strictly defined by the sex is reproduction, human societies have associated different roles to men only and female only. These socially constructed rules create the division between biological and social gender (Hofstede, 1983). The author suggests that the two biological genders are
differentiated in regard with certain attributes (Hofstede, 1983). Masculinity is associated with independence (Hofstede, 1983, Kam, Katerattanakul & Hong 2014)The importance of showing off, performing, making money and achieving something visible are all stereotypical masculine characteristics (Hofstede, 1983). On the other edge of the spectrum, femininity is related to dependence. The importance of being modest, placing relations with other humans first, helping others, and caring about the preservation of the environment and the quality of life are feminine attributes (Hofstede,1983). Reflecting this in the organizational level, feminine corporations are expected to manage their image differently than masculine corporations, in the same manner as individuals would.
Moreover, in her extensive work in gendering organizational theory Acker (1990,1992a,1992b) moved social gender from the individual level to that of a structure (Britton & Logan, 2008). Generalized cultural set of values form social norms that later define and structure organizational norms (Kam et al., 2014). Masculinity and femininity are both attributes of individuals in society (Britton & Logan, 2008), however when thinking of the fluid dialectical process that shapes organizational identity, social norms can build perceived organizational norms (Kam et al., 2014), as a result, organizations cannot be seen as gender-neutral institutions (Britton, 2000).
In contrast, the concept and subsequent attributes of social gender pervade all aspects of organizational life, such as the structure, practices, images, power distribution, ideology, identity and policies (Acker, 1990). According to Britton (2000), organizations can be gendered in three ways. More specifically, organizations can have gender because they have been defined, formed and structured in reference to gender distinction (Britton, 2000). Second, organizational gender can also describe the extent to which one organization is male or female member dominated or third the extent to which it has been “symbolically and discursively gendered” (Britton, 2000). Consequently, since gender is integrated into the structure of organizations (Williams, Muller & Kilanski, 2012), organizations should be seen as environments in which perceived social gender assets are presumed and reproduced (Acker, 1990).
Taking into consideration the distinctive gender assets of Hofstede (1983) and gendering organizational theory, an organization with masculine identity is expected to be a top dog in its field, with visible achievements, that places profit and the success of
individuals in a high place (Kam et al., 2014). Accordingly, an organization with feminine identity is expected to be an underdog, minding for the relationships with each employees
and others in general, and preserving good quality of work life and environment (Kam et al., 2014) . Additionally, it is important to highlight that, according to Hofstede (1983), all social structures, such as cultures or organizations, have both feminine and masculine
characteristics. However, one of them, the feminine or the masculine, is more dominant. Organizational image and reputation
All corporate strategic decisions and processes are formed taking into consideration the goal of good reputation. “Reputation is the strongest determinant of any organization’s sustainability” (Firestein, 2006; Abratt & Kleyn, 2012)) and every corporation aims to gain positive reputation among its stakeholders. Communication scholars struggle to conclude in one inclusive definition of corporate reputation. Reputation is defined as the combination of identity and image (Davies, Chun, Vinhas da Silva & Roper, 2001; Wartick, 2002; Whetten & Mackey, 2002), as a product of identity and image ( Whetten & Mackey, 2002), as the image of an organization to external stakeholders ( Wartick, 2002; Whetten & Mackey, 2002), or as the organizational identity (Wartick, 2002; Whetten & Mackey, 2002).
In order to clarify the concept of reputation, it is important to understand the role of corporate image. Hatch and Schultz (2002) suggest that image is “the expressed corporate identity that leaves impressions to others”. It refers to what the organizational members wish to communicate to their stakeholders as the most central, enduring and distinctive elements of the organization (Whetten & Mackey, 2002). Therefore, the image is the external reflection of the identity claims of an organization (Hatch & Schultz, 2002) and it includes brand experience, brand relationships and brand communities (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). As such, the expression of the organizational identity is the corporate image that forms certain impressions to external stakeholders over time; these impressions is the corporate reputation (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012, Barnett, Jermier & Lafferty, 2006). Reputation refers to a set of intangible
assets that afford organizations to have a sustainable competitive advantage in the market (Ponzi, Fombrun & Gardberg, 2011). Consequently, corporate identity and corporate image are key elements for positive reputation (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012).
Furthermore, the identity-driven nature of reputation has been recognized by numerous scholars (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012; Agarwal, Osiyevskyy & Feldman, (2015); Barnett et al., 2006; Fombrun & Gardberg, 2000; Hatch & Schultz, 2002,). The generalized impression that stakeholders hold over a company (Lange, Lee & Dai, 2011), is rooted to the organizational history, values, beliefs and actions (Agarwal et al., 2015). Since organizational identity is a complex concept with many different aspects, organizational reputation is
complicated too. Stakeholders’ impressions are intangible and can vary depending on the person and the issue. For example, an organization is possible to be known and favorable for an aspect, while having a negative reputation for another. Consequently, organizational reputation is a multidimensional concept that can be measured only if one takes into consideration the set of different assets encompassing financial, organizational, emotional and social attributes (Fombrun, 1996; Fombrun & Gardberg,2000).
To continue, organizational reputation can be measured according to a firm’s products and services, financial performance, vision and leadership, workplace environment, social and environmental responsibility and its appeal (Agarwal et al., 2015). The products and services dimension of reputation refers to the perceptions that stakeholders hold of the innovation, quality and value for the money of an organization’s products or services (Fombrun & Gardberg, 2000). The financial performance refers to the perceptions of a company’s profitability, risks and its competitive advantage in market (Agarwal et al., 2015). The vision and leadership refers to the extent in which a firm displays a clear vision for the future and a strong management (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). Furthermore, the workplace
environment refers to an organization’s worklife, the quality of its employees and what it is like to work for it (Fombrun & Gardberg, 2000). Last but not least, social and environmental responsibility is the extent to which the firm supports good causes and it is a “good citizen” in regard with the community and the way it treats its employees (Fombrun & Gardberg, 2000). Finally, corporate appeal is the extent to which the corporation is liked and respected by its stakeholders (Agarwal et al., 2015; Fombrun & Gardberg, 2000).
Each dimension is important to different stakeholders (Fombrun & Gardberg, 2000). According to Fombrun and Gardberg (2000), investors are more likely to judge an
organization by its profitability, while consumers, are more likely to judge it by their
experiences interacting with the organization, and observers by how socially responsible they consider it to be. For these reasons strategic image management is important. According to Rui and Stefanone (2013) image management refers to the technique that enables
communication professionals to build a brand, enhance identification, and link organizations with social symbols. Subsequently, image management is a way to create positive reputation, among others, in social media environments. Since image is, ideally, the expression of organizational identity that leads to a positive or negative reputation, it is at the heart of corporate visual communication (Rui & Stefanone, 2013; Russmann & Svensson, 2016).
As was mentioned before, due to the complicated environment that organizations function in, in combination with high exposure, it is important to understand how the expression of corporate identity in the social media environment can affect the overall evaluation of an organization by its stakeholders. Reflecting gendering organizational theory to the reputation dimensions, it is expected that feminine and masculine identity expressions will form different perceptions of reputation. As gender connotations create different
evaluation of an organization will be different as well. A masculine organization aiming for income increase, career advancements and visible achievements (Kam et al., 2014) is expected to be evaluated for its services, leadership and financial performance, because, by social norms, this is related to masculinity. As such, to score higher in the masculine
dimensions of reputation. A feminine organization caring about quality of life, environment and the wellbeing of human relations (Kam et al., 2014), is more likely to be evaluated for its workplace environment, its societal responsibility in a more emotional way, scoring higher in the feminine dimensions of reputation. Consequently, it is hypothesized that:
H1. Feminine expression of organizational identity is expected to lead to positive perceptions of reputation in regard with:
a) workplace environment
b) social and environmental responsibility c) emotional appeal
H2. Masculine expression of organizational identity is expected to lead to positive perceptions of reputation in regard with:
a) products and services b) financial performance c) vision and leadership Social media
Social media have become a widespread avenue for online interactions (Albu & Etter, 2016). Valentini (2015) argues that digital technologies and social media have a social and cultural impact, changing everyday life patterns and communication as we know it. The quick development of “Web 2.0” is the driver to all these changes (Donelan, Kear & Ramage, 2012; Vernuccio, 2014). The term social media, which is based on the Web 2.0, refers to
electronic platforms of digital communication that are becoming more and more popular in this interactive electronic environment (Vernuccio, 2014). This dynamic environment enables users to share visual and textual content in synchronized timing, with the click of a button. In the light of these technological advancements, corporations have found a new fast and
interactive channel to reach mass audiences and express their identity (Vernuccio, 2014). In organizational level, social media can be perceived as an instrument that can be used to decrease the psychological distance between a firm and the stakeholders (Russmann & Svensson, 2016).
Moreover, it is important to make a distinction between visual and textual based communication. Visual communication is an emerging field in communication (Russmann & Svensson, 2016) aiming to understand the production and dissemination of visual content, but also to explain its effect on the contemporary societal, cultural and politico-economic reality (Müller, 2007). Visual content is different from text-based communication (Russmann & Svensson, 2016). Prior research (Barthes, 1977; Blair, 1996; Fahmy, Bock & Wanta, 2014) has highlighted that pictures draw attention more effectively (Blair, 1996), increase retention (Fahmy et al., 2014), create meaning and encourage interaction ( Barthes, 1977). This is possible due to the social media affordances (Treem & Leonardi, 2013). More specifically, social media affordances refer to the relational aspects of technology and the people who use it. The affordances of an object depend on the perceptions that people have for its utility. The materiality of an artifact exists independently of their users. The users however, attach different meanings to it (Treem & Leonardi, 2013). Consequently, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube are all social media platforms with certain affordances, but their users attach different meanings to them, opening the space for different interpretations. Voorveld
and colleagues (2018) highlight the importance of the context, arguing that different social media platforms have different effects on the engagement with a brand.
This paper focuses on Instagram, a social media platform based inherently on visual communication. Instagram was launched in October 2010 and became almost instantly popular among internet users ( Russmann & Svensson, 2016). Russmann and Svensson (2016) explain that Instagram is an internet-based social media platform for sharing images and videos with or without textual content. There are two roles on Instagram: the posters (owners of the profile) and the followers (those who subscribe to posters’ profiles) who get updates of the posts. Since Instagram is suited for dissemination of visual content and reaching large amount of stakeholders, organizations nowadays, join the platform to communicate their identity to their followers and manage their impressions (Vernuccio, 2014). Moreover, Instagram affords a new way of visual content communication: the stories. Stories are videos or images of 15 seconds appearing on the top of one’s profile and are posted for one day. After the expiration of these 24 hours, the content disappears. Having the asset of temporality, stories, in contrast with the posts, do not demand an exhausting strategic preparation.
Furthermore, as it was mentioned before, different social media platforms have different effects of engagement (Voorveld et al., 2018). Thelwall and Vis (2017), in their paper about social media use and gender, highlight the socially constructed differences between male and female users. The authors explain that men and women users adapt their communication styles in different ways, customizing their message for the different medium (Thelwall & Vis, 2017). More specifically, male users tend to have more individualistic and informational ways of visual expression than females, who lean to more relationship-based communication styles (Thelwall & Vis, 2017). Hence, the two genders meet their
communication needs in different ways, even in the same platform. As such, gender
connotations are also spread within social media platforms. Males on Instagram are expected to be more “serious” and informative, while females more communicative, sharing every-day events (Smith & Sanderson, 2015; Trammell & Keshelashvili, 2005). Therefore, the users are in line with traditional gender norms.
To continue, although the gender of the user is not the concern of the present research, reflecting social gender in organizations it is assumed that feminine organizations are
expected to be more playful and conversational with their followers, posting everyday work-life content, while masculine firms are socially expected to be more informative and individualistic. Additionally, with the content of the expression, in line with Thelwall and Vis (2017), masculine and feminine organizations are likely to differ in their choice of medium for the expression. Thelwall and Vis (2017) found that female users post more frequently in Snapchat, a social media platform for visual communication that retains the short posted content only for 24 hours, and males more frequently on Twitter, a more informative platform. Taking all these into consideration it is assumed that the posts on Instagram are a more masculine expression medium and stories more feminine. Instagram posts afford contextual or only visual dissemination of content and their permanent and persistent
character can be identified more to Twitter affordances. On the other hand, Instagram stories are videos or images, with a limited space of text, that their non-permanent and very short features afford a playful and interpersonal communication closer to this of Snapchat. The same with individuals, the medium choice of an organization can reflect identity claims of femininity or masculinity.
This paper explores the paid visual posts and stories, in the form of ads, of SM
stakeholders about the organization. It has been already hypothesized that a feminine organizational expression will increase stakeholders’ positive attitudes about an
organization’s workplace environment, its social and environmental responsibility and the general emotional appeal. Additionally, a masculine expression is expected to increase the attitudes of stakeholders about the services, the leadership and the financial performance of an organization. Thus, taking the social media theory and the concept of gender into
consideration, it is of high importance to investigate whether the medium that the expression of an organizational identity takes place, changes the reputation attitudes of stakeholders about an organization. More specifically, a feminine identity expression in a feminine
medium, like Instagram stories, is expected to increase the feminine reputation dimensions of workplace environment, social responsibility and emotional appeal, while a masculine
expression in a masculine medium, the masculine dimensions of leadership, financial performance and product/services. However, what is the effect on organizational reputation when a masculine medium is used for a feminine expression and a feminine medium for a masculine expression? To investigate these effects the following hypotheses were formed:
Η3. Feminine expression of organizational identity is expected to lead to higher perceptions of positive organizational reputation in regard with the workplace environment, social and environmental responsibility and emotional appeal and this effect is expected to be higher via stories than posts.
H4. Feminine expression of organizational identity is expected to lead to higher perceptions of positive organizational reputation in regard with product/services, vision/leadership and financial performance when the expression is done via post.
H5. Masculine expression of organizational identity is expected to lead to higher perceptions of positive organizational reputation in regard with product/services,
vision/leadership and financial performance and this effect is expected to be higher via posts than stories.
H6. Masculine expression of organizational identity is expected to lead to higher perceptions of positive organizational reputation in regard with workplace environment, social and environmental responsibility and emotional appeal when the expression is done via stories.
Methodology Research design and procedures
An online experimental design has been employed to investigate the effect of gendered identity expression on reputation through Instagram and whether this effect is different when the expression is communicated via posts and stories. The experimental method is the best way to investigate this topic, as the only way to determine a causal relationship and exclude the possibility of other variables affecting the relationship, is
through an experiment. The experimental modality was an online self-report survey. This has two advantages, first participants had the convenience to do the survey in their own time and second dropouts could be easily eliminated. Concerning the sample, a number of N= 191 participants completed the survey, out of the total of 294 people who were gathered, and were used in a non-probability convenient snowball sample. In regard to the participants’ selection, people over 18 years old with sufficient knowledge of the English language were eligible to participate.
At first a pretest was conducted on 30 participants in order to determine whether the operationalization of the variables and the manipulation were actually successful for
conveying the intended image for the experiment. In the actual experiment, the participants were randomly assigned in 5 groups to receive the manipulation; 1) Instagram posts for
masculine, 2) Instagram posts for feminine, 3) Instagram stories for masculine, 4) Instagram stories for feminine, 5) control group. Random assignment and the pretest increase the validity of the results and determine that the differences between the groups are due to the experimental manipulation. Furthermore, to ensure that the participants pay attention to the experimental procedure, an attention check was included. The experiment was available in Qualtrics and the analysis of the data was done with IBM SPSS statistics.
Stimulus
The stimulus consisted of four videos for the four experimental conditions; feminine posts, feminine story, masculine post, masculine story. In the fifth experimental condition, the control group, no video was included, since creating an neutral organizational expression would be difficult and a possible threat for the manipulation. Different photographs were created for the stories and posts and uploaded on Instagram. The videos were created through the use of a screen recorder application, showing all the created photographs among other Instagram content. This was done so as to achieve the highest maximum sense of realism. With the experimental videos, participants were presented to an Instagram newsfeed page, either scrolling to the posts or watching the stories, according to the different experimental condition. The stimulus was tested via a pretest.
Pre-test
A pre-test with a convenient sample (N=30) was conducted in order to examine whether the videos were successful in expressing a feminine or a masculine organizational identity. The participants were presented with all four videos and were asked to identify gendered identity (see Appendix A). The items were measured in a five-point scale from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5). The statements were formed according to the
gender characteristics of Hofstede (1983) that distinguish feminine from masculine. The first five statements indicated a masculine identity expression and the last three a feminine.
Moreover, new variables were computed and a paired sample t-test was conducted in order to determine whether there were statistical differences in the expressions. The results (Table 1, Appendix C) indicated that the participants faced difficulty to distinguish the feminine stimulus, as such the videos were altered for the experiment. More specifically, after the reports of the participants, three more photos were added to all conditions, increasing the number from 3 to 6 photos. Finally, the videos were altered, as Roli’s posts and stories appeared earlier in the video, in order to retain participants’ attention.
Manipulation and attention checks
In the experiment, after presented to the video, the participants were asked to answer two questions for manipulation and attention check. In order to determine that the
respondents were paying attention they were asked to to answer to the following question: “What is the name of the start-up company?”. There were two possible answers “Roki_nl” and “Roli_nl”. Since the attention check question was placed after the video and the
participants were able to watch it again before they answer, only two people failed to give the correct answer and were excluded from the sample.
To continue, for the manipulation check the participants were asked to answer to the question “Did you find the video more feminine or more masculine?” and they were presented with the two options. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the manipulation a contingency table was conducted with the manipulation question and the two types of identity. The results revealed a strong significant association χ² (1, N=165)=47.82, p< .001, φ= .54. Overall, the masculine conditions were easier to identify than feminine. Although the check showed that
many respondents were not able to identify the differences between the two genders (Table 1.) they were not excluded.
An analysis including only the participants who identified the stimulus (N=153) show that the results were the same with the results of the analysis including those who failed to identify the stimulus. As an example, for the first hypothesis a MANOVA analysis was conducted and the findings revealed that identity expression does not significantly lead to positive perceptions for workplace environment reputation, Roy’s largest root =0.01, F (2, 150) = 1.11, p = .333, social and environmental responsibility reputation, Roy’s largest root=0.01, F (2, 150) = 1.31, p = .271, and emotional appeal reputation Roy’s largest root=0.01, F (2, 150) = 1.22, p = .298. All the aforementioned results are not statistically significant, as the results of the whole sample are, which will be analysed below. Because of that the whole number (N=191) of respondents was retained.
Table 1. Manipulation* Gender
Gender
Masculine Feminine
Manipulation Feminine 27 68
Masculine 58 12
Variables
Organizational Identity
The independent variable organizational identity was operationalized in two levels; feminine and masculine. The level of measurement was binary nominal and it was not measured, since it was one of the distinctive characteristic to make the conditions. The four experimental conditions were designed to express either feminine or masculine organizational identity. The two types then were combined to create the gender variable.
Organizational reputation
The dependent variable organizational reputation was operationalized in six dimensions; workplace environment, social and environmental responsibility, emotional appeal, financial performance, vision and leadership and product and services. The
measurement scale was borrowed from Fombrun (1995) in the form that it was used in the research of Agarwal et al., (2015) with high reliability of Cronbach’s alpha=.86. The scale includes 18 items measured in a 7-point scale from (1) “strongly disagree” to (7) “strongly agree” ( see Table 2., Appendix B).
Medium
As a moderator variable, the medium was operationalized in two levels; Instagram posts and Instagram stories and the level of measurement was binary nominal. The two media were presented in the four experimental conditions in order to determine possible change in the effect of organizational identity to the dimensions of reputation.
Results
In order to investigate H1, a MANOVA was conducted, with feminine expression of organizational identity as the independent variable and the workplace environment, social and environmental responsibility and emotional appeal reputation dimensions as the dependent
variables. Findings revealed that no significant relationship exists between feminine identity expression and the aforementioned dependent variables (Table 2), therefore H1 is rejected. Table 2.
MANOVA summary table for feminine expression of organizational identity on reputation dimensions
Variable F df p Roy’s largest root
Workplace environment 1.11 2,188 .333 0.01 Social/environmental responsibility 1.31 2,188 .271 0.01 Emotional Appeal 1.22 2,188 .298 0.01
In order to test H2, a MANOVA was conducted, with masculine expression of organizational identity as the independent variable and the products and services, financial performance and vision and leadership reputation dimensions as the dependent variables. Findings revealed that no significant relationship exists between masculine identity
expression and the aforementioned dependent variables (Table 3), therefore H2 is rejected. Table 3.
MANOVA summary table for masculine expression of organizational identity on reputation dimensions
Variable F df p Roy’s largest root
Product/services 1.79 2,188 .170 0.01 Financial performance 1.83 2,188 .163 0.01 Vision/leadership 0.57 2,188 .566 0.01
To test H3, three two-way ANOVAs were conducted, in order to investigate whether feminine expression of organizational identity will lead to higher perceptions of positive
organizational reputation in regard with the workplace environment, social and
environmental and emotional appeal dimensions and whether this effect will be higher via stories.
The first two-way ANOVA was conducted with feminine expression of organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and workplace environment as the
dependent variable. Findings indicate that organizational identity does not influence workplace environment p = .191, while type of medium has a significant but weak main effect for workplace environment F (1,161) = 4.38, p = .038, η² =.001, with posts leading to more positive workplace environment reputation (M = 4.69, SD = 0.11) than stories (M = 4.37, SD = 0.11). Furthermore, results revealed a significant but weak interaction effect between organizational identity and medium F (1,161) = 4.51, p = .035, η² =.001. Masculine posts led to the highest workplace environment reputation (M = 4.95, SD = 0.84), unlike original expectations indicating that feminine stories would lead to the highest workplace environment reputation (M = 4.43, SD = 0.99).
The second two-way ANOVA was conducted with feminine expression of organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and social and environmental responsibility as the dependent variable. Findings indicate that neither organizational identity p = .235, nor type of medium p = .056, influence social and
environmental responsibility. Furthermore, no significant interaction effect exists between organizational identity and medium on social and environmental responsibility p = .138.
The third two-way ANOVA was conducted with feminine expression of
organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and emotional appeal as the dependent variable. Findings indicate that organizational identity does not influence
emotional appeal F (1,161) = 3.98, p = .048, η² =.002, with posts leading to more positive emotional appeal reputation (M = 4.57, SD = 0.12) than stories (M = 4.23, SD = 0.12).
However, no significant interaction effect exists between organizational identity and medium on emotional appeal, p = .540. As the aforementioned results are not in line with the original expectations, H3 is rejected.
To investigate H4, three two-way ANOVAs were conducted, in order to investigate whether feminine expression of organizational identity will lead to higher perceptions of positive organizational reputation in regard with product/services, vision/leadership and financial performance and whether this effect will be higher via posts.
The first two-way ANOVA was conducted with feminine expression of organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and product/services as the dependent variable. Findings indicate that organizational identity does not influence product/services p = .145, while type of medium has a significant but weak main effect for product/services F (1,161) = 8.51, p = .004, η² =.001, with posts leading to more positive product/services reputation (M = 4.87, SD = 0.85) than stories (M = 4.52, SD = 0.85). However, results revealed that no significant interaction effect exists between organizational identity and medium on product/services p = .571.
The second two-way ANOVA was conducted with feminine expression of
organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and vision/leadership as the dependent variable. Findings indicate that organizational identity does not influence
vision/leadership, p = .376, while type of medium has a significant but weak main effect for vision/leadership F (1,161) = 8.02, p = .005, η² =.001, with posts leading to more positive vision/leadership reputation (M = 4.91, SD = 0.11) than stories (M = 4.50, SD = 0.11).
However, results revealed that no significant interaction effect exists between organizational identity and medium on vision/leadership, p = .509.
The third two-way ANOVA was conducted with feminine expression of
organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and financial performance as the dependent variable. Findings indicate that neither organizational identity p = .053, nor type of medium p = .258 influence financial performance. Moreover, results also revealed that no significant interaction effect exists between organizational identity and medium on financial performance, p = .867. As the aforementioned results are not in line with the original expectations, H4 is rejected.
To answer H5, three two-way ANOVAs were conducted, in order to investigate whether masculine expression of organizational identity will lead to higher perceptions of positive organizational reputation in regard with product/services, vision/leadership and financial performance and whether this effect will be higher via posts.
The first two-way ANOVA was conducted with masculine expression of
organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and product/services as the dependent variable. Findings indicate that organizational identity does not influence
product/services p = .145, while type of medium has a significant but weak effect for product/services F (1,161) = 8.51, p = .004, η² =.001, with posts indeed leading to more positive product/services reputation (M = 4.87, SD = 0.85) than stories (M = 4.52, SD = 0.85). However, results revealed that no significant interaction effect exists between organizational identity and medium on product/services p = .571.
The second two-way ANOVA was conducted with masculine expression of
organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and vision/leadership as the dependent variable. Findings indicate that organizational identity does not influence
vision/leadership, p = .376, while type of medium has a significant but weak effect for vision/leadership F (1,161)= 8.02, p= .005, η²=.001, with posts indeed leading to more positive vision/leadership reputation (M = 4.91, SD = 0.11) than stories (M = 4.50, SD = 0.11). However, results revealed that no significant interaction effect exists between organizational identity and medium on vision/leadership, p = .509.
The third two-way ANOVA was conducted with masculine expression of
organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and financial performance as the dependent variable. Findings indicate that neither organizational identity p = .053, nor type of medium p = .258 influence financial performance. Moreover, results also revealed that no significant interaction effect exists between organizational identity and medium on financial performance, p = .867. While posts indeed lead to more positive organizational reputation, gendered identity does not, thus H5 is rejected.
To test H6, three two-way ANOVAs were conducted, in order to investigate whether masculine expression of organizational identity will lead to higher perceptions of positive organizational reputation in regard with the workplace environment, social and
environmental and emotional appeal and whether this effect will be higher via stories. The first two-way ANOVA was conducted with masculine expression of
organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and workplace environment as the dependent variable. Findings indicate that organizational identity does not influence workplace environment p = .191, while type of medium has a significant but weak effect for workplace environment F (1,161) = 4.38, p = .038, η² =.001, with posts leading to more positive workplace environment reputation (M = 4.69, SD = 0.11) than stories (M = 4.37, SD = 0.11). Furthermore, results revealed a significant but weak interaction effect between organizational identity and medium F (1,161) = 4.51, p = .035, η² =.001. Masculine posts led
to the highest workplace environment reputation (M = 4.95, SD = 0.84), unlike original expectations indicating that masculine stories would lead to the highest workplace environment reputation (M = 4.30, SD = 1.20).
The second two-way ANOVA was conducted with masculine expression of organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and social and
environmental responsibility as the dependent variable. Findings indicate that organizational identity does not influence social and environmental responsibility p = .235, while type of medium has a marginally non-significant effect p = .056. Furthermore, no significant interaction effect exists between organizational identity and medium on social and environmental responsibility p = .138.
The third two-way ANOVA was conducted with masculine expression of
organizational identity and medium as the independent variables and emotional appeal as the dependent variable. Findings indicate that organizational identity does not influence
emotional appeal p = .366. Type of medium has a significant but weak main effect for emotional appeal F (1,161) = 3.98, p = .048, η²=.002, with posts leading to more positive emotional appeal reputation (M = 4.57, SD = 0.12) than stories (M = 4.23, SD = 0.12).
However, no significant interaction effect exists between organizational identity and medium on emotional appeal, p = .540. As the aforementioned results are not in line with the original expectations, H6 is rejected.
Discussion
The overarching aim of this paper was to examine the effect of gendered
organizational identity expression on organizational reputation and whether the medium in which the expression takes place influences this effect. In the research model (Figure 1) it was proposed that feminine and masculine organizational identity would result to positive
attitudes on different dimensions of reputation. Moreover, the gendered media affordances were taken into consideration to investigate whether Instagram stories and posts can influence the original relationship between identity expression and reputation attitudes of stakeholders. The results suggest that feminine and masculine organizational identity do not increase different dimensions of reputation. However, when the medium of the expression is at play, the relationship changes, revealing that Instagram posts are the most suited way for
organizations to express their identity.
To begin with, feminine and masculine identity expressions do not have different effects on organizational reputation. The first two hypotheses suggested that feminine expression of identity would create more positive reputation attitudes among stakeholders in regard with the workplace environment, social and environmental responsibility and
emotional appeal, while masculine expression would create more positive attitudes for financial performance, vision and leadership and product and services. The two identity expressions did not affect reputation. These outcomes disprove the hypotheses, contrary to literature (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012; Agarwal et al., 2015; Barnett et al., 2006; Fombrun et al., 2000; Hatch & Schultz, 2002). Literature suggests that identity expression leaves impressions on stakeholders and eventually over time forms reputation attitudes (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012; Hatch & Schultz, 2002). In this study, participants were asked to form reputation attitudes by being exposed to a stimulus once- thus the element of over time is missing. This can explain the results that identity expression does not influence reputation.
Moreover, identity consists of many elements and characteristics, one of which is gender. In this paper, identity was operationalized as gendered identity; the only identity characteristic communicated was gender. Only gendered identity was measured, as gendered characteristics are present in all organizations, as are with individuals, and this construct was
never examined before in academia in relation to reputation. As there is no frame of reference in regard with this construct, it can be assumed that as identity cannot influence reputation in one stimulus, only the added element of gender cannot overcome this problem and influence stakeholders’ reputation attitudes.
Additionally, another reason why gendered identity did not influence reputation attitudes might be that gender perceptions are highly subjective. Gender connotations do form gender characteristics and assumptions, but one cannot exclude the subjective factor. Albu and Etter (2016) argue that once a user publishes information in social media, they lose the control over the message. Therefore while an organization might use social media to communicate their feminine or masculine identity, the subjective factors create a fruitful ground for individuals to perceive organizational identity differently and form attitudes in unpredictable ways. Hence, what people consider as masculine or feminine is highly personal, especially when there is open space for different interpretations.
To continue, although the main effect was not supported, the participants’ perceptions of reputation were different when the medium was taken into consideration. More
specifically, the results revealed a pattern in the way that people exposed to stories or posts form their reputation perceptions for organizations, regardless of the gender of the
organizational identity. In the third hypothesis it was proposed that the characteristics of Instagram stories, when used to express a feminine organizational identity, would form more positive reputation attitudes than posts in regard with the feminine dimensions of reputation. The results did not support that. The reputation attitudes of participants for workplace
environment, emotional appeal and social and environmental responsibility were higher when the expression of feminine identity was done via Instagram posts. In the same logic, the following assumptions were confirmed. The analysis revealed that the masculine dimensions
of reputation were more positive when both feminine and masculine organizational identity were expressed via posts. Last but not least, in the last hypothesis it was assumed that for a masculine identity expression the most suited way to increase positive attitudes for the feminine dimensions of reputation would be the Instagram stories. This hypothesis was rejected; participants held more positive attitudes for the emotional appeal of an organization, its social and environmental responsibility and workplace environment when the expression was done by posts. Hence, whether the expression of organizational identity is feminine or masculine, the research results show that every dimension of reputation is higher when the expression is done by Instagram posts and not stories; a medium bearing more masculine characteristics.
These results were interestingly surprising. Prior research has identified differences in both gender expression (Smith & Sanderson, 2015; Trammell & Keshelashvili, 2005) and choice of the medium (Thelwall & Vis, 2017). As such it was assumed that in order to achieve positive reputation, organizations need to meet the respective socially constructed gender expectations. The results were contradictory. Two possible explanations can be lying in Hofstede’s (1983), distinctive characteristics of gender and the medium itself. Firstly, masculinity is characterized by prioritizing profit and success and is associated with the tendency of making achievements visible (Kam et al., 2014). These stereotypically masculine features in a masculine medium, as posts, are likely to enable an easier formation of positive attitudes towards an organization in contrast with stories. More specifically, posts by nature match the masculine features as described by Hofstede (1983) affording a more
straightforward and informative message (Thelwall & Vis, 2017). Secondly, the prevalence of post over story for both feminine and masculine identities is likely to be caused by the affordance itself. Stories afford an interpersonal and more informal expression, however,
possibly 15 seconds of identity expression are not enough to form impression and reputation attitudes. As a result the technical features of posts are more suited for the expression of organizational identity aiming to impact stakeholders’ positive attitudes.
Limitations- Future research
Regarding the limitations of the paper, the attention should be addressed in the fact that this experiment does not include an important element for the formation of reputation attitudes, the longitudinal exposure to the identity expression, which should be addressed in future research. Moreover, the manipulation check was not successful, as the gender
manipulation proved to be unclear and a part of the sample responded wrong. The
participants who failed to identify the gender of the organizational identity were not excluded from the analysis, in order to maintain the research conditions as close to reality as possible. This decision was made because of the complexity and subjectivity that gender perceptions imply. Moreover, the present research is a narrow exploratory look of different affordances within the same medium. It is possible that more solid and confident inferences could be drawn if Instagram stories and posts were in comparison with another medium with the same affordances. Last but not least, in the model two levels of gender were included for the organizational identity and the medium. For future research it would be interesting to add a third level, the gender of the receiver, as it can play a part in the relationship.
Conclusion
To conclude, the reputation attitudes of stakeholders about workplace environment, product and services, vision and leadership, financial performance, social and environmental responsibility and emotional appeal of an organization are not affected by the gender of the organizational identity. However, when the medium where the expression of identity is held is at play, all of the reputation dimensions are significantly higher for both feminine and
masculine identity when the expression is done via post. Although the results are not in consistency with all the proposed hypotheses, the present research still contributes to communication and organizational theory by underlying that Instagram posts are more efficient way for positive organizational identity than Instagram stories. Regardless whether an organization is feminine or masculine, communication professionals are advised to invest more time and money in paid Instagram posts in order to achieve the ultimate goal of positive reputation.
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Appendix A
Participants exposed to the pretest were presented with all four experimental condition videos and were asked to answer the following questions:
“ Please indicate to what extent you agree or disagree with the following statements” o ROLI is showing off
o For ROLI performance is important
o For ROLI public achievements are important o For ROLI profit is important
o For ROLI success of individuals is important o For ROLI relationships with others are important
o For ROLI the preservation of the environment is important o For ROLI the quality of Life is important
Appendix B
Dear participant,
Thank you very much for your interest!
Visual communication in social media environments is a new hot topic in communication. This study is concerned with your attitudes towards organizations on Instagram and it will take approximately 10 minutes. In order to be eligible to participate in the following study you have to be over 18 years old and have a sufficient knowledge of the english language.
Please note that as this research is being carried out under the responsibility of the ASCoR, University of Amsterdam, we can guarantee that your answers are fully anonymous, feel free to answer according to your opinions and attitudes. Moreover, participation is voluntary. You can deny participation or withdraw at anytime. You also have up to 24 hours after
participating to withdraw your permission to allow your answers or data to be used in the research. Participating in the study will not entail you being subjected to any risk or
discomfort, the researchers will not deliberately mislead you, and you will not be exposed to any explicitly offensive material.
Should you have any questions, you are more than welcome to contact the principal investigator of this study Thomai Voutsa (thomai.voutsa@student.uva.nl).
In case of any complaints or comments about the course of the research and the procedures it involves as a consequence of your participation in this research, you can contact the
designated member of the Ethics Committee representing ASCoR, at the following address: ASCoR Secretariat, Ethics Committee, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15793, 1001 NG Amsterdam; 020‐525 3680; ascor‐secr‐fmg@uva.nl. Any complaints or comments will be treated in the strictest confidence.
Informed participants
I hereby declare that I have been informed in a clear manner about the nature and method of the study.
I agree, fully and voluntarily, to participate in this research study. With this, I retain the right to withdraw my consent, without having to give a reason for doing so. I am aware that I may quit my participation in this experiment at any time.
In case that my research results are used in scientific publications or are made public in another way, this will be done in such a way that my anonymity is absolutely guaranteed. My personal data will not be passed on to any third party without my expressed permission. If I wish to receive more information about the research, either now or in future, I can contact Thomai Voutsa. Should I have any complaints about this research, I can contact the
address: ASCoR secretariat, Ethics Committee, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15793, 1001 NG Amsterdam; 020‐525 3680; ascor‐secr‐fmg@uva.nl.
Please check the box to verify that you have read and understood the information provided to you concerning the aim of the study, anonymity, and the possibility to withdraw. After that, please click on the button “next” ( -> ) to proceed to the questionnaire. Going back to previously answered questions is not possible.
o Yes, I have read and understood the participation statement on this page.
Control group
ROLI is a music technology start-up based in London. The company was founded in 2009 and it is engineering a large variety of next-generation musical instruments and tools. One of ROLI's first best sellers was the Seaboard, a remodeled piano keyboard launched in 2013. In the 10 years of operating in the music industry the start-up managed to introduce many innovations such as the NOISE, a free app that can turn a smartphone into a musical instrument and the Blocks, a modular music making system that enables customization.
Experimental conditions
At the following video you will be presented to an Instagram page and ROLI's sponsored post.
