A new concept, emerging with the phenomenon of social media, is ‘online reputation’, the reputation of a company established in the Internet. According to some authors online reputation is primarily build by search engines like Google, which enable people to find content online. This is in line with the social media marketing consultancy O2Nxt, which remarks that “increasing, a product’s quality and what a brand stands for is determined by Google”.
The major importance about online reputation is that the behavior a company has online and the way it is perceived by its audience has a severe influence on its image. This means that a positive online reputation can potentially strengthen the corporate image and enhance the competitive advantage of a firm. But, vice versa, a negative online reputation can potentially harm a company as well. Therefore, companies need to rethink their approach to corporate communications in order to build and protect their online reputation.
