INDICATORS OF THE CORPORATE IMAGE IN THE SERVICE SECTOR - A SURVEY OFNEW CLIENTS OF A LIFE-INSURANCE COMPANY

From a retrospective perspective, this study investigates the concept of corporate image in intangible services with data collected from 474 new clients of a life insurance company. The study identifies a set o f four factors that signal image to customers, namely in order of impo rtance, the quality of service, the physical environment where the ser vice is produced and consumed the company's communication strategy and corporate identity. The dominant role of service quality and tangible elements in the process of corporate image formation is underlined Th e implications for tracking and building corporate image in service fi rms are discussed.