ABSTRACT

Background: The turbulent market environment has warranted companies to look for ways to sustain business
operation. Corporate image is the way the organization members believe others to perceive their organization. In the
study, companies use corporate identity and corporate reputation strategy to build their corporate image. Furthermore,
competitive advantage is seen as the ability of the organization through their business strategy outperforms their
rivals in the same industry. In the study, cost leadership and differentiation were used as a strategy to have competitive
advantage. The study looks at how corporate image strategy will help firms to compete favorably in the unstable market
environment. Much work has been done by scholars in the area of competitive advantage without much emphasis on
corporate image strategy as a tool to achieve competitive advantage in developing countries like Nigeria especially in the
telecommunication industry.
Objective: The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between corporate image and competitive advantage
in mobile telecommunication industry in Nigeria.
Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Data were obtained from 38 managers in
the selected telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt. The questionnaire was used for data collection. A total of 28
questionnaires was retrieved and analyzed. Spearman’s Rank correlation coefficients analytical tool was used to test the
hypotheses.
Results: The finding revealed that there is a significant relationship between corporate image and firm’s competitive
advantage. The study also shows a significant relationship between corporate identity and companies’ competitive
advantage, as well as a strong relationship between corporate reputations and competitive advantage.
Conclusion: Building a solid corporate identity through media and personal contacts are important for sustaining
customer loyalty. Also, a good corporate image is an effective way of staying in touch with customers and maintaining
customer loyalty.

Keywords: Competitive advantage, corporate identity, corporate image, corporate reputation