The Effect of Internal versus External Communication on Organizational Identification

This research examines the interplay of internal versus external communication and employees’ distance to headquarters on employees’ organizational identification. Drawing from construal-level theory and social identity theory, the authors theoretically argue that employees’ psychological distance to headquarters determines the effect of organizational communication measures on employees’ organizational identification. In particular, the degree of construal fit between concreteness versus abstractness of the communication and employees’ psychological distance to headquarters might influence whether internal or external communication will lead to higher organizational identification. Hypotheses were tested via two multilevel field studies comprising the responses of 1,102 employees from an industrial service firm and a retail firm. Study results support the proposed model: Internal communication is superior to target employees with low psychological distance while external communication is superior to target employees with high psychological distance to headquarters. Important theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.