Internal branding builds faculty loyalty through psychological safety, Indian study finds

A mixed-methods study of 361 faculty members at private and public higher education institutions in India reports that internal branding practices predict faculty loyalty both directly and through a psychological pathway: employees’ sense of psychological safety. The research, published in SN Social Sciences, used partial least squares structural equation modelling to test how alignment between personal values and an institution’s brand values translates into positive word of mouth among academics.

The quantitative phase showed that internal branding significantly predicted faculty loyalty directly, with a path coefficient of 0.58, and indirectly, with a coefficient of 0.23, through psychological safety. Faculty members who perceived strong alignment between their own values and their institution’s brand values reported significantly higher psychological safety, reflected in a coefficient of 0.76. Psychological safety, in turn, had a significant effect on brand advocacy, with a coefficient of 0.30. Taken together, the model explained 62.9 percent of the variation in faculty loyalty.

The study also examined whether the type of university moderated these relationships. Faculty loyalty was found to decrease when moving from private to public universities, indicating that the link between internal branding and loyalty differed across the two sectors. The authors analysed data from both private and public institutions using purposive sampling, and processed the quantitative results with SmartPLS 4.

To complement the statistical model, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with eight faculty members and analysed the transcripts thematically using NVIVO 14. The qualitative phase identified rewards, meetings and training as the internal branding practices participants described. Brand loyalty was expressed through themes of career growth, positive career experience and continuance commitment, while psychological safety surfaced through diversity and inclusion, job security, and communication opportunities.

The findings suggest that internal branding operates as more than a marketing exercise: when institutions communicate and embody their brand values internally, faculty members appear to develop a sense of safety that supports their willingness to advocate for the employer. Because the study relied on purposive sampling within Indian higher education and a small interview sample, the authors’ results describe the relationships observed in this population rather than establishing general causal effects across all institutional settings.

Subject of Research: How internal branding and psychological safety relate to faculty loyalty in Indian higher education institutions

Article Title: Internal branding and faculty loyalty: the mediating role of psychological safety

Article References: Joshi, A., Khatun, A., & Nagpal, T. (2026). Internal branding and faculty loyalty: the mediating role of psychological safety. SN Social Sciences, 6(11), Article 584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-026-01881-z

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s43545-026-01881-z

Keywords: internal branding, faculty loyalty, psychological safety, higher education, PLS-SEM, mixed methods, word of mouth, private universities, public universities, India, organizational behavior, brand advocacy