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The purpose of the study is to find the relation between brand score and strategy through measurement of brand score. Quantitative methods to assess consumer awareness, satisfaction and preferences are the main purposes of the study.

In the study of brands, 120 respondents participated in dish-washing category. A survey was conducted to test the brand score and to see if communication effectiveness impacts the brand score of extensions.

The report finds that brand score is an indicator of how effective a brand is. Higher brand equity helps in getting better acceptance in brand extensions of a new market, and the results of brand scores confirm the same. They should be clearly distinguished between the brand as a whole and its sub-brands and extensions, so that it may have a differential approach to each sub-brand and extensions. Our study confirms the usage in brand extension study by applying brand score parameters as an effective tool for measuring communication strategy. Brand score parameters have been tried earlier by Srivastava (2004, 2009 and 2013).

This study, conducted across the metro cities, may represent different cultures. However, it may not represent the Tier 2 and below population, including the rural population. However, with the penetration of such goods sweeping in to these markets, it will be interesting to explore if similar strategy clicks with these consumers. The paper is conceptual in nature. Therefore, this paper lacks in-depth theoretical support because it is conceptual in nature and more of a practitioner paper.

Application of brand scorecard would be useful for the managers to conduct analysis of brand mapping score, in reference to brand strategy, versus others. The brand score tools help in measuring the impact of various market drivers’ measures on ten parameters on the performance of brands. A study of brand scores of a brand extension of competing brands will give direction to communication strategy in comparison to competitors. Managers can calculate the brand scores on a six-monthly or yearly basis to study the impact of their brand strategy to get better insight on the effectiveness. It can also give new directions on developing brand strategy. Lifebuoy changed their brand strategy, based on their brand score matrix, from germicidal effect to total protection against infection among children through handwash usage strategy approach.

Brand score is a new concept because there is a paucity of similar research (Srivastava, 2013). Brand score analysis and mapping of a brand play a major role in measuring the performance of brand in the market. This research finding will improve the effectiveness of communication in marketing. The approach of using the brand score technique for measurement of strategy is new to brand extension and will give directions and ways to improve the effectiveness. Application of the brand score in the brand extension is the first approach to give direction on strategy.

This paper studied the effects of music plus fragrance or music alone on consumer purchase behaviour, footfalls and repeat visits to retail stores in the context of the mall.

A primary research was conducted through a structured questionnaire. A field study was conducted in two malls that attract the maximum crowd. The data from 250 respondents were analysed in total.

As per the present study, the combination of playing music with fragrance is more effective compared to playing music or fragrance alone on shopping behaviour, footfalls and repeat visits in retail stores in emerging markets like India.

The study is more confined to a comparative study of the effectiveness of music with or without fragrance on consumer purchase behaviour and footfalls in retail stores located in malls. In view of research design, this could be a limitation of the study as types of music and other ambiance factors are not considered. The present study can be extended to religion as the religiosity of respondents may give a different response. The urban respondents may vary when compared to rural consumers. Therefore, the study can be extended by adding the rural or A-city mall or smaller malls in big cities. Research can be extended in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era to see if there is a change in consumer behaviour. It can also be extended to consumer's preference for different music and different fragrances.

This paper provides marketing managers and retail owners with valuable insights on the importance of using music with fragrance in retail stores to create unique consumer experiences in emerging markets that are different from developed countries. Managers should try to create both music, and fragrance in the store to improve purchase intention, and stay longer. To ensure that the planned music and fragrance approach creates the ambiance for consumers, marketing managers are advised to conduct market research. Special care should be taken for younger visitors to the store by creating the right ambiance. The present research will help many offline retailers' managers to strive for new competitive advantages through creating favourable shopping environments by understanding cultural differences.

The research gives direction to use music with a fragrance in the retail ambiance in the malls which will lead to improved consumer purchase, more footfalls, repeat visits and staying longer in emerging markets like India, which is a destination for global brands. Integration of three models of impulse buying (Rook and Fisher, 1995), individualism and collectivism (Triandis, 1995) and stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) model of Mehrabian and Russell (1974) is used to explain the complex behaviour of consumers towards more purchases and repeat visits. The study will shed light on the quandary that retailers in the organised sector face in emerging markets such as India regarding the use of music and fragrance, as well as the impact on purchase behaviour, footfalls and repeat visits.

The purpose of this study is to explore the factors influencing the happiness of customers of two global coffee food chains through qualitative research in the post pandemic era. Unlike existing studies, this study will compare and examine the differential points between two global coffee food chains so that others can improve their strategies to improve their competitiveness.

It is qualitative research employing sentiment analysis through “Sprinkler Software” to assess the sentiment of customers of Starbucks and Barista followed by focus interviews through the same customers who have visited both Starbucks and Barista.

The results showed that most important factors which motivate customers and make them happy to go for “Starbucks” or “Barista” are ambience, store location, quality of product offerings and service quality. Value for money, quality of products and service quality are the top three variables affecting the customers and have rated Starbucks better than Barista on these parameters. The happiness level of the same customers who have visited both the coffee chains is more with Starbucks compared to Barista.

This research contributes to better understanding the effects of different marketing strategies adopted by coffee chain stores and can provide direction to Barista and other coffee chains. The stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model in coffee chain store application is an additional contribution to existing knowledge.

• Most important factors which motivate customers and make them happy to go for “Starbucks” or “Barista” are ambience, store location, quality of product offerings and service quality.

• Value for money, quality of products and service quality are the top three variables affecting the customers and have rated Starbucks better than Barista on these parameters.

• The happiness level of the same customers who have visited both the coffee chains are more with Starbuck compared to that of Barista.

• This is significant and can give direction to Barista and other coffee chains through learning from this research.

• Using the extended SOR model, we explain the variation in response in the happiness level of customers of two coffee chains.

• In order to give an insight into the strategies adopted by Starbucks and Barista in emerging markets, a comparison of the happiness levels of clients of both coffee chains is presented.

• This original research can help coffee chains improve their return on investment.

• The SOR model in coffee chain store application is an additional contribution to existing knowledge.

Most important factors which motivate customers and make them happy to go for “Starbucks” or “Barista” are ambience, store location, quality of product offerings and service quality.

Value for money, quality of products and service quality are the top three variables affecting the customers and have rated Starbucks better than Barista on these parameters.

The happiness level of the same customers who have visited both the coffee chains are more with Starbuck compared to that of Barista.

This is significant and can give direction to Barista and other coffee chains through learning from this research.

Using the extended SOR model, we explain the variation in response in the happiness level of customers of two coffee chains.

In order to give an insight into the strategies adopted by Starbucks and Barista in emerging markets, a comparison of the happiness levels of clients of both coffee chains is presented.

This original research can help coffee chains improve their return on investment.

The SOR model in coffee chain store application is an additional contribution to existing knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to study whether the controversy because of brand crisis based on quality had any impact on consumer brand equity, brand image, brand reliability, brand perception of quality, perceived value, brand sentiments and purchase behavior.

The research methodology consisted of two types of data: primary and secondary data. The secondary research consisted of social media brand sentiments and financial analysis. The primary research focused on perception study of brand quality, consumer brand equity, brand reliability, brand image, purchase and brand switch behavior.

Maggi used social media extensively to address the issue and re-build the brand reliability and confidence among its users. Communication strategy adopted by focusing on the past experience of consumers and using them as a spokesperson generated a positive sentiment towards the brand under crisis.

While Maggi suffered the backlash because of the controversy across the length and breadth of India and was banned in a number of states, the author could conduct the primary research only in one city of the state of Maharashtra, Mumbai. The effectiveness of the survey was impacted because of the geographic limitations the author faced while collecting the responses. The survey would have definitely been more effective, with responses collected from different states and with more number of respondents. Fishbein is very old, from the 1980s, even though this theory has met the test of time. Application of the effect of experiences on experiential perceptions and how this influences value through networking could have been used to explain the same.

An important implication of this paper’s findings for practice, therefore, is that brands should incessantly strive to maintain the consumers’ level of trust, as it is essential for the preservation of the brand equity after a crisis. Crisis-stricken brands should safeguard their reputations from the negative effects of crises. It is even more important for any brand to act appropriately when the cause of the crisis is attributed to its actions and processes. Managers have to address the quality of products in case of brand crisis for restoring trust, image and reliability in the brand. Right type of communication to right targeted consumers will help in the restoration of the image, trust on the brand and bring back loyal customers. Managers have to build brand equity on a regular basis, as a strong brand can recover faster as seen from this paper.

This paper helps to upgrade the knowledge and understanding of the impact of the controversy on brand equity and image and how the crisis management strategy can be adopted to regain the mind share and equity. This paper will help the brands in the future to know how a crisis can be managed efficiently by drawing a cue from the strategies implemented by Maggi.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy focusing on Indian company’s approaches and to understand steps of the process adopted by them. It focuses on the rationality of M&A and its impact on the profitability. This paper also discusses whether financial transaction in terms of value is right or done because of eagerness to expand by calculating the financial value of brand equity independently.

The operating performance, capital adequacy and solvency measures were compared to three-years pre- and post-merger from the financial statements of the organizations through financial valuation of brands. Inter-brand and RKS model are used to calculate the brand value. The perception study on M&A is also conducted by interviewing stakeholders. This paper provides a theoretical and practical basis to decide on whether M&A. The present paper has taken recent mega M&A of Ranbaxy Lab by Sun pharmaceuticals for the analysis.

The results of the paper showed that Return on investment did not indicate significant improvement, but on average, it can be concluded that overall performance of the acquirer improves as a result of M&A activity as per the study. The decisions on M&A are more emotional than rational. The present paper reveals that M&A of pharmaceutical company was riskier because of emotional decisions. Research has proposed “Merger, acquisition Theory (RERC MA theory) based on rational, emotion, risk taking ability culture” to understand the M&A.

This paper is more focused on emerging markets which is more active with better gross domestic product (GDP) growth. It is more on analysis of financial decisions and has not taken customer equity, employee morale and engagement. A further study is suggested in the same areas. Managerial Implications: This paper will enable the managers to withstand the emotional influence and will help them to be more professional approach which will benefit the organization and stakeholder better. Mangers should look for long-term impact than short-term impact the present paper will also help them to understand on how financial calculations will help them to take more rational decisions.

Although the topic is not very new, a lot of literature is available on M&A, but the pharmaceutical sector is comparatively new for such kind of studies. Specifically, the selection of respondents and brand valuation mechanism has got practical implications. Earlier papers on M&A paper are more focused on customers’ equity, but a financial analysis of M&A is done in the present paper will help to evaluate merger and acquisition process more analytically. Financial calculation for evaluating M&A is the highlight of this research paper. Study of M&A from emerging markets will help to increase the knowledge as such papers are few. Research uses two important financial tools to measure financial brand equity and tries to justify the need for more rational rather than emotional approach. Research has proposed “Merger, acquisition Theory (RERC MA theory) based on rational, emotion, risk taking ability culture” to understand the M&A.

The context of the case presents an account of how corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiated by Lawrence & Mayo (L&M), a company dealing in optical frames for 140 years, helped to build brand equity, image and identity, creating a strategic advantage against competition. The case had a deep-rooted theoretical association with a theory such as the triple bottom line theory (three Ps: profit, people and planet) on CSR. The case helps to understand and clarify the role of CSR in brand equity. It also gives an insight into the value and culture of L&M, and its impact on various stakeholders, namely, employees and customers.

This case is related to the CSR orientation of L&M and its impact on brand equity. As a brand, L&M is over 140 years old and has a dynamic and trending optics market in India. There is a dilemma in the company around the impact of CSR on brand equity, customer engagement and company goodwill. This case focuses on maintaining and improving brand equity, identity and image through CSR initiatives.

Undergraduate and postgraduate students, essential for students focusing on Marketing and CSR disciplines.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

This study aims to develop and test a new formative theory of coping intelligence (CI). It asserts that problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies contribute differently to the overall CI latent construct, which, in turn, relates to three outcome variables – job satisfaction, life satisfaction and sales commission.

The study collected data from multiple sources: survey data from 452 boundary-spanning salespeople and sales commission from a company’s personnel record. It then investigated the goodness of fit between the study’s theoretical SEM model and empirical data.

Problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping strategies, respectively, define CI positively and negatively. This, in turn, is related to high levels of job satisfaction, life satisfaction and sales commission. After controlling for gender and sales commission, results remain significant. Commission is related to satisfaction. Gender (male) is negatively related to emotion-focused strategy, but positively related to commission. Males have higher sales commission than females, yet both genders have similar life and job satisfaction.

Problem-focused coping contributes to life satisfaction, job satisfaction and sales commission, but emotion-focused coping undermines them. Researchers and policymakers need to develop training programs, promote problem-focused coping strategies and help them improve life satisfaction, job satisfaction and sales commission, for females, in particular.

CI is more related to job satisfaction and life satisfaction than to commission. The study’s concurrent validity demonstrates that CI improves sales commission (objective data) and employee satisfaction. It pays to improve CI.

In an ongoing War for Talent, what are the intangible and tangible return on investments (ROIs) for boundary-spanning employees? This study aims to develop a formative structural equation model (SEM) of the Matthew effect in talent. management.

This study develops a formative SEM theoretical model. Training and development (T&D) are the two antecedents of the latent construct – talent management strategy (TMS). This study frames the latent construct (TMS) in the proximal context of reducing burnout (cynicism and inefficacy), the distal context of subjective and intangible outcomes (job and life satisfaction) and the omnibus context of objective, tangible and financial rewards (the sales commission). The study collected data from multiple sources – objective sales commission from personnel records and subjective survey data from 512 sales employees.

The empirical discoveries support the theory. Both T&D contribute significantly to the TMS, which reduces burnout in the immediate context. TMS enhances job satisfaction more than life satisfaction in the distal context. TMS significantly and indirectly improves boundary spanners’ sales commission in the omnibus context via life satisfaction, but not job satisfaction. The model prevails for the whole sample, men, but not women.

Our discoveries offer practical implications for the Matthew effect in talent management: policymakers must cultivate T&D, develop TMS, facilitate the spillover effect from job satisfaction to life satisfaction, concentrate on the meaning in their lives and take their mind off money. TMS ultimately helps ignite these boundary spanners’ sales commission and their organization’s bottom line and financial health. The rich get richer.

It is life satisfaction (not job satisfaction) that excites boundary-spanning employees’ high level of sales commission. Our model prevails for the whole sample and men, but not for women. Job satisfaction spills over to life satisfaction for the entire sample, for men, but not for women. The results reveal gender differences.

This study aims to examine the impact of stress as a result of adverse life events on a salesperson’s ability to effectively manage customer relationships. The framework identifies burnout as a key mediating variable and salesperson grit as a coping mechanism.

Survey data is gathered from 364 B2B salespeople and investigated using structural equation modeling in Mplus 8.2.

The findings reveal adverse life events and their corresponding stress diminish a salesperson’s ability to manage customer relationships effectively through the mediators of reduced personal accomplishment and depersonalization. Thus, negative events of a personal nature can have a significant impact on salesperson outcomes and should be taken with the same level of seriousness as job-related stress. Furthermore, results show that salesperson grit provides mixed results as a coping mechanism.

The findings indicate that practitioners should be mindful of the negative impact adverse life events can have on work-related outcomes. Organizations and sales managers must be intentional in managing relationships with their salespeople and strategic in the structure they use to manage customer relationships. Recommendations include the use of regular one-on-one meetings to open up a dialogue about work or personal issues the salesperson is experiencing and assigning multiple resources or staff to service valuable customers, thereby not relying on solitary salespeople.

Employee well-being contributes to firm value; yet, this is the first study in sales to explore the impact of adverse life events on salesperson outcomes.

The aim of the study is to find the relation between brand score and strategy through measurement of brand score. Quantitative methods to assess consumer awareness, satisfaction and preferences are the main purpose of the study.

One hundred twenty respondents participated in the study of brands in dish washing category. A survey was conducted to test the brand score and to see if communication effectiveness impacts the brand score of extensions.

The report finds that brand score is an indicator of how effective a brand is. Higher brand equity help in getting better acceptance in brand extensions of a new market and results of brand scores confirms the same. There should be clear distinguish between the brand as a whole and its sub-brands and extensions so that it may have a differential approach to each sub-brand and extensions.

This study conducted across the metro cities may represent different cultures. However, it may not represent the Tier 2 cities including the rural population. However, with the penetration of such goods sweeping in to these markets, it will be interesting to explore if similar strategy clicks with these consumers. The paper lacks of theoretical support in depth due to conceptual in nature.

Application of brand scorecard would be useful for the managers to conduct analysis of brand mapping score in reference to brand strategy vs others. The brand score tools help in measuring the impact on various markets drivers’ measures on ten parameters on the performance of brands.

Brand score is a new concept, as there is paucity of similar research. Brand score analysis and mapping of a brand plays a major role in measuring the performance of brand in the market. This research will improve the effectiveness of communication in marketing.