Determinants of brand resurrection movements: Why consumers want dead brands back?

Abstract

Purpose

There is a growing trend of brand resurrections that are driven by consumer power. Millennials play a critical role in initiating most of these brand resurrection movements using social media. This study aims to explore the factors that drive consumers’ participation in brand resurrection movements – an outcome of brand cocreation.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using self-administered survey. This study uses the partial least squares-structural equation modeling to empirically examine the factors that motivate consumers to participate in brand resurrection movements.

Findings

The results indicate that consumers’ beliefs about the functional and value-expressive utilities, and their judgments of the perceived brand superiority of the defunct brand are significantly associated with brand resurrection movements. Nostalgia moderates the relationship between social-adjustive utility and brand resurrection movement, which shows that consumers’ social-adjustive utility becomes relevant when triggered with a strong sense of the past.

Research limitations/implications

From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes to literature on reviving defunct brands. This study also identifies additional factors that determine the success of brands that are being relaunched.

Practical implications

From a managerial perspective, the study provides insights into when and how organizations can consider bringing back defunct brands. Future studies should introduce additional variables to the model such as product category involvement that may be associated with consumers’ willingness to bring back defunct brands.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind that empirically examines the motivations behind consumer participation in bringing back defunct brands. The importance of this study is highlighted in the fact that several defunct brands are being revived by organizations due to consumer-brand co-creation movements.

Citation

Davari, A., Iyer, P. and Guzmán, F. (2017), "Determinants of brand resurrection movements: Why consumers want dead brands back?", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 51 No. 11/12, pp. 1896-1917. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-02-2016-0096