Search results

Mahindra Trucks and Bus Division (MTBD) of Mahindra & Mahindra is at an interesting stage of its evolution. Having gone through a bad patch with a product that was not quite up to the mark, it appears to have got the product right by early 2018 and truck sales had been going up in the country for the previous four years. While Mahindra & Mahindra as a company is a large firm with revenues of more than USD 15 billion, MTBD itself is a small player (INR 2400 crore, USD 350 million) within the firm and in an Indian truck industry that is dominated by goliaths, Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland that between them had more than 81% market share and a customer mindset that was loath to leave the comfort of a known brand. The case provides data on product specifications, prices, marketing communication, channels, positioning, the context and competition. The intention is to use the case to go through the steps involved in evaluating and developing and creating a marketing plan for MTBD to increase its market share from the 4% in 2018 to an intended 8% in 2022.

This research aimed to find whether information about a product can give rise to negative perceptions even in inert situations (nocebo effects), and to understand how price levels impact such judgments.

In all experiments, participants were exposed to negative product information in the form of potential side-effects. In an initial study, a higher non-discounted versus a discounted price frame was presented for a health drink after customers were exposed to negative aspects. Then, in experiment 1, price (high vs low) and exposure to information (no information vs negative information) was manipulated for skin creams where participants physically evaluated the cream. In experiment 2, price was manipulated at three levels (low, high, discounted) orthogonally with product information (no negative information vs with negative information) to get a more nuanced understanding.

In the initial study, after exposure to negative information, the non-discounted group had more positive ratings for the drink. Study 1 showed that reading about negative information resulted in a nocebo effect on perception of dryness (side-effect). Moreover, when no information was presented, perception of dryness by low and high price groups were similar but in the face of negative information, perception of dryness by low-price group was more pronounced compared to a high-price group. Study 2 conceptually replicated the effect and also confirmed that not only discounts (commonly linked with product quality), but absolute price levels also show a similar effect.

Nocebo effects have been rarely documented in consumer research. This research showed how simply reading generically about potential side effects gives rise to nocebo effects. In addition, even though marketers might find it tempting to lower prices when there is negative information about certain product categories, such an action could backfire.

To the best of our knowledge, the link between observable nocebo effects and its link with pricing actions is a novel research thread. We were able to show a nocebo effect on product perception after reading about negative information and also find that a higher price can mitigate the nocebo effect to some extent.

Yo Bike is selling scooters to commuters, housewives and students at a price (including battery) that is the same as that of petrol scooters. The key question faced by the manage is how to formulate and communicate the price to target customers to enhance probability of purchase.

This paper aims to examine three important questions: What would be the effects of pricing at the lower end of a wide vs narrow latitude of price acceptance (LPA) on consumer choice of the bundle? How would the nature of a bundle frame (i.e. discount on bundle vs discount on components) and discount frame (i.e. discount as absolute off vs discount as percentage off) influence the preference given to a price level that is at the wide or narrow end of the LPA? Would the effect be significantly different if the bundle components were complementary vs if they were non-complementary?

The authors carried out two studies using between-subject experimental design. In Study 1, the authors used 2 (LPA: wide/narrow) × 2 (complementarity: yes/no) × 2 (bundle frame: together/separate) design, and in Study 2, the authors replaced bundle frame with discount frame (i.e. absolute off/percentage off).

The authors find that the LPA effect is likely to outweigh the complementarity effect; however, a combined effect of complementarity and bundle frame is stronger than the LPA effect. Also, for a wide (narrow) LPA product bundle, absolute off (percentage off) discount frame is more attractive.

Managers should use bundling strategy with complementary products having wider LPA. In case of wide LPA and complementary products, both together and separate frame could be the best bundling strategy while in case of narrow LPA and complementary products, together frame could be the best bundling strategy.

The main contribution relates to the role LPA plays in consumer evaluation of a bundle offer and its interaction with complementarity and discount frame. The authors apply the range hypothesis principles (i.e. price-attractiveness judgments are based on a comparison of market prices to the endpoints of a range of evoked prices) in the bundling context and extend the earlier work in the area of complementarity and discount frame.

Consumers subscribe to different mindsets or implicit theories of personality malleability, namely, fixed and growth mindsets. This study aims to investigate how and why consumers’ mindsets can influence their word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions toward a brand and the consequent implications for a brand’s personality.

Three mall-intercept studies and one online study demonstrate the influence of consumers’ fixed and growth mindsets on their WOM intentions. The first two mall-intercept studies identify motivations underlying consumers’ WOM intentions as a function of their mindset orientations. The third mall-intercept study examines the implications of such mindset-oriented WOM intentions for a brand’s personality dimension and the underlying psychological mechanism. The fourth study tests the link between WOM intent and behavior.

Results show that fixed (growth) mindset individuals exhibit greater WOM intentions than growth (fixed) mindset individuals for motives of “impression management” (“learning and information acquisition”). Findings further demonstrate that brands that exhibit dual personality dimensions simultaneously, one salient and the other non-salient at any instant, garner equivalent WOM intentions from both fixed and growth mindset individuals, contingent on the fit between the salient brand personality dimension and the dominant consumer mindset. Finally, using a real brand, it can be seen that WOM intentions actually translate into behavior.

The study measures offline WOM intent but not offline WOM behavior.

This study sheds new light on branding strategy by demonstrating how and why dual-brand personalities may attract consumers with both kinds of implicit self-theory orientations. Relatedly, it also demonstrates a technique of framing ad-appeals that support the dual-brand personality effect.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to propose and demonstrate the use of simultaneous dual-brand personalities as an optimal branding strategy.

Airtel, the leading mobile operator in India was going to launch the “Airtel Zero” platform that would charge service providers and OTT providers on the internet for mobile data traffic but would allow end consumers free access to the web sites that were signed up for the platform. The case revolves around the questions of pricing these data services to the service providers in a market where the price to one set of customers (the end consumer) was not independent of the price to another set of customers (the OTT service providers) - typical of two sided markets. Issues of net neutrality and competition have been considered alongside.

Narayana, the head of Market Dynamic's (MD) Telecom vertical was working on the data analysis plan for the research on the telecom project that they had done for CWP. CWP was a well known consultant and had conducted a research with MD to generate consumer insights in the telecom space. These would help bring credibility for CWP and help in business development. CWP had requested for an early delivery and Narayana was planning to work on the analysis plan himself as his chief analyst was on leave. This case highlights the importance of an analysis plan in research. Specifically, it illustrate the role of different tools in data analysis and familiarizes participants with various tools and their applications. This case would be useful for students in Business Research and Market Research courses.

On October 1, 2017, Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer-India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel, was in his New Delhi office reviewing current trends and Airtel's position in Indian Telecom. His primary concern was the shifting data consumption trend in the Indian Telecom Industry (Exhibit 1) and the disruptive changes that were impacting pricing and profitability since the entry of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio) in September 2016. Data consumption in Indian telecom had started increasing exponentially after the entry of Jio who offered lifetime free voice services followed by rock-bottom data tariffs. As Vittal reviewed the data, he wondered if the voice market through a non-VOIP provision was now saturated and would rapidly decline. He was also concerned about the price and revenue implications for Airtel. How might the voice market evolve? How should he act on the pricing front to enable Airtel revenues to continue to grow in the context of what appeared to be predatory pricing by Reliance Jio?

In 2010, Hero Honda (HH), the largest global two-wheeler manufacturing company (based on unit sales), terminated its 26 year old JV with Honda, effective 2014. In August 2011, HH, rebranded itself as “Hero”, with a nationwide campaign across media; over three months, the campaign was rolled out on 30 TV channels, leading websites, 200 radio stations, and 4, 000 cinema halls. Signages were changed in 4, 500 touchpoints over a weekend. The case documents the market and brand position of HH and its principal competitors, Bajaj and Honda in India, the rationale for ending the JV, the rebranding requirements, and the actions taken. Pedagogically, we evaluate the rebranding effort to sustain, create, and build consumer memories and emotions.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the economic value of celebrity endorsements to Indian firms based on their branding strategy – corporate or house-of-brands – and their “congruence” or “fit” with the celebrity. The overall economic value of endorsements to firms in India, a moderately collectivist culture, is also assessed.

Standard “event study” methodology is used to evaluate the economic value of endorsements under different branding strategies (47 endorsement announcements – 25 corporate brands and 22 house-of-brands). The impact of the level of congruence (assessed using brand personality scales) on abnormal returns is also examined.

Event study results indicate significant positive abnormal returns for corporate brands and insignificant returns to house-of-brands. Moreover, the level of congruence is found to have an insignificant effect on endorsement announcement returns. Overall, celebrity endorsements result in positive economic value to Indian firms.

This study evaluates the differences in the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements (which might form a significant part of advertising costs) to firms following different branding strategies. Findings from this study indicate that celebrity endorsement announcements from house-of-brands do not lead to any significant stock market returns (in terms of market value). Further, contrary to current literature, the results indicate that the congruence between brand and celebrity has no impact on returns to endorsements in India, warranting further examination of whether congruence or likeability is important in endorsements.