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This study aims to investigate the role of marketing agencies in aligning brand purpose with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the post-pandemic era. This study explores whether and how marketing agencies delineate and execute brand purpose in a way that supports sustainable consumption and marketing models.

Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with 35 senior managers at UK-based marketing agencies. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using NVivo software for inductive coding.

The study reveals that brand purpose in the post-pandemic era is increasingly aligned with the SDGs. Marketing agencies play a pivotal role in this alignment, as they not only help to delineate and execute the brand purpose but also do so in a way that amplifies perceived authenticity in the eyes of the brand stakeholders.

This research underscores the significance of marketing agencies in delineating and executing brand purpose that aligns with the SDGs. It enriches the literature by illustrating how agency expertise contributes to the evolution of brand purpose, guiding businesses towards responsible marketing practices and consumption patterns that support a sustainable future.

The phenomenon of global brands taking a stance on crucial, yet polarizing, socio-political issues, namely global brand activism, is rising. However, how consumer views on this practice are shaped when global branding elements are factored in remains unclear. Drawing from the functional theory of attitude formation, this study investigates the relationships of consumer characteristics (political ideology, consumer ethnocentrism) and brand factors (global brand attitudes and perceived motivation of global brand activists) with attitudes toward global brand activists.

Using a survey of a UK nationally representative sample (n = 439), we test our hypothesized model via structural equation modeling and mediation analysis.

Our findings reveal direct and indirect effects of political ideology on attitudes toward global brand activists (AttGBACTIVs). While consumer ethnocentrism and global brand attitudes do not directly drive AttGBACTIVs, they do influence them indirectly. Perceived motivation of global brand activists emerges as a key mechanism activating these effects and affecting AttGBACTIVs.

First, this study constitutes a novel examination of consumer views of brand activism through a global branding lens. Second, our investigation uniquely combines important determinants of brand activism outcomes with key international marketing factors (namely consumer ethnocentrism and global brand attitudes). Third, the concurrent exploration of individual and brand factors in our mediated model reveals the complex mechanisms through which attitudes toward global brand activists are formed.

This study describes how a multinational enterprise (MNE) gains acceptance after rebranding acquired brands from different countries among its internal and external stakeholders and identifies factors that influence this process.

The study employed a single case-study approach, including 18 semi-structured in-depth interviews with employees of a firm involved in the rebranding process in six countries. The countries are Sweden, Germany, the United States, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

The findings reveal how the MNE integrated brands it acquired in different international markets into one overarching corporate brand. The study shows that in emerging countries, external legitimation (external implementation process, country profiles and customer buy-in) constitutes the most significant challenge. By contrast, in developed countries, internal legitimation (employee buy-in and internal implementation process) is more challenging.

The study contributes to and extends the rebranding literature by using a legitimation lens to analyze the rebranding process. This lens shows how internal and external stakeholders are both crucial to successful rebranding. The study provides a comprehensive perspective of the process, identifies challenging factors and differentiates between their importance in emerging and developed countries.

To address the dearth of research on how firms legitimize a new brand in different national contexts, the study compares the rebranding process in multiple countries and discusses the factors influencing the rebranding process.

Brand gestalt has emerged as a crucial concept in marketing and branding, denoting the holistic perception and overall impression that consumers develop about a brand. This concept gains significance as it serves to measure the overall identity of a brand. Despite its importance, both empirical and theoretical exploration of this concept remains limited, particularly in the context of place branding. The present study aims to bridge the theoretical gap surrounding the interplay between brand gestalt, tourist attitude and loyalty within the city branding domain. In particular, it aims to comprehensively explore the dimensional impact of city brand gestalt (CBG) on tourist attitude, satisfaction and loyalty.

The primary data were collected through a self-administered online questionnaire containing 35 items, developed and adapted from the literature review. A total of 314 samples of Bitung City visitors were recruited, resulting in a 79% response rate. Structural equation modeling was performed using SmartPLS 3 to validate the research hypotheses.

The findings of the study indicate that CBG has a substantial and positive influence on tourist attitudes, satisfaction and loyalty. Furthermore, it was discovered that tourist attitude and satisfaction play a partial mediating role in the relationship between CBG and tourist loyalty.

This study is a seminal contribution to understanding the link between CBG, tourist attitude, satisfaction and loyalty. It offers valuable insights for city destination management in designing strategies and interventions to foster positive tourist attitudes, increase satisfaction and sustain loyalty. In particular, it emphasizes the necessity of ongoing investments in maintaining a positive holistic brand experience (i.e., brand gestalt) that aligns with evolving expectations. The study highlights the need to develop a compelling narrative and consistent messaging tailored to the target audience's values and aspirations. Additionally, it underscores the importance of providing exceptional sensory experiences that appeal to the target audience.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is among the first to examine the role of brand gestalt in the context of city branding. Understanding the holistic interaction of the four brand gestalt elements – story, sensescape, servicescape and stakeholders – is crucial for fostering tourists' positive attitudes, satisfaction and loyalty toward urban destinations. The proposed CBG model offers a conceptual framework to guide future research in city branding.

While brand purpose has gained traction in academia and industry, it overlaps with other socially-oriented branding concepts, generating confusion and criticism around what brand purpose is and how it should be implemented. This study aims to clarify conceptualisations of brand purpose and related concepts, developing a managerial framework for effective implementation and contributing a future research agenda for scholars.

The paper presents the results of a systematic literature review on brand purpose, exploring the current knowledge. A total of 202 studies from 75 journals were drawn from a wide range of databases and met the identified criteria relevant to brand purpose, published up to and including 2023. Full papers were empirically analysed using qualitative iterative thematic analysis to identify common and emerging themes and synthesise this into a framework.

Beyond identifying the diverse applications of brand purpose, the BEING framework is proposed. This acronym captures five principles of brand purpose: beyond profit, enduring commitment, integrated values, nurturing stakeholders and genuine action.

The BEING framework provides clear managerial guidance for implementing brand purpose, urging brand leaders to enact meaningful brand purpose and champion purpose within organisations.

As more brands pursue a higher purpose, this research elucidates the meaning of brand purpose and offers an actionable framework for brands to contribute to a better world.

This work examines the related branding concepts, clarifying the brand purpose concept and offering the BEING framework to articulate essential components of effective brand purpose.

This study aims to examine whether sport companies that promote gender equality through femvertising, an advertising trend that empowers women and confronts gender stereotypes, actually support women’s rights with institutionalized approaches to challenge gender issues. Some sport brands even have won awards for their femvertising efforts, however, not all of them have modified their policies and programs to support gender equality. Sport femvertising can be a new area for CSR-washing and this study investigated this potential.

Utilizing a content analysis, this study compared sport brands' (award-winning vs non-award-winning) level of engagement in internal and external CSR activities regarding gender equality. Sport brands’ CSR attempts and number of women in leadership positions were analyzed through companies’ CSR reports, annual reports and websites.

Only few differences between two groups (award-winning vs non-award-winning) of sport brands were observed regarding their gender equality CSR engagement. In some cases, non-award-winning sport brands had a greater percentage of women in leadership and practiced more internal gender equality CSR.

This paper provides valuable information about the potential of femvertising as an advertisement, as well as CSR strategy. Results of this study broaden our understanding of how sport companies embraced this advertising/CSR technique and the repercussions. Findings provide guidance for sport marketers who seek to improve their brand image through femvertising.

This research explores differences in consumer behavior across generational cohorts, particularly focusing on customer loyalty. With Millennials becoming the largest generational cohort, it is crucial to understand loyalty variations, given that many loyalty programs were established during the Baby Boomer era. This study investigates two vital aspects for hotel companies aiming to enhance guest loyalty: antecedents to loyalty and loyalty program design.

In part 1, a loyalty model was tested using corporate social responsibility (CSR), personalization, brand identity, and trust as antecedents for customer loyalty in full-service hotels. The study developed models for the overall sample and each generational cohort. Part 2 explored generational preferences regarding commonly offered hotel loyalty program benefits.

The study revealed no significant differences across generational cohorts in the loyalty model. Antecedents had similar effects on loyalty creation across all three cohorts. In part 2, the four most desired benefits for all generations were upgrades, customized service, late check-out, and empathetic employees.

This research supports Millennials' loyalty to hotels and highlights the importance of benefits that offer immediate advantages during a stay, such as upgrades, late check-out, empathetic employees, and personalization. These findings emphasize the need for loyalty program designs that provide faster rewards and personalization options.

This study pioneers the examination of hotel customer loyalty models across three generations and evaluates loyalty benefits across these cohorts. The results hold significance for researchers and practitioners in the field.

This study aims to examine the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on customer-based brand equity (CBBE), with a focus on the mediating role of customer value cocreation (CVCC). The objective is to understand the direct and indirect links between CSR and the dimensions of CBBE (image, quality, awareness, loyalty) in the context of the luxury hotel industry, thus filling existing gaps.

This quantitative study of luxury hotel guests in Morocco used a questionnaire. After a pilot study with 10 professionals, the final version was administered, generating 204 valid responses. Purposive convenience sampling was chosen. PLS analysis was favored.

The results highlight the significant influence of CSR on the four dimensions of CBBE. Likewise, CVCC exerts a significant effect on CBBE aspects, except for brand loyalty. CVCC partially mediates the relationship between CSR and brand image, perceived quality and brand awareness. However, it does not have a significant mediating role in the CSR−brand loyalty relationship.

The study, despite its contributions, is limited to the luxury hotel industry in Morocco, raising concerns of external validity. Future research should diversify service contexts and explore the multidimensionality of CSR.

Luxury hotel managers should prioritize authentic communication to optimize their CBBE through CVCC. An inclusive and strategic approach to cocreation is essential to strengthen the impact of CSR on CBBE. Integrating CSR into customer touchpoints and human resources policies is crucial.

This study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, enriches understanding of the complex interactions between CSR, CVCC and CBBE in Morocco and North Africa. Its originality lies in its exclusive contribution to the region’s marketing literature, broadening the field of knowledge. By exploring these relationships in the specific context of the region, it offers new perspectives to researchers and practitioners interested in CSR, CVCC and CBBE.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the suitability of Botschen et al.’s (2017) Brand-driven Identity Development of Places (BIDP) framework to support places in developing their brand-driven identity and offering sustainable tourism models.

This paper applies design science research (DSR) to evaluate the BIDP-framework. A qualitative methodology is used, bringing together findings from four different case studies and from existing academic literature to make relevant suggestions for the improvement of the framework.

The findings indicate that the BIDP-model represents a valid artifact for the development of a brand-driven place identity, but that there is room for improvement.

This paper adopts a DSR approach in a managerial context and shows its validity for evaluating a place branding framework. Moreover, it provides implications not only for managers directly involved in place branding, who can benefit from the model assessment and its suggestions for improvement, but also for tourists and local communities, who will take advantage of more sustainable branding models that better integrate the needs of local actors.

From a relational maintenance perspective, this study explores the impact of being envied (benignly vs maliciously) on consumers' feelings of social anxiety and its influence on their tendencies toward inconspicuous consumption, based on the resource conservation theory and the model of “Sensitivity about Being the Target of a Threatening Upward Comparison.” (STTUC)

Four studies were conducted in this paper. Studies 1a and 1b tested the main hypothesis that being maliciously envied (vs benignly) can increase consumers' inconspicuous consumption of luxury products and luxury hotel experiences. Study 2 replicated this finding and examined the mediating role of social anxiety. Study 3 investigated the moderating effect of ideal self-congruity (low vs high).

The findings reveal that being maliciously envied (vs benignly) is associated with higher levels of inconspicuous consumption and social anxiety acts as a mediating role. Moreover, when individuals have a strong sense of ideal self-congruity, the positive impact of being maliciously envied (vs benignly) on inconspicuous consumption is further amplified, confirming the moderating role of ideal self-congruity.

This study sheds light on a novel mechanism that elucidates how different types of being envied influence consumers' inconspicuous consumption and the conditions under which this impact is heightened.