Search results

This paper aims to explore the matching effect of hospitality brand image (cool vs non-cool) and service agents (Artificial intelligence [AI] vs human staff) on brand attitude, with a focus on assessing the role of feeling right as a mediator and service failure as a moderator.

This paper tested the hypotheses through three experiments and a Supplementary Material experiment, which collectively involved 835 participants.

The results indicated that the adoption of AI by cool brands can foster the right feeling and enhance consumers’ positive brand attitudes. In contrast, employing human staff did not lead to improved brand attitudes toward non-cool brands. Furthermore, the study found that service failure moderated the matching effect between service agents and cool brand images on brand attitude. The matching effect was observed under successful service conditions, but it disappeared when service failure occurred.

The findings offer practical guidance for hospitality companies in choosing service agents based on brand image. Cool brands can swiftly transition to AI, reinforcing their modern, cutting-edge image. Traditional brands may delay AI adoption or integrate it strategically with human staff.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper represents one of the first studies to address the issue of selecting the optimal service agent based on hospitality brand image. More importantly, it introduces the concept of a cool hospitality brand image as a boundary condition in the framework of AI research, providing novel insights into consumers’ ambivalent responses to AI observed in previous studies.

The purpose of this study was to examine airline passengers’ repurchase decision-making process by developing a sturdy theoretical framework comprising in-flight core-product and service-encounter quality, brand attitude, image, trust and love. The authors also attempted to examine if such decision formation differs across full-service and low-cost airlines in South Korea.

A quantitative method was used to achieve research objectives. For assessment of the conceptual framework and test of research hypotheses, a structural equation modeling and test for metric invariance were used.

The results revealed that in-flight product and service-encounter quality significantly affected their subsequent variables, and their impact on intention was mediated by brand attitude, image, trust and love. In addition, brand image along with brand trust included the strongest influence on intention. Findings also indicated that the relationships among brand attitude, image, trust and love significantly differed between full-service and low-cost airlines.

Increasing the customer retention rate is a key component of airline business success. This study made an important contribution to advancing the existing knowledge on what factors induce airline customers’ decision to repurchase a particular airline product and how such factors are interrelated with each other within the proposed model.

This research was the first to explore that the relationship strength among brand image, brand attitude, brand trust and brand love are not equal between full-service and low-cost airline passenger groups.

This study aims to understand the influence of negative publicity on brand image, brand attitude and brand purchase intention. Specifically, the study examines the role of attribution (or brand blame) and information characteristics in Chinese consumers’ responses to negative publicity.

The study used a quasi-experimental approach involving two negative publicity scenarios (mild and high severity) and a sample of 203 young and educated Chinese consumers. Partial least squares was used to test the hypotheses.

A common assumption is that negative brand information has a negative influence on all aspects of a brand. However, this study finds that brand blame and information severity have differential effects on consumer evaluations of the affected brand. Specifically, brand blame negatively impacted attitudes and purchase intentions, but not brand image. In contrast, information severity negatively impacted brand image, but not attitudes or intentions. Further, the relations between brand image and brand attitudes and intentions depended on the level of information severity. In the mild-severity condition, brand image positively influenced attitudes and intentions, but not in the high-severity condition.

Future research should examine consumer responses to negative publicity across different media and product categories. Cross-cultural studies should also be explored in the future.

When a brand encounters negative publicity, its marketer or brand manager should assess to what extent various brand equity components are influenced by negative publicity before adopting any cognitive-based or imagery-based communication strategies.

This paper contributes to the limited and fragmented literature on consumer response to negative publicity by examining the impact of consumer’s attributions of blame to the brand under conditions of mild and severe negative information on a range of important brand-related outcomes. Specifically, the authors find that negative publicity has a different impact on brand image, brand attitudes and intentions to purchase. The authors suggest that brand managers use this information to guide their marketing communications.

This study aims to investigate how restaurant customers’ heuristic judgment, originating from their perceived level of congruity between restaurant brand image regarding healthfulness and healthy menu products, can affect their information processing in terms of their perceived nutritional information credibility and, furthermore, how these effects influence customers’ attitude toward the menu in terms of healthiness.

A Web-based survey was developed and distributed to randomly selected respondents in the USA, and in total, 320 responses were used for the data analyses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the relationship among three constructs: perceived brand–product congruity, perceived nutritional information credibility and nutrition attitude toward the healthy menu item being promoted. To assess the mediating role of perceived information credibility, an analytical procedure proposed by (Baron and Kenny 1986) was used. Finally, to investigate the moderating effect of the health involvement, multiple group analyses were executed.

The study results suggested that the synchronization between healthful brand image of the restaurant and the promoted menu item is important for ensuring customers’ perceptions of information credibility regarding the menu item healthiness and for eliciting customers’ positive nutrition attitudes toward the menu item. Also, positive nutrition attitudes toward a menu item can be increased by improving perceived information credibility. Depending on an individual’s level of health involvement, the relationships between the three proposed constructs vary.

This paper includes a theoretical model that explains customers’ heuristic evaluation of a healthy menu product by assessing the influence of brand image congruity in terms of healthy menu promotion.

The purpose of the study is to identify factors influencing the continuance of use of non-halal certified cosmetics among Muslim university students in Malaysia.

The research framework was developed based on the stimulus–organism–response model. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed using a purposive sampling method among Muslim students in three universities in Malaysia. A total of 501 usable data were collected and analysed using Smart partial least squares.

The analysis revealed that celebrity endorsement positively influences attitude and brand image. Meanwhile, brand image has a positive effect on attitude and continuance of use of non-halal certified cosmetics. Additionally, attitude has a positive effect on the continuance of use behaviour. Regarding predictive power enhancement, brand image and attitude were found to have a mediation effect and sequential mediation effect on the relationship between celebrity endorsement and the continuance of use behaviour. Attitude weakens the relationship between attitude and the continuance of use of non-halal cosmetics among Muslim university students in Malaysia.

Findings will primarily benefit halal and non-halal cosmetic manufacturers providing stakeholders with fundamental predicting information related to customers’ continuance of use thus resulting in better marketing strategies.

This study is focused on predicting consumer behaviour towards halal products, as well as young Muslim consumers’ perspective towards non-halal cosmetics. Celebrity endorsement is introduced as a stimulus in the context of Muslim university students to predict their continuance of use behaviour of non-halal certified cosmetics. The investigation includes the moderating effect of religiosity for the relationship between attitude and continuance behaviour. Findings reveal the mediating effects of brand image and attitude as a mediator and sequential mediator for the relationship between celebrity endorsement and continuance of use behaviour. Contributions enrich the literature related to non-halal certified contexts.

Due to the intense rivalry in the smartphone market, manufacturers of mobile phones are becoming increasingly interested in knowing the factors that influence consumers' purchase intention. This paper aims to examine the effect of country-of-origin image, brand image and attitude towards the brand on the purchase intention of smartphone users.

An empirical study was performed based on the information gathered from smartphone users. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was applied to examine the hypotheses.

The authors found that brand image and attitude towards the brand significantly influence consumer purchase intention. Additionally, there is an indirect effect even when the nation of origin image does not directly influence the consumer's purchase intention. Indeed, brand image and attitude towards the brand act as a mediator between the country-of-origin image and purchase intention.

This study presents a conceptual model on the impact of country-of-origin image on the propensity of consumers to buy smartphones in a field where little research has been done. The investigation offers a consumer-focused analysis regarding the country-of-origin image. This suggests a significant shift from the current strategy, which is frequently centered on the viewpoint of the companies.

This study explores the relationship between brand image and brand equity in the context of sports sponsorship. Keller's (1993, 2003) customer-based brand equity models are the conceptual inspiration for the research, with Faircloth, Capella, and Alford's (2001) conceptual model – adapted from the work of Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) – the primary conceptual model. The study focuses on the sponsorship relationship between the New Zealand All Blacks and their major sponsor and co-branding partner, adidas. The sporting context for the study was the 2003 Rugby World Cup held in Australia. Data were collected from two independent samples of 200 respondents, utilizing simple random sampling procedures. A bivariate correlation analysis was undertaken to test whether there was any correlation between changes in adidas' brand image and adidas' brand equity as a result of the All Blacks' performance in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Results support the view that Keller (1993, 2003) proposes that brand image is antecedent to the brand equity construct. Results are also consistent with the findings of Faircloth et al. (2001) that brand image directly impacts brand equity.

This study aims to explain the factors associated with receiving a specific brand of Covid-19 vaccine within the framework of the theory of reasoned action. The study extends the theory of reasoned action with the country of origin image, brand image and electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) variables.

The study is based on a cross-sectional survey conducted among 460 people who received the Sinofarm vaccine. Participants were selected using an online convenience sampling method. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique tests the proposed hypotheses.

The results showed that the essential factor associated with the intent to get the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is the attitude toward the Signopharm vaccine. Also, WOM, subjective norms and brand image are the most critical factors that play a role in forming a favorable attitude toward the Sinopharm vaccine. Finally, the country-of-origin image does not affect attitudes toward the Sinopharm vaccine.

The area of vaccine marketing has been given limited attention in academic literature. This study addresses this area with little research and is greatly attractive to many brands targeting the consumer market. The study results can form a foundation for creating the branding strategy of this product category and assessing its demand in various markets.

This paper seeks to examine expansions of online brands into the offline market via brand extensions and via brand alliances. Specifically, it aims to compare the formation of reciprocal spillover effects for both strategies.

Empirical survey data are analyzed through a series of standard and hierarchical multiple regressions. Different combinations of online brands, product categories and offline brands are studied.

The main results indicate that: the attitude towards the new product is determined by fit and by the functional offline brand image for alliances, while it is determined by fit and by the emotional and commitment dimensions of online brand image for extensions. Moreover, the online brand image is more vulnerable in brand alliances than in extensions.

This work shows the applicability of commonly used theories in brand extensions and alliances to the online‐offline market expansion. Moreover, these theories allow differences across marketing strategies and across distinct brand image dimensions to be explained.

The results obtained may guide the management of these market expansion strategies. Particularly, the present findings are useful to predict the contribution of each brand image dimension on the attitude towards the new product and upon the feedback effects swaying the online brand image.

This study addresses “a hot topic” in branding by comparing two expansion strategies: brand extensions and brand alliances. This comparison is made within the under‐researched area of online branding, and in a novel scenario that is the online‐offline expansion.

Firms are now investing heavily in sponsorship, yet much of this sponsorship fails to deliver the expected positive outcomes to firms. This paper aims to address this problem by taking into consideration the nature of corporate sponsorship and the fit between brand image developed by corporate sponsorship and established brand concept.

Two separate studies were conducted. Study 1 aimed to test the main effect of two types of corporate sponsorship on consumer responses to the brand and the mediating role of brand image perception. Study 2 used a different design to test the moderating effect of brand concept. Data collected from two distinct samples were analyzed using MANCOVA and regression analysis.

The results from two studies indicated that two types of corporate sponsorship commercial and philanthropic influenced consumer response through varied mechanisms. Specifically, commercial sponsorship increased the competence perception of sponsors and thereby enhances purchase intention, while philanthropic sponsorship promoted brand attitude through strengthening the warmth perception of sponsors. Moreover, the fit between established brand concept and brand image perceptions is critical for consumer responses. That is, warmth perception was more congruent with the self-transcendence brand concept, while competence perception fitted better with the self-enhancement brand concept in increasing consumer responses.

This paper divides corporate sponsorship into commercial and philanthropic sponsorship and investigates the process of achieving fit when conducting corporate sponsorship. More important, this paper adds to the literature by investigating the interaction between brand image produced by corporate sponsorship and original brand concept, which helps to reveal how fit occurs when conducting sponsorship.