Search results
1 – 10 of 139Sarah Song Southworth and Jung Ha-Brookshire
In response to today’s marketplace in which many Asian brands are trying to expand their businesses into Western nations, this study investigated the strategic use of cultural…
Abstract
Purpose
In response to today’s marketplace in which many Asian brands are trying to expand their businesses into Western nations, this study investigated the strategic use of cultural authenticity that Asian brands may employ for their success. Although the benefits of using cultural heritage in brand strategies have been noted by past literature, the efficacies of how Asian brands can use brand logo designs to positively influence their brand success have not been studied. To fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to examine how Chinese brands can increase willingness to try among US consumers by establishing brand uniqueness via culturally authentic brand logo designs.
Design/methodology/approach
The data from 289 respondents via online between-subjects factorial experimental research surveys were collected using a national US population as the sample frame. The Chinese brand logos communicating Asian heritage were created by manipulating the cultural authenticity of the brand logo mark and the language of the logotype.
Findings
The results suggested that the Asian-themed brand logo is an important tool in exuding a Chinese brand’s sense of cultural authenticity to US consumers. In turn, the perception of cultural authenticity for the Chinese brand positively influenced the US consumers’ perceptions of the brand’s uniqueness, which led to greater willingness to try the brand.
Originality/value
The research provides empirical insights into how “Asian-ness” can be manifested via brand logos to convey cultural authenticity as well as to build perceived brand uniqueness and the willingness to try among US consumers.
Details
Keywords
Gabriele Pizzi and Daniele Scarpi
This paper aims to investigate whether and how the inclusion of the year of establishment (YOE) in the brand logotype affects consumers’ perceptions of brand heritage and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate whether and how the inclusion of the year of establishment (YOE) in the brand logotype affects consumers’ perceptions of brand heritage and attitudes toward the brand.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies are conducted, one on 12 service brands (universities) and the other on 12 product brands (beers), with 250 and 200 respondents, respectively, testing a model of moderated mediation to estimate the effect of YOE on brand attitude through brand heritage as moderated by brand familiarity.
Findings
Reporting YOE on the brand logo invokes heritage that in turn increases attitudes. Older YOEs are more effective than recent YOEs. YOE effects are stronger for less-known brands. The findings support full mediation of heritage and moderation of familiarity.
Research limitations/implications
YOE invokes heritage, especially when YOE is old and the brand, less known. Additional research should examine the YOE effect among product categories where old means “outdated,” as in the hi-tech industry.
Practical implications
Managers have been using YOE since long: the findings provide guidelines for leveraging heritage. YOE works but must be signaled in the logotype to be effective and is particularly helpful for less-known brands. Thus, YOE effect gives less-known brands an additional counterbalance to the market power of their known competitors.
Originality/value
Previous research showed that companies can exploit their past heritage in the present times. Nonetheless, previous studies highlighted the complexity and paucity of tools to induce heritage. This is the first study to address the YOE effect. Empirical evidence also answers recent calls for easily implementable ways to induce heritage.
Details
Keywords
Begoña Jordá‐Albiñana, Olga Ampuero‐Canellas, Natalia Vila and José Ignacio Rojas‐Sola
The purpose of this paper is to identify the key features of an identity standards manual and assess the differences in the rules used for applying the brand to both low‐ and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the key features of an identity standards manual and assess the differences in the rules used for applying the brand to both low‐ and high‐context cultures, companies selling consumer goods and those selling services, and multinational and local companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is based on the analysis of 341 identity standards manuals and on the analysis of three key features found in the manuals: contents, normative tone, and development.
Findings
The results divide the contents of the manual into two blocks: core and peripheral; and show that there are differences between the manuals of high‐ and low‐context cultures, companies selling consumer goods and those selling services, and multinational and local companies.
Research limitations/implications
Type I errors could have been introduced and the conclusions must be regarded as tentative.
Practical implications
The findings show that applying the brand at an international level requires a strategy of adaptation which takes into account the particular nature of each culture.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the debate on standardization/adaptation of the signs of visual identity (name, logo, and color) in global marketing, by studying the rules used in applying the brand and discussion of the documents which contain them.
Details
Keywords
Abhishek Pathak, Carlos Velasco and Gemma Anne Calvert
With trade amounting to more than US$400bn, counterfeiting is already affecting many successful brands. Often, consumers are deceived into buying fake products due to the visual…
Abstract
Purpose
With trade amounting to more than US$400bn, counterfeiting is already affecting many successful brands. Often, consumers are deceived into buying fake products due to the visual similarity between fake and original brand logos. This paper aims to explore the varying forms of fraudulent imitation of original brand logotypes (operationalized at the level of logotype transposition), which can aid in the detection of a counterfeit brand.
Design/methodology/approach
Across two studies, this research tested how well consumers can differentiate counterfeit from original logos of well-known brands both explicitly and implicitly. Seven popular brand logos were altered to create different levels of visual dissimilarity and participants were required to discriminate the logos as fake or genuine.
Findings
Results demonstrate that although consumers can explicitly discriminate fake logos with a high degree of accuracy, the same is not true under conditions in which logos are presented very briefly (tapping participants’ implicit or automatic logo recognition capabilities), except when the first and last letters of the logotype are substituted.
Originality/value
A large body of research on counterfeit trade focuses on the individual or cross-cultural differences behind the prevalence of counterfeit trade. There is limited research exploring the ability of a consumer to correctly identify a fake logo, based on its varying similarity with the original logotype; this paper addresses this gap. Given that many of the purchase decisions are often made automatically, identifying key implicit differentiators that can help a consumer recognize a fake logo should be informative to both practitioners and academics.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to draw a parallel between color combinations in coats of arms of the twelfth century and color combinations in current brand logotypes of 400…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw a parallel between color combinations in coats of arms of the twelfth century and color combinations in current brand logotypes of 400 companies from the Forbes Global 2000 list.
Design/methodology/approach
In this work, the frequency of color combinations displayed in medieval coats of arms and in the brand logotypes of the top 400 largest companies in the Forbes list were compared.
Findings
One of the main findings of this research is the stability of color usage in two visual identity systems – coats of arms and brand logotypes – although 800 years separate them. In these two identification systems, almost the same colors are preferred or rejected. Yet, even though it is regularly argued that color will submerge the consumption world, this research shows that, in the twenty-first century, visual identities of brands are rather less colorful than medieval coats of arms: nowadays, at a global level, half of the logotypes are formed with white combined with red and/or blue.
Originality/value
By drawing a parallel between two visual identification systems that are coats of arms and logotypes, the results from this study highlight the stability in color usage and color combinations along the centuries. Thus, it seems that modern analysis of color combination practices could greatly benefit from the history and historical evolution of coats of arms. Far from being out of date, the study of coats of arms can provide marketers with interesting insights about the rules and implementation of color combinations when designing logotypes.
Details
Keywords
Abhishek Pathak, Carlos Velasco and Gemma Anne Calvert
Counterfeiting is a menace in the emerging markets and many successful brands are falling prey to it. Counterfeit brands not only deceive consumers but also fuel a demand for…
Abstract
Purpose
Counterfeiting is a menace in the emerging markets and many successful brands are falling prey to it. Counterfeit brands not only deceive consumers but also fuel a demand for lower priced replicas, both of which can devalue the bona-fide brand. But can consumers accurately identify a counterfeit logo? This paper aims to explore this question and examines the accuracy and speed with which a consumer can identify a counterfeit (vs original) logo.
Design/methodology/approach
Seven popular brand logos were altered by transposing and substituting the first and last letters of the logotypes. Consumers then classified the logos as counterfeit (vs original) across two experiments.
Findings
Participants were faster and more accurate in identifying a counterfeit logo when the first letter (vs last letter) of a logotype was manipulated, thus revealing last letter manipulations of a brand’s logotype to be more deceptive.
Research limitations/implications
This paper comments only on the manipulation of logotypes but not of logo symbols. Similarly, findings may not be generalizable across languages which are read from right to left.
Practical implications
Counterfeit trade is already a multibillion dollar industry. Understanding the key perceptual differentiators between a counterfeit (vs original) logo can be insightful for both consumers and firms alike.
Originality/value
Research available on objective measures of similarities (vs dissimilarities) between counterfeit (vs original) brand logos is limited. This paper contributes by examining the ability of consumers to discriminate between counterfeit (vs original) logos at different levels of visual similarity.
Details
Keywords
Miriam Salzer‐Mörling and Lars Strannegård
Since the late 1980s, brands have gained centre stage in marketing and in the managerial discourse. From having been a mere marker that identifies the producer or the origin of a…
Abstract
Since the late 1980s, brands have gained centre stage in marketing and in the managerial discourse. From having been a mere marker that identifies the producer or the origin of a product, the brand is today increasingly becoming the product that is consumed. For the corporation, the brand is conceptualised as the essence of the firm, its most crucial “asset”. In the literature, branding is described as a process of expressing core values through the use of persuasive stories. By questioning the conception of brands as corporately managed stories, the article aims to re‐conceptualise branding as a process of aesthetic expression, where the conventional distinctions between senders and receivers become blurred. The paper looks into how brands have become depicted in the branding literature, and thereafter discusses the narrative and pictorial modes of communication. On the basis of this, the article finally discusses how images are used and reused in the joint construction of brands, thus challenging the idea of brands as stories crafted and controlled by the corporation.
Details
Keywords
Nazife Karamullaoglu and Ozlem Sandikci
This purpose of this paper is to explore how Western design, fashion and aesthetic styles influenced advertising practice in Turkey in the post-Second World War era. Specifically…
Abstract
Purpose
This purpose of this paper is to explore how Western design, fashion and aesthetic styles influenced advertising practice in Turkey in the post-Second World War era. Specifically, the authors focus on the key targets of the consumerist ideology of the period, women and discuss the representations of females in Turkish advertisements.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were analysed using a combination of social semiotic and compositional analysis methods. Compositional analysis focused on the formal qualities and design elements of the ads; social semiotic analysis sought to uncover their meaning potentials in relation to social, cultural, political and economic dynamics of the period. The advertisements of a prominent Turkish pasta brand, Piyale, published in the local adaptation of the American Life magazine, between 1956 and 1966, constitute the data set.
Findings
The analysis reveals that Piyale followed the stylistic and thematic trends prevailing in American and European advertisements at the time and crafted ads that constructed and communicated a Westernized image of Turkish women and families. In line with the cultural currents of the 1950s and 1960s, the ads emphasize patriarchal gender roles and traditional family values and address the woman as a consumer whose priority is to please her husband and take good care of her children.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the advertising history in non-Western contexts and provides an understanding of the influence Western advertising conventions and fashion trends had on developing country markets. The findings indicate that Western-inspired representations and gender roles dominated advertisements of local brands during the post-war period.
Details
Keywords
Søren Askegaard and Anders Bengtsson
This paper seeks to present a cultural approach to co‐branding. The purpose here is to discuss issues concerning the phenomena of brand and branding with particular focus on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to present a cultural approach to co‐branding. The purpose here is to discuss issues concerning the phenomena of brand and branding with particular focus on the mythological narratives that are at stake in a brand.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducts a case analysis of a co‐branded product. Provides both a managerial and a cultural reading of the co‐brand in question, before proceeding to make a “neo‐Freudian” analysis of the potentially transgressive meanings involved in the co‐branding in question. This is done not so much to produce an authoritative reading of the cultural and commercial sign of the co‐brand as to make a bold leap and provide a daring reading of a seemingly innocent co‐branded product.
Findings
Through the case study of the co‐branded product, the vast amount of cultural meanings that goes beyond the sets of brand identities proposed by the brand managers is explored. Discusses the limitations of traditional strategic branding models and suggests a certain degree of humility towards the mysterious and spiritual forces when trying to exploit mythological levels of social meanings and narratives in the branding process.
Practical implications
For brand managers who seek to co‐operate with other brands in the marketplace, this paper offers an argument for the almost limitless potential of symbolic dimensions that are inextricably linked to combining brand universes. By doing so, a more comprehensive understanding of the meaning management for co‐branded products and potentially a more successful outcome of the branding process may be achieved.
Originality/value
In addition to existing research, this paper illustrates that the practice of co‐branding involves a play with symbolic forces that can be unpredictable and difficult to control for a brand manager. This finding has implications for the degree to which one can expect to be able to manage the social communication processes generated from a co‐branded product.
Details
Keywords
When the big ball comes down in Times Square on January 1, 2001, a lot of seemingly far‐sighted company and product names such as 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Funds, and Gateway…
Abstract
When the big ball comes down in Times Square on January 1, 2001, a lot of seemingly far‐sighted company and product names such as 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Funds, and Gateway 2000 will become anachronisms.