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This paper aims to investigate the effects of buzz about the focal brand on competing brands’ attitudes.

Brand-related buzz can be defined as “a general sense of [positive or negative] excitement about or interest in [a brand], as reflected in or generated by word of mouth” (Oxford dictionary). The authors investigate the spillover effects of such positive and negative buzz on brand attitudes of 648 brands in 43 categories over five years.

The authors find that spillover effects are widespread across product categories and affect competing brands through (negative) halo effect and (unfavorable) preference substitution. The authors do not find evidence of positive spillover effects for non-focal brands.

The authors provide generalizable evidence that positive and negative buzz spills over competing brands’ attitudes for hundreds of brands across the largest sectors of the US economy. Interestingly, positive and negative buzz have asymmetric effects on consumer attitudes. These effects vary by consumer attitude metric and are moderated by brand news intensity, strength and similarity.

First, marketing managers should monitor the buzz of competing brands. Second, if managers are concerned with impressions, they should intervene when there is a negative buzz about competitors (halo effect). Third, managers should stimulate positive buzz to negatively affect their competitors’ purchases. Fourth, managing a smaller brand has advantages regarding impressions and recommendations, while news intensity can shield from negative spillover effects for impressions. Finally, brand similarity amplifies the spillover effects across the board.

This paper provides evidence that spillover effects are pervasive and urges marketing managers and academics to incorporate competing buzz in their frameworks and strategies.

This paper aims to identify the social motivational factors that can enhance brand-related content across social networking platforms (SNPs). It examines how brands can enhance motivation to create and exchange brand stories for existing and target customers.

The study followed an interpretivist approach and collected data from 40 customers of 5 top apparel brands based in the UK using non-directive and semi-structured interviews. The respondents were chosen using purposive sampling and thematic analysis was undertaken using the NVivo 11 Plus software.

The findings highlight various social motivational factors that can inspire the creation, sharing and exchange of brand-related content using SNPs. These include social responsibility, staying connected, inspiration from others, opinion leaders and recognition, optimal decision-making, inspiring or disheartening experience of the brand and emotional connection with the brand. People’s purchase decisions are strongly influenced by close friends, local online community groups, opinion leaders and other credible sources. Moreover, the respondents reported having more trust in shared consumer experiences than company advertisements and other marketing tactics.

The findings of this research will be beneficial for organizations, brand managers and marketing teams, offering insights into how stakeholders can enhance brand-related content on SNPs. The findings also show that online local communities on Facebook and expert opinions are the most significant factors in enhancing brand-related content, social engagement and purchase decisions.

There is limited literature on why people are motivated to create and exchange brand-related content, especially in the context of the apparel industry. The study offers insights into how brands can create motivation for enhancing brand-related content in ways that are recognized as a cheap and highly effective way of advertising, influencing pre-purchase information, purchase decisions and social engagement on the part of SNP users.

Customers are increasingly interested in reading discussions, experiences, recommendations and reviews on social media platforms related to services and products in which they are highly interested. The purpose of this paper is to find the availability of user-generated content (UGC) in the context of Islamic banks and how it can enhance the level of brand engagement and purchase intention of customers.

The methodology for this research is designed by following the features of qualitative research methods and a social constructivism approach. Furthermore, non-directive and semi-structured in-depth interviews are constructed to accumulate research data from marketing teams and customers of Islamic banks. The respondents have been carefully chosen on the basis of purposive sampling and their level of awareness related to Islamic banks.

Islamic banks are more frequently using traditional marketing tools that are unable to enhance levels of information among the targeted population and prove an expensive way of marketing. The findings reveal that Islamic banks lag behind in adopting the latest information exchanging technologies compared to conventional banking systems. A lack of skilled people, reputation and trust, lack of e-marketing strategy and lower levels of investment in social media platforms are major barriers to generate UGC, brand engagement and purchase intention among the targeted market of Islamic banks.

The effective and competent use of various social networking platforms can enhance UGC related to Islamic banking products and services. UGC can generate interactive communication, services reviews, feedbacks, intention to purchase, social influence, social trust and positive customer perception among the targeted population of Islamic banks. The study has summarized and offered practical recommendations to show how Islamic banks can address challenges and enjoy a high level of profitability compared to conventional banking systems.

The present study uncovered the steps that must be taken by the top management of Islamic banks to enhance levels of awareness, online product reviews and recommendations, e-word of mouth and purchase intentions of the targeted market. The study enhanced understanding regarding how a higher level of investment in social networking platforms, safe and secure banking systems and skilled IT professionals can address the challenges of Islamic banks. Furthermore, these factors can create positive UGC, social influence, social brand engagement and purchase intention of customers in Islamic banks. These primary factors must be considered by Islamic banks to compete with conventional banking products and services.

The current study conceptualizes and empirically tests a new model of market brand equity (MBE). This model, that not just provides an understanding of customer mindsets toward the brand, as most empirical models do, but also measures the marketing benefits of such mindsets. The present study offers two models. One is comprehensive and theoretical while the other is an empirical model. The empirical model is a practical model drawn from the more comprehensive and conceptualized model. The hypothesized empirical MBE model is tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis followed by a formula that offers a method to calculate and rank competitive brands in the market place. The purpose of this paper is to conclude with a discussion of the implications of the model.

The findings of the present research are based on a representative sample of 964 cellular phone users selected randomly from an Israeli internet panel were analyzed. The questions related to the dimensions of the brand equity needed a more intimate relationship of the customers with the brand. Thus, those questions were asked only with regard to the brand that the respondents were mainly using. These questions were concerned with brand knowledge, brand commitment and brand overall attitude. The other questions that the respondents answered were about three other brands on the market. All dimensions, except purchase barriers, were measured on a ten-point scale.

SEM analysis was used to test the hypothesized MBE model as well as alternative models. The results, which supported the hypothesized model, indicated that knowledge has a strong positive effect on image, personality and attitude. Image has a positive effect on attitude, but that of personality was insignificant. Attitude, image and personality have a positive effect on commitment. Commitment affects recommendation strongly and positively. Both commitment and recommendation have a positive and significant effect on potential market share.

The limitations of the current research are that it was not measured over time and that only one product category has been tested. In addition to dealing with these limitations, future research may also add additional marketing performance outcome variables such as the ability to obtain premium prices and to exercise brand power in relation to channels of distribution.

The model presented in this paper provides the marketer with the ability to compare, from a competitive perspective, the relative average in the market place of customer mindset, customer performance and marketing performance. The analysis also reveals whether to invest in strengthening customer mindset or in capturing a greater market share. When the brand leader is far from its followers, an additional analysis may be required and it may be necessary to increase the sensitivity of the analysis by examining separately (without the leading brand) the relative differences between the follower brands. Moreover, the measurement questions should be adjusted to fit different product categories. For example, in testing the MBE in the service industry, “product performance,” which is a component of brand commitment, should be measured by the “quality of service.” But the way of using the model will not change. Another example for future research may be found in sport marketing, such as among football or basketball clubs. In such instances, performance – winning or losing – or even the quality of the players on the team may be considered. It is suggested here that the MBE’s measurement of fast-moving products vs slow moving ones. However, in such cases the model would probably show a significant difference in involvement with the brands of fast-moving products displaying much lower customers’ involvement then brands of slow-moving products.

The empirical model suggested in this study is a new and practical market-based brand equity that uses commitment as the main construct, building brand equity to represent the performance outcome of the customer mindset used in the models noted above. The current study also offers a new practical and useful formula for calculating and ranking MBE.

The purpose of this study is to offer a “brand equity model” that will help football organizations to manage their appeal.

The proposed model utilizes structural equation modelling analysis to test the hypothesized marketing brand equity (MBE) model. The empirical part of the research stems from a large survey of 1,300 Israeli football fans.

As expected, knowledge about the team, the team’s image and its perceived personality significantly predicted positive attitudes toward the team. This in turn predicted commitment, which predicted recommendation, which predicted intentions. The linear regression to extract the seven parameters weights was highly significant (F = 163.5, p < 0.001) and explained 52 per cent (R² = 0.518) of the depended variable “price premium”.

The new MBE model suggested here provides a relative index of brand equity for football club organizations that enables them to competitively compare the marketing equity of their club to that of their rivals. The MBE model also shows that commitment is a central component in the football club’s brand equity model. The current MBE model is the only model that provides a weight for each of the components. Each respective weight represents the internal contribution of each component to the final brand equity index. These weights indicate where an effort should be made to improve the equity of the brand.

Football teams may also need to focus on the constructs underlying the commitment (Shuv-Ami, 2012) of fans to their football club organization, that is, the team performance and satisfaction stemming from the fans’ experience with their team and the feelings of loyalty and involvement that represent the degree of fan engagement with the team. Although football teams do what they can to improve performance, much can be done in marketing to improve the other constructs and, thus, fan commitment. Improving the experience of fans, both on and off the field, regardless of whether the team is winning or losing, builds fan engagement.

The current research suggests two new brand equity models for football club organizations. One is a comprehensive theoretical model that combines and expands current conceptual brand equity models (Keller, 1993, 2008; Aaker, 1991, 1996; Keller and Lehmann, 2006); the other is an empirical model that makes it practical to measure the marketing strength or the brand equity of football clubs. The new empirical MBE suggested here provides a relative index of brand equity for football club organization that enable them to compare competitively the marketing equity of their club to that of their rivals. The MBE model also shows, for the first time, that commitment is a central component in the football club brand equity model. The current MBE is the only model that provides a weight for each of its component.

This paper studies the dimensions of brand image, focusing on the functions or value of the brand as perceived by consumers. In this way, four categories of functions are identified: guarantee, personal identification, social identification and status. By way of hypotheses, it has been proposed that these functions have a positive influence on the consumer’s willingness to recommend the brand, pay a price premium for it and accept brand extensions. The hypotheses have been tested in the Spanish sports shoes market and were partially supported. The results obtained confirm the convenience of analyzing brand associations separately and enable the ascertaining of the brand associations that are the most relevant in order to attain certain consumer responses.

This study aims to apply the concept of brand love to a destination and investigate its antecedents and consequences. It also explores the moderating effects of time elapsed since the establishment of the destination brand love relationship on the outcomes of destination brand love.

A total of 5,511 valid responses were obtained from an online survey distributed among former international students from the Erasmus program of the European Union. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was conducted to assess the hypotheses.

Destination brand love was found to have a significant impact on electronic word of mouth (eWOM), WOM, WOM intensity, recommendation and revisit intention. Moderation analysis revealed that the amount of time elapsed since the establishment of the destination brand love relationship did not affect these outcomes. Moreover, destination image and the Erasmus experience had a positive effect on destination brand love.

Destination marketers should focus on enhancing the Erasmus experience and on improving destination image perception, as these factors help develop destination brand love. Marketers should also be aware that this relationship has long-lasting effects.

This study adds to the sparse literature on brand love in relation to a destination. This gives the first results for the importance of Erasmus students to the promotion of a host country. It also contributes to the question of how long the brand love relationship can last.

This chapter aims to identify integrated marketing communication (IMC) in the context of business to business to consumer (B2B2C) and empirically test a number of hypotheses related to the selected constructs. A model of the IMC was tested in a survey conducted among stakeholders in the selected field. Professionals responsible for communication and branding activities need to evaluate the relative contributions of the IMC in the B2B2C perspective.

Brand management in small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) is an area of study in its infancy. Although considerable literature has been published about brand management in general, all theory and case studies are based only on multinationals. This article proposes providing the results and conclusions of exploratory research into this subject, and into SMEs in particular.

To understand the precise role of the entrepreneur and to provide answers to five research questions, a qualitative study based on in‐depth interviews with mainly middle‐sized companies was undertaken. Striking results were obtained from this exploratory research.

The paper shows the reader what the role of brand management in SMEs is and all the variables that influence it. It also presents a new model for brand development in SMEs, one that highlights the importance of the internal role of brand management in such an organization. An important finding is that passion for the brand throughout the company is a very important factor, initiated by an active role of the entrepreneur him/herself to achieving brand recognition. It does not cost anything and the impact appeared to be significant. Of course creativity is indispensable in this process.

The change that directors of a relatively small company should make is to place brand management in a top position in their daily mind set. Achieving brand recognition starts inside the organization itself.

For the first time in history extensive research in brand management in SMEs has been combined with the creation of various new theories, resulting in many practical recommendations. These are recommendations that can be used by the reader in his or her own organization.

This paper aims to offer insights into the ways two computer-aided qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) applications (QSR NVivo and Leximancer) can be used to analyze big, text-based, online data taken from consumer-to-consumer (C2C) social media communication.

This study used QSR NVivo and Leximancer, to explore 200 discussion threads containing 1,796 posts from forums on an online open community and an online brand community that involved online brand advocacy (OBA). The functionality, in particular, the strengths and weaknesses of both programs are discussed. Examples of the types of analyses each program can undertake and the visual output available are also presented.

This research found that, while both programs had strengths and weaknesses when working with big, text-based, online data, they complemented each other. Each contributed a different visual and evidence-based perspective; providing a more comprehensive and insightful view of the characteristics unique to OBA.

Qualitative market researchers are offered insights into the advantages and disadvantages of using two different software packages for research projects involving big social media data. The “visual-first” analysis, obtained from both programs can help researchers make sense of such data, particularly in exploratory research.

The paper provides practical recommendations for analysts considering which programs to use when exploring big, text-based, online data.

This paper answered a call to action for further research and demonstration of analytical programs of big, online data from social media C2C communication and makes strong suggestions about the need to examine such data in a number of ways.