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1 – 10 of 264This paper introduces the concept of dysfunctional customer behavior toward a brand and argues that when customers perceive that a brand has failed to fulfill its promises, a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper introduces the concept of dysfunctional customer behavior toward a brand and argues that when customers perceive that a brand has failed to fulfill its promises, a psychological brand contract breach occurs, which in turn leads to a psychological brand contract violation, which evokes dysfunctional customer behavior toward the brand. In addition, this study investigates whether the impact of a breach of this contract is dependent on brand relationship quality, brand apology and restitution.
Design/methodology/approach
Study 1 conducted the online survey and 224 respondents were used for data analysis and the moderating role of brand relationship quality was examined. Study 2 conducted an experiment with 201 participants to test the moderating role of brand apology and restitution.
Findings
This study found the moderating role of brand relationship quality, brand apology and brand restitution on the relationship between a psychological brand contract breach and dysfunctional customer behavior toward a brand (i.e. brand-negative word-of-mouth, brand retaliation and brand boycott), which is mediated by psychological brand contract violation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of dysfunctional customer behavior toward a brand by integrating the literature on brand management with the organizational literature on psychological contracts between organizations and their employees. Furthermore, this study sheds light on the effectiveness of reparative actions by the firm after occurrence of the psychological brand contract breach.
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Frank Germann, Ronald L. Hess and Margaret G. Meloy
Prior research has documented that product failures can be among a firm's worst nightmares. In this research, we examine if retailers are also held accountable by consumers when…
Abstract
Prior research has documented that product failures can be among a firm's worst nightmares. In this research, we examine if retailers are also held accountable by consumers when products that they sold, but did not manufacture, fail. In two studies, we show that consumers not only blame multiple parties when product failures occur – including the retailer – but also that manufacturer brand equity and retailer store image serve as important contextual cues in the blame assignment process. Specifically, building on congruity theory, we show that retailers are especially susceptible to being held responsible for failure if the equity of the failed product and the retailer store image are incongruent. Our findings also indicate that value-oriented retailers are particularly vulnerable to being blamed when high-equity products fail. Our findings suggest measuring attribution of blame between the manufacturer and retailer involved in a product failure event – instead of only the manufacturer as has been the norm in extant research – facilitates our understanding of consumer responses when product failures occur.
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Al Sentot Sudarwanto and Dona Budi Kharisma
This study aims to propose a law enforcement strategy for investment fraud through comparative studies in the United States of America (USA), Canada and Indonesia, and to identify…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to propose a law enforcement strategy for investment fraud through comparative studies in the United States of America (USA), Canada and Indonesia, and to identify the factors that cause weak law enforcement on investment fraud with the object of a binary options case study in Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is a type of legal research, namely, research based on legal materials (library-based). The legal materials used include primary legal materials and secondary legal materials. The approaches used are the statute approach, the case approach and the comparative approach. The data collection technique used in this research is a literature study. The analysis was carried out qualitatively by using an interactive model.
Findings
In 2022, the Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK) recorded that the total value of public losses because of investment fraud in Indonesia reached 117.4tn IDR. Weak law enforcement is the reason investment fraud thrives in society. Strategies that can be implemented to prevent investment fraud include early detection of new investment fraud modes through the whistleblower program, mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, criminal restitution and improvement of public financial literacy.
Research limitations/implications
This study examines the problems of law enforcement against investment fraud with a case study of binary options in Indonesia. A law enforcement strategy is built on identifying issues and adopting law enforcement policies against investment fraud in Canada and the USA.
Practical implications
For individuals, the results of this research can be used as reading material to increase their understanding of investment fraud. For the government, the results of this study can be a reference in an effort to eradicate the rise of investment fraud cases more effectively and create a safe digital economic space for investors.
Social implications
The results of this study are expected to be useful in providing recommendations for strategies to strengthen law enforcement against the problems of investment fraud cases so as to form a conducive investment climate in the sense of being safe, comfortable and profitable.
Originality/value
Legal frameworks to prevent investment fraud are rarely discussed. The rise in binary options cases that occur is an indication of weak law enforcement in the investment sector. Therefore, an in-depth study of law enforcement strategies to prevent investment fraud is needed, with comparative studies in the USA, Canada and Indonesia.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the legal concepts and theories that are useful in protecting a brand from harmful and unauthorized social media use by third parties.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the legal concepts and theories that are useful in protecting a brand from harmful and unauthorized social media use by third parties.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative research of articles, news stories, court decisions and statutes was conducted. Various legal concerns and theories were developed from this information.
Findings
The various legal theories were organized into a three‐category framework: Monitoring; 'Mposters; and Message.
Practical implications
This framework should be useful to brand managers to protect their brand against unauthorized use, imitation or unfavourable affiliations in social media.
Originality/value
This work is the first to develop a managerial framework of legal issues to address unauthorized and unfavourable use of a brand identity in social media.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of brand equity in handling service failure and examine the effects of brand equity on service recovery.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of brand equity in handling service failure and examine the effects of brand equity on service recovery.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual framework is proposed which includes that satisfaction, as a mediator, accounts for the relationship between service recovery attributes (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice) and post‐recovery behavior (repatronage intentions and word‐of‐mouth behavior). More importantly, brand equity is used to serve as the moderator in the hypothesized research model. Structural equation modeling techniques are applied to data collected from a field study in Taiwan to test the framework.
Findings
Results from the current field study found that strong brand equity provides an overall advantage over weak brands in increasing service recovery satisfaction and behavior intentions (repatronage intentions and word‐of‐mouth behavior).
Research limitations/implications
The data used in this study were collected in a single metropolitan area in Taiwan. Future research might be conducted in a variety of countries.
Practical implications
Service recovery strategies in responding to service failures are part of the critical task for service managers. This paper suggests that building brand equity is a means by which post‐failure satisfaction and behavioral intentions may be enhanced.
Originality/value
This is the first study to completely compare the high brand equity with low brand equity in the effect of service recovery.
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Kimberly V. Legocki, Kristen L. Walker and Meike Eilert
This paper aims to contribute to the emerging body of research on firestorms, specifically on the inflammatory user-generated content (UGC) created in response to brand…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to contribute to the emerging body of research on firestorms, specifically on the inflammatory user-generated content (UGC) created in response to brand transgressions. By analyzing and segmenting UGC created and shared in the wake of three different events, the authors identify which type of inflammatory message is most likely to be widely shared; thus, contributing to a possible online firestorm.
Design/methodology/approach
Tweets were collected involving brand transgressions in the retail, fast food and technology space from varying timeframe and diverse media coverage. Then, the tweets were coded for message intention and analyzed with linguistics software to determine the message characteristics and framing. A two-step cluster analysis identified three types of UGC.
Findings
The authors found that message dimensions and the framing of tweets in the context of brand transgressions differed in characteristics, sentiment, call to action and the extent to which the messages were shared. The findings contradict traditional negative word-of-mouth studies involving idiosyncratic service and product failure. During online brand firestorms, rational activism messages with a call to action, generated in response to a firm’s transgression or “sparks,” have a higher likelihood of being shared (virality).
Originality/value
This research provides novel insights into UGC created after brand transgressions. Different types of messages created after these events vary in the extent that they “fan the flames” of the transgression. A message typology and flowchart are provided to assist managers in identifying and responding to three message types: ash, sparks and embers.
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Chompunuch Pongjit and Rian Beise-Zee
This study aims to conceptualize and test the effect of monetary and non-monetary incentives for word-of-mouth (WOM) campaigns on the brand attitude of those receiving an…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to conceptualize and test the effect of monetary and non-monetary incentives for word-of-mouth (WOM) campaigns on the brand attitude of those receiving an incentivized brand recommendation. It also studied whether or not the type of relationship between the recommender and the person who receives the recommendation and the expertise of the recommender moderate the impact of incentivization on brand attitude. The results should enable brand management to improve the design of WOM campaigns.
Design/methodology/approach
An experiment was conducted utilizing a sample of about 645 respondents in Thailand. In a 3 × 3 experimental design, three levels of incentivization and three types of social relationships were manipulated. All other variables were measured through a respondent-administered questionnaire. For incentivization of WOM, monetary reward and non-monetary reward are compared to a non-incentivized control state. The three types of social relationships are an authority relationship, a kinship relationship and a market pricing relationship between strangers as the control state.
Findings
The results of the experiment show that the introduction of rewards for recommendations harms the attitude of the receiver of a recommendation toward the brand. The attitude of potential buyers toward the brand can be tainted by the impression that a brand has enticed friends and relatives into profiting from their relationship. The negative effects increase further with the introduction of cash rewards. Contrary to expectations, however, the social relationship between the recommender and the new customer did not moderate the effect of incentivization. Source expertise has a direct as well as moderating effect on brand attitude.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that companies should use referral rewards with caution. Brand managers need to be aware that there is a trade-off between the advantages and the disadvantages of incentivized WOM campaigns. Recommendations have been derived about how to improve the design of incentivized WOM campaigns. Whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages probably depend to some extent on brand-specific factors such as brand strength and market- or industry-specific factors, such as a credence good quality within the industry. It also emphasized that WOM campaigns need to be carefully monitored by measuring customer attitudes toward the brand.
Originality/value
Although past research provides valuable conceptual and empirical insights into consumer responses in incentivized WOM situations, most research has focused on the immediate effectiveness of WOM by measuring purchasing intentions. There is still a lack of information about how different kinds of incentivization affect customer attitudes toward a brand that incentivizes WOM, and how various relationship types moderate the effects; in particular, authority relationships have not yet been studied in this context.
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Zelin Tong, Jingdan Feng and Fang Liu
Studies have shown that negative publicity adversely affects brand trust, but exactly how brand trust can be damaged remains poorly understood. This study aims to explore how…
Abstract
Purpose
Studies have shown that negative publicity adversely affects brand trust, but exactly how brand trust can be damaged remains poorly understood. This study aims to explore how negative publicity influences image congruity and, subsequently, brand trust. In addition, the study also examined the effectiveness of two corporate strategies to repair both congruity and trust.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a valid sample of 522 Chinese consumers between the ages 20 and 50, this study adopted a quasi-experimental design involving two types of negative publicity (performance- and value-related) and two initial corporate repair strategies (compensation and public apology) intended to repair brand trust.
Findings
Negative publicity shaped brand trust through both functional congruity and self-congruity. Moreover, the type of negative publicity affected the role of image congruity in brand trust. The effectiveness of repair strategies further depended on the type of negative publicity.
Research limitations/implications
Mobile phones were an appropriate focal product for this research, but examining only one product category may limit findings’ generalizability. Negative emotions such as frustration or anger and their relationships with congruity can also be addressed in future work. Subsequent research can additionally consider more conditions to explore alternative routes of processing related to brand trust.
Practical implications
Brand trust is a vulnerable brand asset on which negative publicity can have seriously negative consequences. Marketers and brand managers should assess the extent to which negative publicity can damage image congruity and brand trust and come up with different repair strategies subsequently.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the limited and fragmented literature on consumers’ evaluations of negative information. Findings offer fresh insight into the impacts of negative publicity on image congruity and brand trust. The implications extend beyond negative publicity to other forms of negative information, such as rumors, fake news and negative word of mouth. Results also highlight the importance of adopting appropriate repair strategies to restore consumers’ trust in the event of negative publicity.
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Zebran Khan, Ariba Khan, Mohammed Kamalun Nabi, Zeba Khanam and Mohd Arwab
The purpose of this study is to investigate how electronic word of mouth (eWOM) affects purchase intention and brand equity, and to further examine the mediating role of brand…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how electronic word of mouth (eWOM) affects purchase intention and brand equity, and to further examine the mediating role of brand equity between eWOM and purchase intention among Indian consumers of branded apparel.
Design/methodology/approach
The data was collected from 303 consumers of branded apparel using an online questionnaire, and data were analyzed through structural equation modeling with the help of SPSS v24 and AMOS v23.
Findings
The findings of this study demonstrated that eWOM has a positive and significant influence on brand equity and purchase intention. Simultaneously, brand equity partially mediates between the eWOM and purchase intention of consumers of apparel brands.
Research limitations/implications
The study's data set is limited in its generalizability as it is based on specific responses from Indian consumers of branded apparel via an online survey. The results of this study would help marketing practitioners and apparel manufacturers to augment their sales and design their promotional strategy in accordance with consumers' traits.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to propose an integrative model that studies relationships between eWOM, brand equity and purchase intention by incorporating the Elaboration Likelihood Model among Indian consumers of branded apparel. Furthermore, this novel piece of research explores the relationship between eWOM and purchase intention with brand equity as a mediator, particularly for branded apparel selected by Indian consumers.
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This paper aims to center on the analysis of corporate recovery from internal ethical failure with the examination of Wells Fargo and Company. To move beyond self-inflicted…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to center on the analysis of corporate recovery from internal ethical failure with the examination of Wells Fargo and Company. To move beyond self-inflicted reputational damage and regain sales traction, successful turnaround companies have embarked on a four-step corporate recovery process centered on four key words: Replace, Restructure, Redevelop and Re-brand. Wells Fargo is one recent addition to these recovery stories.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses Wells Fargo and Company as a case model to examine corporate recovery. Wells Fargo is just one example of multinational companies that found themselves victims of internal impropriety, poor leadership supervision and unethical strategic decision-making resulting in significant financial losses, drastic declines in stock price and damaged reputation. Using Wells Fargo as an example from the banking industry, the case study approach is an effective way of assessing the viability of the corporate recovery model in various industries.
Findings
The corporate recovery model has served Wells Fargo well over the past few years as the stock price climbed nearly 60% in 2021. In addition, increasingly less public discussion about the account fraud scandal has allowed the reputation of the bank to recover as well. By the last quarter of 2021, the bank saw a 15% increase in revenue and an 86% increase in net income over the previous year. It appears that CEO Scharf is well on his way to turning around the prospects for Wells Fargo and the recovery model has proven again that there is a way through self-inflicted corporate damage.
Originality/value
The recovery story of Wells Fargo and Company adds to the litany of successful corporate recoveries where companies have achieved unprecedented turnarounds by following the model of replacing the leadership, restructuring the organization, redeveloping the strategy and re-branding the product. Implementing this four-pronged recovery strategy can help a company not only survive their specific scandal but also move away from reputational harm and get back on a growth trajectory.
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