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1 – 10 of over 63000Wenting Feng, Yuanping Xu and Lijia Wang
Building on the theory of brand psychological ownership, this paper aims to explore the mediating role of brand psychological ownership in the relationship between brand…
Abstract
Purpose
Building on the theory of brand psychological ownership, this paper aims to explore the mediating role of brand psychological ownership in the relationship between brand personality (innocence/coolness) and consumers’ preferences, as well as identify the boundary conditions of this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the hypotheses, a series of four experiments were conducted in Wuhan, a city in southern China, using questionnaires administered at two universities and two supermarkets. Hypotheses were tested using PLS-SEM in SmartPLS 4.
Findings
The results indicate that brand personality, specifically the dimensions of innocence and coolness, has a significant impact on consumers’ brand preferences. Brands with a cool personality are preferred over those with an innocent personality. Moreover, the relationship between brand personality and consumers’ brand preferences is moderated by power motivation and identity centrality.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by differentiating between brand personality of innocence and coolness as two separate constructs and proposing brand psychological ownership as a mechanism through which brand personality affects brand preferences. The study’s samples were drawn from universities and supermarkets in southern China, providing evidence for the significant moderating effects of power motivation and identity centrality on consumers’ brand preferences.
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Abhigyan Sarkar and Juhi Gahlot Sarkar
Extant research shows that individual’s relationship with brand can be structurally similar to both interpersonal love relationship and religious relationship. A stream of…
Abstract
Purpose
Extant research shows that individual’s relationship with brand can be structurally similar to both interpersonal love relationship and religious relationship. A stream of consumer research states that individual can love a brand like a person loves another person. Another stream of consumer research postulates that individual can perceive brand equivalent to religion, and even substitute religion with brand. Research is scarce connecting these two different paradigms of brand relationship, given that interpersonal relationship is not necessarily as devotional as religious relationship. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the psychological process through which an individual can substitute his/her religion with brand. The basic theoretical premise of this substitution behaviour is the proposition that brand meanings can be perceived as equivalent to religious meanings.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper has conducted an integrative review of selected extant research related to individual-brand relationships, interpersonal relationships and religiosity.
Findings
This paper develops a consumer response hierarchy model showing the inter-related psychological processes through which an individual can substitute his/her religion with brand. The model forms the basis for the discussion of theoretical contributions and managerial implications.
Originality/value
The value of this conceptual paper lies in developing a process model for the first time in the area of consumer-brand relationship domain explaining the stage-wise psychological processes through which individual can move from mere cognitive brand satisfaction towards perceiving brand as substitute of religion.
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Yinghao Wu and Jing Jiang
The purpose of this paper is to take the perspective of repairing the negative effect of social exclusion, discussing how anthropomorphized brand role (partner vs servant…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to take the perspective of repairing the negative effect of social exclusion, discussing how anthropomorphized brand role (partner vs servant) releases the negative effect of social exclusion.
Design/methodology/approach
In this research, two behavioral studies are conducted. Study 1 uses a one-factor (social exclusion vs social inclusion) between-subjects design. The purpose of Study 1 is to test the effect of social exclusion on consumers’ WTP for the anthropomorphized brand (H1). Study 2 uses a 2 (self-esteem (SE): high vs low) × 2 (anthropomorphized brand role: servant vs partner) between-subjects design. The aim of Study 2 is to investigate that after being socially excluded, how anthropomorphized brand roles (servant vs partner) and SE interactively release individuals’ negative feelings (H2a and H2b) and how the need for control recovery mediates this interaction effect (H3).
Findings
This study proposes that when individuals are socially excluded, they are willing to pay more for anthropomorphized brands than those who are not because anthropomorphized brands provide a quasi-social relationship. This study further posits that socially excluded consumers prefer the different role of anthropomorphized brands, given a different level of SE to meet their needs for control recovery. High self-esteem (HSE) (vs low self-esteem (LSE)) consumers are willing to pay more for a servant-like brand because such brands help them recover from low control by regaining a master role. In contrast, HSE and LSE consumers have no significant differences in WTP for a partner-like brand.
Originality/value
Few research studies have discussed how social exclusion influences individuals’ WTP. To fill this gap, the authors used WTP as the dependent variable, showing that after being socially excluded, individuals tend to pay a higher price for the anthropomorphized brand. Also, the research not only adds a contribution to research on the need for control recovery but also indicates how HSE vs LSE individuals behave differently in socially excluded contexts.
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Susmit S. Gulavani, James Du and Jeffrey D. James
Drawing upon social judgment theory, the research examines whether changes in psychological involvement with a sport human brand owing to their sporting success can generate…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing upon social judgment theory, the research examines whether changes in psychological involvement with a sport human brand owing to their sporting success can generate spillover effects on people's national pride, a proxy for the collective level of well-being and whether the individual's behavioral engagement in sport spectating will moderate this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Leveraging a quasi-natural experiment grounded in the 2021 Indian Premier League championship, the authors solicit responses from 296 representative individuals residing in India twice using a two-wave panel design. The authors conducted confirmatory factor analysis, repeated measures T-test, latent change score analysis, and structural regression analysis to examine the relationship between psychological involvement with sport human brand and national pride.
Findings
The results demonstrate a positive association between psychological involvement with sport human brand and national pride. Further, the findings indicate that an increase in psychological involvement with sport human brand was associated with an increase in national pride due to the successful athletic endeavor involving the sport human brand. However, the relationship between psychological involvement with sport human brand and national pride was invariant irrespective of patrons' spectatorship behavior.
Originality/value
This research demonstrates that sport human brands possess transformative soft power that extends their prerogative cultural identity personified by their athletic ability and success, allowing them to shape public sentiments of national pride via their profound influence through and beyond the complex network of brand ecosystems.
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Elena Delgado-Ballester, Inés López-López and Alicia Bernal
This study aims to examine personal factors that drive the initiation of an online firestorm, an online collaborative attack against a brand that usually occurs when a brand fails…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine personal factors that drive the initiation of an online firestorm, an online collaborative attack against a brand that usually occurs when a brand fails or engages in misconduct.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured questionnaire is used for data collection. Via an online panel, 303 questionnaires are completed. Hypotheses are tested using structural equation modelling.
Findings
Civic engagement and, to a lesser extent, narcissism explain intentions to initiate online firestorms. Individuals’ inherent concern for others and for ethical issues prompts them to punish a brand publicly, with the expectation that other individuals will follow and that the brand will feel compelled to react. Misconduct-related appraisal factors, such as severity, proximity, moral inequity and outrage, can amplify the effect of civic engagement.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should investigate whether the findings hold for different types of misconduct, cultures and other forms of narcissism.
Practical implications
By providing managers with a better understanding of the motivations for launching an attack, this study offers guidance on managing a brand when an online firestorm occurs.
Originality/value
Whereas previous research has focused on external drivers of online firestorms, this study builds on the prosocial behaviour literature to analyse the individual characteristics prompting the initiation of an online firestorm.
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Heather M. Meyer and Danae Manika
Brand prominence describes the conspicuousness of a brand on a product. The purpose of this research is to investigate the types of brand prominence variation.
Abstract
Purpose
Brand prominence describes the conspicuousness of a brand on a product. The purpose of this research is to investigate the types of brand prominence variation.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing an exploratory approach, 20 in-depth interviews were conducted where respondents created five outfits for anticipated social scenarios. The prominence of brands on these outfits were photographed, catalogued and qualitatively analyzed for thematic variation. Then, the brand prominence data points were quantitatively content analyzed.
Findings
The results from the qualitative analysis is an organizing framework describing three major types of brand prominence variation: brand visibility, brand frequency and brand distribution. In addition, heat maps were generated to visually display the prominence of brands distributed on the individual’s body. Subsequent results from the quantitative content analysis revealed that brands on shoes and pants were most likely to display significant levels of prominence in relation to frequency and visibility dimensions. Significant differences across participant demographic groups were also found in terms of the brand visibility.
Practical implications
This new information on brand prominence variation provides business brand managers with insight on how to measure and monitor their own levels of brand prominence displays. They, in turn, can engage in more strategic placement and prominence of their brands in the future production of fashionable clothes, shoes and accessories.
Originality/value
The conspicuous consumption literature has long been interested in studying how consumers display their brands. The current study demonstrates how consumer researchers can measure brand prominence variation and therefore gain better insight on the consumer who engages in conspicuous consumption via brand prominence variation.
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Denise D. Schoenbachler, Geoffrey L. Gordon and Timothy W. Aurand
Building brand loyalty has become more important, yet more difficult to achieve in today's marketplace. This research investigates a possible avenue for building brand loyalty…
Abstract
Building brand loyalty has become more important, yet more difficult to achieve in today's marketplace. This research investigates a possible avenue for building brand loyalty that is not directly related to the marketing of the product – attracting individual investors in the brand's corporate parent. A survey of over 500 individual investors revealed that individual investors do tend to buy brands from companies in which they hold stock, and investors may buy stock in a company because they have experience with the brand. In contrast with brand loyalty, where consumers will not buy competitive offerings, individual investors indicated they would buy competitive offerings, suggesting that stock ownership is more likely to lead to repeat purchase behavior, but not brand loyalty.
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Dandan Zhu, Nina Michaelidou, Belinda Dewsnap, John W. Cadogan and Michael Christofi
This study aims to follow a rigorous approach to identify, critically analyze and synthesize 75 papers published from 2000 to 2022.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to follow a rigorous approach to identify, critically analyze and synthesize 75 papers published from 2000 to 2022.
Design/methodology/approach
The study presents a systematic literature review on identity expressiveness (IE), clarifying and expanding what is currently known about the concept.
Findings
To synthesize current knowledge on IE, the study uses the overarching framework of antecedents-phenomenon-consequences, using this same framework to identify gaps and future research directions. The findings show individual and brand-related factors such as the need for uniqueness and anthropomorphism as antecedents of IE, and eWOM/WOM, impulse purchases and upgrading to more exclusive lines as consequences of IE.
Research limitations/implications
The study contributes to theory by synthesizing and mapping current understanding of the state of knowledge on the concept of IE while highlighting gaps in the extant literature and paving future research directions for scholars in the field.
Practical implications
The study offers useful insights for practitioners, broadening marketers’ actionable options in identity-based marketing. Marketers can use insights from this study to inform marketing strategy and communication campaigns for different types of brands.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind and offers an integrative review of the current literature on IE, thus enhancing understanding of the concept, its antecedents and consequences. The study also contributes to knowledge by highlighting future research priorities for researchers in this field of enquiry.
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Paula Rodrigues, Ana Pinto Borges, Ana Brochado and Ana Sousa
This study aims to examine individual behaviours regarding coronavirus disease-2019 vaccine brands.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine individual behaviours regarding coronavirus disease-2019 vaccine brands.
Design/methodology/approach
Firstly, qualitative research identified the reasons for vaccine hesitancy in relation to specific brands using data gathered from 36 semi-structured interviews and processed with Leximancer software. Secondly, a new conceptual model was developed with data from 917 questionnaires and analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling. The model integrates health treatment effectiveness, vaccines’ immediate health benefits and individuals’ hope as antecedents of perceived vaccine brand reliability and company reputation and their relationships with choice uncertainty.
Findings
The results reveal that vaccine hesitancy can be linked with individual, group and contextual and vaccine brand influences and that brand reliability and company reputation antecedents have variable but statistically significant effects on choice uncertainty.
Practical implications
This research’s contribution lies in its analyses of vaccine acceptance and uncertainty from a vaccine brand perspective. The results can guide brand management policies implemented by public and private organisations.
Originality/value
This study contributes to academic literature by filling in two gaps. The first was that no prior studies have directly addressed vaccine brands’ impact, whereas the second gap was the need for brand management policies that public (e.g. governments and public health agencies) and private organisations (e.g. pharmaceutical laboratories) can apply.
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Kivilcim Dogerlioglu‐Demir and Patriya Tansuhaj
Market researchers often treat Asian consumers as a single entity and compare them with their Western counterparts. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast consumers…
Abstract
Purpose
Market researchers often treat Asian consumers as a single entity and compare them with their Western counterparts. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast consumers in two Asian countries, Thailand and Turkey. Since global and local brands co‐exist in many regions of the world today, this study, by examining two Asian cultures, examines the impact of personality traits and values on individuals' intentions to purchase global versus local brands. The authors also investigate the role of priming (local versus global cues) in the relationship between these individual traits and purchase intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involves a series of pretests and an experiment conducted among 240 participants from Thailand and 142 participants from Turkey. Though exploratory in nature, content analysis also suggests interesting avenues for future research.
Findings
The findings suggest that although both societies are perceived as traditional and collective, consumers from both Thai and Turkish cultures exhibit some striking differences. There were differences in the ways in which individual traits and values impacted global vs local brand purchase intentions. For instance, while it was discovered that traditionalism and susceptibility were important among Thai individuals, ethnocentrism and materialism were at similar levels in both samples. Traditionalism had an important effect on intentions to purchase local brands in Thailand, while it did not have a very meaningful impact among Turks. Similarly, in Thailand, susceptibility affected global brand purchase intentions. However, a similar pattern was not seen among Turks.
Originality/value
The research is valuable in understanding that two seemingly similar Asian cultures (Thailand and Turkey) are – in effect – dissimilar on key variables such as traditionalism and ethnocentrism and that impacts how these two cultures perceive global and local brands. As marketers aim to satisfy consumer's needs by offering goods and services, it is extremely important to understand consumers' evaluations of these brands and how these perceptions are formed in the first place. Such an understanding will help marketers in their positioning strategies as well as marketing communications design.
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