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This study aims to focus on an interplay of brand stereotypes (Brands as Intentional Agents Framework [BIAF]) with an aspect of culture and its impact on behavioral intentions in an individualist culture (Norway) and a collectivist culture (Thailand).

This study incorporates a survey conducted in two cultures (Norway: N = 177 and Thailand: N = 288).

In both cultures, competence had a stronger effect on purchase intentions toward a brand than warmth. There was a stronger effect on brand purchase intentions of competence found for an individualist versus a collectivist culture, and we found a stronger effect of warmth on purchase intentions in a collectivist versus an individualist culture. The direct joint effect of warmth and competence on purchase intentions was brand-specific in Norway. Admiration mediated this joint effect in the collectivist but not in the individualist culture.

This study’s results point to cross-cultural variability of some of the effects of brand perceptions on behavioral intentions.

These findings suggest that international brand managers should consider both the cultural universality and the cultural variability of BIAF.

Despite extensive research on BIAF, studies on brand perceptions from the cross-cultural perspective are few. This investigation sheds some light on the differential effects of the framework across a collectivist and an individualist culture.

The purpose of this study is to expand the notion of differentiation by developing and testing a typology of brand benefit differentiation.

Brand concept maps were used to identify three types of differentiation. The effects of the types of differentiation on benefit evaluation and brand attachment were tested in two follow-up studies using path analysis.

A comparison of the association maps of four international brands showed instances of all three types of benefit differentiation – categorical, graded and structural benefit differentiation. The tests of effects revealed that categorical benefit differentiation had negative effects, whereas structural and graded differentiation had positive effects on benefit evaluation and brand attachment, respectively.

The findings suggest that other types of benefit differentiation are more important than uniqueness. Future research should test the relevance and usefulness of the typology for other brands and consumer segments.

The new typology opens new opportunities for the differentiation of brands. Brand managers should avoid a myopic focus on uniqueness. Rather, they should analyze networks of benefit associations in detail for all three types of differentiation identified in this research and strengthen the level of structural and/or graded differentiation.

This research demonstrates, for the first time, the importance of two types of differentiation other than uniqueness. It also supports previous studies showing the negative effects of uniqueness on variables related to brand equity.

The purpose of this paper is to study the nature of brand emotions elicited by advertising stimuli across cultures and the process underlying such emotional experiences.

The study uses factorial between-subjects design. Random samples of the populations were solicited from the panels of an international data provider in Norway and Thailand.

This research shows that Thai consumers experience more positive socially engaging and disengaging brand emotions and fewer negative socially engaging emotions relative to Norwegian consumers. The effects of culture are mediated by consumers’ self-construal. Social advertising context increases number of positive and negative socially engaging emotions among Thai (but not among Norwegian) consumers.

The results highlight the importance of incorporating social orientation of emotions and adverting context in cross-cultural studies of brand emotions. The finding that Thai consumers (relative to Norwegian) experience higher levels of atypical for their culture – positive socially disengaging brand emotions requires further research.

The findings suggest that advertising stimuli need to be adapted to the cultural context. Marketing managers should use extensive pretesting in culturally distinct markets to make sure that advertising evokes brand emotions in line with the strategy.

Despite extensive research on brand emotions, extant studies on brand emotions across cultures are limited. This study is among the first to advance the understanding of how social orientation of emotions and advertising context underlie experience of brand emotions across cultures.

The purpose is to use co-citation analysis of servant leadership (SL) research to investigate the evolution of the field, its subfields, gaps and opportunities for future research in a systematic manner.

A document co-citation technique and three clustering algorithms (latent semantic index (LSI), the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) and the mutual information (MI) index) were employed to analyse 24,030 references from 549 articles spanning a period of 50 years.

Cluster analyses reveal that SL research consists of eight distinct subfields: (1) conceptualisation and measurement of SL; (2) SL and related theories; (3) methodological foundations and empirical expansion of SL research; (4) individual-level cognitive effects of SL and related theories; (5) “Warmth effects” of leadership behaviour; (6) antecedents of effective leadership; (7) SL, marketing, sales management and ethics and (8) SL, job design and work engagement. Important gaps and opportunities for future research are identified.

The analyses do not show a complete picture of research on SL. Interesting works used by subgroups of SL researchers may not have enough citations to be included in the results. Moreover, bibliometric analyses do not explain the impact of books, journals and articles on the practice of SL. The authors welcome future analyses of the most influential sources of SL practice. The authors expect that managerial and practice-oriented books and journals, such as the International Journal of Servant Leadership and the Servant Leadership Theory and Practice, would play a central role in such analyses.

The discussions of the nature of SL, its effects and antecedents are useful to leaders who want to develop a SL style or assist others in developing it. For researchers and doctoral students, the cluster analyses of co-citations give an overview of the subfields of SL research and reveal important knowledge gaps in the literature.

SL has several favourable effects on the motivation and psychological well-being of followers. Also, followers tend to adopt a willingness to serve.

Previous research has categorised SL research into three broad categories or phases. The cluster analyses of the co-citations reported here reveal a meaningful structure of eight distinct subfields. Knowledge gaps within the subfields represent novel opportunities for future research on SL. The authors also suggest a new subfield of SL research: pedagogical approaches to the motivation and development of SL skills.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of employees' core value behavior. For service brands, employees are most likely the most important vehicle in building and communicating brand core values. The paper aims to draw on two related theories on motivation to understand the basic psychological mechanisms involved, and to propose a set of hypotheses on determinants of core value behavior.

In order to test the proposed model, a survey was conducted among employees in a Scandinavian bank. Regression analyses were used to test the proposed hypotheses.

Supportive of the hypotheses, the study data suggest that attitude towards core values and role model behavior are significant determinants of core value behavior. Moreover, employee role satisfaction is found to be a key moderator of such behavior. Attitudes towards the values affect behavior only for less satisfied employees, whereas role model behavior influences behavior only for highly satisfied employees.

The findings provide clear managerial implications in terms of how to stimulate core value behavior for employees both high and low in role satisfaction.

The present study introduces the concept of core value behavior (CVB) and represents the first empirical investigation on determinants of CVB for services brands. The study offers novel theoretical and empirical insight to an important, yet understudied topic in service marketing.

Considers the recent findings of research into discrimination at work. Covers hiring, promotion, and the treatment of minorities. Briefly commends on recent statistics and highlights racism as the biggest issue for today’s companies.

This paper studies how Chinese consumers respond to foreign goods in the post‐WTO era. Specifically, it examines brand sensitivity as a mediator and product cues as moderator of purchase intention. Additionally, it examines consumer preferences for different products and consumption plans for the subsequent five years. The survey sample is drawn from a population of foreign product users from 34 cities in 18 provinces in China. Results provide evidence that brand sensitivity mediates the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and purchase intention; product cues moderate the effect of ethnocentrism on purchase intention. As the first study to link consumer ethnocentrism directly to brand sensitivity and purchase intention, this research provides some managerial implications. Global marketers can offset the negative effect of ethnocentrism by emphasizing brand image of its products, taking advantage of specific product cues, or by providing more comprehensive after‐sale service to reduce the perceived risk of purchasing imports. Also, price is still a hurdle that prevents Chinese consumers from mass consumption of foreign products. Global firms should not overestimate the purchasing power of Chinese consumers. This study represents a “snapshot” of Chinese consumers’ decision making at a time when their economic system is undergoing rapid change.

Considers the growth and development of the temporary worker within the workforce and looks at the advantages and disadvantages this brings. Cites common characteristics found in this area and provides a brief case study. Covers the legal implications and the importance of employee classification under Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines. Briefly outlines new developments in this area.