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This study explores the relationship between brand image and brand equity in the context of sports sponsorship. Keller's (1993, 2003) customer-based brand equity models are the conceptual inspiration for the research, with Faircloth, Capella, and Alford's (2001) conceptual model – adapted from the work of Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) – the primary conceptual model. The study focuses on the sponsorship relationship between the New Zealand All Blacks and their major sponsor and co-branding partner, adidas. The sporting context for the study was the 2003 Rugby World Cup held in Australia. Data were collected from two independent samples of 200 respondents, utilizing simple random sampling procedures. A bivariate correlation analysis was undertaken to test whether there was any correlation between changes in adidas' brand image and adidas' brand equity as a result of the All Blacks' performance in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Results support the view that Keller (1993, 2003) proposes that brand image is antecedent to the brand equity construct. Results are also consistent with the findings of Faircloth et al. (2001) that brand image directly impacts brand equity.

This chapter examines the empirical evidence about business-to-business (B2B) brands and offers implications for value creation. Brand marketing texts typically emphasize the competitive advantage of strong brands but often assume a consumer branding (B2C) perspective. However some of the world's most valuable brands are predominantly B2B in nature, and the question arises regarding the importance of branding in B2B marketing. This chapter examines the following question. How do B2B brands create and deliver value for firms in interorganizational transactions? The chapter begins by examining the relevance of current theoretical frameworks of branding in the B2B context and the stages of the brand value chain. Next, the chapter considers extant research showing the impact of B2B branding at the various stages of the brand value chain. The chapter also suggests areas for future research in B2B branding and concludes with a reader case study.

This study examines the process of establishing a viable brand in a new foreign market through successful market entry governance by utilizing various types of branding alliances to transfer corporate brands. Drawing from corporate illustrations and building upon Ghosh and John's (1999) governance value analysis (GVA) model, a decision model for managers is developed providing theory-based guidance for market entry strategies. Relational governance can be considered as a continuum ranging from strong relational (i.e., joint ventures, co-branding) to weak relational (i.e., joint promotion, marketing alliance) forms. Firms should organize their market entry strategy based upon brand equity resources, specific investments made by the partner, and environmental uncertainty (market volatility and cultural distance), so as to transfer the desired brand image and associations into local markets by maximizing the level of value created and value claimed. This study contributes to the international marketing literature by providing a theoretically strong decision model, supported by corporate examples, of how firms enter markets using various types of brand alliances. It also advances the practice of international marketing in regard to branding by providing insights as to how managers in the global marketplace can effectively transfer brand images and build global brand equity, minimizing firm costs while maximizing the value created and claimed from the brand.

This chapter provides a study of how gambling companies use the cultural and social capital of Newcastle United Football Club, in the English Premier League, to establish a connection with the club's fans to promote gambling. Newcastle United had two gambling sponsors during the period of this study, from 2017 to 2020, including a front of shirt sponsor, FUN88, an online gambling brand with a large following in Asia. Data were gathered from a range of sources, including from the social media platform, Twitter, to identify the methods the company used to engage fans and to encourage betting on the outcome of matches. The data from the study were explored thematically to describe the relationship developed between the football club and its principal gambling sponsor in order to drive business for the latter with the club's followers. The findings showed how FUN88 evoked Newcastle United's cultural tradition to promote gambling and generate business globally whilst the club actively promoted their ‘primary partner’ through its media channels. The lure of free match tickets was used to encourage fan engagement. Corporate practices promote the consumption of unhealthy commodities through their marketing whilst consumers (fans) are responsibilised for any harms engendered by their gambling practices. The ubiquity of gambling brands has enabled gambling to become a normalised part of football culture. The findings from this study show how FUN88 has used all elements of the sponsorship assemblage to create an emotional connection whilst engaging with Newcastle United's fans to increase consumption of its products.

Purpose – Little attention has been directed to investigating abandonment which refers to the deliberate choice of giving up something previously consumed. In this chapter, we look into meanings that motivate the abandonment of a product category and also the meanings abandonment gives rise to.

Design/methodology/approach – The research used a qualitative methodology to collect and analyze data obtained from in-depth interviews with 16 Brazilian consumers who gave up automobile ownership. This category was chosen due to its intense symbolic dimension.

Findings – The interviews suggest that, rather than being a discrete event, an action, or decision that is circumscribed by a given moment, abandonment is in fact a process. The analysis also outlines three types of abandonment: contingent, positional, and ideological. Contingent abandonment occurs when the individual, despite sharing the meanings with other consumers of the category, is forced to abandon consumption. Positional abandonment is driven mainly by the rejection of symbolic associations that consumption provides. Finally, ideological abandonment presents a collective perspective where the individual believes that society as a whole should abandon or reassess that consumption.

Practical implications (if applicable) – Results offer potential insights, for both governments and nongovernmental organizations involved in de-marketing efforts aimed at inappropriate consumption and companies interested in reversing the shrinking of their markets.

Originality/value – The present research broadens our knowledge of abandonment and allows us to situate it among other kinds of anticonsumption behaviors.

Purpose: This chapter outlines a cultural critique of the Gangsta as an exemplary figure to investigate the performance of social media identity. The main goal of the chapter is to illustrate some of the implications that social media have on the contemporary dramatization of the criminal, here framed as a collective techno-cultural process at the threshold between social stigma and branding. Despite using the term “Gangsta,” the author’s intent is not to “fix” this figure as an identity or a class of people, but rather to identify a broad cultural context that emerges from a glocalized hip-hop imaginary, stemming from gangsta rap and evolving alongside trap and drill.

Methodology/approach: The contribution is not intended as an empirical sociological study, but a critical cultural exploration of convergent media that bring together a glocalized gang culture and everyday social media interactions. In the second section, the author outlines his theoretical framework by identifying a point of convergence between recent studies of Instagram celebrities and criminological takes on the selective nature of gang identity. The author also explores the relationship between the “dissing,” a cultural form that is very relevant to the more aggressive sub-genres of rap, and the practice of tagging, a key affordance of social media platforms. In so doing, the author frames social media tagging as a form of identity labeling.

Findings: In light of the theory previously outlined, the author explains how tagging is used alternately to enforce social stigma and engage in recursive branding. The final section examines the aforementioned forms of tagging more in detail, in relation to specific media ecologies of YouTube videos that feature compilations of Instagram Stories originally posted by emerging Italian rappers.

Research limitations: Although it is aimed at offering an interdisciplinary contribution, this chapter adopts an admittedly media-focused perspective. Rather than producing more evidence about the use of social media by gangs, the author comments on existing sociological insight in relation to the affordances and esthetics of social media ecologies, re-problematizing certain forms of online interaction.

Originality/value: By focusing on the commonplace practice of tagging in relation to the figure of the Gangsta, the author emphasizes how online labeling practices can be more fraught that they appear, emphasizing the need for further critical reflections on the stereotyping potential of social media branding practices.

Digital gaming has become one of the largest entertainment sectors worldwide, increasingly turning the medium into an attractive vehicle for the communication of advertising messages. As a result, the incorporation of products or brands in digital games or in-game advertising (IGA) is expected to grow steadily over the course of the following years. However, much work is still needed to determine and optimize the effectiveness of IGA. The goal of the chapter is to advance IGA effectiveness research by investigating the influence of three aspects of the context in which a game is played and the player’s involvement in response to this context on brand awareness.

To this purpose, three experiments were set up. The first experiment (between-subjects, N = 121) investigated the impact of the social setting in which a game is played, the second experiment (within-subjects, N = 31) examined the effect of the game controls that are used, and the third experiment (between-subjects, N = 62) analyzed the influence of the game story.

The findings of the experiments show that the game context can significantly influence the way in which people recall and recognize brands that are included within its environment and that examining the player’s involvement in response to this context can provide useful information regarding the processes underlying this effect.

These findings contribute to the knowledge of when, how, and in which games advertising can be incorporated in order to achieve games’ full potential as an advertising medium.

Becoming a scholar is a unique experience for each individual. It does not suddenly happen in the graduate office where you officially submit the final copy of your doctoral dissertation, along with a check for fees payable, and the clerk hands you a small green receipt with a curt, “Congratulations”. It is a journey. A journey, if undertaken properly, that does not really ever end.

Brand management in industrial markets is an important subject. The relative youth of this interest implies gaps in the understanding of the phenomenon, though. With regard to the emphasis on brands in today's competitive markets, improving the understanding of brand meaning and impact in diverse industrial situations and organizations is valuable to both management and theory. This paper adds to the expansion of such insights by applying the notion of brands to subcontractors; their market offer and situation. An overview of the brand concept and brand research in industrial markets directs the discussion. The chapter reports on a qualitative study with the aim to support better comprehension of the meaning and impact of brands in a subcontractor context. The study focuses on buyers' decision-making processes. Customers, although they ultimately focus on product price and quality, rely on corporate brand image for making decisions at several stages of purchasing. Buyers normally face a situation where they must choose among a number of potential suppliers, where they perceive uncertainty and limits regarding time and information. In the process of finding and selecting suitable suppliers, subcontractor corporate brands therefore revolve around proxies for expertise and reliability. A focus on subcontractor brand management can render benefits to individual suppliers concerning the amount of potential clients and signed contracts. Also, paying more attention to corporate brand meaning and content can improve the efficiency of matching buyers with supplier.