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Very little research addresses whether the values that consumers bring to a situation can affect their reactions to a brand failure. This paper suggests the interesting possibility that consumers may react very differently to the same brand failure depending upon their values. Here, the authors introduce a new construct to the marketing literature – honor values – and demonstrate its effect on responses to brand failures.

Three experiments and one secondary data study were utilized.

Across four studies, honor values are shown to aggravate consumers’ desire for vengeance following a brand failure. That is, as honor values increase, so too does desire for vengeance in the face of a brand failure. Additionally, this desire can be attenuated by allowing the consumer to play a role in resolving the failure or by giving a heartfelt apology.

High-honor consumers are a major obstacle for firms facing a brand failure. To overcome this challenge, the authors offer strategies, including (1) allowing high-honor consumers to suggest ways to punish the offending employee, and (2) offering simple, heartfelt apologies to high-honor consumers, which are as effective as monetary compensations.

Luxury goods manufacturers may find it profitable to enter a different demographic segment, and several strategies are available to do so. Nevertheless, such market expansion can be risky, and the luxury goods company must avoid tarnishing the equity contained in the luxury brand. This study examines the effects of a co-branding strategy between luxury brands and retailers on consumers’ evaluation of the luxury brand's image. We use information integration theory (IIT) as the basis for our study, as it can be used to explore how attitudes are formed and changed as new information is combined with existing cognitions and thoughts. A theoretical model based on IIT is built and empirically tested using a sample of 240 Taiwanese adult consumers. We conduct an experimental survey study in which we manipulate luxury brand familiarity and product and brand fit between luxury brand and the co-brand, and assess prior-attitudes and post-attitudes toward the luxury brand and attitudes toward the co-brand. We find support for many of our hypotheses: prior-attitudes toward the luxury brand is positively related to the attitude toward the co-brand, brand fit is related to attitudes toward the co-brand, and brand fit is marginally related to the post-attitude toward the luxury brand. Other hypotheses, however (such as those regarding product fit) were not supported. We conclude by discussing our theoretical and managerial contributions.

This chapter identifies the coopetitive aspects of international brand licensing through the relationship between Burberry Group Plc and Sanyo Shokai. The well-documented relationship between the two firms is used to contribute to coopetition literature and brand licensing literature within an international context. This chapter answers how and why this initially mostly coopetitive relationship succeeded and what led to its eventual denouement. Both partners initially prospered, Burberry had its name efficiently spread across Japan, and Sanyo borrowed from the reputation established by Burberry’s brand name. After some time, Sanyo created brand extensions for the Japanese market which were more affordable than Burberry’s products. They were a big success, further popularizing the Burberry brand across Japan and handsomely benefiting both firms. Burberry grew concerned about inconsistent brand image. The ubiquity of the extension was diluting the luxury parent brand. Burberry thus prematurely ended the licensing agreement with Sanyo. The findings of this study offer valuable insights to firms either intending to internationalize through licensing or intending to be a long-term licensee.

Purpose – Extensive research in the area of consumer behavior has documented the “Country of Origin Effect,” which identifies country of origin as an important decision variable in evaluating products and services. Past research has mostly assumed that country of origin effect is driven by the performance of the products originating in that country. However, consumers can also form opinions about countries based on exposure to information that is unrelated to the product and may have roots in macro factors such as history, culture, and politics. These emotions, while extraneous to the product, can also influence product evaluations along with performance-related country information.Design/methodology/approach – This review examines research addressing both performance and emotional perceptions related to country of origin.Findings – This review presents an integrating framework termed “Nation Equity” to systematically understand and examine the influence of various dimensions of country of origin on consumer decision making.

This chapter sheds light on the ‘country of origin’ concept. The author contends that this concept is composed of micro- and macro-components. He argues that the tourists’ hedonic and monetary gratifications are derived from the travel experiences. Therefore, the country-of-origin image (COI) can have an impact on the destination’s brand extension. In this light, this contribution examines the relationship among COI, overall brand equity and brand extension. The author implies that the hedonic and monetary values can have a moderating effect on the impact of COI and on destination brand extension.

This chapter examines the role that resource support and decision autonomy play in the successful launch of corporate entrepreneurial initiatives. Specifically, this study assesses whether entrepreneurial initiatives receiving higher levels of support from top management and more resource contributions in key functional areas actually have higher levels of performance. Additionally, this study investigates whether or not the entrepreneurial initiatives that receive greater decision autonomy in the same critical functional areas will experience higher levels of performance. Hypotheses arguing these points are tested using data obtained from the Internet divisions of major metropolitan newspapers. This allows for the discovery and evaluation of an opportunity (i.e., the Internet) to be held constant, so that a better understanding of the exploitation stage of the entrepreneurial process might be obtained. Results suggest the importance of resource support and decision autonomy to initiative performance, but with more importance being placed on the marketing functional group for resource support and the accounting and legal functional areas for decision autonomy.

This study investigates how direct cultural interaction between a supplier country’s personnel and host country purchasing decision makers (HCNs) occurring during the exporting of professional, high-contact services can help shape the latter’s perception of the image of the supplier country and their willingness to buy its services or products. The article develops a theoretical framework that identifies those key drivers and their relationship.

This is a conceptual paper based on a comprehensive review of the literature complemented by a pilot study with offshore executive MBA programs.

A conceptual model is developed with a series of testable propositions.

The framework should help companies and organizations involved in the exporting of such services devise programs to bolster the image of their country as a provider of these and other services and products.

Trade in services is becoming a lifeline for many developed countries that have seen their manufacturing industries relocate to low labor-cost countries. Thus, it is imperative for these countries to bolster their COO to gain competitive advantage. Developing countries can also use such a framework as a means of improving the overall image of their own country and its products.

This research complements those rare studies done on the acculturation of HCNs by examining, for the first time, this process in the context of the exporting of professional services and on how it can lead to changes in the perception of the HCNs vis-à-vis the image of the supplier country.