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The purpose of this study is to uncover the dimensions of shared brand use as a part of romantic relationships and examine the dynamics among shared brand use, brand preference similarity, brand variety seeking and relationship satisfaction.

A total of 1,820 MTurk respondents participated in four online surveys and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The findings of the study show that shared brand use has five use dimensions: special occasion, mundane, activity, nostalgia and relational identity expression; shared brand use leads to brand preference similarity that elicits increased brand variety seeking as a part of the relationship and relationship satisfaction moderates the effect of brand preference similarity on brand variety seeking.

Building on extant literature on branding, variety seeking and shared consumption, the authors develop a measure that captures different facets of shared brand use as a part of romantic relationships, move beyond the existing research on variety seeking in the context of experiential purchases to show how romantic relationship partners engage in purposeful brand variety seeking as a part of their romantic relationships and document that relationship satisfaction is an important factor that influences how partners purposefully engage in brand variety seeking.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the managerial challenges of shared brands, defined as arrangements whereby a single brand name acts as the sole or principal identity for the products of two or more firms, and where brand management is governed by an entity independent from a single firm.

An exploratory, theory‐building approach is adopted. The paper draws from the brand equity and institutional economics literatures to develop a conceptualisation of club brands, of which shared brands represent one type. The managerial challenges for the latter are explored with reference to secondary evidence and two cases based in the food sector.

The analysis proposes that the exclusive and non‐rivalrous characteristics of club brands pose specific managerial challenges in the key decision‐making phases of brand identity creation, reputation building and reputation protection. Case exploration of shared brands illustrates these challenges, although some are attributed to the distinct governance structure of shared brands rather than their club characteristics.

Through a focus on shared brands, the paper offers an original exploration of a type of branding arrangement which has been overlooked in the literature, but whose use is growing amongst practitioners. It also offers a novel conceptualisation of brands that highlights the bias towards individualism in mainstream branding theory and its preoccupation with customer‐facing managerial tasks.

The apparel industry is often scrutinized for its lack of environmental stewardship, and thus pro-environmental initiatives have been of significant consideration among apparel brands in recent years. However, one personality trait of specific concern to brand marketers is consumer skepticism toward climate change, which has the potential to negatively impact the success of brands’ pro-environmental initiatives. In this light, research indicates that knowledge of the environmental impact of products can lead to lower skepticism (Tobler et al., 2012) and ultimately higher purchase intentions of such products. Thus, this study investigates the impact of consumers’ knowledge about environmental impact of apparel, climate change skepticism on their evaluation of brands’ pro-environmental initiatives (shared value and perceived benefit) and ultimately their relationship with the brand (perceived trust, commitment), leading to purchase intention for both familiar and unfamiliar brands.

Two separate studies were conducted for familiar and unfamiliar brands. Data for online surveys were collected from two US nationwide samples and analyzed using path analyses.

Consumers’ intention to purchase from a pro-environmental brand was influenced by knowledge and skepticism. Particularly, the obtained shared value perceptions and perceived benefits of consumers influenced their relationship with the brand through trust and commitment, which eventually impacted their intention to purchase from the brand. Differences were observed for familiar and unfamiliar brands.

Findings of this study will help brand managers design effective pro-environmental marketing messages. Both familiar and unfamiliar brands would benefit from educating consumers about the true environmental impact of their apparel choices, as well as the personal benefits and values earned when purchasing/consuming pro-environmental apparel. This, in turn, reduces consumer skepticism toward climate change, leading to favorable evaluations of the brand’s pro-environmental initiatives and improvement of long-term brand relations.

This study extended the social exchange theory by understanding antecedents of consumers’ shared value and perceived benefits, namely, their knowledge about the environmental impact of apparel and their skepticism toward climate change, with the final outcome variable being consumers’ patronage intention of pro-environmental brands.

The purpose of this study is to examine the behavioral and emotional outcomes of nostalgic brand meanings derived from brand use that occurs in the early stages of a romantic relationship.

This research uses survey data (n = 656) and relies on structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses.

Relationship brand nostalgia has implications for how the relationship partners use the brand together as part of celebrating special occasions, how connected the brand is to their relational identity and how upset they would be if the brand was discontinued. Additionally, interpersonal relationship characteristics (relationship satisfaction and relationship power) influence these outcomes of relationship brand nostalgia.

The findings from this research show that it is important to account for real (experienced) brand nostalgia when considering behavioral and emotional implications of nostalgia in consumer–brand relationships. Specifically, brand use as part of early romantic relationship milestones influences the creation of nostalgic brand meanings, which in turn influence shared brand use, relational brand connections and brand separation distress.

Brand managers can increase relational brand connections and brand separation distress by encouraging shared brand use as part of romantic relationships milestones.

This research addresses gaps in extant research by examining the outcomes of relationship brand nostalgia, which is defined as brand nostalgia anchored in shared brand use that occurred as part of early relationship milestones.

This chapter offers insights on how knowledge management (KM) tools and initiatives contribute to successful internal branding. Knowledge management has gained considerable recognition from both business practitioners and academics. However, understanding and implementation of KM practices in relation to internal branding is still a largely unexplored field. The authors, thus, present several models of knowledge sharing and outline their applicability to the field of internal branding. Through a case study of a Finnish multinational company Teleste, this chapter shows the applicability of the presented theories for brand knowledge sharing. The practical case looks at how knowledge sharing helped Teleste in the process of rebranding, particularly when promoting its new brand image within the organization.

This paper aims to identify the social motivational factors that can enhance brand-related content across social networking platforms (SNPs). It examines how brands can enhance motivation to create and exchange brand stories for existing and target customers.

The study followed an interpretivist approach and collected data from 40 customers of 5 top apparel brands based in the UK using non-directive and semi-structured interviews. The respondents were chosen using purposive sampling and thematic analysis was undertaken using the NVivo 11 Plus software.

The findings highlight various social motivational factors that can inspire the creation, sharing and exchange of brand-related content using SNPs. These include social responsibility, staying connected, inspiration from others, opinion leaders and recognition, optimal decision-making, inspiring or disheartening experience of the brand and emotional connection with the brand. People’s purchase decisions are strongly influenced by close friends, local online community groups, opinion leaders and other credible sources. Moreover, the respondents reported having more trust in shared consumer experiences than company advertisements and other marketing tactics.

The findings of this research will be beneficial for organizations, brand managers and marketing teams, offering insights into how stakeholders can enhance brand-related content on SNPs. The findings also show that online local communities on Facebook and expert opinions are the most significant factors in enhancing brand-related content, social engagement and purchase decisions.

There is limited literature on why people are motivated to create and exchange brand-related content, especially in the context of the apparel industry. The study offers insights into how brands can create motivation for enhancing brand-related content in ways that are recognized as a cheap and highly effective way of advertising, influencing pre-purchase information, purchase decisions and social engagement on the part of SNP users.

This study examined both American and Korean consumers’ motivation to share marketer-generated content (MGC) on Facebook and how these motives are related to the frequency of various types of sharing activities and the frequency of sharing various types of MGC.

An online survey was conducted in the US and Korea.

The findings demonstrated that both American and Korean consumers share MGC for several reasons: liking/helping the brand, self-presentation/social interaction, economic rewards, and entertainment. In addition to these four motivations, Korean consumers also share MGC with others to offer information that may be of use to them. These different types of motivations were associated with the frequency of sharing MGC directly from Facebook brand pages, of re-sharing what Facebook friends shared first, of adding comments when sharing, and of sharing different types of MGC differently. We found similarities and differences in the patterns of these relationships between the US and Korea.

Although many studies on electronic word of mouth (eWOM) have examined consumers’ motivations for providing consumer-generated content, research on consumer motivations to forward marketer-generated content is scarce. Additionally, earlier work examined the influences of motivation on sharing in general and on a certain type of MGC. Our findings that focused on various types of motivations to share MGC, and their influences on various types of MGC and specific types of sharing activities can provide a more complete picture than what was previously available in the eWOM literature. Further, by comparing American consumers’ motivations to share MGC on SNSs and their influences on sharing activities with those of Korean consumers, this study contributes to building a body of cross-cultural studies on consumer sharing of MGC.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of social media-based brand community (SMBBC) markers on customer-based brand equity (CBBE). Moreover, this research evaluates the mediating effect of brand community commitment and the moderating effect of customer gender.

This research collected data from a questionnaire survey with participants who are members of the Xiaomi Community in Vietnam on Facebook (XCVF). Finally, 512 valid and usable questionnaires were tested by applying the structural equation modeling approach.

On the basis of social identity theory, results showed that three components of brand community markers significantly affect two aspects of CBBE. Moreover, brand community commitment plays a mediating role in the relationship of shared consciousness, ritual and traditions, and CBBE. In addition, the influence of SMBBC on CBBE is stronger for women than for men.

The sample selected is limited to only members of XCVF, so the results may have an inadequate view in comparison with other brand communities. This research can eliminate other important variables that can contribute to this relationship.

This research is among the first studies that have focused on the importance of SMBBC markers on CBBE, the mediating role of brand community commitment and the moderating effect of customer gender.

The study aims to look at the types of social media participants through user-generated content (UGC) and how this leads to brand engagement in a fashion retail context. In doing so, it explores the effects of social context of brand-related content on other social media users, which promotes socially influenced consumer brand engagement (SICBE) in social media settings.

The study postulates the existence of social realities as consistent with social constructivism, with multiple realities of social influence outlined on the basis of ontological relativism. To fulfil the proposed research objectives, research data were gathered from professional and social participants based on specific inclusion criteria, purposive sampling technique and a semi-structured interview method.

Findings highlighted various types of UGC participants with differing objectives in their use of UGC; these participant types are passive, creators, critics and collectors/consumers. The study uncovered many social context that can increase the effectiveness of UGC. The social context is explored through social trust, Fashion UGC expertise and relevance. These UGC participants and social context can foster SICBE in a fashion retail context.

This study proposes a holistic framework which highlighted the role of UGC participants and social context can foster SICBE in a fashion retail context.