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Article
Publication date: 11 March 2020

Tiffany S. Legendre, Melissa Baker, Rodney Warnick and Albert Assaf

Despite the well-established branding literature, how a brand is connected to individual, market and societal/ideological levels are largely unknown. Grounded in the belief in a…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the well-established branding literature, how a brand is connected to individual, market and societal/ideological levels are largely unknown. Grounded in the belief in a just world (BJW) theory, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of brand positioning status (BPS) on the support of certain brands (financially and non-financially) and examine the moderating roles of brand ideology and protestant work ethic (PWE).

Design/methodology/approach

In Study 1, a 2 (BPS: topdog vs underdog) × 2 (brand ideology: universalism vs power) between-subjects experimental design is conducted on overall brand support, purchase intention and word-of-mouth. To build upon the findings, Study 2 explores the three-way interaction effects on the same dependent variables by using a 2 (BPS: topdog vs underdog) × 2 (ideology: universalism vs power) × 2 (PWE: high vs low) quasi-experimental between-subjects design study.

Findings

The results of these studies reveal that customers have a strong intention to support the brands with universalism values, regardless of BPS, as power imbalance in the marketplace is not as salient. When a brand conveys the power ideology, the BPS greatly matters in earning customers’ support. This tendency, however, is varied among customers based on their level of PWE. This is because customers’ justification and evaluation on capitalism differs and their views toward market competitions between topdogs and underdogs are influenced by the personal worldviews.

Originality/value

The findings build upon belief in a just world theory and branding literature and discuss the importance of considering the BPS and the ideology a brand conveys in the marketplace, as the meanings and messages could be perceived differently based on what kind of work ethic one possesses and supports.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2020

Elena Delgado-Ballester

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the building of consumer–brand identification through the use of two themes (underdog and topdog) in the design of brand storytelling. It…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the building of consumer–brand identification through the use of two themes (underdog and topdog) in the design of brand storytelling. It proposes that the underdog theme is superior because it is more effective in immersing readers in the story and generates higher emotional responses. The moderating effect of consumers’ implicit mindsets is also explored.

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental study with a single-factorial design is conducted with 301 consumers assigned at random to one of two brand storytelling conditions: underdog theme or topdog theme.

Findings

The results show a full mediating effect of the underdog (vs topdog) theme on brand identification through reader immersion and empathic feelings.

Research limitations/implications

The use of a fictitious brand and a specific product category may limit the generalizability of the results.

Practical implications

Placing the brand in a story with an underdog plot is more effective in catching consumers’ attention than using a topdog brand story. In particular, using an underdog theme is a good approach for targeting consumers who have a growth mindset.

Originality/value

This study explains the persuasiveness of brand storytelling in terms of the characteristics of the storytelling itself rather than the individual characteristics of consumers (e.g. their own underdog dispositions). The results also suggest that the implicit mindset of the individual plays a role.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 June 2023

Maximilian Lude, Reinhard Prügl and Natalie Rauschendorfer

Brand stories are often created around the company’s humble beginnings as an underdog. The authors explore the effects of who is telling the underdog story and thus draw attention…

Abstract

Purpose

Brand stories are often created around the company’s humble beginnings as an underdog. The authors explore the effects of who is telling the underdog story and thus draw attention to the nature of the brand source by differentiating between family and non-family firms. The authors expect that who is telling the underdog story impacts consumers’ attitude toward the brand in terms of brand authenticity and trustworthiness perceptions.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted an online experiment with a 2 × 2 between-subject design and an overall sample size of 314 respondents.

Findings

Most importantly, the authors find that the family-firm nature of the brand storyteller significantly impacts the underdog effect. The positive effects of underdog biographies on brand attitude in terms of authenticity and trustworthiness loom significantly larger for family firms compared with non-family firms.

Practical implications

The authors find that the underdog effect is significantly stronger for family firms that tell the underdog story. Managers of family firms with underdog roots should take advantage of this finding by integrating underdog stories into their marketing concepts. The findings of this study show that the communication of a company’s roots can serve as a valuable tool to build and maintain a positive brand image and help to increase purchase intentions, which is particularly true for firms capitalizing on their family nature when telling the underdog story.

Originality/value

The authors combine research on brand stories using the underdog effect with research on the consumer’s perception of family firms, further exploring the role of the brand storyteller in underdog narratives, resulting in important theoretical as well as practical implications.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 32 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 April 2019

Danny Tengti Kao and Pei-Hsun Wu

The competition among banks in Taiwan is fierce. The financial services offered by banks are highly similar and banks attempt to devise a variety of marketing campaigns to gain…

Abstract

Purpose

The competition among banks in Taiwan is fierce. The financial services offered by banks are highly similar and banks attempt to devise a variety of marketing campaigns to gain brand preferences of bank clients. However, little research regarding bank marketing has applied the segmentation strategy to precisely target bank clients. The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating roles of cognitive load and brand story style in the impact of bank clients’ affective orientation on brand preference of bank clients.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 216 participants who have bank accounts in Taiwan were randomly assigned to a 2 (brand story style: underdog vs top dog) × 2 (cognitive load: low vs high) factorial design. An ANOVA was conducted to examine the interaction effects of affective orientation, cognitive load and brand story style on the brand preference of bank clients. Affective orientation of participants was measured by Affective Orientation Scale.

Findings

Results demonstrate that for bank clients with low and high affective orientation, advertisements characterized by cognitive load (low vs high) and brand story style (underdog vs top dog) will elicit differential brand preferences of bank clients.

Originality/value

This is the first research to examine the moderating effects of bank clients’ affective orientation, cognitive load and brand story style on brand preferences of bank clients. Specifically, this research takes up the call to apply bank clients’ personality traits to examine the impact of bank marketing on brand preferences of banks.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 37 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2022

Lauren Leigh Kelly

This qualitative research study examines classroom observations and transcripts, teacher and student interviews and student writing to investigate how white English teachers can…

Abstract

Purpose

This qualitative research study examines classroom observations and transcripts, teacher and student interviews and student writing to investigate how white English teachers can cultivate students’ critical literacies regarding race and oppression through classroom literature. As research and practice in the field of critical literacy has yet to effectively center black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) lives and histories, this study aims to expand on existing critical literacy research by examining how literature teachers disrupt the perpetuation of whiteness through literature instruction that explicitly grapples with race and structures of oppression.

Design/methodology/approach

This research examines the pedagogical practices of two white English teachers through a yearlong investigation of classroom instruction and curriculum in an urban high school in a large Northeastern city. The overarching question of this study asks, how do white English teachers cultivate students’ critical literacies regarding race and social justice through classroom literature? Additional questions that guided this study are: How do students in these classes learn about structures of oppression? What language is used in these classrooms to discuss ideas about power? What texts and materials do these teachers use to engage students in critical literacy practices?

Findings

The findings of this study provide insight as to how white English teachers can foster students’ critical literacy development regarding race and oppression through their pedagogy and curriculum. The two teachers’ introduction of critical language and frameworks in the classroom supported students’ ability to critically engage with classroom literature and with their own social worlds. In addition, these teachers’ practices emphasize the need for white teachers to decenter their own knowledge and identities to effectively foster students' critical and sociopolitical development.

Originality/value

This research responds to McLean et al.’s (2021) call for a disruption of the “perpetuation of Eurocentric, hegemonic perspectives by white scholars” in the field by centering race in approaches to critical literacy development in the classroom. By analyzing data from classrooms in the same school with distinct curricular approaches, this study examines not only what but also how educators are teaching in classrooms designed to cultivate students’ critical and sociopolitical development through English Language Arts. This study offers hope for developing critical and culturally sustaining pedagogies among non-BIPOC educators who teach Black and Latinx populations.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 October 2018

David Ahlstrom, Xiaohua Yang, Liang Wang and Changqi Wu

This paper aims to study largely recent aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation in China. It synthesizes the research in the current special issue (SI) of Multinational

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study largely recent aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation in China. It synthesizes the research in the current special issue (SI) of Multinational Business Review (MBR) on this topic. In addition, this paper differs from other work on this topic in examining entrepreneurship and innovation from a more global standpoint with relevant international effects.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides an overview of the literature on entrepreneurship, innovation and key related topics such as firm and economic growth, as well as linking this research to related international works. It also summarizes the papers of the SI.

Findings

The authors’ analysis suggests that the study of entrepreneurship and innovation should be placed in the context of a country’s economic development and institutional environment as well as the firm internationalization trajectories and business models. In addition, the authors believe that a good understanding of economic growth in a transition economy like China (which is a key goal of China’s recent emphasis on innovation) is facilitated by understanding the comparative advantages and disadvantages of an economy with respect to the global innovation system.

Originality/value

The authors’ study explores the local-global and parent-subsidiary connectivity and co-evolution of firm strategies and the institutional environment in entrepreneurship and innovation in emerging and transition economies. The authors summarize and synthesize the papers in this SI to provide the results as well as some directions for future research in the domain of entrepreneurship, innovation and new venture creation, which is believed to be a key engine of economic growth in the coming years.

Details

Multinational Business Review, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1525-383X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 March 2019

Ekta Srivastava, Satish S. Maheswarappa and Bharadhwaj Sivakumaran

The purpose of this paper is to study the affective outcome of ambivalent nostalgia through use of executional variables, develop a framework linking nostalgia (through affect…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the affective outcome of ambivalent nostalgia through use of executional variables, develop a framework linking nostalgia (through affect) and consumers’ cognitive processing, and explain the relationship of nostalgia with self-brand connection (SBC) and willingness to pay a premium (WTPP) through a mediator, cognitive processing.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is based on two experiments. In study 1, students were shown a nostalgic ad paired with a vignette to manipulate “past–present contrast.” In study 2, positive and negative moods were induced and an informative nostalgic ad was shown to measure processing styles and SBC and WTPP; this was followed by mediation analysis.

Findings

The findings are as follows: first, “Past–present contrast” can reduce the negative affect in nostalgia, making it less ambivalent; second, positive (negative) affect leads to top-down (bottom-up) processing; third, SBC and WTPP are higher when top-down processing is used; and, fourth, processing style is a mediator between affect and SBC/WTPP.

Practical implications

Managers may use the “good past, good present” scenario to mitigate negative affect in nostalgia. Nostalgic ads may be used by brands that want consumers to pay a price premium, have a strong SBC and when they want consumers to use top-down processing.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates how to reduce ambivalence and associate brands with positive affect in nostalgia, and gain SBC and WTPP; the mediating role of cognitive processing in the relationship of nostalgia with SBC and WTPP is delineated.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 37 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 December 2023

Chao Fan, Feng Jiang, Mingzhe Yu and Xiaobo Tao

Brand storytelling is an effective marketing tool. However, when choosing whether to tell more or tell less, it remains unclear which of these two narrative styles is most…

Abstract

Purpose

Brand storytelling is an effective marketing tool. However, when choosing whether to tell more or tell less, it remains unclear which of these two narrative styles is most effective. This study aims to examine whether blank-leaving(less) leads to favourable brand attitudes and compares its effects on consumers’ story immersion, to non-blank-leaving(more).

Design/methodology/approach

Two experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses. In Study 1, a single-factorial design was used with 252 participants assigned at random to one of two narrative conditions: blank-leaving or non-blank-leaving. Study 2 replicated Study 1 and investigated the moderating role of implicit mindsets.

Findings

The results show that a blank-leaving narrative style increases favourable brand attitudes. Consumers present deeper immersion in the brand story that uses blank-leaving, as compared to non-blank-leaving, leading to a more favourable brand attitude. Furthermore, this effect is stronger for individuals with growth mindsets.

Practical implications

Telling the brand story using a blank-leaving narrative style is more effective in catching consumers’ attention than non-blank-leaving. In particular, a blank-leaving narrative is a good approach for targeting consumers who have a growth mindset.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to investigate and compare the effects of blank-leaving and non-blank-leaving narrative styles on brand attitudes in the context of storytelling marketing.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1997

J.R. Allert and S.R. Chatterjee

Trust is built largely through the way in which the culture of communication is implemented by the organizational leadership. The role of the leader as a listener, communicator…

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Abstract

Trust is built largely through the way in which the culture of communication is implemented by the organizational leadership. The role of the leader as a listener, communicator and educator is imperative in formulating and facilitating a positive organizational culture. Addresses the proposition that the central tenet of successful leadership is the building, consolidating and maintenance of successful relationships. These relationships are increasingly being identified as the cornerstone of the soft skills needed to manage and lead organizations of the twenty‐first century where an empowered workforce engages in trust‐initiated roles.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1991

René Levy

Mainstream sociology tends to consider mental processes and their underlying structures, including the perception of society, mainly to be a result of socialization, which is…

Abstract

Mainstream sociology tends to consider mental processes and their underlying structures, including the perception of society, mainly to be a result of socialization, which is generally conceptualized in terms of the more or less intentional, interpersonal transmission of cultural elements. In contrast and rightly so, marxist theory has always insisted on praxis as an essential feature of consciousness formation. The concept of alienation, when it is not entirely subjectivized (as it is in the Seeman tradition), is usually derived directly from basic structural conditions of capitalism, especially from the coerced division of labor (Wallimann 1981). Conceived to be a constant of the entire system, it is of little use to explain within‐system variations of current images of society and of one's place within it.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 11 no. 6/7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

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