Brothers in blood,yet strangers to global brand purchase: A four-country study of the role of consumer personality

Although personality traits have repeatedly been shown to influence consumer behavior, their impact on willingness to buy global brands has yet to be empirically investigated. Based on a four-country sample (N = 4539) of South East European consumers, we test alternative pathways linking consumer personality traits to global brand purchase intentions. Our findings show that extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness and openness to experience impact purchase intentions mediated through consumers' global brand associations, domestic country bias and price sensitivity. Implications of the findings for theory and practice are considered and future research directions identified.     

Examining Biased Assimilation of Brand-related Online Reviews

This paper examines the impact of pre-existing brand attitudes on consumer processing of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). This topic is particularly important for brands that simultaneously possess strongly pronounced proponents as well as opponents. Two experimental studies using univalent (study 1, N = 538) and mixed (study 2, N = 262) sets of online reviews find indications for biased assimilation effects of eWOM processing. Consumers perceive positive (negative) arguments in online reviews as more (less) persuasive when having a positive (negative) attitude towards the brand. Perceived persuasiveness in turn influences behavioral intentions and acts as a mediator on the relationship between attitude and behavioral intentions. We examine two moderators of this effect. When priming individuals to focus on other consumers (vs. a self-focus prime), the biased assimilation effect is weaker (study 3a, N = 131). In contrast, we show that biased assimilation becomes stronger under conditions of high (vs. low) cognitive impairment (study 3b, N = 124). Our findings contribute to the literature on the relationship between eWOM and brands and advance our understanding of potential outcomes of brand polarization.     

Reshoring from a demand-side perspective: Consumer reshoring sentiment and its market effects

Reshoring is the company decision to relocate activities back to the home country. Our study complements the existing research in IB by adopting a demand-side perspective. We identify new, demand-based drivers for reshoring that integrate with the firm-based ones, thereby further informing the company decision process in this context. We develop a Consumer Reshoring Sentiment (CRS) scale through multiple studies conducted on consumers (total = 1149) in two countries. Our findings reveal: six demand-based drivers that compose CRS; a link between CRS and consumer willingness to reward the reshoring company; and the effectiveness of CRS in segmenting and targeting the market.     

Gender identity and brand incongruence: when in doubt,pursue masculinity

Gender identity is the extent to which an individual identifies with masculine or feminine personality traits. Sex roles in Western societies continue to evolve, so this research examines the developing relationship between gender identity and consumer responses to gendered branding. Grounded in self-congruency theory [Sirgy, M. J. (1982). Self-concept in consumer behavior: A critical review. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 287–300], the present research reports an experiment that supports a congruence relationship between gender identity and brand response. Masculine consumers prefer masculine brands. The results also show incongruent brand rejection where masculine consumers react negatively to feminine brands although feminine consumers are more accepting of masculine brands. Further, the results suggest that gender identity is a more effective dimension for customer segmentation than biological sex. Overall, the results suggest that masculine brands are more effective than other gendered brand profiles for masculine, feminine, and androgynous consumers.     

Exploring the effectiveness of foreign brand communication: Consumer culture ad imagery and brand schema incongruity

Drawing from international branding literature and schema incongruity research, the present study (a) assesses foreign brand communication effectiveness by juxtaposing three alternative advertising approaches based on local, foreign and global consumer culture imagery, and (b) investigates the mechanism underlying consumers' responses to foreign brand communication. In a 2 (foreign brand schema vs. control) × 3 (local vs. foreign vs. global ad type) full-factorial, between-subjects experiment with a consumer sample, we find that ads portraying global consumer culture imagery only moderately violate consumer perceptions of brand foreignness and lead to more favorable ad attitudes. Furthermore, moderated-mediation analysis shows that when the global ad imagery is meaningfully linked to the foreign brand, perceptions of credibility increase and positively influence ad attitude. However, if consumers cannot make sense of the ad, this effect is reversed and negatively influences subsequent responses. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed and future research directions identified.     

The brand personality dimensions of business-to-business firms: a content analysis of employer reviews on social media

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the brand personalities that employees are creating of their employer brands, in particular business-to-business (B-to-B) brands, when describing these brands on social media. We examine how the brand personalities, based on written online reviews, differ between high- and low-ranked, and high- and low-rated brands.

Methodology/Approach: 6,300 written employee reviews from a social media platform, Glassdoor, are used for content analysis in DICTION, to determine the brand personality dimensions they communicate (J. L). An independent B-to-B brand ranking data source, Brandwatch, is used as a reference to various brands’ level of ranking, while an ANOVA test is used to determine whether there is a difference in the brand personality trait means when comparing high and low-ranked, and high- and low-rated brands.

Findings: Our findings suggest that a strong social media presence does not equate to a strong employer brand personality perception among employees, since there are no significant differences between B-to-B firms based on their rankings.

Research Implications: Extant literature has mostly explored the impact of either critical reviews or favourable customer ratings and reviews on company performance, with very little research focusing on the B-to-B context. In addition, research employing DICTION for the purposes of content analysis of reviews is sparse. The methodology used in this study could thus be employed to further compare and contrast the reviews from a single company, dividing top and low starred reviews to compare discrepancies.

Practical Implications: The results of this study show how online shared employee experiences of employer brands contribute to the formation of a distinct employer brand personality. From a managerial viewpoint, engaging with current and past employees and being cognizant of the online narratives that they share on social media, may be an early indicator of where the firm is lacking (or showing strength) in its’ employee engagement. This would offer a way for firms to both understand their employer brand personality as well as gauge how they compare to top employers in a specific sector or industry.

Originality/Value/Contribution: The study attempts to grow the literature of employee brand engagement in a B-to-B context, by recognizing the important role that employees play in engaging with their employer brand online. Two main contributions are offered. The first contribution relates to the finding that employees perceive highly-rated B-to-B brands as being more competent, exciting, sincere and sophisticated than low-rated B-to-B brands. Second, the methodology used in this study proves to be a novel and accurate way of comparing employee reviews and perceived employer brand personality, with the employer-created intended brand image.     

Building foreign brand personalities in Russia: the moderating effect of consumer ethnocentrism

Based on a survey of Western brands in Russia, three contributions are offered to the literature on international brand-building. First, the Aaker brand personality scale (Aaker 1997) was tested in a Russian context. Important similarities and differences between Western and Russian brand personality perceptions were identified. Second, the results show that brand personalities of Western brands also have an impact on brand attitudes among Russian consumers. Third, and most importantly, it is demonstrated that the effect of Western brand personalities is heavily moderated by consumer ethnocentrism. Specifically, only low-ethnocentric consumers are influenced by foreign brand personalities.     

Perceived ‘Hispanicness’versus ‘Americanness’

This article discusses how consumers differentiate competing brands of similar utilitarian values on the basis of a brand’s cultural association, namely brand ethnicity, and examines how the perceived brand ethnicity influences consumers’ brand preference and choice. Study findings, based on both qualitative and quantitative research with self-identified His panic consumers, indicate that Hispanic consumers associate certain brands with Hispanic culture and other brands with American culture. In a hypothetical purchasing scenario, the perceived brand ethnicity affects consumers’ brand preference significantly in accordance with their cultural orientation. However, in a real consumer behaviour setting, external factors such as brand accessibility attenuate the effects of brand ethnicity.     

Store-evoked affect, personalities, and consumer emotional attachments to brands

This research examines how store-evoked affect, human personality, and brand personality influence consumers' emotional attachments to brands. A field study (in wine tasting rooms) demonstrates that satisfaction mediates the effects of store-evoked pleasure and arousal on brand attachments, which further affects brand loyalty and willingness to pay a price premium. Attachment is consistently stronger in positive affective environments (i.e., when pleasure, arousal, and satisfaction are high) and when the brand possesses positive dimensions of brand personality. These effects are stronger for consumers scoring high (rather than low) on extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness and weaker for individuals scoring high on neuroticism. A follow-up experiment (in juice bars) supports the findings of the field study and provides further insight into the three-way interaction between store-evoked affect, brand personality, and consumer personality.     

Consumers' cognitive and affective responses to brand origin misclassifications: Does confidence in brand origin identification matter?

Although research on country-of-origin (COO) effects in general is abundant, findings regarding the phenomenon of brand origin misclassification (i.e., consumers' association of a brand with the wrong COO) remain limited and inconclusive. This study fills this research gap by investigating how consumers' cognitive and affective responses upon learning the true origin of a previously misclassified brand drive the extent to which they revise their brand evaluation. Specifically, the authors explore the role of consumers' confidence in brand origin identification in this context. The results from an empirical study in South Korea (N = 259) suggest that consumers tend to adjust their brand evaluations only if the true COO is perceived more favorably; they tend not to take a worse COO into consideration. Moreover, negative emotions lead to greater losses in brand evaluation than positive emotions lead to gains in that respect.     

Do brands benefit consumers?

Advertising exists to communicate information about, and promote, brands—using ‘brands’ in the broadest sense. Brand owners, it might be believed, are thereby promoting their own interests. This paper explores the extent to which consumers benefit. Brands provide economic value for money, functionality in developing the requisite quality of products to solve consumer problems and psychological satisfaction. Thus functional benefits are intrinsic to the brand and its component products, psychological benefits are in the mind of the consumer and economic benefits relate to the exchange transaction. Brands are diverse, offering different benefits in different ways to different consumers at different times. Any aggregation of brand (dis)benefits therefore needs to be treated with caution. The picture is not wholly positive and consumer concerns with branding need to be factored in. The defence is the marketplace itself: consumers are free to choose. Retailer brands meet the demand, where it exists, for alternatives to manufacturer brands. Some consumers are undoubtedly confused for part of the time but branding is a long-term investment. Manufacturer brand leaders fifty years ago are brand leaders today. They would not exist at all if enough consumers did not continue to buy them.

This article considers these consumer concerns alongside the arguments for brands, except for the last (values) which is outside its scope. In general, the economic case today is secure even though earlier economists considered brands restricted competition. The bottom line of any remaining concern is whether consumers are satisfied that brands provide value for money. If consumers feel satisfied, then they are satisfied whether or not others think they should be. General consumer satisfaction with brands' value for money is none the less an inference drawn from the literature and analysis. Similarly, functional and psychological benefits appear to outweigh disadvantages but empirical research is needed to establish the extent of consumer (dis)satisfactions.     

Consumer Brand Hate: Steam rolling whatever I see

This study aims to investigate negative consumer‐brand relationships by developing a “Brand Hate” concept. A hierarchical Brand Hate model is theoretically discussed in light of the psychology and consumer behavior literatures. In Study‐I the Brand Hate concept was tested with two different types of consumer brand haters, true haters, and regular haters. The study found that in the study's proposed multidimensional Brand Hate hierarchy true haters display “Boiling Brand Hate” while regular haters reveal “Seething Brand Hate.” Two additional studies were developed to examine the relationship between consumer personality traits and Brand Hate, exploring which types of consumers are more prone to feel hatred toward targeted brands. Study‐II's findings revealed a relationship between consumers who are high in personality traits of “conscientiousness” and those who Brand Hate. Study‐III's findings indicated that “self‐confident” and “competitive” consumers might also be more prone to feel hatred toward those brands that perform poorly and unethically.     

The role of brand schemas,information transparency,and source of message on apparel brands' social responsibility communication

In today's complex business environment, apparel brands are communicating about their socially responsible (SR) practices through marketing messages to create a niche for themselves and show their SR efforts. However, SR aspects of products are difficult to verify by consumers. To help brands effectively communicate their SR efforts, this study assessed how consumers process an apparel brand's SR messages based on their prior experiences with that brand (brand schemas). Information transparency on messages and source of messages were tested as external cues to influence consumers' brand schemas and SR message evaluations in a mixed method repeated measures online experiment using a national US consumer sample. Results from regression-based conditional process analyses indicated that increased congruity of consumers' schemas to the fact that brands are SR led to more favorable attitude toward brands' SR messages. Also, presence of high information transparency on SR messages influenced consumers' schemas positively, and in turn, they evaluated messages more favorably. However, consumers were not influenced by whether messages were made by brands or third-party organizations. The study results show the importance of brand schemas and information transparency on apparel brand communications, helping both apparel brands and educators create effective SR-related marketing strategies.     

新品牌规避消费者预期效应的产品营销路径探索

产品营销关乎企业生存与发展,面临众多大品牌的激烈竞争,对于一个新品牌来说,如何规避消费者对新品牌的不信任预期,使自己企业的产品受到更多消费者的青睐,是一个普遍存在的问题。因为知觉恒常性和知觉定势的存在,消费者在购买产品之前就会形成自己的预期,改变消费者的预期会对产品营销带来非常巨大的作用。改变消费者的预期可以通过消费者产品盲测评价、锚定大品牌的品牌定位策略、找到自己产品的优势、提高定价等路径,规避消费者对新品牌的预期效应,激发消费者做出购买行为。本研究拟为新品牌产品营销提供指导与发展路径。     

On the Role of Brand Stereotypes in Shaping Consumer Response toward Brands: An Empirical Examination of Direct and Mediating Effects of Warmth and Competence

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the branding literature by examining the critical role of brand stereotypes in shaping consumers’ brand‐related responses. Drawing on the Stereotype Content Model, this article examines how warmth and competence stereotypes impact consumers’ emotional reaction toward brands and in turn consumers’ brand attitudes and behavioral intention. In addition, this article examines how brand stereotypes mediate the relationships between brand personality and consumers’ brand emotions. The results from this study support the dual role of brand stereotypes as relevant predictors of brand emotions, and intervening variables mediating the effects from brand personality perceptions on brand emotions. The findings support the view that mechanisms of social perception apply to brand perception and provide new insights about the relationship between consumers’ brand perceptions and their responses toward brands.     

Communicating brand gender through type fonts

The marketing literature suggests that positioning a brand in terms of brand gender (i.e., brand masculinity and brand femininity) generates favorable consumer responses, yet there is little research on how brand gender perceptions arise. This research examines whether type font can be employed to create brand gender perceptions in the context of unfamiliar brands. Building on the theoretical framework of personality inferences based on static cues, three studies involving a range of type fonts, brand names, and product categories demonstrate that type font influences consumers’ perceptions of brand gender. Type font effects emerged for brand names presented in isolation (Study 1), brand names presented on signage (Study 2a), and brand names on product labels (Studies 2b and 3). Importantly, type font effects on brand gender persisted in the presence of a competing brand gender cue (i.e., brand name with gender associations), and type font and brand name influenced brand gender perceptions independently. A fourth study demonstrates that type fonts representing the brands influence consumers’ likelihood to recommend the brand. The article concludes with a discussion of theoretical and brand management implications.     

What you touch,touches you: The influence of haptic attributes on consumer product impressions

The present research builds upon the touch literature to show that the salience of haptic product attributes related to product surface texture (smooth, rough) and weight (light weight, heavy weight) influence consumer product impressions. We propose that haptic cue congruity across texture and weight drive consumer product impressions depending on a consumer's need for touch (NFT). We show that high autotelic‐NFT consumers who touch for sensory pleasure enjoyed the incongruity between smooth texture and heavy weight haptic cues, and consequently showed favorable evaluations towards exciting brands. In contrast, low autotelic‐NFT consumers prefer the anticipated match between smooth texture and light weight haptic cues, which conformed to their expectation about the nature of a sophisticated brand personality. Further, we show how the interactive effect of haptic attributes and a consumer's autotelic‐NFT on willingness to purchase is mediated by product personality. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Customer brand personality perception: A taxonomic analysis

Abstract

The brand personality concept has received considerable attention. However, researchers have paid little attention to how homogeneous consumer brand personality perceptions are. This study attempts to fill this gap by analysing survey data (n?=?603) collected from respondents evaluating seven mass-market consumer brands. Using cluster analysis, it identifies four typical brand personality constellations. The authors find variance among brand personality perceptions across brands, but more interestingly also within perceptions of individual brands. This result points to issues in implementing brand personalities in marketing practice. The article concludes with theoretical and managerial implications.     

Effects of co‐creation claim on consumer brand perceptions and behavioural intentions

Increasingly often, companies ‘co‐create’ with consumers in open innovation practices to develop new products more effectively. Little is known about how co‐creation affects consumer brand perceptions in the mass market. We hypothesize that co‐creative brands – as opposed to non–co‐creative brands – are perceived as more authentic and sincere, and are associated with relatively positive behavioural intentions. A between‐subjects experiment was conducted to test these hypotheses in an online panel of consumers who did not take part in co‐creation. The experiment had a 3 (control vs. co‐creation vs. co‐creation supported with some visual proof) × 2 (well‐known existing brand vs. fictitious brand) design. Quantitative data analyses (n = 530) confirmed that for both brands, co‐creation affects brand personality perceptions directly and behavioural intentions indirectly. This study shows that co‐creating with consumers can be a strategic method to positively influence product perceptions and behavioural intentions.     

How special rewards in loyalty programs enrich consumer–brand relationships: The role of self-expansion

Although brands offer different kinds of rewards through their loyalty programs, little is known about how they can impact consumer–brand relationships and brand attitude. How do loyalty program rewards influence the consumer–brand relationship? And which kinds of rewards establish or maintain closer relationships between consumers and brands than others? To answer these questions, the present research makes use of self-expansion theory (Aron & Aron, 1986) and two experiments that manipulate the extraordinary character of rewards offered to consumers. Our findings show that special rewards produce higher self-expansion than mundane rewards. Moreover, the positive effect of the rewards’ extraordinary character on brand evaluation, recommendation, and identification is sequentially and fully mediated by self-brand inclusion and self-expansion. Finally, we show that consumer satisfaction moderates the impact of special and mundane rewards on self-brand inclusion.