The effect of social media communication on consumer perceptions of brands

Researchers and brand managers have limited understanding of the effects social media communication has on how consumers perceive brands. We investigated 504 Facebook users in order to observe the impact of firm-created and user-generated (UG) social media communication on brand equity (BE), brand attitude (BA) and purchase intention (PI) by using a standardized online survey throughout Poland. To test the conceptual model, we analyzed 60 brands across three different industries: non-alcoholic beverages, clothing and mobile network operators. When analyzing the data, we applied the structural equation modeling technique to both investigate the interplay of firm-created and user-generated social media communication and examine industry-specific differences. The results of the empirical studies showed that user-generated social media communication had a positive influence on both brand equity and brand attitude, whereas firm-created social media communication affected only brand attitude. Both brand equity and brand attitude were shown to have a positive influence on purchase intention. In addition, we assessed measurement invariance using a multi-group structural modeling equation. The findings revealed that the proposed measurement model was invariant across the researched industries. However, structural path differences were detected across the models.     

品牌标识的隐性设计线索对消费者品牌创造性感知的影响

从品牌标识的隐性设计线索特征视角切入，基于图底反转原理和溢出效用，本文研究旨在探究品牌标识的隐性设计线索对消费者品牌创造性感知的作用机理。三个实验研究结果表明：品牌标识的隐性设计线索比显性设计线索更能够增加消费者品牌创造性感知，且此效用成立的条件为：消费者自主发现隐性设计线索。同时，消费者的感知有趣性中介了此效用。此外，产品视觉审美集中度正向强化了品牌标识的隐性设计线索对品牌创造性感知的影响作用。     

Online brand community within the integrated marketing communication system: When chocolate becomes seductive like a person

This study proposes brand communities as an effective tool within the integrated marketing communication (IMC) system. The paper utilizes the Brand Concept Map quali-quantitative technique in order to represent and compare mental association texture within one group of non-members of a brand community versus one group of people engaged in the same community. Brand stimulus is Nutella (chocolate cream) which boasts a crowded and lively online brand community: Nutellaville. Results show that brand community is effective in terms of contribution, commonality, and complementarity within the IMC system. In particular, Nutella brand image within the online community participants is composed of some mental associations overlapping other communication tools (commonality), and by new mental associations (complementarity) referred to the brand image dimension named ‘brand as person’ (seductive, popular, reassuring); second, this anthropomorphism effect solves the issue of sense of guilt excited by chocolate (contribution).     

Disentangling location-based advertising: the effects of location congruency and medium type on consumers' ad attention and brand choice

Research on location-based advertising (LBA) suggests that the merits of LBA lie in the fact that consumers can be targeted with location-congruent ads on their personal mobile devices. However, LBA consists of two underlying constructs: a mobile (vs. point-of-sales) advertising medium and location congruency (vs. location incongruency). This study aims to disentangle these underlying constructs by showing that they differentially affect the efficacy of an ad. Using a virtual reality lab experiment, this study shows that location-congruent ads result in increased choice for the target brand as compared to location-incongruent ads, independent of medium type. However, in location-incongruent situations, mobile ads attracted more attention than point-of-sales display ads. The advantages of LBA thus do not seem to emanate from medium type, but rather from the congruency between the ad and product location. When the ad is received at a different location than the product, the mobile medium is able to enhance consumers' ad attention.     

个体主动性人格对学习能力影响的实证研究

探讨了员工个体的主动性人格特质对其学习能力的影响及其作用机制,以及员工的工作卷入和反馈寻求在这一关系中的中介作用。运用企业236个员工数据进行分析,得出以下结论:企业员工的主动性人格显著促进其学习能力;员工的主动性人格显著强化其工作卷入和反馈寻求;员工对内的工作卷入促进了其学习能力,且在主动性人格和学习能力的关系中起部分中介的作用;员工对外的反馈寻求促进其学习能力,且在主动性人格和学习能力的关系中起部分中介作用。研究结论为组织个人学习能力的提升提供了一个重要的前因变量,并对员工工作卷入与反馈寻求的中介作用机制进行了探讨,丰富了个人学习研究,并提出了相关的实践建议。     

重庆建设国际旅游目的地的难题及对策研究

建设国际知名旅游目的地是重庆市“十三五”期间旅游业发展的重要目标任务。根据重庆旅游业现有发展基础及面临的困难和挑战，本文着重从建设三大国际目的地、打造七大国际旅游品牌、创新体制机制等三大方面提出了发展思路及对策。     

国内旅游品牌研究综述

在中国旅游业迅速发展的背景下,旅游品牌对于旅游业发展具有重要指导意义。对近十年国内旅游品牌研究作了文献综述。国内对于旅游品牌研究主要集中在品牌构建、品牌创新、品牌营销、品牌竞争力提升、评价指标体系构建等方面;研究方法由定性描述走向定量评价;研究区域主要集中于东部、中部,以城市旅游为主,近年来也出现不少乡村旅游的文章。通过对国内旅游品牌的研究述评,以探明旅游品牌研究方向。     

Why do firms delete brands? Insights from a qualitative study

Large consumer goods firms manage and market an assortment of brands and consistently deal with strategic challenges related to brand portfolio management, such as creating or acquiring brands, growing brand equity, managing brands in the portfolio and deleting brands. There is substantial research on several areas of brand portfolio management except in the area of brand deletion. This situation exists despite the fact that deleting weak brands has important implications for a firm and its brand portfolio. Therefore, it is critical to understand why firms delete brands from their portfolios. This research applies a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis in the context of firms that adopt a ‘house of brands’ brand architecture and presents findings guided by the strategic decision-making literature.     

The effect of activity identity fusion on negative consumer behavior

Negative consumer behavior is an important research topic as it explores consumer behaviors that threaten a brand's image and financial stability. However, prior research offers conflicting findings on whether a strong consumer‐brand relationship hurts or protects a brand after a market disruption or a brand transgression. To provide clarity on this issue, this work argues that disrupting the consumer‐activity relationship motivates consumers to reaffirm and protect their identity, thereby leading to negative consumer behavior. The data reveal that, after a brand‐initiated market disruption, consumers with high activity identity fusion are more likely to spread negative word‐of‐mouth, boycott the brand, and avoid repurchasing the brand in the future. Moreover, the data suggest that high brand identity fusion protects the brand during market disruptions; therefore, prior conflicting results may be due to the fact that the consumer‐activity relationship was not accounted for. Theoretically, this work establishes that consumers' relationship with their consumption activities has significant impacts on consumer behavior. Brand managers and marketers are urged to develop strategies that focus on strengthening the consumer‐brand relationship and not the consumer‐activity relationship.     

Subsidiary autonomy and performance in Japanese multinationals in Europe

Notwithstanding the growing body of research on headquarters–subsidiary relationships, the conditions under which subsidiary autonomy leads to enhanced subsidiary performance is still a subject of debate. This study adopts a contingency approach and investigates the effects of external uncertainties and intra-MNE coordination on the performance benefits of subsidiary autonomy. The empirical analysis is based upon cross-sectional data collected from 88 European subsidiaries of Japanese MNEs. Our findings show that subsidiary autonomy has a greater impact upon performance (a) under conditions of technological uncertainty; and (b) when expatriate involvement is high, as the subsidiary can reap the full benefits of entrepreneurial capabilities and enjoy resource interdependencies through interactions with the parent simultaneously. MNC executives should aim for an appropriate balance between subsidiary autonomy and these internal and external factors so that the subsidiaries achieve superior performance.