Research continuum on consumer education and brand knowledge: A critical analysis

Consumer education and brand knowledge have emerged as the dynamic tool in the complex marketplace today that actively stimulate the cognitive behavior of consumers toward developing purchase intentions and buying decisions. The general objective of this study is to critically review the previous studies on the role of brand literacy, transfer and perceptions of knowledge, purchase intention, shopping ambiance and customer satisfaction, and illustrate the consumer decision making process induced by the above factors. The literature review reveals that brand education plays significant role as a driver of decision making among consumers, which not only empowers consumers in developing perceptions on the brand but also helps the companies on brand co-designing and knowledge dissemination process. Consumer literacy and brand knowledge helps the consumers in assessing the brand value, competitive advantage, and operational efficiency of the brand toward building purchase intentions. The effects of the increasing levels of customer expertise in the marketplace today is seen as the outcome of consumer education and perceived brand knowledge.     

How to retain customers in omnichannel retailing: Considering the roles of brand experience and purchase behavior

The opportunities and challenges of omnichannel in retail industry have been widely discussed, yet despite these benefits, the key elements that constitute an effective omnichannel and how customers respond to omnichannel retailing strategies remain unclear. This research conducted online surveys to test the effects of omnichannel elements on various brand experiences and customer retention, considering the moderating role of purchase behavior. The results indicate that omnichannel elements (integration, individualization, and interaction) are generally helpful in retaining customers, through omnichannel elements influence brand experiences differently. In addition, these omnichannel elements have different influences on customer retention due to different purchase behaviors. The findings suggest that retailers can use different omnichannel strategies to attract customers’ purchases and provide insights for practitioners who want to use omnichannel strategies to deliver superior experiences for customers.     

Spontaneous visualization and concept evaluation

This paper proposes that customers often respond to brand extension concepts by visualizing the product. We call this process spontaneous visualization and suggest that it precedes concept evaluations. In two studies, we show that spontaneous visualization is enhanced by the fit between the parent brand and the extension category and by the ease with which the product category can be imagined. The appeal of the visualized image in turn determines whether visualization enhances or decreases concept evaluations. In addition, we find a stronger link between product evaluations and delayed choice when evaluations are based on visualization; evaluations based on visualization hence appear to be more “valid” in the sense of predicting subsequent behavior. Implications of these findings and ideas for future research are discussed.

The relationship between store image and store brand equity: A conceptual framework and evidence from hypermarkets

Retailers are making considerable efforts to improve their brand management. The challenge they face, however, is how best to integrate coherently their stores, as brands, and their various distributor brands (store brands, private labels, etc.), in order to increase their brand equity and offer the market differential value that will stimulate customer loyalty. From this perspective, it is crucial for retailers to investigate the relationship between the store and their own brands. This study proposes two theoretical models showing the mechanism whereby store image helps increase the equity of a specific type of distributor brand (the store brand). The approach used in this analysis is based, on the one hand, on defining brand equity through its components, using the model in Aaker (1991), and on the other, on including (social and strategic) corporate dimensions in measuring store image. The empirical research made in the hypermarket sector in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa backs the majority of the proposed hypotheses. The results show that store image can be used by retailers to influence all components of store brand equity, essentially through its commercial and strategic dimension. This research is intended to address the clear lack of research on store brand equity.     

Fostering international brand loyalty through committed and attached relationships

The relationship-building approach, focused on the building of brand-to-consumer relationships conducive to brand loyalty formation, has become an extensively investigated topic in international brand management studies. However, the theoretical development of this approach manifests obvious diversities, causing managerial uncertainty about how to take appropriate strategic actions to put the relationship-building approach to best use. The current study, orchestrating the main concepts derived from three relationship-building paradigms with necessary adaptations and modifications, develops and validates the Relationship-Building for Strategic Brand Management Model. Its most noteworthy contribution lies in the coalescence of pragmatic utilitarianism, emotionalism and social symbolism, orienting the relationship-building approach to correspond to the principle of holistic consumer experience management. As explicated by the model, committed and attached relationships built upon the relationship foundation mirroring the holistic essentiality of holistic consumer experience are convertible into powerful driver of international brand loyalty. The model structure and causal path pattern prove to be applicable to different international product brand categories in different regions. Strategic implications are deduced from the research findings, which the international brand manager may take into consideration to maximize the effectiveness of relationship-building strategies for fostering brand loyalty in the international market.     

旅游目的地品牌研究

旅游目的地营销经历了旅游地形象、旅游宣传口号之后,迎来了旅游目的地品牌竞争时代,构建旅游目的地品牌已经成为一种必然趋势。通过在前人研究基础上对旅游目的地品牌做进一步研究,探究了旅游目的地品牌内涵及自身发展规律,对旅游地品牌有进一步的认识,更好的促进旅游地可持续发展。     

可持续发展视角下的湖南省休闲农业区域品牌构建研究

本文从可持续发展的视角探寻湖南省休闲农业品牌构建之路,旨在为湖南省休闲农业实施品牌战略、推动该产业可持续发展提供思路和对策建议。     

政府视角下以区域联想为核心的区域品牌伞构建研究

为了应对区域品牌建设中出现的一系列问题，区域管理者们不得不采取新的策略来发展区域经济。某些地区已经尝试将品牌伞策略应用于区域品牌的建设，构建区域品牌伞。探讨了以区域联想为核心的区域品牌伞的基本架构，并提出了影响作为区域品牌伞核心价值的区域联想可转移性维度。在国内外相关研究基础上，通过定性分析，提出区域品牌伞就是将区域品牌撑开成为伞状品牌，直接与产品相结合，作为其品牌或品牌一部分，构建一个以区域品牌为上层品牌，涵盖区域内一系列产品或品牌的区域品牌层级结构；影响区域联想可转移性的维度包括：强度、独特性、相关性、相似性、偏好性及抽象性。     

Why Are Themed Brandstores So Powerful? Retail Brand Ideology at American Girl Place

Although there is growing interest in themed brandstores, we still know very little about the source of these retail environments’ power to affect consumers profoundly. Utilizing an ethnographic study of American Girl Place, a culturally rich and highly successful retail environment, we find that effective retailing in these contexts is an intensely ideological affair. In our participant-observation of, and on-site interviews with, consumers at American Girl Place we find that the ideology of the brand manifests powerfully through a variety of different and distinct areas within the store: the Museum, the Library, the Café, the Salon, the Theater, and the Photo Studio. Ideological expression is central to each of these places. Tracking the influence of brand ideology through consumers’ retail experiences, we theorize about the centrality of retail place in ideological branding. Although the confluence of ideology and retailing has been referenced in prior research, this paper focuses on and systematically develops the theoretical interconnection between the two. The physical immediacy of themed brandstore experience acts as a quilting point that links together related cultural concepts into a strong retail brand ideology. The implications of this theory draw our attention to ideological and morally-bound retail brand expressions, emphasize the importance of a variety of retail formats within a single store, and provide practical guidelines for retailers eager to build successful brands of their own.     

Do global airline alliances influence the passenger's purchase decision?

This study examines the influences of airline global alliances on the purchase intention of international air passengers in Taiwan. The findings indicate positive relationships between global airline alliances, brand equity, brand preference and purchase intention with a moderation effect of involvement impacting on the relationship between global airline alliances and brand equity, and the relationship between brand preferences and purchase intention. In particular, for highly involved passengers, the effect of global airline alliances on brand equity, and brand preference on purchase intention, is significant.