Using social media for efficient brand marketing: An evaluation of Chinese Universities using Bilibili

As the higher education market becomes increasingly competitive, Chinese universities are competing to develop brand marketing programmes on social media platforms, with significant differences in performance. This paper divides universities’ social media marketing processes into two stages: the production-operation stage and the marketing communication stage. It constructs a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to evaluate the brand marketing efficiency of 296 Chinese universities on the Bilibili video-sharing platform to provide strategic proposals for social media marketing. The results show that 10 universities perform efficiently in the production-operation stage, while 11 universities perform efficiently in the marketing communication stage. The gap in marketing efficiency is relatively large across Chinese universities. Most universities perform unsatisfactorily because of their redundant input or insufficient output. To improve the brand marketing efficiency on Bilibili, universities should pay more effort into quality rather than quantity of input, produce high-quality videos continuously and build and maintain fan loyalty.     

Factors that influence manufacturer and store brand behavioral loyalty

This study examines the factors that are linked to consumer goods brands having unusually high or low behavioral loyalty, after controlling for the association between brand size and loyalty that occurs due to the ‘double jeopardy’ effect. Behavioral, or repeat-purchase loyalty is measured as the brand's average share of category requirements (in volume) among its buyers over a 12-month period. We examine a range of factors that theory or past evidence suggests are associated with higher or lower behavioral loyalty, including brand type (store brand/manufacturer brand), price level, promotion intensity, as well as average brand volume per occasion and pack size. Using extensive US panel purchasing data, we find that store brands exhibit relatively higher behavioral loyalty than manufacturer brands. We explain the theory behind this result. We also find that the brand's average pack size and volume bought per occasion has a markedly positive association with behavioral loyalty. Finally, we find that the effect of low price on excess loyalty is moderated via a positive association with average volume purchase per occasion. These findings add to the body of knowledge relating to patterns in behavioral brand loyalty for both manufacturer and store brands, as well as the marketing-mix factors that influence it.     

Five naming strategies to help tell your organization’s story

Are you involved in a new venture but just can’t find the right name? Are you part of an organization that has outgrown its name, perhaps because of geographic/product expansion or societal changes? Or worse, does your organization need to shed its name owing to scandal or unfortunate family association? While many entrepreneurs and managers understand intuitively that names are imbued with meaning and that this meaning helps convey a company’s identity and tell its story, they may not know what makes a great name. Even though choosing a name marks a universal rite of passage for an organization and a key strategic decision, there is surprisingly little practical, accessible, and consolidated guidance available to those in search of the “perfect” name. So, how can organizations improve their chances of crafting an outstanding name? We extract research-driven insights from a variety of disciplines to describe, examine, and evaluate five principal naming strategies. As such, we explore the effectiveness of organization names that are affiliated with the organization’s signature product/service, family, or geography, as well as those adopting humor or pursuing novelty via portmanteaus. We also offer recommendations for maximizing the cognitive fluency and emotional resonance of potential names.     

Better support for supportive jobs. How to improve brand performance through better compensation and training for in-store merchandisers

Through an experimental field study, we link improved working conditions for supportive jobs to enhanced brand sales. Results show that improved working conditions for in-store merchandisers based on monetary and non-monetary rewards yield a significant increase in sales, which might be facilitated through enhanced on-shelf availability. We underline the strategic importance of the job profile and identify explanatory mechanisms, enabling managers to optimize training and compensation in the context of supportive jobs in retailing. The study enhances the literature on the importance of supportive jobs in driving brand performance in accordance with the motivational framework based on rewards and recognition.     

Do brands’ social media marketing activities matter? A moderation analysis

Considering the increased interest in the role that a brand's social media marketing activities (SMMA) play in providing better experiences, the current study examines associations among SMMA, brand experience, purchase intention, and attitude towards the brand. This study also assesses the customer generation (Millennials vs. Non-Millenials) and customer engagement level (high vs. low) as moderators in the SMMA-brand experience link. 413 responses were collected from individuals who follow a brand on social media and employed structural equation modelling for the analysis purpose. The results suggest an essential role of SMMA in driving brand experience, purchase intention, and attitude towards the brand. Results also establish that the SMMA-brand experience link varies across consumer generation (Millennials vs. Non-Millenials) and customer engagement level (high vs. low) with the brand's SMMA. These results aid marketers in realizing the role of consumers' generation and their engagement level relating to SMMA-brand experience relationship. The study concludes with implications, limitations, and future research avenues.     

Estimating the effect of brand beliefs on brand evaluations when beliefs are measured with error

We consider the internal validity of estimates of the effects of brand beliefs on brand evaluations when beliefs are measured with error. Consumer research suggests numerous errors that may impact belief measures. However, the literature has not determined precisely why and how myriad types of error matter for the evaluation-belief relationship. Furthermore, the literature has not explicitly considered what is necessary and sufficient to control for different types of belief error when using the latent general factor approach. We show that the important distinction for empirical research is not the origin of the error per se but its relationship to affective evaluation. Error related to brand evaluation has an inflationary effect on estimates of the evaluation-belief relationship while error unrelated to brand evaluation has an attenuating effect. We use a bifactor structural equations model to decompose belief measures into general and specific dimensions. The model uses bias free variation in specific beliefs to identify effects on brand evaluation while controlling for a general belief dimension correlated with evaluation. Compared to models that do not adjust for the bias, estimates of the bias corrected marginal effects are smaller but positive and significant.     

Understanding the omnichannel customer journey: The effect of online and offline channel interactivity on consumer value co-creation behavior

Building on the service dominant logic, this study explores the effect of online and offline channel interactivity on consumers’ value co-creation behavior (VCB), the mediating effect of brand involvement, and the moderating effect of cross-channel consistency (CCC). We surveyed 387 customers who engage in omnichannel shopping. The relationship between online and offline channel interactivity and VCB was positive and partially mediated by brand involvement. The interaction effect of online channel interactivity (ONI) and offline channel interactivity (OFI) had a negative effect on brand involvement when CCC was low but a non-significant positive effect when CCC was high. These findings enrich the theoretical understanding of value co-creation and provide insights into omnichannel management.     

Employing brand governance mechanisms with export channel partners: What are the performance consequences and contingent effects?

For decades leading international business scholars have assessed the benefits accruing from successful governance mechanisms. Although the critical importance of initiating and maintaining good relationships with export channel partners is recognized within the literature, there has been little research focus placed on the optimal approach for governing intangible aspects of these relationships. We offer the first integrated definition of export brand governance of channel partners (EBGoCP) and investigate its influence on export performance. Drawing from relational governance theory and contingency theory, we develop and test a model of the contingent effects of different country specific advantages and firm characteristics on the performance upshots of EBGoCP. Using survey data from UK exporters, our findings validate the hypothesized enhancing effects of EBGoCP on export performance outcomes. Furthermore, consistent with our contingency based predictions, we find country-of-origin-image, firm size and scope of exporting moderate the impact of EBGoCP on export performance. Along with providing fresh insights from the results, this study opens up a new stream of international business governance research and offers productive future research paths to follow.     

How can non-fungible tokens bring value to brands

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have registered tremendous growth in the past year, and their importance is expected to increase with the expected development of Web3. From a brand perspective, NFTs can be seen as representations of the brand components, such as the product, the logo, or the image. I argue that NFTs have immense potential to become standalone brand assets. I illustrate how this can be achieved by relating the brand's NFT strategies to the marketing funnel stages. Brands can turn into an NFT their physical products such as shoes, shirts, or art to attract brand awareness, generate cross-selling opportunities, and spark stronger perceived ownership of certain brand elements. Importantly, NFTs can allow brands to form a highly engaging brand community that can support the brand, blend online and offline product ownership, and potentially create a bond between the brand and consumers. These exciting possibilities generate a rich research agenda I present in this paper.