Why Nonprofits Are Easier to Endorse on Social Media: The Roles of Warmth and Brand Symbolism

Brands often seek endorsements by consumers on social media (e.g., likes on Facebook). But is this marketing strategy feasible for all brands? To answer this question, this research investigates in seven studies the processes that underlie consumers' intention to endorse brands on social media. We suggest that consumers aim to signal their identity by endorsing brands online. Based on the Brands as Intentional Agents Framework and related research in (social) cognition and consumer behavior, we argue that consumers on social media primarily want to emphasize their warmth rather than their competence. Experimental studies 1, 2, and 3 distinguish between nonprofit and for-profit brands and show that brand warmth (and not competence) mediates the effect of brand type (nonprofit vs. for-profit) on consumers' intentions to endorse brands and branded content on social media. Experiment 4 demonstrates that this process is moderated by brand symbolism (moderated mediation). A high level of brand symbolism increases the positive effect of warmth on consumers' intention to endorse brands online, but only for for-profit brands. The fifth experiment shows that these effects are conditional upon the public vs. private distinction in consumer behavior: consumers prefer to publicly affiliate with nonprofit (vs. for-profit) brands but with regard to private affiliations, there is no difference between both types of brands. In experiment 6, the causal role of warmth (vs. competence) is further examined. Finally, we demonstrate that perceptions of brands' warmth and not competence reduce the efforts that brands need to make to achieve consumers' endorsements on their real brand pages on Facebook.     

Going to great lengths in the pursuit of luxury: How longer brand names can enhance the luxury perception of a brand

Brand names are a crucial part of the brand equity and marketing strategy of any company. Research suggests that companies spend considerable time and money to create suitable names for their brands and products. This paper uses the Zipf's law (or Principle of Least Effort) to analyze the perceived luxuriousness of brand names. One of the most robust laws in linguistics, Zipf's law describes the inverse relationship between a word's length and its frequency i.e., the more frequently a word is used in language, the shorter it tends to be. Zipf's law has been applied to many fields of science and in this paper, we provide evidence for the idea that because polysyllabic words (and brand names) are rare in everyday conversation, they are considered as more complex, distant, and abstract and that the use of longer brand names can enhance the perception of how luxurious a brand is (compared with shorter brand names, which are considered to be close, frequent, and concrete to consumers). Our results suggest that shorter names (mono‐syllabic) are better suited to basic brands whereas longer names (tri‐syllabic or more) are more appropriate for luxury brands.     

Brand popularity as an advertising cue affecting consumer evaluation on sustainable brands: a comparison study of Korea,China, and Russia

This study examines how brand popularity in conjunction with consumers' varied styles of decision-making, as well as other consumer characteristics, can influence the overall evaluation of a sustainable brand. The results of our empirical analysis show that the effect of brand popularity varies widely according to which countries one considers. Here we examined Korea, China, and Russia, and found in each country that popularity significantly influenced consumers' evaluations of sustainable brands, yet in very different aspects. In Korea, when the brand popularity cue was presented, a significant positive influence on consumer evaluation resulted. However, China showed a significant negative influence, while Russia showed neutral, insignificant results. In addition, we found also that both a brand's fashion leadership and its connection with sustainable, conscientious causes can work as moderators. Finally, we found that consumer decision-making style varies not only according to fashion leadership and sustainability involvement, but that each country had a different opinion on sustainability in general. Thus, several important implications for international marketing are here presented.     

Brand Orientation: A Mindset for Building Brands into Strategic Resources

Learning to see intangible values and symbols as resources is the necessary step in brand orientation. At certain companies, this can mean a step into a new reality - brand reality. A new way of approaching brands within companies. This is the heart of the discussion that will be pursued in this article. In the research field that deals with strategic brand management, considerable steps forward have been taken through the development of such concepts as brand equity and brand identity. Nonetheless, there has as yet been no fundamental discussion about the way in which brands are mentally approached or about the overarching conceptual frameworks that are used by companies that compete primarily via their brands. Based on experiences from case companies, including Nestlé, DuPont, Tetra Pak, Volvo, and Pharmacia Upjohn Nicorette, the critical question will be examined of how an organization's approach is affected when its brands become to an ever greater degree the hub around which operations and strategies revolve. The organization's overall goals, values, and positions come to be expressed through brands, and thus acquire an identity. Does this changed mindset mean that we must begin to rethink the market concept and challenge the assumption that "the customer is always right"? Should the guiding light of brand development always be that of "unreservedly satisfying the customer's wants and needs", no matter what the price? Experiences from the above companies show that integrity and brand competence are required in order to create, develop, and protect brands that have an identity, and not just an image.     

Smartphone preferences and brand loyalty: A discrete choice model reflecting the reference point and peer effect

Brand loyalty and interest have significant impacts on consumers' smartphone choices. What about brand loyalty and interest of smartphone in South Korea where Samsung originates from? This study investigates brand loyalty and interest and how they are affected by the satisfaction of innovative peers in South Korea. An asymmetric discrete choice model with reference-dependent preferences is applied for the analysis. The estimation results show that in South Korea the brand is the most important attribute of smartphone and Apple is the strongest in brand loyalty. Whether consumers who are currently owners of Apple smartphones continue to maintain the same brand in their next purchasing depends not only on their brand loyalty but also on the satisfaction of their highly innovative peers who currently own the Apple. On the other hand, Samsung's brand loyalty is lower than that of Apple, but the brand interest is the highest. Additionally, in all smartphone brands, satisfaction with smartphone brands owned by innovative peers has a significant impact on consumers' interest.     

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.     

Tweet this,not that: A comparison between brand promotions in microblogging environments using celebrity and company-generated tweets

Despite the popularity of social media in general and Twitter specifically, little empirical research exists to assist marketers in how to successfully connect with consumers in these environments. The purpose of this study was to identify the ways in which brands can connect with consumers through Twitter and to examine how the category of Tweet impacts brand engagement. Findings reveal that whereas celebrity Tweets may be successful at capturing attention and disseminating brand information, they have minimal impact on changing brand opinions. What influence celebrities do have may be best served with unfamiliar brands rather than familiar ones – results suggest that not unlike in traditional offline media, in social media celebrities may be influential in drawing attention to unfamiliar brands. Our results also suggest that companies with established familiar brands should be cautious about paying to seed their own Tweets using Twitter's ‘Promoted by’ option, particularly if the brand is one that consumers have a neutral opinion of, as this can lower consumers' opinion of the brand. Instead, these companies should encourage consumers to follow them on Twitter as this will enable the brand to interact directly with consumers.     

Understanding brand and dealer retention in the new car market: The moderating role of brand tier

Dealers may contribute to brand retention through their sales and service efforts. In this study we investigate the degree to which dealers contribute to brand retention and how this contribution is moderated by brand tier. To this end we distinguish between economy, volume and prestige brands. We also investigate how the effectiveness of dealer instruments to increase dealer retention differs across these brand tiers. We collected data on brand retention and dealer retention among consumers who recently purchased a new car. Our findings show that dealers selling volume brands are able to improve brand retention rates. In contrast, dealers of prestige and economy brands are unable to affect brand retention. In line with the notion of brand-dealer fit we also find that the effects of dealer extrinsic service quality and dealer payment equity on dealer retention differ between prestige, volume, and economy brands. Extrinsic dealer service quality has the smallest effect for dealers selling economy brands, while dealer payment equity is the most important determinant of dealer retention for these dealers.     

Consumers' Role Performance and Brand Identification: Evidence from a Survey and a Longitudinal Field Experiment

Why do some consumers evangelize brands and create value for them even without receiving any direct reward in return? How do their motivations influence their role behaviors and their identification with the company or brand? We draw on motivation theory and the in- and extra-role literature of leadership to propose a theoretical framework. We use this framework to analyze data from one cross-sectional survey conducted with members of two online brand communities and one longitudinal field experiment with consumers of one new online brand community. We first separate community members' motivations into three types of psychological needs (self-competency, self-belongingness, self-autonomy) that are fulfilled by membership in a brand community. We investigate how each of these needs influences consumers' in-role and extra-role behaviors, which in turn positively affect their brand identification and create value for the company. Our results show that self-competency motivates both in- and extra-role behaviors, self-belongingness only increases less involved in-role behaviors, and self-autonomy only affects more involved extra-role behaviors. Both role behaviors foster beneficial consumer brand identification. We discuss how these findings can inform marketers' brand community-building strategies.     

Achieving and Managing Global Brand Equity: A Critical Analysis

ABSTRACT

According to some experts, brand equity is a company's most important asset. In this article, the authors first study the durability of brand equity in the long run. Then they examine the maintenance of that brand equity. The study analyzes the relative position of the top 50 most important global brands. Rank correlations indicate that, in the short run, the top 50 brands maintain strong equity levels, but in the longer run, this equity dissipates. In order to empower global brands in the long run, the authors put together a general global brand strategy model that would achieve and maintain brand equity. The model has three important components: strategic action, generating brand power, and achieving sustained brand equity. Such a model could balance the success in achieving brand equity globally both in the short and long run.     

Service brand coolness in the construction of brand loyalty: A self-presentation theory approach

As service brands need to find new methods to overcome consumers' distrust of physical spaces in the post-COVID-19 era, we explore how niche and mass service brands can recover their experiential value through perceptions of coolness. In three studies, we evaluate service brand coolness and its consequences for communal–brand connection and loyalty. In Studies 1 and 2, we examine consumers’ thoughts on coolness and communal connection when describing their encounters with service brands. In Study 3, we test the relations among service brand coolness, communal–brand connection, and loyalty. Our findings show that for both niche and mass firms, service brand coolness similarly enhances communal–brand connection and loyalty.     

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.     

Entrepreneurship,Competitive Strategies,and Transforming Firms from OEM to OBM in Taiwan

This article analyzes how entrepreneurs create wealth and capabilities in the early stages by practicing original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and later on transcend to original brand manufacturing (OBM). The author deliberately selects three cases of Taiwan's firms (Johnson Health Technology Corporation, CVC Technology Corporation, and HTC Corporation) to study firm growth and firm transformation by incorporating concepts from research fields of entrepreneurship, strategic management, and leadership. How Taiwan's firms thrive from transforming to create own brands and how they deal with ensuing issues of branding dilemma offer a useful lesson for latecomer economies.     

Bridge,Focus, Attack,or Stimulate: Retail Category Management Strategies with a Store Brand

We investigate a monopolist retailer's category management strategy where the main strategic decisions are how to horizontally position a store brand relative to the incumbent national brands and how to price the store and national brands for retail category profit maximization. We analyze a market composed of two consumer segments with differing tastes and heterogeneity with respect to willingness to pay and a product category consisting of two competing national brands and one store brand. We find that contrary to the existing literature, it is not always optimal for a retailer to position its store brand against the leading national brand; instead there are many situations where it is best to position the store brand close to the weaker national brand or to position it in the “middle” so it appeals to both national brands' target segments. In the process we identify four distinct category management strategies that a retailer can use with a store brand. In three of these the optimal store brand price is the brand's monopoly price, while in the remaining one strategy the price is lower. We also suggest an easy to implement means for a retailer to determine which strategy is best to use, depending on the particular competitive environment present before the introduction of the store brand and the relative quality of the store brand. We find that the store brand entry is most beneficial to the retailer when the national brands are moderately differentiated. Finally we show that introducing a store brand not only allows the retailer to garner a higher share of the channel profits through higher retail margins, but also often provides the retailer the benefit of increases in national brand unit sales as well as incremental sales from the store brand. JEL Classification: M310     

Reducing uninformed responses: The effects of product‐class familiarity and measuring brand knowledge on surveys

Consumers often give answers to survey questions about which they are uninformed. Although research has documented this phenomenon and examined the conditions under which it occurs, the current research project is the first to examine how survey researchers might reduce uninformed response bias through the use of additional questions added to surveys that measure knowledge of brands for which consumers might be uninformed. In the current study, adding brand knowledge questions pertaining to an unknown (fictitious) brand reduced the likelihood of respondents providing uninformed responses when later asked to evaluate that brand. However, the effects of asking for brand familiarity on uninformed response rates differed by consumers' level of product‐class familiarity and the relative placement of the brand knowledge and brand attitude questions on the survey. Brand knowledge questions can suggest the existence of brands, placing them within a knowledge schema, thus leading to more uninformed responses from consumers low in product‐class familiarity. These results, coupled with recent other research findings suggest that researchers must consider the effects of related knowledge on what have been previously considered completely uninformed responses. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Criteria to Assess Brand Success

The academic and trade press often talk about the "success" of brands or "successful brands", yet there is disagreement regarding suitable brand success criteria. Reaching a consensus on the definition of brands' success criteria is essential not only for an appropriate use of the term "success", but also for improving firms' understanding of which criteria should be used as a measure of their success. Following a literature review on measures of brand success, we report on depth interviews with 20 leading-edge brand consultants to consider appropriate criteria to measure brand success.     

Drivers of Brand Extension Success: What Really Matters for Luxury Brands

The use of brand extensions has become fundamental to the business model of most luxury brands. Many traditional luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton or Chanel have expanded into traditional luxury sectors beyond their core business. Some brands such as Armani or Prada even crossed boundaries to nontraditional lifestyle segments to pursue new business opportunities. Given the high practical relevance of brand extensions for luxury brands and the importance to understand the success factors for their extendibility and potential backward effects on the parent brand, surprisingly little research has addressed these issues for luxury brands in comparison to nonluxury brands. The current research reveals extension‐related differences between luxury and nonluxury brands by simultaneously analyzing key dimensions of parent brand value, fit, and extension category involvement on the consumer's attitude toward the brand extension, which in turn influences the postextension image of the parent brand. Results of a structural equation model based on a survey among 492 participants show that the predominant driver of brand extension success for both luxury and nonluxury brands is overall extension fit, followed by the consumer's involvement in the extension category. The influence of functional value of the parent brand on the extension evaluation is more important for nonluxury brands. The hedonic value of the parent brand is found to be of relevance only in case of luxury brands. Moreover, a reciprocal spillover effect between the extension evaluation and the parent brand evaluation is observed. The degree of luxuriousness of the parent brand moderates this relationship. This effect is weaker for luxury brands.     

Brands as cultural resources in children’s peer culture

This article examines how children collectively appropriate brands as cultural resources. From the New Childhood Studies perspective, an ethnographic study was conducted in schools to investigate the engagement of 10- to 11-year-old children in brand culture. The findings demonstrate that, through a process similar to Corsaro’s model of interpretive reproduction, children do not simply reproduce brand culture; instead, they actively use branding to fuel their peer culture. Mastering and manipulating brands are thus sources for integration or exclusion within the peer group and for differentiation from the adult world. We show the paradoxical impacts of branding on children’s well-being and participate in the debate on their vulnerability to marketing by highlighting how they deploy brand culture to interact in their social spheres, with the consequence being that their would-be empowerment remains entangled in the “brandscape.” Last, we contribute to a better understanding of the concept of culturally based brand literacy.     

Brand alliance and customer‐based brand‐equity effects

This research examines brand alliances, a specific marketing strategy designed to transfer the positive brand equity of two or more partner brands to the newly created joint brand. The study explores how customer‐based brand equity (that is, brand equity as seen from the customer's perspective) of partner brands affects consumer evaluations of an alliance brand; how the brand equity of one partner brand affects the other; how customer‐based brand equity of the partner brands affects consumers' evaluations of the search, experience, and credence attribute performance of the alliance brand; and how product trial influences such evaluations. Results suggest that merely the act of pairing with another brand elevates consumers' evaluations of the partner brands' customer‐based brand equity, and high‐equity partners enhance pretrial evaluation of experience and credence attributes that are relevant to the high‐equity partner. As hypothesized, product trial moderates the equity value of the alliance partner for experience attributes, and brand equity of the partner brands influences consumer perceptions of the alliance brand's equity. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The strategic implications of clarifying how marketers interpret “brands”

This paper is concerned with clarifying how brand strategies can be developed. By reviewing the evolution and rationale for manufacturer and distributor brands, it enables marketers to consider which branding route is most appropriate. Criteria to decide between being a manufacturer's brand or supplying distributor brands are addressed. To follow either of these routes the organisation must clarify its understanding of the brand asset and four broad interpretations are discussed. There would appear to be two key componenets characterising brands and through the use of a two dimensional matrix, a method to identify the type of brand and guide brand strategy development is presented.