Do Stereotypes Ignite Polysemy and Strengthen Consumer-Based Brand Equity?

The research proposes and measures “stereotypical—polysemy—brand equity” framework for investigating African-American stereotypes and how the framework relates to advertising polysemy and consumer-based brand equity. The results demonstrate that positive stereotypes may result in both positive and negative polysemy; where positive polysemy strengthens the brand equity, and negative polysemy may not exhibit a negative influence on consumer-based brand equity. The research propagates practical implications for the advertising industry by signifying the usage of purposeful advertising polysemy for strengthening consumer-based brand equity through African-American stereotypes.     

Brand Authenticity: Testing the Antecedents and Outcomes of Brand Management's Passion for its Products

While customer orientation is accepted as a core marketing principle, this research suggests that an opposing orientation—product orientation—may offer an advantage. Managers who follow a product orientation focus on products that interest and inspire them rather than on products that fulfill consumers’ desires. This research suggests that a consumer's perception that managers follow a product orientation is consistent with prior conceptualizations of brand authenticity. That research suggests that brands perceived as authentic are evaluated more positively, yet that research does not empirically assess brand authenticity's effects nor suggest its antecedents. To fill this gap, the authors develop a conceptualization and model of brand authenticity grounded in self‐determination theory, attribution theory, and extant authentic human brand research. Brand authenticity is defined as the extent to which consumers perceive that a brand's managers are intrinsically motivated in that they are passionate about and devoted to providing their products. The model proposes four antecedents of brand authenticity—two related to rare brand behaviors (uniqueness and scarcity), and two related to stable brand behaviors (longevity and longitudinal consistency). It also proposes two perceptual outcomes of brand authenticity—expected quality and trust. Two 2 × 2 experiments (n = 136 for Study 1; n = 155 for Study 2) demonstrate a positive impact of the antecedents on brand authenticity and of brand authenticity on the outcomes. Brand authenticity mediates these effects.     

Brand personality inference: The moderating role of product meaning

Abstract

This study draws on categorisation theory to investigate how consumers make brand personality inferences. Its purpose is to determine the basic category at which consumers make brand personality inferences and whether this level varies for functional and symbolic products. Experimental results show that the basic level of categorisation for brand personality inferences is the brand level for symbolic products and the product type level for functional products. These findings suggest that managers may have less latitude to adopt diverse personalities for functional than symbolic products. The study also demonstrates that, in contrast to prior work, future research on brand personality should consider a wider range of sources of personality.     

Corporate Advertising Pass-through onto the Brand: Some Experimental Evidence

While researchers and managers have speculated that corporate advertising can have an impact on brand knowledge, to date there is no empirical support for such "pass-through." We report on a laboratory study manipulating the presence or absence in a brand ad of retrieval cues for subjects' corporate advertising and their pre-existing brand knowledge. We found evidence of pass-through, but it was moderated by the retrieval of subjects' pre-existing brand knowledge. Our results have theoretical and managerial implications, and suggest a number of interesting opportunities for future research.     

The Communications—Effectiveness of Comparative Advertising for a New Brand on Users of the Dominant Brand

Abstract

An experiment was employed to examine the effectiveness of comparative magazine advertising appeals when employed by new brands competing with a dominant brand in their product category. Three experimental treatments were used: a direct comparative copy appeal; a “brand X” comparative copy appeal in which comparisons were made with “the leading brand;” and, a non-comparative copy appeal. Results of the experiment suggest that a non-comparative or straight sell appeal is more effective than comparative appeals for new brands competing with a dominant brand.     

Brand Management and Strategic Performance

ABSTRACT

This article reports on a study using a previously published checklist to assess the brand management practices of South African firms. Indications are that the perceptions of a sample of senior managers regarding how well their institutions manage their brands are reasonably positive, and that the management of brands has effects on a firm's profitability, market share and growth compared to competitors. While the checklist used seems to possess the characteristic of reliability, further development needs to be done on aspects of its underlying structure. Implications for managers and further avenues for research are identified and discussed.     

Examining the Role of Brand Equity in Business Markets: A Model,Research Propositions,and Managerial Implications

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a model of brand equity for business markets. It is argued that the potential benefits of branding and brand equity development have been neglected in business markets and that a general model and stream of relevant empirical research could be useful to managers in business markets depending on the situational nature of their market and competitive structure. The model adapts and extends existing brand equity literature to reflect the unique aspects involved in a business-to-business marketing context. The model developed considers marketing strategies as antecedents, two different classes of moderator variables, brand equity as a perception by the buyer or the market, a series of consequences of brand equity perceptions, and perceived risk as a moderator of the brand equity-consequences relationship. Propositions have been defined and discussed to help facilitate research and provide guidelines for industrial marketing managers.     

An Empirical Investigation of Brand Equity: A Cross-Country Validation Analysis

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to propose and test a model in order to better understand brand equity. The goal of this research is to identify the drivers and determine how they influence brand equity performance in the researched industry in order to develop a more effective brand strategy. Quantitative data collected are used to test a model of brand value in the context of the food industry. The findings of this research provided evidence that the customer-based brand equity model can be applied to the food industry context and be used to guide marketing activities internationally. Brand awareness has a positive influence on brand associations and perceived quality. Brand associations have a positive influence on brand loyalty. Finally, brand loyalty, perceived quality, and brand associations all have a positive effect on brand equity. This study contributes to the scarce international brand equity literature by testing the proposed model using data from a sample of consumers in two European countries.     

Are You Entertained? The Impact of Brand Integration and Brand Experience in Television-Related Advergames

Results of an online experiment using advergames associated with television series suggest playing advergames results in behavioral change toward the parent brand only for consumers who lack prior brand experience. In essence, advergames appear to be more effective as a promotional tool used to encourage new product trial behavior. In addition, advergames with highly integrated brand elements produce more negative attitudes toward the advergame than advergames with fewer brand elements. Thus, advergame designers must delicately balance the use of brand elements to encourage product trial without being perceived as unnecessary advertising clutter that distracts from the enjoyment of game play.     

Brand Power Relationships: A Co-Evolutionary Conceptual Framework

Abstract

In the era of the Internet and networking, stakeholders increasingly acquire power by influencing brand value and meanings. However, this does not imply that marketing managers have lost their power over brand creation and management. Thus, the aim of this study is to explore brand power relationships taking the co-evolutionary perspective as conceptual lenses. In particular, this article seeks to address the competitive relationship between the corporation and its stakeholders in determining the corporate brand evolution over time, suggesting that corporate brand management is successful when co-evolving power relationships are established. The relational interplay between managers and stakeholders is framed into the Brand Power Relationship Model that suggests four potential evolutionary paths. It offers new brand typologies supported by examples from business practices, which mirror four different ways of managing and adapting brands over time; namely, through the None’s Brand, the Managers’ Brand, the Stakeholders’ Brand, and the Co-Evolutionary Brand. Focusing on the latter, this study depicts managers and stakeholders as having reciprocal influences and co-determining themselves, thus triggering interrelated relational effects that influence corporate brand evolution over time. The bilateral power of managers and stakeholders is framed into a further model, focused on corporate brand co-evolution. It is proposed that corporate brands can successfully co-create their value and meanings over time only if corporations co-evolve with their environment—in this study, multiple external stakeholders.     

European Views of Advertising

Abstract

The effects of brand beliefs and attitude-toward-the-ad (A_ad) on immediate and delayed measures of attitude-toward-the-brand (A_b)were investigated for individuals who were more- and less-involved with the message of a print advertisement. Results suggest A_ad's and brand beliefs' influence on immediate and delayed measures of A_b depend on individuals' involvement with the message. As expected, for individuals who are more-involved with an advertising message, both beliefs and A_ad influenced A_b. This relationship held even after a one-week delay. For those less-involved with the advertising message, however, beliefs had no significant influence on brand attitudes, measured immediately following advertising exposure or after a one-week delay. A_ad was shown to have a significant influence on brand attitudes in both time conditions. Implications for theory and practice, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.     

Association Ambiguity in Brand Extension

A research method is developed to effectively identify associations that significantly influence the perceived fit of brand extensions. Contrary to extant brand extension studies that mainly focus on the fit of associations, the current study considers the ambiguity of associations. The proposed measure of association ambiguity, defined as the level of uncertainty based on the perceived conflict of a particular association in a brand extension indicated by the similarity and intensity level of perceived association distance to the parent brand and extension category, was tested and validated using several brand extension cases. Identifying an association's level of ambiguity and the magnitude of its impact on the perceived fit will allow advertisers to adjust their advertising messages and increase consumer receptiveness toward brand extensions. Implications for advertising practitioners and future research are discussed.     

Caring for her: the influence of presumed influence on female consumers’ attitudes towards advertising featuring gender-stereotyped portrayals

ABSTRACT

This study investigates how presumed influence on others affects women's evaluations of advertising featuring gender stereotypes. Previous research has largely overlooked the social context of the reactions to gender stereotypes. Addressing that gap, this study draws on the influence of presumed influence model to proposed that female consumers believe that other women are negatively affected by advertising that contains gender-stereotyped portrayals. This perception is hypothesized to influence ad and brand attitudes as consumers ‘punish’ the brand for hurting others. The results of two experimental studies featuring stereotyped and non-stereotyped advertising portrayals indicate that the hypothesis holds for two types of stereotype components (physical characteristics and role behaviour). This new theoretical perspective to the literature on gender stereotypes in advertising, one that helps to explain why many women dislike gender stereotypes in advertising even though those stereotypes often have limited impact on them personally.     

The Effects of Ad Irritation on Brand Attitudes

Abstract

Brand attitude has been proposed to be an antecedent to purchase intentions. However, very few studies have specifically focused on ad irritation as an antecedent to attitude towards the brand. This paper examines the effect of ad irritation on brand attitudes and if the effect of ad irritation is independent of ad credibility, attitude towards the advertiser, attitude towards advertising, and ad-induced feelings. The results indicated that ad irritation was not significant in predicting brand attitudes. Respondents' prior brand attitude, ad credibility, ad-induced feelings and attitude towards the advertiser were significant predictors of brand attitudes. Based on the results, several managerial implications were derived regarding the usefulness of ad irritation in changing brand attitudes.     

Enhancing Recall and Recognition for Brand Names and Body Copy: A Mixed-Language Approach

As the inclusion of foreign languages in advertisements is a growing global trend, this research examines how language choice may influence important advertising outcome measures within a South Korean advertising context. Specifically, the study aims to explore how foreign and local languages influence recall and recognition for brand name and body copy messages. The interaction of using two languages in an advertisement, to convey different elements of the ad may secure varied levels of attention and comprehension. The findings suggest that recall and recognition are significantly affected by the language presented. An ad presenting a brand name in the foreign language (English Roman alphabet) with the body copy message in the local language (Hangul) is an effective strategy to enhance recall and recognition of the brand name and the ad message within the Korean youth market. The results of this study expand linguistic theory within an advertising context while also providing international advertisers with useful tips when operating in a multinational marketplace. Future research avenues are discussed.     

Impact of Celebrity Endorsements and Brand Mascots on Consumer Buying Behavior

ABSTRACT

Celebrity and brand mascot endorsements are very popular and often-used techniques by marketers. Marketers believe that celebrity and brand mascot endorsements provide a higher degree of appeal, attention, and customer recall ability compared with when this technique is not used. Marketers also claim that a celebrity affects the credibility of claims about a product and increases the memorabilia factor of the message, which may provide a positive effect that could be generalized to the brand. Primarily this essay has been designed such that it examines various parameters related to advertisements containing celebrity and brand mascot endorsements. Data were been collected from 150 respondents through questionnaire and subjected to t test, χ² test, and difference of means test to enforce the hypotheses that celebrity endorsements have impacts on customers’ perceptions and their purchase intentions. The findings of this study provide insights for marketing and brand managers to design and market their campaigns effectively.     

Branding in practice: The profile and role of brand managers in the UK

Marketing as an area of management has come under close scrutiny in recent years and the management of brands, both product and corporate, has been no exception. In particular, the brand manager as the champion of the brand has been under attack, namely, they are too young, inexperienced and focus too much on the short term. Indeed, the entire system of brand management has been questioned in the light of the rapidly changing marketing environment brought about by economic recession, internationalization and changing patterns of distribution. Add to this the growth of corporate branding and it is not difficult to understand the concerns. However, do these concerns reflect the reality?

This paper explores the role and profile of the brand manager through a research survey carried out by the authors. The research examined the age, experience and remuneration package of brand managers and looked at their responsibilities, accountability and planning horizons within marketing departments. The results are discussed in the context of the wider marketing environment and trends towards alternative management systems such as category management and flatter organizational structures. It concludes that many of the criticisms are true but sometimes only in part. For example, brand managers are young and well educated but poorly trained. They manage more brands than they used to but have not widened their span of functional responsibilities to include the newer areas of marketing such as database marketing and trade marketing. They spend a relatively short period of time in one job, have short‐term objectives and are paid in proportion to the size of their advertising and promotion budgets but are nevertheless usually part of a strategy formulation team. The research also indicates that organizations have been slow to adopt new structures, which is resulting in an increasingly fragmented brand management process.     

Are Brand Promotions Just a Zero-Sum Game – or Can They Increase the Size of the Pie?

Packaged goods companies now "spend" more on promotions – special offers, in-store displays and the like – than on media advertising. Until recently, it was generally believed that while promotions benefit individual brands, they usually do not result in an increase in overall category sales. Recent research, however, suggests that promotions can increase total category sales in a wide range of circumstances. This article starts by discussing the relationship between brand promotion and category sales, outlines research to date, and then describes the author's own most recent research on this topic. It concludes by pointing to implications for managers.     

Brand equity and retailer acceptance of brand extensions

Two important benefits of brand equity have largely been assumed in most previous research: reduced marketing expenditures required to launch brand extensions; and channel participants as an important source of brand equity. Results of a discrete choice experiment with independent retail grocers indicate that brand names influence independent retailers’ probability of listing brand extensions, but their sensitivity to mix elements such as consumer advertising, promotional allowances, and wholesale price, as well as competitors’ listing actions are not influenced by brand names. This means that retailers treat each dollar of consumer advertising or promotional allowance the same, regardless of who is spending it. Manufacturers should not assume that retailers will be less sensitive to other elements of the marketing mix for stronger brands.     

Crafting Extraordinary Stories: Decoding Luxury Brand Communications

Advertising is central to creating brand meaning by endowing brands with symbolic values and embedding them within their broader sociocultural context. This study analyzes how the symbolic meaning of luxury brands is constructed in print advertisements. In particular, the study shows how brand communications of luxury brands systematically differ from those of premium and mass-market brands. Through a comparative analysis of thematic and formal characteristics of 208 print advertising campaigns consisting of about 1,700 individual ads from the primary advertising campaigns of four luxury brands, four premium brands, and four mass-market brands, this study identifies three distinguishing factors of luxury brand communication: enrichment, distancing, and abstraction. First, luxury brand advertising enriches the communication content by using more complex campaign templates that make more frequent use of symbolism, rhetorical structures, and storytelling. Second, luxury brand advertising systematically uses distancing techniques, such as temporal, spatial, social, and hypothetical distancing. Third, luxury brand ads use higher-level discourses that allow for different interpretations of brand advertisements. Therefore, this study provides insights into the construction of brand identity in the luxury field, as well as the broader sociocultural construction of luxury and the evolution of its core symbolic constituencies.