The perception of kosher as a third party certification claim in advertising for familiar and unfamiliar brands

This study was undertaken to investigate the inclusion of a kosher claim in an advertisement for a familiar and unfamiliar brand of breakfast cereal. Results showed that, as hypothesized, for the familiar brand a kosher third party endorsement led to significantly more kosher attribute-related thoughts, more favorable product attitude and greater purchase intention. For the unfamiliar brand, no significant impact upon these dependent measures was observed given a kosher endorsement. Findings are interpreted from a cognitive perspective regarding the salience of the kosher attribute in a product familiarity context. Managerial implications are discussed.     

Can copycat private labels improve the consumer’s shopping experience? A fluency explanation

A top priority among retailers is enhancing the consumer’s shopping experience. With the number of private label products increasing at the same time retailers are shedding slower moving products, understanding how private labels impact the consumer’s experience at the retail shelf becomes critical. While one might think that private labels, in particular those that look similar to their national brand counterparts (i.e., copycat private labels), may hinder the shopping experience by making it more difficult for consumers to choose a product, we find the exact opposite. Adopting a fluency perspective, we show that when copycat private labels are included in a shelf set, consumers with high knowledge of the category experience greater choice ease, and as a result they subsequently evaluate their chosen product more favorably. Importantly, the choice ease and evaluations of novice consumers are found to be unaffected. Consequently, this research provides insights for retailers and manufacturers on how and why copycat private labels positively impact an important aspect of the consumer’s shopping experience (i.e., choice ease).     

Building a multi-category brand: when should distant brand extensions be introduced?

When companies plan to build multi-category brands by adding new products to their product lines, two questions loom large: (1) whether and (2) when brand extensions perceived as distant (comparatively dissimilar) from the company’s existing core line of products should be introduced. Since many real-world firms have introduced distant brand extensions, this paper focuses on the second question: when the company should introduce a distant extension within a series of other closer extensions—a decision for which there is little research-based guidance for managers. Building on theories of mental categorization, the authors argue that early (vs. late) introductions of distant brand extensions can be more beneficial for the brand. Three studies support this conclusion, demonstrating that early (vs. late) introductions of distant extensions can result in more positive final brand attitudes; that is, attitudes held after all the extensions have been introduced. This effect is driven by how easily the distant extension is integrated into consumers’ brand concepts and is moderated by overall brand positioning. Importantly, this effect on final brand attitudes is shown to influence behavioral measures of product preference and brand engagement.     

Point-of-purchase displays, product organization, and brand purchase likelihoods

Can point-of-purchase (POP) displays cause a decrease in sales of the featured brand? In an actual test-market promotion, the use of special POP displays led to a decrease in sales of featured wines from a specific U.S. region. Moreover, sales of regularly shelved wines from competitive regions actually increased. The results of a laboratory experiment supported the explanation that the POP displays essentially reorganized the wines into region categories within the stores, making it easier for consumers to compare alternatives by region. As a result, sales of wines from preferred regions increased and sales of wines from disliked regions decreased relative to when the wines were displayed by variety categories on regular shelf space. Further evidence indicated that reorganizing products by levels of a given attribute influences purchase likelihoods mainly when the attribute is otherwise low rather than high in salience and when brands have normally high rather than low purchase likelihoods.     

品牌内部关联的信用度研究

品牌是与目标顾客达成长期利益均衡,降低消费者选择成本的排他性品类符号。品牌与其覆盖下的产品之间存在关联关系,研究品牌内部关联问题是品牌建设的关键。文章基于品牌内部关联视角,从品牌信用与产品信用的相互关系入手,构筑了品牌内部关联信用度研究的一般分析框架,从理论上探讨了产品信用度、产品市场份额、产品(品类)需求强度、产品—品牌定位相关性四个因素对品牌内部关联的影响,建立了基本的品牌内部关联函数模型并得出了推论,分品牌策略对内部关联问题进行了解释说明,并应用案例对模型进行了检验分析。     

Norm violations and the role of marketplace comparisons in positioning brands

This paper investigates how consumer norms regarding the use of marketplace comparisons can influence the effectiveness of positioning strategies. Using an experimental method and student samples, we provide evidence across a set of three studies that comparing a focal brand to an offering from the same product category (i.e., a within-category comparison) represents an expected marketplace tactic, while comparing a brand to a rival from a different category (i.e., a between-category comparison) constitutes a deviation from the norm. Studies one and two utilize an experimental design that manipulates comparison type to demonstrate the effect of norm violations on positioning outcomes. Consistent with the proposed theoretical framework, within-category comparisons were perceived as a more appropriate tactic and were thus more effective in positioning the focal brand than were between-category comparisons. Study three employs a two-factor experimental design to demonstrate the moderating effects of attribute claims. Specifically, the results from this study indicate that the general effect of comparison type established by studies one and two are contingent upon the size of the superiority being claimed in the comparison.     

The accuracy of brand and attribute judgments: The role of information relevancy, product experience, and attribute-relationship schemata

A multidimensional approach for accuracy of ratings is introduced that examines consumers’ abilities to assess various brands across a set of attributes and attribute performances across a set of brands. A model is presented that addresses the roles of the relevancy of information, attribute-relationship schemata, and consumers’ product category experience on the accuracy of their brand attribute ratings. Study participants were provided either with relevant or irrelevant attribute information for various automobile brands and later asked to rate the attribute performances of brands. The results indicate that the provision of relevant information in the judgment environment increases brand and attribute rating accuracy but does not favorably affect consumers’ brand attribute-relationship schemata. Rather, consumers’ product experience was directly related to their attribute-relationship schemata, which in turn were related to improved accuracy of brand and attribute ratings. Kevin Mason is an associate professor of marketing at Arkansas Tech University. His research interests include consumer information processing and choice strategies. He has published in theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Central Business Review, Journal for the Association of Marketing Educators, andInternational Advances in Economics Research. Thomas Jensen is professor and Wal-Mart lecturer in retailing in the Department of Marketing and Transportation at the University of Arkansas. His research interests include consumer information processing, advertising and price perceptions, and retail image and patronage. His work has been published in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Psychology and Marketing, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, and other journals. Scot Burton is professor and Wal-Mart chairholder in marketing, Department of Marketing and Transportation, University of Arkansas. His research interests include public policy and consumer welfare concerns, survey research measurement issues, and consumer price and promotion perceptions. His work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Retailing, and other journals. Dave Roach is a professor of management at Arkansas Tech University. His research interests include information processing, judgmental accuracy, and organization change. He has published inHuman Relations, Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Journal of Information Technology Management, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Central Business Review, andJournal for the Association of Marketing Educators.     

How do enhanced and unique features affect new product preference? The moderating role of product familiarity

Companies often introduce products with enhanced or unique features to compete with the dominant brands in the market. This paper examines the moderating role of product familiarity in consumer preferences of products with enhanced or unique features in two experimental studies. Study 1 (208 participants) operationalizes product familiarity at the product category level and Study 2 (168 participants) measures it at the individual level as one’s prior experience with the product. The findings of two experiments show that when consumers are unfamiliar with a product category, they prefer a product with enhanced features to one with unique features. In contrast, when consumers are experienced, they perceive a product with unique features more favorably than an enhanced one. Furthermore, this effect is due to consumer perceived differentiation of and performance uncertainty about new products with enhanced or unique features.

Position matters when we stand together: a linguistic perspective on composite brand extensions

Composite branding extensions, wherein two existing brands ally themselves to create a composite brand name and enter a different product category, have become a common way to introduce a new product. An important managerial issue is deciding how to position the two brand names within the expression to communicate this alliance to consumers. Drawing on linguistic theories, this research explores how consumers may interpret different composite brand expressions relative to the positions of the two brand names in the expressions. We find that the brand in the initial position of most expressions is perceived as more closely associated with, and more responsible for the extension product than the other brand in the alliance. This perceived responsibility is also influenced by the perceived relative brand strengths, or the marketing abilities of both brands.     

The impact of perceived brand globalness, brand origin image, and brand origin–extension fit on brand extension success

This research investigates perceived brand globalness, brand origin image, and brand origin–extension fit as drivers of brand extension success that are mediated through parent brand quality and brand–extension fit. The authors present two complementary studies based on consumer samples from a mature and an emerging market respectively. In both studies, out of all drivers examined, the brand origin–extension fit has the strongest effect on brand extension success both in terms of quality evaluations and purchase intentions. The findings further indicate that extension success is more influenced by consumers’ perceptions of the country from which the focal brand originates than by their perceptions of the brand’s global availability and reach. Implications of the findings for theory and practice are considered and future research directions identified.     

Marketers’ use of alternative front-of-package nutrition symbols: An examination of effects on product evaluations

How front-of-package (FOP) nutrition icon systems affect product evaluations for more and less healthful objective nutrition profiles is a critical question facing food marketers, consumers, and the public health community. We propose a conceptually-based hierarchical continuum to guide predictions regarding the effectiveness of several FOP systems currently used in the marketplace. In Studies 1a and 1b, we compare the effects of a broad set of FOP icons on nutrition evaluations linked to health, accuracy of evaluations, and purchase intentions for a single product. Based on these findings, Studies 2 and 3 test the effects of two conceptually-different FOP icon systems in a retail laboratory in which consumers make comparative evaluations of multiple products at the retail shelf. While there are favorable effects of each system beyond control conditions with no FOP icons, results show that icons with an evaluative component that aid consumers’ interpretations generally provide greater benefits (particularly in product comparison contexts). We offer implications for consumer packaged goods marketers, retailers, and the public policy and consumer health communities.     

The link between attractiveness of “Extrabrand” attributes and the adoption of innovations

While innovators may rush to purchase many new products, most consumers are more conservative and do not want to buy into fads but purchase only those new products that are viable. How do the majority of consumers make judgments about whether they will adopt an innovation? This article examines the evaluative aspects of adoption as a means for better understanding consumer adoption and the market factors that may influence the success of an innovation. This research introduces a conceptual model that shows how consumers’ evaluation of product category attractiveness affects the adoption decision for really new products. These consumer evaluations are based on the attributes of the product category (“extrabrand” attributes) rather than brand attributes. Results from a test of the model indicate that consumers do use extrabrand attributes to assess the attractiveness of innovative new products.     

基于消费者行为分析的黑龙江省速冻食品企业品牌建设

速冻食品凭其食用方便、营养流失较少等优点,越来越受到消费者的青睐。黑龙江省的速冻食品企业依靠本地丰富的资源优势,把握机会也创建起有一定市场知名度的速冻食品品牌。但这些品牌不仅局限在省内,而且即便在省内也与省外一些品牌相比在消费者心目中的地位略显不足。品牌的地位、价值是由消费者来评判的。因此,弄清消费者对速冻食品消费行为特点及消费者购买决策的影响因素,才能对黑龙江速冻食品企业品牌建设提出有针对性的建议。     

享乐和实用情景下消费者对产品差异化的偏好——属性可比性和解释水平的调节作用

提升属性的比较优势或开发独特属性是产品差异化的两种方案,企业需要针对不同的消费情景做出合理的选择。研究证明在实用消费情景下,消费者会更加关注产品的可比属性,倾向选择具有比较优势的产品;而在享乐消费情景下,消费者会提高对不可比属性的关注度,增加选择具有独特优势的产品。解释水平和消费情景交互影响消费者对产品差异的偏好：当解释水平与消费情景匹配时,上述效应被加强,反之则被削弱,信息加工流畅性起到中介作用。     

Learning effect in multinational diffusion of consumer durables: An exploratory investigation

Literature reflects that a product/technological innovation introduced later in a country results in faster diffusion as the consumers in the lag market have an opportunity to learn about the new product from the consumers in the lead market. A systematic understanding of the learning that takes place between consumers in two countries—a pair of lead and lag countries—can provide insights for a firm’s international market entry decisions. To provide a richer understanding of the underlying structure and patterns that govern this process, propositions linking factors (country characteristics, product/innovation characteristics, and time lag) to the learning process are drawn. Subsequently, these propositions are tested through an empirical investigation of the diffusion patterns of four consumer innovations in multiple European countries. The findings help provide some preliminary guidelines for manufacturers regarding selection of foreign markets and the timing and order-of-entry decisions. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Houston in 1995. His research interests include global competition and marketing strategy, brand equity and brand extensions, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, and issues pertaining to product development and introduction. He has been recognized with numerous teaching and research excellence awards and has published numerous articles in many scholarly journals in marketing and forecasting. He has coauthored the textbookMarketing Research and is currently working on a book titledInternational Marketing Research, which is based on his marketing research experience across the globe. He is on the editorial review board of many journals and has lectured on marketing-related topics in various universities worldwide. His research interests include developing forecasting models, international marketing strategy and research issues, models for sales promotions, and new methodologies for product positioning and market segmentation. His research interests focus on marketing strategy and international marketing. He has published articles and presented at conferences on research in his area of interest.     

Low price signal default: an empirical investigation of its consequences

Low-price guarantees (LPG) signal the market position of a seller’s offer price and promise to compensate consumers in case that information is erroneous. In this research, we demonstrate that when retailers default on the information provided by an LPG, consumer perceptions of the retailer suffer, but the extent of the damage depends on the conditions associated with the default. On the basis of attribution theory, we posit that consumers may attribute default to the retailer’s opportunism but emphasize this attribution differently in various default conditions. Furthermore, we show that the restoration of consumer perceptions after a refund depends on consumers’ focus in terms of the signal itself. If they consider the protective, compensatory function of a low price signal, their post-refund outcomes are more favorable; when they focus on the informational function, these outcomes are less favorable. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

旅行社品牌管理研究

对旅行社的品牌管理活动进行了系统性的研究，提出旅行社的品牌化战略模式应以企业品牌加产品大类品牌为主；指出我国旅行社在现有品牌命名上存在的误区；尝试性地提出一个针对服务产品的品牌资产培育模型，并以此为基础论述了旅行社品牌资产的培育问题。     

Quality uncertainty,brand reliance,and dissipative advertising

Consumers may have learned to generalize from usage experiences that nationally advertised, name-brand items tend to be higher in quality than unadvertised brands. Such generalization may have prompted the substitution of brand-name evaluations for search in quality assessments of nondurable experience goods. This paper offers theoretical arguments which suggest that if some consumers do not search, all firms in nondurable, experience goods markets can increase their profits if some substitute dissipative advertising (i.e., advertising which ignores information about product performance characteristics) of brand names for product quality enhancements. Undersearching by consumers invites firms to downgrade value in nondurable, experience goods markets. In support of the hypothesized substitution by consumers of brand-name evaluations for search in nondurable, experience goods markets, this paper reports results of a field experiment in which the influences on quality assessments of brand name and product composition were studied in two categories where dissipative advertising is heavily relied upon. Results suggest that branding is relied upon more heavily than search to assess quality, even when brand cues are inconsistent with actual quality levels and search is costless, suggesting that dissipative advertising can be extremely effective.     

It’s not easy being green: the effects of attribute tradeoffs on green product preference and choice

Despite widespread pro-green attitudes, consumers frequently purchase non-green alternatives. One possible explanation for this value–action gap is the tradeoffs that green products often force on their users: higher prices, lower quality, and/or reduced performance. The current study uses conjoint analysis to uncover the attribute preferences of car and TV buyers when green attributes are negatively correlated with conventional attributes. These attribute preferences are then used to predict choice among sets of green and less green alternatives currently sold in the marketplace. Strong preferences for green products are found when tradeoffs are not apparent, but preference shifts significantly to less green compromise alternatives when the actual attribute tradeoffs are considered. Although general preference is reduced by tradeoffs, a green product offering some compensatory advantage on a conventional attribute does attract a broader spectrum of consumers, while only “dark green” consumers are willing to pay the price to go green when the product offers few compensatory qualities. In all cases, however, predicted buyers of the greenest technologies offset some of their environmental benefits by choosing more energy-thirsty specifications on negatively correlated conventional attributes. Managerial and public policy implications of the findings are then discussed.     

What brand extensions need to fully benefit from their parental heritage

It is well established that consumer acceptance of a brand extension depends on how strongly it fits with its parental origins. Less appreciated is how this acceptance also depends on the mental association created in consumers’ minds between the extension and its parent brand. Our investigation considers the gateway role played by this association’s mental accessibility in allowing extensions to fully benefit from their parental heritage. Six studies examine the effect of reinstating an extension’s association with its parent brand on extension evaluations. When reinstatement enhances the parental association’s accessibility, it strengthens the parent brand’s influence, leading to more or less favorable extension evaluations contingent upon the extension’s fit with its parental origins. These reinstatement effects carry important implications for brand-extension managers and researchers.