The influence of C2C communications in online brand communities on customer purchase behavior

Increasingly, consumers use the internet as a vehicle for pre-purchase information gathering. While technical specifications and potentially biased selling points can be gleaned from corporate web sites, online brand communities are becoming essential conduits for the customer-to-customer (C2C) sharing of product information and experiences. This study develops and tests a model of online C2C communications in developing desirable online brand community outcomes. Two studies were used to test the model. In Study 1, a netnography technique was employed and conversations between brand community members were coded and combined with survey data to test the research model. In Study 2 an experiment was conducted to further test the sequence of events in our base model. Our findings show that online brand communities are effective tools for influencing sales, regardless of whether these communities reside on company-owned or independently-owned websites. In addition, we demonstrate interesting asymmetrical effects, whereby the positive information shared by community members has a stronger moderating influence on purchase behavior than negative information. Further, we find that online brand communities are effective customer retention tools for retaining both experienced and novice customers. These findings highlight the need for all firms to carefully consider their online community strategies.     

网络品牌与实体品牌的关系研究——基于交易费用的品牌经济学分析

厂商是否建立网络品牌在理论和现实中具有很大的不确定性.构建消费者选择模型进行数理分析发现:只有当厂商面对的目标顾客消费单位数量的网络品牌效用大于或等于实体品牌效用时,厂商才有建立网络销售渠道的动机.在此基础上引入交易费用变量构建厂商销售模型的进一步研究表明:实体品牌厂商建立网络品牌后,若单位网络品牌产品的交易费用大于单...     

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.     

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.     

产品危机中品牌资产的作用研究

品牌资产是企业重要的无形资产,能够为企业带来多方面的积极影响。在频繁爆发的产品危机中,品牌资产是否仍有积极影响?本研究基于两项实验的实证结论表明在产品危机过程中品牌资产是加剧而不是抵御了危机的负面影响。研究发现危机的严重性和群发性特征能够调节品牌资产的作用,并且发现感知期望破坏程度是产品危机中品牌资产对消费者态度变化影响的中介变量。     

基于品牌传播模型的搜狐视频品牌传播策略研究——以独播《第二季中国好声音》为例

搜狐视频已经成为网络视频行业品牌传播和品牌建设上的佼佼者。凭借众多品牌传播成功案例,搜狐视频不断提高其自身的品牌建设和品牌影响力。本文以搜狐视频品牌传播模型为基础来研究搜狐视频品牌传播的一般过程,揭示搜狐视频现阶段以传播内容和渠道为品牌传播的重点。在此基础上对2013年搜狐视频借助《第二季中国好声音》独播的成功案例进行分析来具体论述搜狐视频借助强势内容进行的品牌传播的策略和做法。笔者认为搜狐视频在此次品牌传播中的策略主要有三个:第一,在内容上,通过衍生自制来展现自身的内容策划和制作能力,凸显出内容的魅力;第二,在产品上,通过优化多屏互动的用户体验,扩大了搜狐视频在网络视频移动端的优势地位,占领移动了蓝海;第三,在渠道上,搜狐视频利用搜狐矩阵,动员全网的资源为自身进行品牌传播。     

Gamified interactions: whether,when, and how games facilitate self–brand connections

Firms increasingly use games to interact with their customers. Yet, surprisingly little is known about whether, when, and how such “gamified” interactions engage consumers with a firm’s brand, thereby facilitating self–brand connections. Building on flow theory, we show that gamified interactions that are highly interactive and optimally challenging facilitate self–brand connections, because such games lead to emotional and cognitive brand engagement. A field study and three experiments across various product domains and game designs support our theory. We also identify conditions under which consumers do not become engaged with a brand, namely when firms restrict their decisional control either to voluntarily participate in the game (i.e., compulsory play) or to spend as much time as desired playing the game (i.e., time pressure). Our findings advance existing knowledge about the use of games in marketing and provide important implications for how marketers can harness their potential to build self–brand connections.     

Negative word of mouth can be a positive for consumers connected to the brand

It is widely accepted, and demonstrated in the marketing literature, that negative online word of mouth (NOWOM) has a negative impact on brands. The present research, however, finds the opposite effect among individuals who feel a close personal connection to the brand—a group that often contains the brand’s best customers. A series of three studies show that, when self–brand connection (SBC) is high, consumers process NOWOM defensively—a process that actually increases their behavioral intentions toward the brand. Study 1 demonstrates this effect using an experimental manipulation of SBC related to clothing brands, and provides process evidence by analyzing coded thought listings. Study 2 provides convergent evidence by measuring SBC associated with smartphones, and followup analyses show that as SBC increases, the otherwise negative effect of NOWOM steadily transforms to become significantly positive. Study 3 replicates these results using a combination of a national survey conducted by J.D. Power investigating hotel stays and data drawn from TripAdvisor. Results of all three studies, set in product categories with varying levels of identity relevance, support the positive effects of NOWOM for high-SBC customers and have implications for both managers and researchers.     

农产品区域品牌视角下的家庭农场发展模式研究

基于农产品区域品牌化发展的视角,通过研究了农产品区域品牌化发展对推动家庭农场在农业发展、农业企业发展和农民增收方面的促进作用,从而构建了基于发展农产品区域品牌的家庭农产发展新型模式。并提出加大农产品区域品牌的扶持力度,制定重点产业产品支持和扶持培养龙头家庭农场的政策建议。     

Effects of offline ad content on online brand search: insights from super bowl advertising

Individuals watch TV shows while simultaneously and/or immediately searching online. Thus, the content of offline TV ads can affect online brand search, a key predictor of sales. Yet there are few insights on the effect of offline ad content on online brand search. We develop hypotheses relating the informational and emotional content of TV ads on online brand search, independently, and in conjunction with two attentional content elements of the ad campaign, prior media publicity and brand website prominence in the TV ad. We test the hypotheses using a quasi-experimental study, the telecast of TV ads on the annual Super Bowl event between 2004 and 2012 (n = 293 observations). We measure online brand search by online brand search lift, i.e., the growth in online brand search following the telecast of the brand’s ad on Super Bowl. The findings indicate that the informational content of the TV ad increases online brand search, while both attentional content elements decrease this effect. We find no support for the effect of emotional content of the TV ad on online brand search. Our findings extend marketing theory on online search and generate managerial implications for designing TV ads to increase online brand search.     

创建品牌新思路

品牌是我们最有价值的资产,品牌拥有者可因品牌的声誉和形象使产品或服务增值,并由此增加利润和现金流量。针对我国市场疲软,营销竞争激烈的现状,本文论述了加强品牌资产建设及创建品牌的新思路。     

浅谈名牌推创的四个统一

名牌乃企业之"命牌",企业竞争实乃是抢夺市场份额的名牌之争.成功地推创名牌,是振兴民族经济与增强企业活力、提高企业竞争能力的统一,是创造卓越的产品质量与优良服务品质的统一,是发挥民族特色与走多元化道路的统一,是创造一流商标、一流产品、一流企业形象、营造一流市场环境的统一.     

The evolving brand logic: a service-dominant logic perspective

The meanings of brand and branding have been evolving over the past several decades. This evolution is converging on a new conceptual logic, which views brand in terms of collaborative, value co-creation activities of firms and all of their stakeholders and brand value in terms of the stakeholders’ collectively perceived value-in-use. The authors argue that this new logic parallels and reflects the related, evolving service-dominant (S-D) logic in marketing. They provide an historical account of the branding literature, organize it into eras, and connect it to the evolution in marketing as captured by S-D logic. The analysis provides further support for the S-D logic of marketing and suggests a related research agenda for furthering the understanding of brand and branding. It also suggests that marketing managers might benefit from investing resources in building strong brand relationships with all of their stakeholders and a service-dominant firm philosophy built around brand value co-creation.     

The importance of reciprocal spillover effects for the valuation of bestseller brands: introducing and testing a contingency model

The valuation of extension rights is critical for entertainment brands such as bestseller books. Building on brand extension research, we argue that accounting for the reciprocal spillover effect (i.e., the influence of an extension product on a parent brand) is important for determining the value of extension rights. We develop a contingency model of the reciprocal spillover effect for category extensions of entertainment products that are characterized by short life cycles and satiation effects. In the discussion of moderating factors, we pay particular attention to the new concept of backward integration, which accounts for the reaction of a parent to the introduction of an extension. Using data from all 446 literature adaptations produced for the big screen and theatrically released in North American theaters between 1998 and 2006, we provide evidence that extension success and marketing support impact the sales of the parent book and for several postulated moderating effects, including those of backward integration. Through simulation analyses, we demonstrate how considering the reciprocal effect in the managerial decision-making process can help entertainment managers to avoid biased estimations of category extension rights.     

Rethinking the effect of perceived fit on customers’ evaluations of new products

Prior research has demonstrated that customer evaluations of a new product are directly related to the degree to which a company’s skills are perceived to “fit” with those required to provide the new product. This finding has led to recommendations that firms focus on perceptually close new product areas. However, many firms have successfully entered perceptually distant markets. We reconcile this apparent contradiction by proposing that the effect of perceived fit on new product evaluation is not direct, but is mediated by the certainty a customer has that a company can deliver the proposed new product. Our findings indicate that, by itself, perceived fit has a positive impact on industrial product evaluations. However, the relationship between fit and new product evaluations, previously held to be direct, is instead mediated by customer certainty. That is, when the effect of customer certainty is considered, the direct effect of fit disappears. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. His research interests include management of brand equity, and competitive analysis. His research has been published inJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Advertising Research, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Services Marketing andPlanning Review. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Her research interests are in “marketing creativity,” and the management of mature products. Her research has been published in theJournal of Services Marketing and in the proceedings of the American Marketing Association. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.     

网络游戏消费者行为的品牌经济分析——基于对“偷菜”游戏的分析

网络游戏偷菜在短时间内迅速流行,广大网民对其趋之若鹜。本文从品牌经济学角度分析网络游戏偷菜快速流行的内在原因,找到其目标顾客,构建需求和消费者行为模型,论证其品牌的内在驱动力,最后通过品牌持续度模型,证明该游戏品牌会持久存在。     

R&D-marketing integration in Japanese high-technology firms: Hypotheses and empirical evidence

The authors review studies of U.S. high-technology firms and hypothesize that, in Japanese high-technology firms, the perceived level of achieved integration reflects perceptions of organizational structure and climate. To evaluate these hypotheses, the authors examine the perceptions of marketing managers from 264 Japanese high-technology firms. Findings indicate that managerial perceptions of information-sharing and integration in budgeting were negatively correlated with perceptions of formalization. The authors also find that perceptions of information-sharing and integration in the early stages of new product development were positively correlated with perceptions of employee participation in decision-making and with perceptions of the value placed by senior management on R&D-marketing integration. He holds a B.S. in mathematics from Jian University in China, an M.S. in statistics from Cornell University, and an MBA and Ph.D. from the University of Virgina. His articles appear in theJournal of Product Innovation Management andResearch-Technology Management. His research interests focus on improving new product development processes in high-technology firms. One current project addresses the determinants of new product success and failure in Japanese firms, and a second examines cross-functional project team management in Japan. He holds a B.A. in history from Metropolitan State College, an M.D. in economics from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a Ph.D. in management science from the University of Texas at Dallas. His articles appear inMarketing Science, Marketing Letters, International Journal of Research in Marketing, and theJournal of Product Innovation Management, among others. His current research focuses on new product development in Japan and China.     

品牌的经济学分析

产品往往是“多质”的,品牌的实质是厂商向消费者提供的产品所包含的多种“质”的信息。从此角度出发,论文解释了人们愿意购买价格较高的品牌商品,打造品牌战略的成败及品牌多元化等现象,并进一步对品牌投资的最优化条件作出简要分析。     

Enhancing consumer engagement in an online brand community via user reputation signals: a multi-method analysis

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science - Generating and maintaining consumers’ engagement in online brand communities is critical for marketing managers to enhance relationships and gain...     

Cultivating service brand equity

In packaged goods, the product is the primary brand. However, with services, the company is the primary brand. This article, based on primary research with 14 mature, high-performance service companies, makes a case for service branding as a cornerstone of services marketing for today and tomorrow. The article presents a service-branding model that underscores the salient role of customers' service experiences in brand formation. Four primary strategies that excellent service firms use to cultivate brand equity are discussed and illustrated. Branding is not just for tangible goods; it is a principal success driver for service organizations as well. Leonard L. Berry holds the JCPenney Chair of Retailing Studies and is a Distinguished Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University. A former national president of the American Marketing Association, he is the author ofDiscovering the Soul of Service andOn Great Service and coauthor ofMarketing Services and Delivering Quality Service, all published by Free Press (New York). He received the 1996 Career Contributions to Services Marketing Award from the American Marketing Association. He also has been recognized twice with the highest honors Texas A&M bestows on a faculty member: the Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching (in 1990) and the Distinguished Achievement Award in Research (in 1996). He is a board member of CompUSA, Genesco Inc., Hastings Entertainment, and Lowe's Companies, Inc.