Social versus psychological brand community: The role of psychological sense of brand community

In the quest for building long-term successful brands, many marketers have become increasingly interested in how to create and foster successful communities of brand users. The appeal of such an approach to relationship marketing lies in the recognition that members of brand communities tend to exhibit favorable brand-related behaviors and intentions. Research examining the social influence and creation of such social relationships among admirers of a brand has revealed substantial insights about the social processes that underlie customers' involvement in brand communities. Curiously, the psychological underpinnings of a customer's perception of community with other users of the brand remain unexplored. We offer the perspective that the observable, core components of brand community outlined in previous research may represent markers of social brand communities, while psychological brand communities may be characterized by an unobservable, psychological sense of community that could precede, or even work in lieu of, social interaction.     

Examining how brand authenticity is established and maintained: the case of the Reverso

This article examines how brand authenticity is established and maintained. Existing studies focus on building authenticity; this article responds to calls for longitudinal research to explore its evolution. A historical and present-day analysis of Jaeger-LeCoultre (a luxury watch manufacturer), employing multiple sources of qualitative data, reveals the dynamic nature of authenticity. Throughout the course of a brand’s lifetime, its authenticity is maintained by employing different strategies that emphasise various interrelated dimensions of genuineness. Early projections of authenticity are centred on a germination strategy, where an emphasis on craftsmanship develops a sense of sincerity and integrity. As the brand grows through a prolific product extension strategy, its authenticity is cultivated through quality commitment, resulting in stylistic consistency. As the brand reaches maturity it returns to its roots, emphasising craftsmanship and leading to brand integrity. Following the analysis, the theoretical and managerial implications are presented.     

Brand experience and consumers' social interactive engagement with brand page: An integrated-marketing perspective

As consumers increasingly go online to communicate about brands, brand marketers have been utilizing a popular platform to interact with them and create brand communities, namely a brand page. Prior studies have examined factors that promote the success of a brand page by narrowing focusing on only two influencing factors of engagement with the brand page: individual consumer characteristics and brand page features. Taking an integrated marketing perspective, this study extends that research by examining a broad range of influencing factors affecting engagement with brand page, such as sensory, affective, intellectual, and behavioural brand experiences. Building upon the fundamental motive framework, we demonstrate that brand experience enhances consumers' motivation to participate, socialize, and perceive benefits from others involved within the brand page regardless of individual propensity to socialize online. Furthermore, as consumers are engaged in social interaction within a brand page, they are more likely to be involved in positive WOM about the brand. The theoretical and practical contributions of our study are further discussed, along with suggestions for future research in this important and growing field.     

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.     

Antecedents and outcomes of brand love: the mediating role of brand loyalty

The purpose of this study was to propose and test an integrative conceptual model which incorporates experience-based (i.e. brand experience) and non-experience-based (i.e. self-congruity) antecedents and behavioural outcomes (i.e. brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth) of brand love. The conceptual model and proposed hypotheses of the study are analysed with a sample of 361 consumers by using a structured survey as a data collection instrument. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the hypothesized linkages among the constructs. The findings of the study demonstrate strong associations between both experience-based and non-experience-based antecedents and brand love, and between brand love and its behavioural outcomes. This study also corroborates the mediating role of brand loyalty on the impact of brand love on positive word-of-mouth. This study is expected to contribute to the field of brand management by investigating the simultaneous impact of experience-based and non-experienced-based antecedents on brand love and the mediating role of brand loyalty on the association between brand love and positive word-of-mouth, which has not been addressed in the previous literature.     

Functional brand qualities and perceived value: The mediating role of brand experience and brand personality

Brand experience and brand personality have become two important theoretical constructs in the branding literature. However, research on the antecedents of these two constructs has been focused on intangible brand characteristics and qualities, underestimating the role of functional features. This study aims to overcome this gap by postulating that two key functional brand qualities, quality and innovativeness, help shape brand experience and personality, which, we ultimately predict, contribute to perceived value. Investments in quality and innovation have grown substantially, but how they materialize in benefits for customers and firms remains unclear. Accordingly, this study provides insights into how firms can engender the characteristics of their offer to build brands that are perceived by consumers as generating a valued brand experience and personality. The results from two samples provide broad support to the proposed model. Both brand quality and innovativeness contribute to brand experience and personality. Moreover, we observe that both brand experience and personality relate to perceived value. Finally, we also determined that brand personality and experience partially mediate the relationship between brand innovativeness and quality and perceived value. Hence, these results provide relevant implications for both theory and the practice of brand management.     

Bundling as a new product introduction strategy: The role of brand image and bundle features

Marketers can bundle an unknown brand with a strong brand as a new product introduction strategy. Drawing upon the categorization theory and the elaboration likelihood model, this study examines how a new brand can benefit from bundling with a strong brand. The results of two studies indicate that consumers’ quality perception of a new brand will be affected by the brand image of a bundle partner, and this effect is moderated by the bundle forms and the complementarity of bundle components. Academic and managerial implications of these findings are presented, along with suggestions for further research.     

Customer engagement in the context of retail mobile apps: A contingency model integrating spatial presence experience and its drivers

This study develops and investigates the mechanisms through which retail mobile-app cognitions—i.e., interactivity and vividness—are translated into spatial presence experience and subsequently result in customer engagement under the parasol of the hierarchy-of-effects model and the situated cognition theory. The contingency roles of need for cognition and domain-specific interest as individual intrinsic tendencies and issue-specific motivations, respectively, are also scrutinized. A dataset obtained from a survey of 558 customers is employed to estimate the proposed research model. The results indicate that interactivity and vividness significantly stimulate the spatial presence experience, i.e., feelings of “being there” in the mobile-app environment; in turn, this drives customers to become more engaged and contribute to retailers that provide such experiences. The moderating roles of the two motivations are also identified.     

The effect of digital signage on shoppers' behavior: The role of the evoked experience

This paper investigates the role of digital signage as experience provider in retail spaces. The findings of a survey-based field experiment demonstrate that digital signage content high on sensory cues evokes affective experience and strengthens customers' experiential processing route. In contrast, digital signage messages high on “features and benefits” information evoke intellectual experience and strengthen customers' deliberative processing route. The affective experience is more strongly associated with the attitude towards the ad and the approach behavior towards the advertiser than the intellectual experience. The effect of an ad high on sensory cues on shoppers' approach to the advertiser is stronger for first-time shoppers, and therefore important in generating loyalty. The findings indicate that the design of brand-related informational cues broadcast over digital in-store monitors affects shoppers' information processing. The cues evoke sensory and affective experiences and trigger deliberative processes that lead to attitude construction and finally elicit approach behavior towards the advertisers.     

A brand preference and repurchase intention model: the role of consumer experience

Consumer brand preference is an essential step towards understanding consumer choice behaviour, and has therefore always received great attention from marketers. However, the study of brand preference has been limited to traditional marketing focusing on functional attributes to maximise utility. But now the shift to experiential marketing broadens the role of the brand from a bundle of attributes to experiences. Technological advancements have helped to increase the similarities between brand attributes and product commoditisation. Consequently, consumers cannot shape their preferences among brands using rational attributes only. They seek out brands that create experiences; that intrigue them in a sensorial, emotional and creative way. This study seeks to develop a model that provides an understanding of how brand knowledge and brand experience determine brand preference and to investigate its impact on brand repurchase intention. Accordingly, exploratory focus group discussions are employed followed by a survey of mobile phone users in Egypt. The findings provide insights into the relative importance of consumer perceptions on different brand knowledge factors in shaping brand preferences. It also demonstrates the significance of consumers’ experiential responses towards brands in developing their brand preferences that in turn influence brand repurchase intention. The model therefore offers managers a new perspective for building strong brands able to gain consumer preferences.     

The effects of ad heuristic and systematic cues on consumer brand awareness and purchase intention: Investigating the bias effect of heuristic information processing

With growing numbers of digital users, social media advertising becomes a vital marketing channel for attracting and sustaining consumers. Drawing on the heuristic-systematic model, this research investigates the effects of advertisement systematic cues including ad informativeness and ad persuasiveness, and ad heuristic cue which is ad poster category on the consumer brand awareness, and the sequential effect on consumer purchase intention. An experimental design featuring two categories of ad poster, namely, firm and influencer, is created for empirical evidence collection. Results show that ad informativeness and ad persuasiveness contribute to greater consumer brand awareness and purchase intention. The poster category can positively bias the influence of ad informativeness, and firm poster outperforms the influencer poster when controlling the advertisement content the same. The findings demonstrate the co-occurrence of heuristic and systematic information processing in the social media advertising context. This research deepens current understanding of social media advertising and provides practical implications for marketers to capitalize on different ad posters according to advertisement informativeness and persuasiveness feature.     

Why negative brand extension evaluations do not always negatively affect the brand: The role of central and peripheral brand associations

This research introduces the concept of brand association centrality and distinguishes central brand associations (CBAs) and peripheral brand associations (PBAs). Study 1 shows that the consistency with CBAs and PBAs influences perceived brand extension fit. However, the brand extension consistency with CBAs positively affects consumer–brand extension evaluations, while the brand extension consistency with PBAs does not have a significant effect. Study 2 demonstrates the mediating role of perceived fit between brand extension consistency with CBAs and brand extension evaluations. The study shows that the more inconsistent the product extension is with CBAs, the more the brand's image is altered and the faster brand evaluations deteriorate. In contrast, the brand extension inconsistency with PBAs does not affect brand evaluations.     

How to retain customers in omnichannel retailing: Considering the roles of brand experience and purchase behavior

The opportunities and challenges of omnichannel in retail industry have been widely discussed, yet despite these benefits, the key elements that constitute an effective omnichannel and how customers respond to omnichannel retailing strategies remain unclear. This research conducted online surveys to test the effects of omnichannel elements on various brand experiences and customer retention, considering the moderating role of purchase behavior. The results indicate that omnichannel elements (integration, individualization, and interaction) are generally helpful in retaining customers, through omnichannel elements influence brand experiences differently. In addition, these omnichannel elements have different influences on customer retention due to different purchase behaviors. The findings suggest that retailers can use different omnichannel strategies to attract customers’ purchases and provide insights for practitioners who want to use omnichannel strategies to deliver superior experiences for customers.     

Determinants of customer brand loyalty in the retail industry: A comparison between national and private brands in South Korea

Finding motivations for customer brand loyalty is one of the most popular academic and practical research fields; in this regard, some scholars have explored motivations in the retail industry. As the concept of private brands has been one of the most widely employed strategies for business success in the industry, comparing private and national brands in terms of customer loyalty is an important topic in the retail industry. Thus, the current research focuses on exploring antecedents of customer loyalty in private and national brands, as well as investigating whether there are notable structural differences between the brands. The results, based on 1,631 responses, indicate that customer perceived service/product quality, satisfaction, trust, and cost are notable determinants of brand loyalty, while the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality of private brands is not supported. Moreover, both indirect and direct effects of the employed factors on customer brand loyalty are reported.     

The influence of relationship marketing orientation on brand equity in banks

During the last few decades, business philosophy has shifted from marketing orientation to Relationship Marketing Orientation (RMO). Service-oriented organizations, such as banks, increasingly apply RMO to enhance their brand management practices, such as brand loyalty and brand image. This in turn creates an identity for their brand name and adds value to it. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of RMO on Brand Equity in the banking industry. This study also examines the influence of the dimensions of RMO (trust, bonding, communication, shared values, empathy and reciprocity) on the development of Brand Equity in banks. Social exchange theory underpins this examination of the relationship between RMO and Brand Equity. The sample comprised 1400 commercial bank customers from Sri Lanka, and the surveys were administered for data collection. There were two main stages to the analysis: testing the measurement model using confirmatory factor analysis and testing the hypotheses. The findings revealed that RMO positively influenced the development of Brand Equity in banks. Of the dimensions of RMO examined here, Trust, Communication, Shared Values and Empathy significantly enhanced Brand Equity. The implications of these findings for theory and practice have been suggested. The findings of this study have practical applications for enhancing the Brand Equity of banks and other financial institutions by strengthening their relationship marketing practices. This study also suggests some insightful directions for future research.     

The social significance of AI in retail on customer experience and shopping practices

This paper draws on practice-informed, ethnographic research to develop an understanding of the novel social consequences and opportunities afforded from consumers' interactions with AI digital humans as part of the in-store shopping experience. We reveal and interrogate consumers’ experiences with AI digital humans in an exploratory study undertaken during the launch phase of an in-store kiosk digital store greeter in a flagship store of a large national technology and appliance chain. Our findings contribute to understanding the social significance of AI in retail on customer experience (CX) and the managerial implications of consumers interactions with AI digital humans are described and discussed.     

Effectiveness of corporate responses to brand crises: The role of crisis type and response strategies

Brand crises are adverse events that threaten brand reputations. Research indicates that corporate responses to crises play a role in restoring brand equity. However, there is confusion as to the best type of response. On the one hand, there is a strong advocacy for a singular type of response strategy, corrective action, regardless of the crisis type, while on the other, there is support for a contingency-based view suggesting that the relative efficacy of responses depends on other factors. We contribute to this contingency-based view by comparing the efficacy of three major response strategies (denial, reduction-of-offensiveness and corrective action) in restoring post-crisis brand confidence and choice likelihood. We find that the relative effectiveness of response strategies depends on the nature of the brand crisis. Consequently, a “one type fits all” strategy for post-crisis responses can be suboptimal. We discuss the implications of our findings and provide directions for future research.     

The role of involvement: Investigating the effect of brand's social media pages on consumer purchase intention

This study examined the influence of consumer's brand familiarity and the information quality of social media content on their involvement with a brand on the brand's social media pages. Also studied were the influence of involvement on consumer's attitude towards the brand's social media page and the effect of their attitude on future purchase intention from the brand. The results indicated that both brand familiarity and information quality had significant effects on a consumer's involvement with a brand on its social media page, yet the brand's social media content had a greater influence on a consumer's involvement with the social media page. Further, involvement with a brand's social media led to a positive attitude towards the brand's social media page, which in turn influences future purchase intention from the brand. However, the involvement did not directly influence future purchase intention from the brand. The results suggest the significant importance of quality of social media content.     

The evolution of growth intentions: Toward a cognition-based model

This research examines the relationship between growth intentions, cognitive style, and perceived competitive conditions, with a focus on whether and why intentions change over time. Drawing on qualitative data from a sample of 30 entrepreneurs over a five-year span, we find that entrepreneurs' cognitive style moderates the relationship between perceptions of the competitive environment and growth intentions. Entrepreneurs with differing cognitive styles vary in their approaches toward formulating and revising growth intentions. Relative to analytic entrepreneurs that exhibit greater stability in their intentions, holistic entrepreneurs are prone to greater variations in growth intentions. The findings have implications for future research, practice, public policy, and entrepreneurship training and development.