In Memoriam

Rotterdam, April 1874.     

On the Role of Brand Stereotypes in Shaping Consumer Response toward Brands: An Empirical Examination of Direct and Mediating Effects of Warmth and Competence

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the branding literature by examining the critical role of brand stereotypes in shaping consumers’ brand‐related responses. Drawing on the Stereotype Content Model, this article examines how warmth and competence stereotypes impact consumers’ emotional reaction toward brands and in turn consumers’ brand attitudes and behavioral intention. In addition, this article examines how brand stereotypes mediate the relationships between brand personality and consumers’ brand emotions. The results from this study support the dual role of brand stereotypes as relevant predictors of brand emotions, and intervening variables mediating the effects from brand personality perceptions on brand emotions. The findings support the view that mechanisms of social perception apply to brand perception and provide new insights about the relationship between consumers’ brand perceptions and their responses toward brands.     

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Drivers of Corporate Social Performance: Evidence from Foreign and Domestic Firms in Mexico

The literature on corporate social performance (CSP) is largely split between approaches that consider CSP to be extrinsically driven and those that consider it to be intrinsically driven. While the management literature has paid attention to drivers of both types, the relationship between the two remains largely unstudied, particularly in the international setting. Meanwhile, the international business (IB) literature has addressed the international dimension of CSP more directly, but focuses largely on extrinsic pressures. Our paper links the management and IB literatures by addressing intrinsic drivers (management commitment to ethics) in conjunction with extrinsic (trade‐related) drivers for both foreign‐ and domestically‐owned firms in a single‐market setting. Using survey data from 121 auto parts suppliers in Mexico, we find that management commitment to ethics is a dominant driver of CSP among both foreign and domestic firms. More importantly, management commitment to ethics interacts positively with trade‐related pressures in raising CSP levels.     

European Foreign Exchange Risk Exposure

We find that about 13% of our sample of 817 European multinational firms experienced economically significant exposure effects to the Japanese yen, 14% to the US dollar and 22% to the UK pound. Our evidence differs substantially from the US experience and is robust across sub‐sample periods, suggesting that a depreciating (appreciating) euro against foreign currencies has a net negative (positive) impact on European stock returns. Short‐term exposure seems to be relatively well hedged, where considerable evidence of long‐term exposure is found. Firms with weak liquidity positions tend to have smaller exposures. Foreign exposure is found to increase with firm size.