Better support for supportive jobs. How to improve brand performance through better compensation and training for in-store merchandisers

Through an experimental field study, we link improved working conditions for supportive jobs to enhanced brand sales. Results show that improved working conditions for in-store merchandisers based on monetary and non-monetary rewards yield a significant increase in sales, which might be facilitated through enhanced on-shelf availability. We underline the strategic importance of the job profile and identify explanatory mechanisms, enabling managers to optimize training and compensation in the context of supportive jobs in retailing. The study enhances the literature on the importance of supportive jobs in driving brand performance in accordance with the motivational framework based on rewards and recognition.     

Do brands’ social media marketing activities matter? A moderation analysis

Considering the increased interest in the role that a brand's social media marketing activities (SMMA) play in providing better experiences, the current study examines associations among SMMA, brand experience, purchase intention, and attitude towards the brand. This study also assesses the customer generation (Millennials vs. Non-Millenials) and customer engagement level (high vs. low) as moderators in the SMMA-brand experience link. 413 responses were collected from individuals who follow a brand on social media and employed structural equation modelling for the analysis purpose. The results suggest an essential role of SMMA in driving brand experience, purchase intention, and attitude towards the brand. Results also establish that the SMMA-brand experience link varies across consumer generation (Millennials vs. Non-Millenials) and customer engagement level (high vs. low) with the brand's SMMA. These results aid marketers in realizing the role of consumers' generation and their engagement level relating to SMMA-brand experience relationship. The study concludes with implications, limitations, and future research avenues.     

Estimating the effect of brand beliefs on brand evaluations when beliefs are measured with error

We consider the internal validity of estimates of the effects of brand beliefs on brand evaluations when beliefs are measured with error. Consumer research suggests numerous errors that may impact belief measures. However, the literature has not determined precisely why and how myriad types of error matter for the evaluation-belief relationship. Furthermore, the literature has not explicitly considered what is necessary and sufficient to control for different types of belief error when using the latent general factor approach. We show that the important distinction for empirical research is not the origin of the error per se but its relationship to affective evaluation. Error related to brand evaluation has an inflationary effect on estimates of the evaluation-belief relationship while error unrelated to brand evaluation has an attenuating effect. We use a bifactor structural equations model to decompose belief measures into general and specific dimensions. The model uses bias free variation in specific beliefs to identify effects on brand evaluation while controlling for a general belief dimension correlated with evaluation. Compared to models that do not adjust for the bias, estimates of the bias corrected marginal effects are smaller but positive and significant.     

Understanding the omnichannel customer journey: The effect of online and offline channel interactivity on consumer value co-creation behavior

Building on the service dominant logic, this study explores the effect of online and offline channel interactivity on consumers’ value co-creation behavior (VCB), the mediating effect of brand involvement, and the moderating effect of cross-channel consistency (CCC). We surveyed 387 customers who engage in omnichannel shopping. The relationship between online and offline channel interactivity and VCB was positive and partially mediated by brand involvement. The interaction effect of online channel interactivity (ONI) and offline channel interactivity (OFI) had a negative effect on brand involvement when CCC was low but a non-significant positive effect when CCC was high. These findings enrich the theoretical understanding of value co-creation and provide insights into omnichannel management.     

Employing brand governance mechanisms with export channel partners: What are the performance consequences and contingent effects?

For decades leading international business scholars have assessed the benefits accruing from successful governance mechanisms. Although the critical importance of initiating and maintaining good relationships with export channel partners is recognized within the literature, there has been little research focus placed on the optimal approach for governing intangible aspects of these relationships. We offer the first integrated definition of export brand governance of channel partners (EBGoCP) and investigate its influence on export performance. Drawing from relational governance theory and contingency theory, we develop and test a model of the contingent effects of different country specific advantages and firm characteristics on the performance upshots of EBGoCP. Using survey data from UK exporters, our findings validate the hypothesized enhancing effects of EBGoCP on export performance outcomes. Furthermore, consistent with our contingency based predictions, we find country-of-origin-image, firm size and scope of exporting moderate the impact of EBGoCP on export performance. Along with providing fresh insights from the results, this study opens up a new stream of international business governance research and offers productive future research paths to follow.     

How can non-fungible tokens bring value to brands

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have registered tremendous growth in the past year, and their importance is expected to increase with the expected development of Web3. From a brand perspective, NFTs can be seen as representations of the brand components, such as the product, the logo, or the image. I argue that NFTs have immense potential to become standalone brand assets. I illustrate how this can be achieved by relating the brand's NFT strategies to the marketing funnel stages. Brands can turn into an NFT their physical products such as shoes, shirts, or art to attract brand awareness, generate cross-selling opportunities, and spark stronger perceived ownership of certain brand elements. Importantly, NFTs can allow brands to form a highly engaging brand community that can support the brand, blend online and offline product ownership, and potentially create a bond between the brand and consumers. These exciting possibilities generate a rich research agenda I present in this paper.     

Grandiose branding: World-class aim and its organizational consequences

Branding has become a strategic tool for university management in competition for students, faculty, and funding. In this study, we explore university branding in its extreme form of grandiose branding and ask How can grandiose branding initiate a process that prompts ethically and morally questionable practices in organizations? Grandiose branding is characterized by an excessive use of superlatives that frame higher education institutions as “world-class universities.” Through a self- and autoethnographic single-case study conducted in a business school, our study shows that branding efforts that do not align with an organization’s actual quality and performance can lead to a counterproductive cycle of camouflaging top management’s failures and justifying ethically and morally questionable actions directed towards the institution’s primary stakeholders. The study contributes to the earlier literature on grandiosity in the context of higher education by taking a process perspective and explores the implications of grandiose branding from rhetoric through implementation.     

How firm communication affects the impact of layoff announcements on brand strength over time

Firms usually undertake layoffs to improve financial performance. However, layoffs often have negative effects on various stakeholders, including consumers. In this paper, we examine the magnitude and duration of the potential negative effect of layoff announcements on brand strength. We also examine how a firm's communication accompanying a layoff can potentially counteract the observed negative effect of layoff announcements on brand strength. We compare how advertising communication intensity, social media communication (i.e., brand-initiated tweets), public relation (PR) communication, and communication of CSR initiatives moderate the main effect of layoff announcements on brand strength. Using an error correction model and drawing on 366 announcements of layoff events in Germany, this study identifies the magnitude and duration of the main effect. An examination of five years of weekly consumer brand perception data across multiple industries and domestic and foreign firms shows that advertising communication intensity and social media communication amplify the negative impact of layoff announcements on brand strength. Conversely, PR communication and communication of CSR initiatives help mitigate the negative effect. These findings provide guidance on the best way for firms to design firm communication in the context of layoff announcements.     

Not so trustless after all: Trust in Web3 technology and opportunities for brands

Web3 technology is described as trustless in that interactions and transactions do not require trusted third parties and instead rely on smart contracts and the immutability of the decentralized blockchain. Thus, in contrast to earlier iterations of the web, Web3 users are asked to trust the technology itself rather than the human intermediaries. On its face, this shift to a trustless web calls into question the traditional conceptions of and requirements for trust. However, in this article, we caution against claims that advocate distrusting Web3 on the basis that, despite how quickly Web3 technology is advancing, the psychological processes through which people perceive and make sense of the social world remain fundamentally unchanged. Drawing on the psychology of trust and the evolution of web technologies and associated objects of trust, we argue that Web3 is not so trustless after all. We also highlight opportunities for brands to build trust in Web3 technology, including key considerations in leveraging opportunities and directions for further research. Overall, this article provides critical guidance to brand managers, policy advisors, and academics seeking to understand, build, and trust Web3 technology.