Projecting corporate brand image and behavioral response in business schools: Cognitive or affective brand attributes?

This paper considers corporate brand image, focusing on cognitive and affective brand attributes in the context of business schools. While previous research on university or institutional branding has studied these elements separately via cognitive (e.g., service or educational quality attributes) or affective criteria (personality traits of the corporate brand), this study investigates them jointly through behavioral responses (leading to positive recommendations about the corporate brand). This is important because brand equity such as positive word-of-mouth (or mouse) is derived from both attitudinal components, rather than being based on only one component. Drawing on an empirical survey of postgraduate (MBA) students from four business schools, the findings reveal that both cognitive and affective attitudinal components appear equally important in shaping corporate brand image. Further, when the mediating effect is investigated, interestingly, students' positive recommendations to schools depended largely on the affective (prestigious, adventurous, empathy and competence) rather than upon the cognitive brand attributes. This paper contributes theoretically to the corporate brand and consumer behavior literature by investigating both attitudinal components at a corporate brand level and investigates their effects on behavioral/conative response. The practical contribution of the paper and its managerial implications lie in the context of defining strategy in relation to positioning business schools in an increasingly competitive higher education market.     

Mandatory versus voluntary labelling of genetically modified food: evidence from an economic experiment

Opponents of the voluntary labelling scheme for genetically modified (GM) food products often argue that consumers have the “right to know” and therefore advocate mandatory labelling. In this article, we argue against this line of reasoning. Using experimental auctions we show that the quality of the signal generated by a mandatory labelling scheme is affected by the number of labels in the market. If there are two labels, one for GM products and one for non‐GM products, mandatory and voluntary labelling schemes generate a similar degree of uncertainty about the quality of products that do not carry a label.     

广告创意与生活世界

广告创意源于生活,体现生活,服务生活。回归生活世界是广告创意的根本精神,也是它的普遍趋向。消费者的情感是人的生活世界的内在表征,也是广告创意成功与否的关键所在。关注消费者情感因素应是广告创意的题中之义。     

Tracing distant environmental impacts of agricultural products from a consumer perspective

Globally, trade flows of agricultural products are increasing. While value is typically added along the whole production chain, certain environmental impacts, such as land and water use, biomass appropriation, and soil degradation, are intrinsically linked to where the primary products originate from. When taking a consumer oriented approach on environmental problems, bilateral trade statistics can help in providing a clearer picture about the location of impacts caused by consumption elsewhere. However, in today's increasingly globalized world, consumer goods are often imported from countries other than where the primary product originated from. For instance, soybeans are transported from Brazil to the Netherlands, where they are processed into soy oil, which is shipped to Austria, where it is consumed. Utilizing bilateral trade matrices and matrix algebra, we present a method that allows to clearly link consumption patterns to the origin of primary products. In this, the method can help to provide information about consumption related, distant environmental impacts. We employ the case of land and water use linked to Austria's soy product consumption to demonstrate the approach's relevance. Finally, we outline some possible applications of this method to show its potential in enhancing understanding for informed consumer based environmental decision making.     

认知偏误对金融消费者保护的影响——以零售金融产品为例

次贷危机的爆发,证明金融消费者保护已经成为金融体系能否健康持续发展的关键问题,因此,对于该项问题的研究具有深远的理论价值与现实意义。本文将选择零售金融市场为切入点,根据我国零售金融产品市场供求双方的互动特征以及消费者的认知偏误,构建理论模型,分析现有交易模式下,可能对金融消费者权益造成损害的潜在原因,力争为金融消费者保护实践提供理论依据,并起到推动作用。     

城市家庭的经济条件、理财意识和投资借贷行为——来自全国24个城市的消费金融调查

消费金融调研是获得消费金融研究数据的一个重要途径。清华大学在2010年开展了面向全国城市居民家庭的消费金融调研。本文择要介绍了本次调研的一些成果,包括居民家庭的资产负债情况、家庭的收支状况、家庭的投资和借贷行为,以及家庭其他方面的理财意识和行为等。最后,根据调研结果对我国城市居民家庭金融的几个特点进行了总结。     

天目山农家乐可持续发展问题研究——基于利益相关者理论

运用利益相关者理论,结合实地考察的结果,通过对天目山农家乐利益主体之间的现状分析,发现了各利益主体之间均存在不同程度的冲突,并以此为基础,提出了天目山农家乐可持续发展的对策。     

How to inspire value-laden collaborative consumer-generated content

Marketing is evolving into true participatory conversations. Once-tidy, controlled marketing communications with distinct, identifiable corporate spokespeople are giving way to a messy tangle of market-based communications consisting of multiple authors including customers, competitors, observers, employees, and interested collectives. Amidst this, we find consumer-generated content (CGC) that is predominantly antithetical to previous studies, which assumed CGC to be inspired by personal brand attachment and/or the desire to see discrete-authored CGC disseminated, or even motivated by monetary reward. Authorship of collaboratively-produced CGC is virtually untraceable, unknown, and monetarily uncompensated. The true reward is the process, and the outcome is not reliant on technical prowess but rather semiotic manipulation, narrative manipulation, and complex brand character development. Consumers—especially those who are members of active consumer collectives—are skillful, proficient, and prolific in the creation of CGC, with high resonance among very engaged consumers. We advocate harnessing collaborative CGC efforts toward long-term marketing objectives, and offer a brief tutorial.     

We’re all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem

Consumers are adopting increasingly active roles in co-creating marketing content with companies and their respective brands. In turn, companies and organizations are looking to online social marketing programs and campaigns in an effort to reach consumers where they ‘live’ online. However, the challenge facing many companies is that although they recognize the need to be active in social media, they do not truly understand how to do it effectively, what performance indicators they should be measuring, and how they should measure them. Further, as companies develop social media strategies, platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are too often treated as stand-alone elements rather than part of an integrated system. This article offers a systematic way of understanding and conceptualizing online social media, as an ecosystem of related elements involving both digital and traditional media. We highlight a best-practice case study of an organization's successful efforts to leverage social media in reaching an important audience of young consumers. Then, we conclude with several insights and lessons related to the strategic integration of social media into a firm's marketing communications strategy.     

One strike and you're out: Qualitative insights into the formation of consumers' ethical company or brand perceptions

Drawing on 20 long interviews (McCracken, 1988) with general consumers, this research suggests that the impact of various kinds of un/ethical business practices of a given company on consumers' perceived ethicality (CPE) is asymmetrical. The resulting taxonomy identifies three distinct dimensions of varying directions and impacts on CPE, with the personal interest of the evaluating person moderating and mediating the dimensions' slopes: (1) Monovalent ethical dissatisfiers which have a negative effect; (2) Bivalent ethical dis/satisfiers that either favorably or unfavorably influence ethical perceptions, commensurate with a company's efforts; and (3) Monovalent ethical satisfiers, capable of generating a positive impact. The achievement of positive CPE appears highly challenging for a variety of reasons identified. Only one instance of perceived misconduct can be sufficient to contaminate a company/brand's CPE, despite otherwise exemplary behavioral records or altruistic engagement. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for managers and academics.