Differences in consumer preferences when facing branded versus non‐branded choices

Because brands can signal reputation and serve as proxies for trust, consumer preferences for credence attributes may differ for branded and non‐branded products. We test this hypothesis using data from a choice experiment conducted with US pork consumers. The results indicate that consumers are usually willing to pay more for a certification attribute in a non‐branded as compared to branded product. Additionally, greater variation in consumer willingness‐to‐pay for credence attributes is observed in the non‐branded case. This latter characteristic of the results may represent the increased uncertainty some consumers internalize concerning quality consistency when brand information is not provided. These results have interesting implications for producers, processors, retailers, and policy makers. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Do human values matter for promoting brands on social media? How social media users' values influence valuable brand‐related activities such as sharing,content creation,and reviews”

Companies consider social media‐based consumer engagement behaviors such as sharing, content creation, and reviews for brands as more valuable than “liking” or consuming brand content. Studies show that branded content shared or created by consumers on social media may drive more brand awareness and loyalty than “likes” (Adweek, 2013). Global companies are increasingly focusing their efforts on motivating consumer‐driven content creation (e.g., Coca‐Cola #shareacoke and Apple #ShotoniPhone; Sprout Index, 2018). However, marketing practitioners are only recently beginning to understand social media audiences who engage in such activities (Adweek, 2018). This study posits that human values can be used to identify and segment audiences for social media‐based valuable brand activities. Three online surveys were conducted with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram users (ages 18–34) on Amazon Mechanical Turk (N = 491). The relationship between social media users' values and their reported social media activities was examined. Findings indicate that the human values examined (conservation, self‐enhancement, openness to change and self‐transcendence) are significant drivers of valuable brand‐related social media activities. Companies should address conservation‐driven users in order to elicit brand sharing and creation activities. Companies should target conservation‐driven users for sharing promotions, self‐enhancement‐driven users for sharing informational content and writing of product reviews, and openness to change‐driven users for user‐generated content. Bussinesses should further highlight their corporate social responsibility efforts as a negative relationship is found between users' self‐transcendence values and brand activities. Recommendations are provided on how brandscan address users' values in their social media marketing to motivate sharing of branded content and content creation.     

The effects of affective and cognitive elaborations from Facebook posts on consumer attitude formation

This research investigates the effects of affect and cognition in consumers' information processing of branded content on Facebook pages. A model was suggested to delve into the elaboration process leading to consumer attitude formation. A 2 (purchase‐decision involvement: low versus high) × 2 (product categories: hedonic versus utilitarian) × 2 (sources of Facebook posts: brand posts versus consumer posts) between‐subjects experiment was conducted online. The validated model demonstrates the main effects that affective elaboration significantly supersedes cognitive elaboration in forming attitudes toward the posts and attitudes toward the brand. Post hoc analyses show further evidence of the interaction effects that affective elaboration is the dominant influencer when consumers process brand‐related information in Facebook posts across situations. Theoretical implications for future research and managerial suggestions for social media marketing are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding consumers' brand‐induced food taste perception: A comparison of ‘brand familiarity’ – and ‘consumer value – brand symbolism (in)congruity’ – accounts

Past research has shown that familiar brands can boost consumers' food taste experiences. On the other hand, more recent evidence suggests that the (in)congruity between consumer values and brand symbolism can affect the food taste perception. This study is the first one to integrate these two accounts into one single conceptual framework and to empirically evaluate their relative roles in explaining consumers' brand‐induced taste perception. Two experiments involving taste trials (blind vs brand‐cued sensory evaluation) were conducted. The first experiment analysed the brand familiarity effect, whereas the second experiment addressed also the taste perception of yogurts with differing brand symbolism amongst food consumers with distinct value orientations to find support for the (in)congruity effects. This research implies that congruity is not responsible for enhancing consumers' taste perception beyond the level that is produced by the brand familiarity. In contrast, the incongruity effect appears capable of neutralising the brand familiarity effect. Therefore, these two explanations may operate independently. More generally, this study speaks for the importance of incorporating consumer value – brand symbolism incongruity mechanism into food consumption studies; even owners' of strong food brands cannot trust the ability of their brands to boost a consumer's taste experience if there is no correspondence between his or her central values and brand symbolism. Thus, an objectively better taste is not necessarily decisive; satisfactory sensory quality can suffice if it is coupled with imaginative and daring brand marketing that delivers unique emotional and functional benefits for well‐defined food consumer target segments. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reconnecting with the past in social media: The moderating role of social influence in nostalgia marketing on Pinterest

Nostalgia marketing practices in social media help brands link consumers with happier times from the past. A randomized 2 (evoked nostalgia: high vs. low) × 2 (social influence: high vs. low) between‐subjects factorial design experiment was conducted to examine the effects of nostalgia and social influence on consumers' judgments in the brand management context of Pinterest boards. The results revealed the strong main effect of evoked nostalgia on consumers' attitudes toward the Pinterest board and the brand, purchase intention, willingness to pass along branded pins, and brand–consumer relationship quality. Furthermore, this study discovered the significant moderating role of social influence for all dependent measures. Strongly (vs. weakly) evoked nostalgia generated more favorable responses only when social influence was high. In contrast, there were no significant differences between strongly and weakly evoked nostalgia when social influence was low. Theoretical contributions to the nostalgia literature and managerial implications for social media marketing are discussed.     

How valuable is a well‐crafted design and name brand?: Recognition and willingness to pay

Preferences for similarly designed consumer products, evaluated blind and branded and also with and without prices, were tested in a consumer setting. The consumer's perceptual experience led to preference of the well‐crafted high‐priced option. This preference was enhanced by priming consumers with background information about the brand, perhaps causing the subjects to guess which choice was the well‐known brand before evaluation. Preferences for that choice increased again when brand names were visible during evaluation. When actual prices were added to the evaluations, preferences for the well‐known brand were very robust to high prices, indicating the strength of the brand name. Using the least preferred option and the lowest price as an anchor, the consumers' price threshold to pay for the preferred design and the brand name was computed. Attempts to explain and predict individual differences of choices using measures of inherent design acumen, prior experience, and purchasing behavior were largely unsuccessful. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Brand placement disclosure effects on persuasion: The moderating role of consumer self‐control

The inclusion of branded products in media entertainment has become a popular marketing strategy, because viewers are less likely to recognize the persuasive intent of sponsored content as compared with traditional advertising. To guarantee fair communication and protect consumers against unobtrusive persuasion attempts, European media policy has obligated broadcasters to disclose the presence of brand placement in their television shows. Recent studies demonstrate that disclosures raise viewers' persuasion knowledge; however, the circumstances under which brand placement disclosures may affect brand evaluations and resistance to the persuasive impact of brand placement are still unclear. In two experiments, we uncovered self‐control depletion as an important moderator of disclosure effects on brand evaluations and resistance to brand placement influence. Whereas disclosures increase resistance and decrease persuasion for viewers not depleted of their self‐control, disclosures do not affect resistance and even result in more favorable brand evaluations when viewers' self‐control is depleted by a previous self‐control task. Because a state of self‐control depletion can be perceived as the “couch‐potato” mindset in which people expose themselves to entertaining television content, our findings imply that instead of protecting consumers from hidden persuasion, disclosures may unintentionally increase the persuasive effects of brand placement. We discuss several possible mechanisms that could explain our findings. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The persuasive effectiveness of mini‐films: Narrative transportation and fantasy proneness

Little empirical investigation has been made on mini‐films, an innovative online marketing technique of branded entertainment. This study intends to gain a deeper understanding of the advertising effectiveness of mini‐films. Employing a narrative persuasion research approach, an online survey with hyperlinks to a variety of real mini‐films was conducted to test the aggregate persuasive effectiveness of this marketing innovation. The results demonstrated that narrative transportation has a major influence on the attitude toward the mini‐film; the mini‐film attitude fully mediates the effect of narrative transportation to brand attitude, and subsequently to purchase intention. Furthermore, conceptualized as a normal consumer characteristic, the influence of fantasy proneness on the persuasive mechanism of this online advertising genre has also been under study. Empirical evidence showed that fantasy proneness has a positive influence on narrative transportation. This study has made a contribution to academics and practitioners alike for future research into branded entertainment. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

品牌消费旅程中消费者的认知心理过程——神经营销学视角

品牌消费旅程通常指的是对于品牌消费服务的多维度(包括认知, 情绪, 感觉, 行为和品牌关系)响应。揭示品牌消费旅程的认知心理过程是目前营销学领域之中研究的重点与热点。在梳理当前神经营销领域内有关功能性核磁共振(fMRI)、事件相关电位(ERP)、事件相关震荡(ERO)的相关研究成果后, 将消费者在品牌消费旅程之中的认知心理进程划分为注意吸引、决策形成、消费体验和品牌忠诚四个阶段, 并系统阐述了每个阶段之中消费者心理进程的神经机制与脑区活动, 进而全面立体地揭示消费心理的全貌。未来研究可以进一步探索不同神经指标在具体营销情境下的表征意义, 并结合超扫描技术进一步解析多个被试间的神经耦合情况。     

善因营销对消费者态度的影响及其理论解释

善因营销是一种传播企业社会责任, 提升品牌形象的策略。当企业与善因事件结合时, 消费者可以获得参与慈善的机会。归因理论、SOR理论、自我信号理论、平衡理论可用于解释善因营销对消费者态度的影响。未来研究应进一步探讨在善因营销中是否存在其他影响消费者态度的因素, 从消费者角度深入研究善因营销的影响效果, 尝试从新的理论视角去分析善因营销影响消费者态度的内在机制。     

Effects of consumer perceptions of brand experience on the web: brand familiarity,satisfaction and brand trust

Creating a customer experience that is synonymous with a particular (website) brand is becoming increasingly recognised as a vital driver of e‐performance. E‐tailors are just as likely to try to influence consumers' shopping behaviour, through atmospherics and service, as brick‐and‐mortar stores. This study investigates several questions that have been left unanswered in recent studies of consumer behaviour in the context of internet‐based marketing. Its focus lies in addressing the issue of whether there is a direct relationship between brand experience and brand trust or whether there is an indirect relationship via satisfaction or brand familiarity. The results of an empirical study of e‐consumer behaviour show that brand trust is achieved through the following dimensions operating and interrelating as antecedent constructs: first, various brand experiences and the search for information, secondly, a high level of brand familiarity, and thirdly, customer satisfaction based on cognitive and emotional factors. These findings should assist marketers and academics in their understanding of the development of brand trust in an internet‐based environment. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Brand (in)fidelity: When Flirting with the Competition Strengthens Brand Relationships

We document the existence and consequences of brand flirting: a short‐lived experience in which a consumer engages with and/or indulges in the alluring qualities of a brand without committing to it. We propose that brand flirting is exciting, and that when consumers flirt with a brand other than their typically preferred brand in the same product category, they can transfer this excitement to their preferred brand—resulting in even greater love and desire for it. Consistent with this conceptual account, we demonstrate that this brand flirting effect is mediated by excitement. Moreover, the brand flirting effect is most likely to emerge under conditions that facilitate arousal transfer: when consumers are highly committed to their preferred brand, and when the brand with which consumers flirt is similar to their preferred brand.     

Assessing the predictive validity of perceived globalness and country of origin of foreign brands in quality judgments among consumers in emerging markets

Consumers in emerging markets are known to have strong preferences for well‐known foreign brands. Drawing on schema and categorization theories, this study empirically investigates how accessible two components of brand foreignness – globalness and country of brand origin – are in consumer perceptions of brand quality in emerging markets. In addition, we argue that brand globalness can be shaped by inferential reasoning and test how consumer perceptions of brand globalness are affected by both a brand's country of origin and its perceived quality. Two different studies were conducted with young‐adult consumers in China. The study found that in their evaluations of foreign brands consumers are more influenced by country of origin than by brand globalness. It also found that consumers tend to perceive a high level of globalness in high‐quality brands and brands from a favorable country‐of‐origin. Further, this tendency was found to differ between well‐known and lesser‐known brands. These findings confirm the predictive validity of country of origin, but contrast with extant literature on the role of brand globalness as a principal quality cue for foreign brands among consumers in emerging markets. Our findings also imply brand globalness can be an inferred attribute of perceived brand quality and country‐of‐origin image. Keywords: brand foreignness, brand globalness, country‐of‐origin effect, emerging markets.     

萌萌哒还是古灵精怪?奢侈品品牌可爱风格对消费者偏好的影响

奢侈品品牌热衷于使用可爱风格与消费者进行互动。本文以理想自我理论为基础,通过4个实验探索奢侈品品牌可爱风格类型对消费者偏好的影响机制和边界条件。实验1表明奢侈品品牌的可爱风格(婴儿图式/古灵精怪)会显著地影响消费者的品牌偏好,验证了主效应的因果链模型。实验2进一步明确了主效应的边界,结果表明品牌可爱风格对消费者偏好的影响只在奢侈品品牌的情境下才存在。实验3探索了自我监控水平对主效应的调节作用,发现对于低自我监控的个体,奢侈品品牌的可爱风格难以有效地影响品牌偏好。实验4分析了个体发展阶段对主效应的调节作用,结果表明对于成年期个体,古灵精怪可爱风格比婴儿图式可爱风格更能提高个体的奢侈品品牌偏好,对于童年期个体,婴儿图式可爱风格比古灵精怪可爱风格更易获得青睐。     

萌萌哒还是古灵精怪?奢侈品品牌可爱风格对消费者偏好的影响

奢侈品品牌热衷于使用可爱风格与消费者进行互动。本文以理想自我理论为基础,通过4个实验探索奢侈品品牌可爱风格类型对消费者偏好的影响机制和边界条件。实验1表明奢侈品品牌的可爱风格(婴儿图式/古灵精怪)会显著地影响消费者的品牌偏好,验证了主效应的因果链模型。实验2进一步明确了主效应的边界,结果表明品牌可爱风格对消费者偏好的影响只在奢侈品品牌的情境下才存在。实验3探索了自我监控水平对主效应的调节作用,发现对于低自我监控的个体,奢侈品品牌的可爱风格难以有效地影响品牌偏好。实验4分析了个体发展阶段对主效应的调节作用,结果表明对于成年期个体,古灵精怪可爱风格比婴儿图式可爱风格更能提高个体的奢侈品品牌偏好,对于童年期个体,婴儿图式可爱风格比古灵精怪可爱风格更易获得青睐。     

Impact of consumers' corporate social responsibility‐related activities in social media on brand attitude,electronic word‐of‐mouth intention,and purchase intention: A study of Chinese consumer behavior

This study examines how consumers' corporate social responsibility (CSR)‐related activities in social media affect their responses to brands. We defined consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media as the extent to which consumers use social media to engage in CSR communication by companies. An online survey was conducted to examine social media users in China, the largest consumer market in today's global economies. This study developed a theoretical model and empirically tested the relationships between consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media, identification with the brand, and three consumer behavior outcomes: electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) intention, brand attitude, and purchase intention. The results suggested that consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media significantly impacted eWOM intention and purchase intention through enhancing identification with the brand and positive brand attitude. This study provides important insights on consumer behavior and CSR by investigating social media, an important and emerging marketing platform. Moreover, this study fills in the research gap about the association between consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media and their responses to brands. Theoretical and managerial implications for CSR strategies in social media are discussed.     

A stochastic model of consideration set sizes

This paper proposes a new model of consideration set sizes, which relies on a stochastic modelling approach to better understand data patterns. The paper combines the Poisson distribution with the lognormal distribution proposed by Hauser and Wernerfelt (1990) to create the Poisson lognormal (PLN) model of consideration set sizes. An advantage of PLN is that it allows variance within a given individual consumer. This is a crucial factor for brand managers who wish to choose a particular market to promote their brand, as a higher within‐individual variance suggests that there is more chance for a consumer to change their consideration set size, whereas a lower within‐individual variance indicates that a consumer tends to stick to his/her consideration set size. The paper then uses 10 datasets including service, durable and fast‐moving consumer goods across four countries to validate the new model and compare it with the lognormal model. The results show that PLN gives a good fit to these data. It outperforms the lognormal model. The average mean absolute percentage error of the PLN model is 12 per cent, whereas that of the lognormal model is 26 per cent. For managerial implications, the paper proposes a better tool to help brand managers analyse the nature and intensity of competition that is facing their brands. Also, relying on its stochastic element, the proposed model can help brand managers predict future brand consideration by their consumers, as well as evaluate any change in brand consideration, caused by marketing activity such as sales promotion and advertising. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Leave or stay? The role of self‐construal on luxury brand attitudes and purchase intentions in response to brand rejection

Marketing managers of luxury brands often use exclusionary marketing tactics that can lead consumers to feel rejected by those brands. In our research, we examine whether consumers with independent self‐construals are more likely than those with interdependent self‐construals to downgrade their evaluations of a luxury brand when feeling rejected by it. Results of three studies support this hypothesis. Using a manipulation of brand rejection with hypothetical future scenarios, study 1 provides evidence that consumers with a higher chronic independent (versus interdependent) self‐construal are more likely to lower their brand attitudes and purchase intentions of a desirable luxury brand that rejects them. Study 2 replicates the moderating effect of self‐construal at a cultural level, comparing Chinese and American respondents. Study 3 again compares self‐construals at a cultural level, but manipulates brand rejection by asking respondents to recall a prior rejection experience. Importantly, Study 3 reveals a mediating influence of self‐brand connection. That is, independents, when recalling an experience of luxury brand rejection, were more likely than interdependents to report a decrease in their feelings of connectedness to the rejecting brand, which in turn resulted in lower attitudes toward the brand and lower purchase intentions. Our findings provide luxury brand marketers with insights for both niche branding strategy design and cross‐cultural customer relationship management.     

Consumers' perceptions of the dimensions of brand personality

Brand personality (human‐like characteristics of a brand) has been a popular topic in the marketing literature for over 50 years. However, there is a lack of consumer‐focused studies investigating what factors shape perceptions of brand personality. To address this gap, the purpose of the current study is to understand how consumers form their perceptions of the different dimensions of brand personality identified in Aaker's scale (sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness), and what product or brand characteristics influence these perceptions. Sixty‐six interviews were conducted with graduate students, who were asked to discuss which brands reflected the specific dimensions of brand personality in Aaker's scale. As a result, we identify the kinds of brands consumers perceive as typical for each personality dimension, discover their common characteristics and explain the reasons why some brands are strongly associated with a particular dimension and some are not. Our findings indicate that specific brand personality dimensions are associated with particular product categories. However, brands mentioned as strong on respective personality dimensions share commonalities beyond just a product category. For instance, sincere brands share family‐related associations and high morals, exciting brands offer consumers the opportunity to experience exciting feelings and are related to special ‘exciting’ occasions, competent brands are mostly associated with expertise and quality, sophisticated brands are usually of feminine nature, whereas rugged brands are of masculine nature. Moreover, we find that brands which consumers perceive as lacking on a particular personality dimension also share common attributes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hooked on a feeling: The effect of music tempo on attitudes and the mediating role of consumers' affective responses

With today's high degree of advertising clutter, marketers might greatly focus on evoking emotion or creating hedonic (e.g., feeling) experiences for consumers in order to improve practice. These strategies minimize the effort needed to process a message and can influence consumers' decisions. In 4 studies, we examine the effects of music tempo on consumers' attitudes toward the brand while further considering the mediating role of evoked feelings. Study 1 and 2 supports that music tempo in commercials influences consumers' affective response to the music in advertising. Study 3 replicated this effect using a controlled experiment and extended the research by demonstrating that tempo also affects general mood states, in addition to feelings evoked by the music. Last, Study 4 demonstrates that need for emotion moderates the role of affect as information. This research contributes to theory in sensory marketing and consumer behavior and offers practical implications to improve marketing practice.