Cinemusical meanings in motion pictures: commerce,art, and Brando loyalty … or … De Niro,My God,To Thee

• The theme of art‐versus‐commerce has surfaced in many motion pictures but serves here to juxtapose three otherwise disparate films that draw upon the power of jazz as a force toward the dramatic development of character, plot, central themes, and other cinemusical meanings. Specifically, via the significance of its ambi‐diegetic music, New York, New York (1977) shows the elevation of artistic integrity (Robert De Niro as Jimmy Doyle) over commercialism (Liza Minnelli as Francine Evans). In Heart Beat (1980), the raw honesty of a committed‐but‐doomed creative genius (Art Pepper) provides nondiegetic music that signifies the self‐destructive degradation of a key protagonist (Nick Nolte as Neal Cassady). Finally, in The Score (2001), the appealing nature of diegetic jazz in a cinemusically‐enriched nightclub environment helps to explain why a soon‐to‐be‐ reformed criminal (Robert De Niro, again, as Nick Wells) would risk everything in collaboration with two bizarre partners (Marlon Brando as Max Baron and Ed Norton as Jack Teller) in hopes of a payoff big enough to allow him to retire from a lucrative career in crime in order to run his legitimate jazz venue and to settle down with his true love (Angela Bassett as Diane Boesman).

Copyright © 2007 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.