Perceived brand authenticity: Examining the effects of inferred dedication and anticipated quality on consumers' purchase intentions and actual choices

This research investigates both the downstream effect of perceived brand authenticity on consumers' actual, consequential choice and the important role of inferred brand dedication in the relationship between perceived brand authenticity, anticipated quality, and purchase intentions. We also investigate the interactive effect of two source-related factors—intrinsic motivation and congruity—on consumers' brand authenticity perceptions. We present findings from three studies using different product categories (utilitarian/consumable: hand sanitizer; hedonic/consumable: chocolate; hedonic/non-consumable: sunglasses). Study 1 shows that consumers use information regarding the intrinsic motivation of those behind the brand and congruity between the brand's actions and what it represents to consumers when forming brand authenticity perceptions and that intrinsic motivation and congruity interact to increase authenticity perceptions. We anticipate that consumers' positivity toward brands perceived as authentic will extend to actual choice through anticipated quality. Study 2 demonstrates that consumers choose authentic brands over inauthentic brands above what chance would dictate and anticipated quality can forecast this choice. Next, we extend our collective process knowledge by exploring an underlying reason why consumers anticipate that brands presented through marketing communications as authentic will have higher quality. We suggest that when managers present brands as authentic, consumers infer greater dedication of those behind the brand and inferred dedication influences anticipated product quality. Study 3 provides support and uncovers a serial mediation process, highlighting the importance of inferred dedication. Specifically, perceived brand authenticity increases consumers' brand dedication inferences, which in turn increases anticipated product quality, and ultimately purchase intentions.     

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.     

Why brands should fear fearful consumers: How attachment style predicts retaliation

In two surveys of adult consumers, we find that attachment styles predict consumers' reactions after brand relationships end. Specifically, ‘fearful’ consumers—those high in both attachment anxiety and avoidance—are most likely to complain to third parties, to obsess about harming the brand, and to report seeking payback against brands. Two factors mediate the effect of attachment on reactions: threats to consumers' self-image and the loss of benefits from their relationship. This is consistent with the explanation we propose: specifically, fearful individuals invest in and depend more on consumption relationships and, therefore, lose more when such relationships end.     

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.     

Touch and Go: Merely Grasping a Product Facilitates Brand Perception and Choice

Consumers often touch products, and such haptic exploration can improve consumers' evaluations of the product. We tested whether cross‐modal priming might contribute to this effect. Under the guise of a weight judgment task, which served as a haptic prime, we had blindfolded participants grasp familiar products (e.g., a Coca Cola bottle). We then had participants visually identify the brand name as quickly as possible (Experiments 1 and 2), list the first beverage brands that come to mind (Experiment 3), or choose between beverage brands as reward for participation (Experiment 4). Haptic exposure facilitated visual recognition of the given brand and increased participants' consideration and choice of that brand. Moreover, this haptic priming was brand specific and occurred even among participants who did not consciously identify the prime brand. These results demonstrate that haptic brand identities can facilitate recognition, consideration, and brand choice, regardless of consumers' conscious awareness of this haptic priming. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anthropomorphizing brands: The role of attributed brand traits in interactive CSR communication and consumer online endorsements

Consumers tend to relate to brands in similar ways as they relate to individuals and groups. However, relatively little is known about the attribution of human traits to brands in online contexts. The current research focused on the role of attributed brand traits in interactive corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication and positive electronic word‐of‐mouth intentions. Results of an online survey (N = 174) revealed that higher levels of perceived interactivity were associated with stronger attributions of morality, sociability, and competence traits to brands. Yet only attributed brand morality was associated with consumers' willingness to endorse the brand and its CSR message on social networking sites. These findings underline the importance of brands' openness to dialogue regarding the promotion of CSR activities. Furthermore, these findings suggest that consumers are most likely to feel that brands can represent their identity when brand morality is considered to be high.     

Do brands of a feather flock together? Some exploratory findings on the role of individual brands in brand constellation choice

In this paper, consumers' choice of brand constellations (eg Big Mac and Coke at McDonald's) are investigated by examining the roles of individual brands. The author proposes that marketers need to look beyond perceived fit between brands within a brand constellation. Therefore, this paper explores empirically how individual brand evaluations at product level and at brand level affect brand constellation choice. It is shown that brands do not have to be equally attractive in order to be included in brand constellations. For instance, a weak brand may complement a strong brand. Theoretical and marketing implications are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The logo ‘visual thickness effect’: When and why it boosts brand personality

Although the literature suggests that logos impart symbolic meanings via visual elements that influence consumers' early evaluation of brands, few such elements have been studied, with others (e.g., logo thickness) awaiting scholarly investigation. According to the literature, visual thickness seems to influence perception of power and consumers' consequent judgments. This research tests and theorises the influence of the logo visual thickness effect on consumer behaviour. Results of five studies employing more than 4000 MTurk participants and 20 fictitious logos suggest that thick logos boost perception of brand personality mediated by a pronounced perception of brand power. In addition, the logo-thickness-induced perception of brand power is negatively moderated by consumers' level of perceived power of the self. Further, the perception of brand power induced by logo thickness is moderated by consumers' level of visuospatial sketchpad, meaning that people with high (vs. low) visuospatial sketchpad can cancel out the extraneous influence of logo thickness while evaluating the underlying brand, once the stimulus magnitude hits the salience threshold. Theoretical and managerial implications are accordingly provided.     

Original brands and counterfeit brands—do they have anything in common?

• Consumer decisions to purchase fakes instead of originals has developed into a major concern for brand manufacturers worldwide. This research looks at the customers' understanding of the key concepts “original brand” and “counterfeit brand.” Using the theory of social representations helped to gain rich insight into the consumers' perception of counterfeit brands in the light of their counterpart original brands, to determine the main differences and similarities, and to identify core aspects and relative evaluations of these two concepts. Taken collectively, the results indicate that, based on single associations, respondents' mental maps of the two concepts do not overlap. It seems that they have a clear picture of what they get with the purchase of original brands versus counterfeits. Although similar attributes to evaluate “original brand” and “counterfeit brand” were used (quality and price), they contribute differently to the nature of the concepts. The benefits of both categories are strongly related to consumers' norms prevalent in their social environment.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is Cinderella resurging? The impact of consumers' underdog disposition on brand preferences: Underdog brand biography and brand status as moderators

This research attempts to explore the moderating roles of underdog brand biography and brand status in the impact of consumers' underdog disposition on brand preferences. A total of 218 on‐the‐job graduate students were randomly assigned to a 2 (explicitness of underdog brand biography: implicit vs. explicit) × 2 (brand status: emerging brands vs. established brands) factorial design. Results show that consumers with strong underdog disposition are likely to generate stronger brand preferences for established brands accompanied with explicit underdog brand biographies than emerging brands accompanied with explicit underdog brand biographies; in contrast, consumers with strong underdog disposition are likely to engender no differential brand preferences for emerging brands accompanied with implicit underdog brand biographies over established brands accompanied with implicit underdog brand biographies. Moreover, consumers with a weak underdog disposition are likely to engender stronger brand preferences for established brands than emerging brands, regardless of the explicitness of underdog brand biography. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of retailer image on private brand attitude: Halo effect and summary construct

The purpose of this article is to examine the influence of retailer image on consumers' attitude towards private brand. More specifically, we evaluate two alternative perspectives of retailer image—the halo effect and the summary construct—and include a moderator variable, consumer familiarity with a retailer's private label products, to discern which of the two models has better explanatory power. The findings indicate that there are moderating effects of consumer familiarity with a retailer's private brands and product categories in determining the efficacy of each model. In private brand foods, high familiarity is related to the summary construct model, and low familiarity is associated with the halo effect model. In private brand clothing, however, low familiarity is related to the halo effect model, but high familiarity is associated with both the halo effect and the summary construct model. Managerial and future research implications are also provided.     

Context‐induced placebo effects—An investigation of contrast effects in response expectations and actual product efficacy

Recent research on the placebo effect of marketing actions has demonstrated that characteristics that are not inherent to a product's physical properties per se, such as its price, brand, or packaging can considerably shape consumers' expectations about and actual efficacy of a marketed product. However, potential contextual effects that other products may have on the construction of consumers' efficacy beliefs and objective consumption outcomes remain unexplored. Across two experimental studies, we show that people's response expectations regarding a focal product are inversely related to the alleged superiority of context options and that such context‐induced expectations can carry over to behavioural performance metrics; a phenomenon we refer to as context‐induced placebo effects.     

Semantic association of brand images at the implicit level: evidence from repetition blindness

A brand is designed to convey the uniqueness of its product and help differentiate it from competitors' offerings. However, consumers' shopping behaviour typically involves a minimum of effort with products being only scanned briefly. This study investigated the potential of exploiting a phenomenon known as semantic repetition blindness (SRB) to assess the implicit semantic association of brands. SRB occurs when only one of two conceptually related images is recalled from a sequence of items displayed in a rapid serial visual presentation. Using brand words and pictures, four product categories were tested for implicit conceptual categorization. Pictures of brands revealed SRB when brands of the same product category were presented. However, under the same conditions, brand words did not produce SRB. The importance of presenting brands in their familiar formats was also observed. The results indicate that this paradigm could be developed as a measure of implicit brand association and recognition. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Brands as Intentional Agents”: Questions and extensions

The notion that consumers' relationships with brands can be characterized in ways that resemble their relationships with people is gaining considerable ground in the areas of consumer behavior and branding. Kervyn, Fiske and Malone's “Brands as Intentional Agents” offers additional support for this basic proposition. The authors argue that the ability to translate research on human social interaction relationships with brand relationships provides useful insights into brand positioning and brand communications. This author, while raising a few general questions about the SCM and BIAF models, identifies additional research questions in the consumer behavior and branding domains that might be informed by the basic components of the SCM model.     

The rosy side and the blue side of emotional brand attachment

This paper examines the rosy side (positive emotion) and the blue side (negative emotion) of brand attachment in consumer–brand relationships and their distinct motivational triggers. Adopting attachment theory, self‐determination theory, and the relationship investment model, this paper provides a richer understanding of the positivity and negativity of emotional brand attachment in terms of consequential branding outcomes. Two hierarchical constructs—autonomous and controlled motivations—are proposed and examined using partial least squares path modelling. Data were collected through a 3‐stage survey to gain 507 samples of customers' brand attachments to 9 international car brands. This research reveals that customers' positive‐side (rosy‐side) emotional brand attachments are driven by autonomous motivations including satisfying the intrinsic motivation of pursuing pleasure and fulfilling needs for self‐determination and self‐congruence in the car brand consumption context. Customers' negative‐side (blue‐side) emotional brand attachment reflects feelings of separation distress, anxiety, and sadness that are triggered by their controlled motivations in car brand consumption contexts. The results indicate that positive emotions (the rosy side) of brand attachment are a more effective predictor of brand repurchasing intentions and word‐of‐mouth behaviours than are negative emotions (the blue side) of brand attachment. This study applies Deci and Ryan's autonomous and controlled motivations to explain the positivity and negativity of consumers' emotional brand attachment in brand–consumer relationships.     

Betting on a brand: How can trust game experiments inform a brand trust research agenda?

For brands to succeed, they often need consumers to trust them. This has prompted marketing and consumer behaviour researchers to examine what makes certain brands more trusted and how brands can identify themselves as trustworthy. For over 25 years, experimental economists, behavioural scientists and others have examined interpersonal trust using an exercise — the trust game — where participants put money at risk based on how trustworthy they think other people are. This research has remained largely separate from work on brand trust, but this critical review aims to identify findings and concepts from trust game-based research that are relevant to brand trust, and starts to develop an integrated research agenda for the future. In particular, it looks at how brand trust is measured, how brand trust might (or might not) be distinguished from transactional risk, and the heuristics and biases behind brand trust judgements and how these relate to brands' attempts to signal their trustworthiness.     

The interaction effect of ad appeal and need for cognition on consumers' intentions to share viral advertisements

Viral advertising has become a popular form of persuasive communication to promote brands on social media. Extant research on viral advertising has focused mostly on evaluating content characteristics as drivers of virality, but very few studies have examined the potential influence of consumers' personality variables that affect their information processing and subsequent ad‐sharing behavior. By taking a consumer‐centric approach, two experimental studies were conducted to examine how consumer's need for cognition (NFC: high vs. low) interacts with message appeal (emotional vs. informational) used in the branded viral advertisements and extent of brand information (high vs. low brand prominence) present in the branded viral advertisement to influence consumers' intentions to share viral advertisements. As compared with low‐NFC individuals, high‐NFC individuals reported higher sharing intentions for viral ads that use informational appeal and also for an emotional viral ad where brand prominence is high. This finding is consistent with the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Further, the results of these studies show an interesting finding that contradicts the existing understanding originating from ELM; that is, high‐NFC individuals reported higher sharing intentions for viral ads with an emotional appeal as compared with low‐NFC individuals, even when the brand prominence is low. Possible explanations and implications of the findings are discussed in this paper.     

Capitalizing on brand personalities in advertising: The influence of implicit self‐theories on ad appeal effectiveness

How can firms use brand personalities to develop the most persuasive advertising appeals? In this article, we examine advertising appeals that capitalize on the signaling opportunities that using these brands can provide (signaling ad appeal) versus the self-improvement opportunities that using these brands can offer (self-improvement ad appeal). In two studies, we find that the effectiveness of these appeals depends on consumers' implicit self-theories. Specifically, signaling ad appeals are more effective for consumers who believe their personal qualities are fixed and cannot be developed through their own efforts (entity theorists), whereas self-improvement ad appeals are more effective for consumers who believe their personal qualities are malleable and can be developed (incremental theorists). Implications for brand personality research and advertising are discussed.     

Understanding the richness of brand relationships: Research dialogue on brands as intentional agents

This essay offers some perspectives on Kervyn et al.'s insightful research on brand relationships and the role of perceived intentions and ability. After briefly discussing the importance of brand knowledge and functionality in understanding the diversity of brand relationships, some other antecedents and consequences of brand relationships are reviewed. Three antecedents of corporate credibility — expertise, trust, and likability — are suggested as another means to differentiate how consumers view different brands. Brand resonance — an intense, active loyalty relationship — is also suggested as an important outcome of brand relationships. The essay concludes by noting that any concept as complex as brand relationships lends itself to multiple concepts, perspectives, and analysis.     

Salesperson–brand relationship: main dimensions and impact within the context of private brand retailing

Private branding is considered one of the most effective and efficient influencers of retailers’ return on investment in their fiercely competitive industry. However, no study to date has examined these brands’ impact on salespeople's motivation and commitment to their own employer. This study, based upon extensive qualitative and quantitative research, shows that salespeople's relationships with their private brands can be influential in increasing their selling motivation and organizational commitment. Toward this end, our study first identifies the three important dimensions of salesperson–brand relationship (affect, trust, perceived customer recognition due to the brand) and develops their measures. Second, the findings show that salesperson–brand relationships, which exist between the retail frontline employees and retailers’ private brand, strongly influence sales motivation and firm commitment with a moderating influence of role clarity regarding management's expectations from its salespeople.