Journal of Brand Management最新文献

Despite the growing importance of facial expressions in online brand communications, little is known about the positive and negative effects of replacing human facial expressions with emojis. To address this gap, this research examines how facial expressions (emojis versus human faces) shape consumers' emotional contagion and brand fun. Findings from three experimental studies (two online and one with eye-tracking) demonstrate that the presence of emojis increases brand fun due to the underlying mechanism of emotional contagion. However, although emojis might foster positive brand outcomes, they reduce credibility compared to brand communications using human faces. Finally, this research provides relevant managerial implications for brands that wish to create communications using facial expressions since emojis can positively impact product engagement.

The study empirically investigates brand hate experiences and the impact on consumers' patronage intentions as well as on electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) via social media. It further examines the involvement of social media influencers (SMIs) in these relationships. Through a quantitative approach, data from 1034 social media respondents were collected via a web-based survey questionnaire using Google Forms. The findings demonstrate that brand hate emotions play a significant role in shaping negative e-WOM on social media and contribute to reduced patronage intentions towardss brands. Moreover, the study reveals that the personas of SMIs and their content exert varying degrees of influence, contributing to ameliorating effects on these relationships. Theoretically, this research represents a pioneering effort, offering fresh insights into how influencer content and personas can affect consumer brand hate reactions, which has not been extensively addressed in existing literature. For brands and managers, the study proffers, amongst other submissions, the need to safeguard brand reputation with the aid of social media monitoring tools, as well as partnering with genuine SMIs whose content align with the brand’s strategy, since influencers’ interventions can impact consumer sentiments.

Corporate brand identity is becoming a strategic issue in the UK fashion industry, as it is complex and constantly under pressure to differentiate. Fashion brands are expanding through a range of channels and rapidly changing takeovers, and it is unclear whether internal stakeholders are aware of the possible consequences of these approaches. In particular, there appears to be no literature on how retail and wholesale brands develop and manage their corporate brand identities during these changes and whether they draw on any meaningful connections with their customers. To understand how brand architecture might support the development of brand strategies in the UK fashion industry, perceptions of corporate brand identities were explored in retail and wholesale brands. Fifteen qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with elite informants. The findings reveal that retail brand identities can become disconnected from their sub-brands; therefore, brand identity may be invisible to consumers, while wholesale brands maintain a strong visible brand identity dependent on the brand’s values, historical legacy, innovation and positioning. A brand architecture model is developed that more accurately reflects the complex dimensions of UK fashion brands, particularly when channels expand and takeovers take place. These perspectives have not been reported in the literature.

Abstract

Consumers tend to abandon or avoid using a product when they become aware that it is being imitated by others. However, little is known about how or why such reactions may vary based on whether the mimicker belongs to the consumers’ dissociative group or membership group. This study proposes that consumers respond to mimickers from different social groups through the use of brands: horizontal or vertical differentiation. Across five studies, we show that when consumers are mimicked by a dissociative group (membership group), it results in feelings of self-identity threat (distinctiveness-threat). This, in turn, increases their desire for self-expression (a higher status position among brand users) and subsequently heightens the preference for horizontal (vertical) brands. These effects are mitigated when the mimicry domain has low identity-relevance and when the imitated person feels powerful.

The relationship between brand activism and other forms of activism, as well as the potential paradoxes that may arise from practicing brand activism, has not been fully addressed in the burgeoning brand activism literature. However, these questions are valid, given the growing interest in brands and activism in both research and practice. This article presents an overview of the ecosystem of organisation-related activisms surrounding brand activism and provides some insights into how brand activism can act as a bridge between them through different response processes within this ecosystem. Additionally, it discusses the relationship between corporate and brand activism, arguing that they are inextricably intertwined through the notion of organisational authenticity. Furthermore, the article uses the paradox wheel to illustrate some of the paradoxes of brand activism that should be considered in practice and as a basis for expanding research in the field. Finally, this article introduces a collection of articles in this special issue that has brought together a group of scholars researching brand activism from different perspectives, each of which offers grounds for a critical evaluation of what activism brings to brands, and what brand activism and branding bring to activism itself.

This study investigated the effect of self-regulatory messages by brands held accountable for causing public health concerns. With a brand’s aim to enhance the brand's public image by countering the negative perception of its products, the question was raised whether an individual brand communicating self-regulatory messages would receive a positive brand attitude. Results revealed that the brand’s self-regulatory message was positively evaluated only when consumers favored a brand. Consumers who had a negative attitude toward the brand reacted negatively to the self-regulatory message by the brand. Consumers also exhibited adverse brand evaluations when unfavorable to a product category. Ulterior motives of the brand were more inferred when they viewed a self-regulatory message than a promotional message. Consumer pre-existing attitude toward a brand or a product moderated the causal relationships of a self-regulatory message, ulterior motives, counterarguments, and brand attitude. The study highlights that brand communication of self-regulatory messages may not yield positive responses, especially when targeting the general public as a socially responsible action. Brands should be selective in their target audience, focusing on those who already hold a favorable view of the brand, to mitigate the risk of negative responses.

This study seeks to understand the influence of brand authenticity on consumer willingness to pay premium price (WPP). Also, this study examines the mediating effect of brand identification in the connection between brand authenticity and consumer WPP to strengthen the model's capacity for an explanation. The target respondents for the study were hotel guests who visited or stayed in 4- and 5-star hotels, and a sample size of 395 responses was used. We employed structural equation modeling using the maximum likelihood estimation through AMOS 22.0 to test hypotheses. The study results show that brand authenticity positively influences brand attitude and attachment. Moreover, brand attitude, in turn, positively influences the WPP. Brand identification has a partial mediating influence on the link between brand authenticity and WPP. This study has significant implications for academics and practitioners. This study adds to the body of knowledge on brand authenticity by connecting it to the literature on consumer behavior. This study extends the idea of authenticity—being true to oneself—used to describe personal brands to how consumers see a service brand (hotels).

In today’s fiercely competitive, customer-centric, and service-driven marketplace, where customer satisfaction, trust, and loyalty are hard-won currencies, brand authenticity emerges as a pivotal cornerstone, potentially fostering prosocial service behavior among employees—a crucial driver of organizational success. Yet, the intricate link between brand authenticity and prosocial service behavior remains a compelling and notably understudied frontier. To address this gap, we explore how prosocial service behavior can be shaped by brand authenticity. Using partial least squares–structural equation modeling based on survey responses from a random sample of 410 frontline employees in the hospitality industry, we found that brand authenticity alone cannot spark prosocial service behavior. Instead, brands must foster psychological empowerment and organizational commitment in order to activate and harness the power of brand authenticity in nurturing prosocial service behavior. This is because employees require both a belief in their own influence (empowerment) and a strong attachment to their organization (commitment) to fully express the genuine values of a brand through prosocial actions. However, caution should be noted: introducing job autonomy might diminish the impact of psychological empowerment. This counterintuitive effect could be attributed to the perception that excessive autonomy, while meant to empower, might be seen as a lack of guidance or support. Such a scenario may potentially make employees feel isolated or overwhelmed by decision-making responsibilities.

Brand pride is a self-relevant consumer emotion that impacts brand-related consumption behavior. The study validates brand pride (consumer brand) as a multi-dimensional construct and provides a robust scale to measure it. A literature review and a qualitative approach, followed by an iterative process, led to an initial pool of items to measure brand pride. Next, a stepwise scale purification and validation process involving five subsequent studies was conducted. The resulting 12-item parsimonious scale measures individualistic and collectivistic brand pride. Further, a nomological network of brand pride (consumer brand) with related constructs and predictive capability of the scale for loyalty outcomes is established. The findings contribute significantly to branding theory and provide strategic directions to brand managers in designing their branding strategies.

With the rise of influencer marketing, companies and brands are increasingly cooperating with social media influencers as another important promotion tool. In this context, it is important to understand the followers’ perspective on how the influential power of the influencer transforms into their brand perception and actions toward the brand. This study explains the effects of perceived influence on brand attachment (i.e., brand self-connection and brand prominence) and brand credibility on followers’ word of mouth and purchase intention. Our findings reveal that perceived influence positively affects two dimensions of brand attachment and brand credibility. In addition, our study also finds the more prominent role of brand credibility over brand attachment in affecting followers’ actions (i.e., word of mouth and purchase intention). Finally, the results confirm that the parasocial relationship acts as a moderator in the relationship between three brand-relevant constructs and behavioral outcomes. This paper offers a better understanding of the effect of social media influencers’ influential power on followers’ brand-related thoughts and their responses to the recommended brand.