Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is a novel and powerful methodology used as an analytical technique and research approach in the social science field. This study aims to extend the ...application of fsQCA in investigating the structural associations of antecedents and the outcomes in a multi-layer problem. The research framework of ethnic themed restaurants suggested by Lu et al. (2015) and the new consistency by Huarng (2016) were adopted. With the same data set, the findings from the systems approach and fsQCA confirmed the three and four dimensions of brand equity, respectively, which provided explanations for complexity theory, while reinforced fsQCA's appropriateness. From the managerial perspective, the study unraveled the need for managers to implement proper strategies to achieve the objective of higher retention.
•The appropriateness of fsQCA in solving multi-layer problems is reinforced with new consistency.•With systems approach and qualitative comparative analysis, complexity theory is supported.•The contents of higher retention in terms of authenticity are developed.
This book presents a comprehensive examination of Chinese consumer behaviour and challenges the previously dichotomous interpretation of the consumption of Western and non-Western brands in China. ...The dominant position is that Chinese consumers are driven by a desire to imitate the lifestyles of Westerners and thereby advance their social standing locally. The alternative is that consumers reject Western brands as a symbolic gesture of loyalty to their nation-state. Drawing from survey responses and in depth interviews with Chinese consumers in both rural and urban areas, Kelly Tian and Lily Dong find that consumers situate Western brands within select historical moments. This embellishment attaches historical meanings to Western brands in ways that render them useful in asserting preferred visions of the future China. By highlighting how Western brands are used in contests for national identity, Consumer-Citizens of China challenges the notion of the "patriot’s paradox" and answers scholars’ questions as to whether Chinese nationalists today allow for a Sino-Western space where the Chinese can love China without hating the West. Consumer-Citizens of China will be of interest to students and scholars of business studies, Chinese and Asian Studies and Political Science. Kelly Tian is Professor of Marketing and holds the Anderson Chair of Business at New Mexico State University. Lily Dong is Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Chapter One IMAGINING CHINA, IMAGINING BRANDS: Foreign Brands as Global Brands from the Imagined West; Western and Domestic Brands As Materials for Realizing an Imagined Future China; Obscured State Influence and Consumer Autonomy; Organization of the Book Chapter Two RETHINKING POPULAR NOTIONS OF CHINESE CONSUMERS’ MOTIVES FOR RESPONDING TO WESTERN BRANDS: The Emulative Motive For Western Brand Consumption; The Patriotic Motive for Rejecting Western Brands; Rethinking the Primacy of the Emulative Motive for Consuming Western Brands; Rethinking "Consumer Nationalism" as Synonymous with Western Brand Boycotting; Chinese Consumers as Active Meaning Makers Chapter Three HIGHLIGHTED MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF BRANDED GOODS IN CHINA: The Emergence of Branded Goods in Late Imperial China; Branded Goods in Semi-colonial China of the Early 20 th Century; Branded Goods Since Gaige Kaifang- China’s Economic Reform; Relevance of These Past Moments to Present-Day Brand Meanings Chapter Four FOREIGN BRANDS IN CHINA AS GLOBAL BRANDS FROM THE IMAGINED WEST: Overview of Research Method; Data Collection Sites; Our Data Collection Methods; Foreign Brands as Western Brands With Distinguishing Characteristics Chapter Five CHINESE NATIONAL NARRATIVES AND THE MEANINGS OF WESTERN BRANDS: The West as Experiential Venue, Western Brands as Instruments of Freedom; The West as Imperialist Oppressor, Western Brands as Instruments of Domination; The West as Subjugated, Conquered Western Brands as Redemption; The West as Economic Partner, Western Brands as Instruments of Economic Progress Chapter Six NATIONAL NARRATIVES IN IMAGINATIVE PROCESSING OF WESTERN BRAND PROMOTIONS: Imagined Consumption; Western Brand Producers’ Efforts to Evoke Consumption Fantasies; Individual Psychological Processes of Enlivening Consumption Fantasies; Narratives and Imagined Identity Transformations From Western Brand Consumption; The Influence of East-West Narratives On the Processing of Western Brands Promotions; Discussion Chapter Seven CITIZEN-CONSUMERS IN AN AGE OF GLOBALIZATION
•Consumers draw on the ‘simple = authentic’ lay theory to make inferences regarding brand authenticity, which subsequently influences brand choice.•The positive effect of package design simplicity on ...consumers’ perceived brand authenticity only occurs when consumers are unfamiliar with the brands. When they are familiar with the brand, the simplicity effect will disappear.•The positive effect of package design simplicity on perceived brand authenticity is attenuated when the complex patterns on the package design signal brand’s identity, i.e., the package design use patterns that are the brands’ iconic ones and are strong associations of the brand that consumers hold.
Organizations devote considerable resources to create authentic brand images in response to declining consumer trust. However, empirical research on the effect of package design elements on brand authenticity perception is scant. We fill this gap by focusing on package design simplicity, a prominent trend in package aesthetics, and examining its impact on consumers’ perceived brand authenticity and the downstream consequence of that impact. Across eight studies (N = 1941), we demonstrate a linear relationship whereby visually simple package designs lead to higher perceptions of brand authenticity compared to complex designs (Studies 1A, 1B, 1C), a relationship driven by the “simple = authentic” lay theory (Pilot, Study 2). We further test the moderation effects of brand familiarity and the identity signaling of package design. We find that the effect of package design simplicity is mitigated for consumers familiar with the target brand (Study 3), or when complex designs signal the brand’s identity (Study 4). As package design simplicity affects perceived brand authenticity, we further identify brand choice as the downstream consequence of brand authenticity (Study 5). Our findings contribute to the literature on lay theories, visual cognition, brand inference-making, and brand authenticity.
People demonstrate indirect support for a nation's identity by consuming products representing their nationality. In such context, this article focuses on how people react toward brands with national ...associations when the nation faces threats perpetrated by institutions. Institutions are important as they are one of the core elements defining national identity. Institutional threats to national identity can come from within the nation (internal threat) and from outside (external threat). Weekly supermarket scanner data from 2004 showed that sales of American-sounding brands declined in counties that saw higher coverage of the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal (internal threat), and sales of American-sounding brands increased in counties with more war casualties (external threat). Seven additional experiments demonstrated that (1) self-enhancement derived from national identity mediates these main effects, (2) advertisements that refocus attention on how the brand helps cope with external threats mitigate the negative effects of internal threats for American brands, and (3) such advertisements do not mitigate the negative effects of internal threats for non-American brands. Qualitative surveys (N = 218), surveys (N = 1,603), experiments (N = 3,123), and secondary data analyses (encompassing sales of over 8,000 brands across more than 1,100 U.S. stores) were used to triangulate the results.
Smartphone apps allow retailers to track the location of their customers and provide the opportunity to reach them with location-based mobile ads. However, the efficacy of these ads often suffers ...from consumers' feelings of intrusiveness. Little research has investigated how location-based mobile messages should be designed to maximize their effectiveness and avoid undesired outcomes such as feelings of intrusiveness. The present study tested the effect of openness in ad design, in interaction with location congruency of mobile advertising, using a virtual reality supermarket setting. A process of moderated serial mediation demonstrates indirect positive effects of ad openness on brand choice (via intrusiveness and Aad), moderated by location congruency. Specifically, openness in mobile ad design lowers perceived ad intrusiveness, which positively affects consumers' brand choice (via Aad). This effect is stronger for ads that are presented in a location-congruent situation than for location-incongruent ads.
Unlike previous research that suggests a predominant preference for older brands, this research takes a contingent perspective to examine how consumers’ preference for older brands is affected by ...their expectations of category innovativeness. Results from the analysis of sales data from Amazon and seven experimental studies demonstrate that consumers’ preference for older brands decreases with their expectations of category innovativeness. The rationale is that with expectations of category innovativeness, consumers place less importance on consistency-related brand traits (e.g., stability, reliability) and more on excitement-related brand traits (e.g., dynamic, adventurous). Because older brands are associated with consistency, preference for older brands diminishes with expectations of category innovativeness. Further, this research identifies two factors that moderate the effects of category innovativeness on preference for older (vs. younger) brands. First, familiarity with the older brand moderates the effect of category innovativeness on brand preferences such that category innovativeness increases preferences for younger brands only when consumers are choosing between unfamiliar brands. Second, consumers’ need for uniqueness reduces the effect of category innovativeness on preferences for younger brands. Together, the findings suggest that the dominance of older brands reduces with expectations of category innovativeness. The findings are important from both theoretical and managerial perspectives.
•We propose a reference price model that accounts for different store formats.•Internal reference price response differs across store formats (with same pricing).•Price image differs across the store ...formats (low-price vs. high-price image).•We observe loss-aversion (gain-seeking) at low-price (high-price) image store format.•Results suggest to adapt pricing to reference price response across store formats.
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Reference price models have a long tradition in marketing and consumer research. Pricing strategies can utilize consumer response to gains and losses relative to internal reference prices, which are price expectations developed from past-observed prices. Consequently, many previous studies have been devoted to analyzing differences in internal reference price response across product categories and consumer characteristics. However, knowledge about internal reference price response across different store formats is missing. Our study aims to fill this research gap. To do so, we estimate a reference price model for the same set of brands and the same sample of consumers across two store formats (discount chain vs. supermarket chain). The prices for the brands in our model are similar across store formats. Results from our proposed model show that the same consumers are loss-averse at the discount chain while gain-seeking at the supermarket chain. Predicted by previous literature, we attribute the difference in internal reference price response to the different price image of the store formats. Overall, our research contributes to the reference price literature and provides important implications for pricing strategies at stores with different price image.
This paper compares the buying behaviours of older and younger consumers of older and newer brands in grocery retailing. We analysed 88,000 purchases of 60 brands from six categories. Behavioural ...loyalty measures for different consumer age cohorts were calculated and compared relative to each brand's launch date. Results showed older consumers do not buy older brands more often than newer brands. Older consumers also do not principally buy older brands. Therefore, brands of all ages compete for consumers of all ages. Findings indicate that for newer brands, older consumers should not be ignored as a market for growing the brand. For older brands, despite the default advantage of long-term exposure of older consumers, such advantage will fade if these brands fail to maintain a competitive presence in the market, as older consumers trial and become loyal to newer brands.
This study integrates neuroscientific tools such as data from eye movements, store navigation, and brand choice in a virtual supermarket into a single source data analysis to examine consumer choice, ...customer experience, and shopping behavior in a store. Through qualitative comparative analysis, the findings suggest that a high level of attention to a brand and slow eye movements between brands lead to additional brand purchases within the product category. This study points out that the key driver of additional brand choices is the time buyers spend on the first choice, showing that the allocation of less for the first choice triggers additional purchases within the product category and, therefore, increases sales. In addition, this study discusses practical and methodological implications for retailers, manufacturers, and researchers.
Retail research has highlighted how the presence of others can affect consumers' brand evaluations, purchase intentions, and choice behavior. This field study investigated whether the presence (vs. ...absence) of peers and other consumers, respectively, could influence consumers' propensity to purchase popular brands (i.e., a market leader) within a given product category. Consumers at a supermarket were observed when standing in front of a spice shelf and their choices were analyzed as a function of whether they shopped alone or in the presence of peers versus other consumers. The results revealed that peer presence, but not the mere presence of other consumers, increased consumers' inclination to make popular brand choices, and that this effect was mediated by their stated familiarity with the chosen brand. As such, peer presence seems to increase consumers’ reliance on heuristics and the accessibility of concepts linked to popularity, leading to congruent popular brand choices. Moreover, consumers shopping in the presence of others generally took a longer time before choosing a brand and touched slightly more products in the presence of other consumers. Taken together, these results contribute to theory refinement in social influence from ecologically valid conditions and offer a set of implications for companies, store managers, and people working in the food industry.
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