Drivers of consumer–brand identification Stokburger-Sauer, Nicola; Ratneshwar, S.; Sen, Sankar
International journal of research in marketing,
12/2012, Letnik:
29, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The concept of consumer–brand identification (CBI) is central to our understanding of how, when, and why brands help consumers articulate their identities. This paper proposes and tests an ...integrative theoretical framework of the antecedents of CBI. Six drivers of CBI, a moderator, and two consequences are posited and tested with survey data from a large sample of German household consumers. The results confirm the influence of five of the six drivers, namely, brand–self similarity, brand distinctiveness, brand social benefits, brand warmth, and memorable brand experiences. Further, we find that all five of these antecedents have stronger causal relationships with CBI when consumers have higher involvement with the brand's product category. Finally, CBI is tied to two important pro-company consequences, brand loyalty and brand advocacy. Theoretical and managerial significance of the findings are discussed.
How do consumers react when brands take a stand on controversial socio-political issues? The results from a series of studies, involving both unknown and well-known brands, show that attitudes ...towards the brand decreased substantially among consumers who disagreed with a brand's stand, whereas there was no significant effect among consumers who were supportive of the brand's stand (Studies 1–4). This asymmetric effect of brand activism holds not only for brand attitude but also for consumers' behavioral intentions (Study 2) and actual choices (Study 1B). When consumers perceived the relationship between the brand and the source of the stand to be more distant, the negative effect of brand activism was weaker because it allowed consumers to morally decouple the brand from the stand (Study 3). Only when a brand faced public backlash because of its moral stand did we find a marginal increase in brand attitude among the proponents of the stand. However, when the brand subsequently withdrew its stand and apologized, the attitude towards the brand decreased among both the proponents and opponents of the stand (Study 4). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings and call for further research on brand activism.
•Brand activism concerns the act of taking a stand on divisive socio-political issues•Activism can hurt the brand substantially, while the potential benefits are minimal•The negative effect of consumer-brand disagreement about the stand can be mitigated•Consumers who decouple the brand itself from the (source of the) stand punish it less•Brands can gain from taking a stand in cases where there is strong public backlash
This study aims to investigate the interactive effects of brand biography and brand transgression type on consumers’ forgiveness intention. Brand transgression is categorized as relational or ...nonrelational, with the former (compared to the latter) seriously undermining consumers’ high identification with underdog brands. Across four experimental studies in which transgression type is manipulated in three different ways, it is confirmed that when facing nonrelational transgressions, participants show greater forgiveness intention for underdog than for top‐dog brands. However, when facing relational transgressions, they do not show increased forgiveness intention for underdog brands compared to top‐dog brands. Moreover, perceived anger mediates the interaction effect between brand biography and brand transgression type on forgiveness intention. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
Drawing on international branding literature and stereotyping research, the current study seeks to answer the following research questions: (1) do consumers' perceptions of brand globalness/localness ...influence their stereotypical assessments of brands in terms of their warmth and competence, and (2) do these stereotypical dimensions impact consumer-brand identification and, through it, purchase intentions and brand ownership? The proposed conceptual model is tested using data from two countries (Austria: N = 243; Bosnia & Herzegovina: N = 95) and seven global brands from different product categories. The findings reveal that perceived brand globalness and localness indeed influence the content of brand stereotypes by impacting consumers' assessments of warmth and competence. Brand warmth is revealed to be the key driver of consumer-brand identification which, in turn, stimulates purchase intentions and brand ownership. Brand competence is not significantly related to consumer-brand identification (across both studies), indicating that not all dimensions of stereotype content are relevant for the consumer-brand relationship.
Recent studies have highlighted the importance of social media brand communities to brand loyalty. This paper aims to stress the role of the brand in that relationship, suggesting a conceptual model ...in mass-market products in which consumers’ engagement in social media brand communities, brand identity, and consumer-brand identification are related to brand outcomes, such as trust and loyalty. A qualitative analysis was conducted, through in-depth interviews with experts and focus group discussions with consumers, so as to evaluate their experience with brands on social media. The findings indicated that in mass-markets, consumers engaged in social media brand communities may develop positive attitudes towards the brand, such as trust and loyalty, and that consumer-brand identification may have a fundamental role in transforming consumer-brand community interactions into consumer-brand relationships.
Extending the study of consumer-brand relationships in the post-purchase stages of consumer decision making and in situations involving unfavorable comparisons with foregone brands, this research ...investigates the role of consumer-brand identification on consumer responses to purchase regret. Drawing on regret theory and consumer-brand relationship literature, the authors argue that consumer-brand identification immunizes the brand from the negative consequences of purchase regret through the amplification of consumers' cognitive regret regulation and the attenuation of consumers' behavioral regret coping. An empirical study using scenario manipulation of regret for participants' favorite brands provides support to the protective role of consumer-brand identification. The results indicate that consumer-brand identification attenuates the negative effects of regret on satisfaction and behavioral intentions and strengthens the positive impact of satisfaction on brand repurchase/recommendation intent. The findings enrich regret and consumer-brand relationship theories and provide managerial insights for effective branding strategy development under conditions of intense competitive pressure.
The current research examines a new phenomenon, consumer–brand disidentification (CBD), in relation to consumer–brand identification (CBI), their symbolic drivers, and unique outcomes. The model is ...examined in the context of seven nationally-recognized beer brands. As such, three theoretical contributions are made. First, the concept of CBD is revealed as useful in understanding consumers' brand relationships. Second, CBI and CBD are evidenced as capturing an attraction/repulsion dynamic by which brands simultaneously attract and repulse segments of consumer. Third, the results suggest that the influence of self-motives, as represented by the symbolic drivers, differs for CBI and CBD. Overall, the research suggests that capitalizing off of the symbolic properties of a brand is a difficult task as strong brand identities can alienate consumer segments.
Despite the well-documented importance of consumer-brand relationships, international branding research has not yet investigated whether a brand's perceived globalness and localness influence ...consumers' identification with the brand. Drawing on brand relationship theory and global/local branding literature, the present research theorizes on how perceived brand globalness and localness influence consumer-brand relationship building and discusses how these influences vary for brands of domestic versus foreign origin. Two studies in mature and emerging markets, using several brands across multiple product categories, reveal that both perceived brand globalness and localness have positive effects on consumer-brand identification. These effects (1) hold in both mature and emerging market settings, (2) are independent of brand quality assessments, (3) interact in a mutually-reinforcing way, and (4) are moderated by brand origin in a substitutional manner indicating that the relational effects of brand localness (globalness) are stronger for foreign (domestic) than for domestic (foreign) brands.
•Gendered brand personality impacts on brand stereotypes (warmth and competence).•Masculine brand personality is more important for brand competence than for warmth.•Feminine brand personality is ...more important for brand warmth than for competence.•Agentic values condition the effect of competence on consumer-brand identification.•Communal values condition the effect of warmth on consumer-brand identification.
This research draws on social identity theory and social role theory of gender stereotypes to investigate the role of brand gender personality (masculine and feminine) on generating brand warmth and competence, and how consumers’ agentic and communal values condition the effects of brand stereotypes on consumer–brand identification. The theoretical model is tested via two different studies. In the first study (N = 490), 21 brands across different product categories are used to test the theoretical model. Then, a second study (N = 469) corroborates the previously identified relationships and further shows that the effect of brand stereotypes on consumer–brand identification is moderated by agentic and communal motivations. The present study contributes to research on brand stereotyping while providing managerial insights that can be used to enhance the relationship between brands and consumers.
Although the marketing literature has extensively studied consumer‐brand identification, scholars have not fully explored its well‐being benefits. Drawing from the social identity approach and the ...bottom‐up theory of subjective well‐being, we examine how consumer‐brand identification can be a source of happiness in experiential consumption settings. We conduct two studies to test the proposed research model. In Study 1, results from 322 fans of a professional football team show that consumer happiness positively mediates the association between consumer‐brand identification and overall happiness. We subsequently conduct a partial‐least‐square multigroup analysis with three groups (nonpurchase, one‐time‐purchase, and repeat‐purchase) based on purchase frequency during the season. The results reveal that the path coefficient between consumer‐brand identification and consumer happiness is stronger in the one‐time‐purchase group than in the nonpurchase group. In Study 2, we reexamine the proposed model while accounting for the effects of core product quality. Results from 500 fans of a professional baseball team support Study 1's findings. Overall, our findings add to the knowledge surrounding the well‐being benefits of consumer‐brand identification and demonstrate the role of experiential consumption in facilitating happiness.
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