1,721,051 research outputs found
Discovering the dark side of brand attachment:Impulsive buying, obsessive-compulsive buying and trash talking
Although brand attachment has positive effects on favorable consumer behavior, recent studies have advocated that brand attachment may have dark sides which stimulate some harmful behaviors. Nevertheless, research on the dark side of brand attachment is scant. This study investigates the effect of brand attachment on two negative behaviors (compulsive buying and trash talking). The survey findings show that the three components of brand attachment - passion, prominence, and anxiety - are positively related to impulsive and obsessive–compulsive buying. In turn, consumers who exhibit obsessive–compulsive buying are more likely to practice trash talking. Furthermore, consumer age moderates the relationship between brand passion, brand anxiety and compulsive buying. The research adds to the body of knowledge of consumer-brand relationship, particularly on the dark side of brand attachment. The findings contribute to the creation and deployment of altruistic customer relationship programs and regulations.</p
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Exploring brand attachment, its determinants and outcomes
Brand attachment has been regarded as a powerful and salient construct in marketing, argued to predict favourable consumer behaviours. Nevertheless, research trying to understand what are the determinants and outcomes of it is still limited. Using semi-structured interviews and projective techniques, this work identifies that self-congruity, experience, responsiveness, quality, reputation and trust are found to be the determinants of strong brand attachment. The outcomes of brand attachment are intention to recommend, purchase, revisit, resilience to negative information and act of defending the brand. This research sheds light for marketers in understanding the conceptualisation of attachment from the consumers' perspectives, so adopting an important perspective largely under-researched. In addition, this study guides marketers in the important factors regarding how to build stronger attachment and benefit from its outcomes
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Tie the knot: building stronger consumers’ attachment toward a brand
Extant research has promoted the importance and seeking to establish a deeper understanding of brand loyalty. However, it still remains elusive and uncertain. A study with more than 1,500 CEOs worldwide believes that creating a bond with consumers and continuing to learn
how to strengthen the bond are essential for realizing strategies and delivering on shareholder expectations. Not surprisingly, firms and researchers are seeking ways to build a stronger connection with consumers, because such attachment acts as a key requisite in a firm’s
success. Consequently, understanding how marketers can intensify the attachment is important. This article offers a framework for building stronger consumers’ attachment and testing it based on a survey of 432 participants. Four factors are deemed to be important: ideal self-congruence, sensory experience, responsiveness, and CSR beliefs. Attachment influences loyalty and resilience to negative information. Additionally, attachment fully mediates ideal self-congruence and responsiveness to loyalty, as well as ideal self-congruence and sensory experience to resilience to negative information
Simulated Test Marketing in Emerging Markets:The Need to Re-Think
Purpose– The world's leading manufacturers of fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) generate up to 50 per cent of their revenues in emerging markets. Simulated test marketing (STM) is a common practice deployed by these companies to forecast new product sales. Emerging markets represent only a small portion of the global STM business. The purpose of this paper is to incorporate and further explore some key trends anticipated in the development of the future generation of STM models by drawing specific attention to the issues currently experienced in one of the emerging markets, Russia.Design/methodology/approach– A quantitative survey of Russian client-side marketing experts provides strong evidence for the need to further improve and modify STM methods, addressing new challenges in rapidly developing markets of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Africa.Findings– Marketers in Russia believe many STM approaches poorly reflect the nuances and characteristics of their markets. This has implications for global players targeting emerging markets based on assumptions formed for STM in their home markets.Research limitations/implications– This is a preliminary study which warrants following up. Its basis in Russia arguably has implications for other emerging markets, but whether these findings are evident in other markets needs to be tested.Practical implications– FMCG companies in Russia would appreciate a flexible, proactive, “client-oriented” approach as opposed to conservative, “model-centered” services based on “global” execution standards. This would lead to the co-creation of STM models that could achieve more accurate forecasts in emerging markets and achieve a greater level of confidence in the use of STM among multinational FMCG companies.Originality/value– The research undertaken leads to a general conclusion that although traditional STM models have attained relatively high awareness among FMCGs in Russia, their use is still limited as there is a perception of this being a research instrument that would need adaptation to the Russian market. Instead, simpler, cheaper and less time consuming alternatives are often employed, such as expert assessments, basic quantitative or qualitative tests. Although the most commonly acknowledged advantages of STM are well understood in Russia, there are some key barriers to its widespread adoption: poor quality or insufficient market data, lack of local market experience and validations, lower forecast accuracy as compared to “western” markets, low flexibility in terms of design and cost.<br/
Positive and negative behaviours resulting from brand attachment: the moderating effects of attachment styles
PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between brand attachment and consumers’ positive and negative behaviours. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating effects of attachment styles on these relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a survey of 432 respondents, and the data are analysed using the structural equation modelling approach.FindingsThis study empirically supports that brand attachment and attachment styles (i.e. anxiety attachment and avoidance attachment) are distinct. Brand attachment influences consumers’ not only positive behaviour (i.e. brand loyalty) but also negative behaviours, such as trash-talking, schadenfreude and anti-brand actions. The findings of the study suggest that only avoidance attachment style moderates the relationships between brand attachment and these consumer behaviours. The link between brand attachment and brand loyalty is attenuated for high-attachment-avoidance consumers. In contrast, the links between brand attachment and trash-talking, schadenfreude and anti-brand actions are strengthened.Practical implicationsThis study assists marketing managers in understanding that a strong brand attachment may result in negative behaviours that can harm a company’s brand image. Thus, building a strong relationship with consumers will not always be beneficial. Companies should be aware of the consequences of building relationships with consumers who have a high level of attachment anxiety and/or avoidance.Originality/valueThis paper highlights that brand attachment not only influences brand loyalty behaviour but also three negative behaviours: trash-talking, schadenfreude and anti-brand actions. Moreover, the links between brand attachment and negative behaviours are strengthened when consumers have a high level of attachment avoidance
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Self-congruence, brand attachment and compulsive buying
Compulsive buying refers to a phenomenon that promotes excessive consumerism which may hurt the brands' reputation in the long run. This study examines the influence of actual and ideal self-congruence on brand attachment and two dimensions of compulsive buying behavior (i.e. impulsive and obsessive-compulsive buying). Based on a survey of 427 respondents, it is evident that self-congruence directly affects brand attachment, where actual self-congruence is a stronger predictor of brand attachment. Both actual and ideal self-congruence do not directly affect obsessive-compulsive buying. This indicates that brand attachment fully mediates the relationships. However, actual self-congruence directly affects impulsive buying but ideal self-congruence does not. This indicates that brand attachment partially mediates the relationship between actual self-congruence and impulsive buying and fully mediates the relationship between ideal self-congruence and impulsive buying. Interestingly, the direct effect of actual self-congruence on impulsive buying is negative. Academic and managerial implications of these findings are discussed
The role of ideal self-congruence and brand attachment in consumers’ negative behaviour: compulsive buying and external trash-talking
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of ideal self-congruence in instigating two types of negative consumer behaviours – compulsive buying and external trash-talking – and the mediating role of brand attachment on these relationships.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies were designed using a structural equation modelling methodology. Study 1a was based on a mail survey of 280 respondents, whereas Study 1b was based on an electronic survey of 152 respondents. Study 1b was conducted to test the external validity of the research model.FindingsIn Study 1a, ideal self-congruence affects emotional brand attachment and in turn emotional brand attachment affects compulsive buying behaviour and external trash-talking. The mediation analysis indicates that emotional brand attachment mediates the relationships. Study 1b offers support to the results of Study 1a.Practical implicationsFrom a practical point of view, this study is useful for policymakers seeking to regulate and prevent excessive consumerism. For marketers, they should understand that brand attachment leads to compulsive buying and external trash-talking, which may provide immediate benefit for the brand or the firm. However, marketers should understand that these two negative behaviours may harm the firm image and consumers’ well-being in the long run.Social implicationsApart from practical implications, firms should consider alleviating compulsive buying, as it is harmful to society. Similarly, excessive external trash-talking may lead to physical aggression. Consumers expect firms to be socially responsible. Thus, firms should start conducting activities that promote responsible shopping and reduce external trash-talking.Originality/valueThe study highlights a dark side of ideal self-congruence and brand attachment. The results suggest that ideal self-congruence with the help of emotional brand attachment predicts compulsive buying behaviour and external trash-talking. This may not only damage brand image but also the consumers’ well-being
Embedding Social Capital into the Value of the Firm
Both resource and intellectual capital models tend to have an incomplete and biased view of assets within the firm. Traditional accounting standards and practices focus on the tangible and financial assets and only consider limited intangible assets. This paper builds on the modelling of intellectual capital in organizations from the literature and uses Popper's 3 World theory to develop a more practical ontology. This model identifies and values a comprehensive classification of a firm's capital and includes both tangible and intangible assets. The resulting integrated model comprises the five asset classes of physical, financial, structural, human and social capital. The result validates the work by Adler & Kwon (2002) but offers an alternate sub-structure for social capital that is a more pragmatic model for industry. A hypothesis is developed that organizations that better understand the range of assets in the firm and invest in a portfolio of integrated management practices to manage that capital, should remain competitive and perform better
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