Showing papers on "Brand equity published in 1998"

Customer Evaluations of Service Compiaint Experiences: Impiications for Reiationship Marketing

Abstract: Many companies consider investments in complaint handling as means of increasing customer commitment and building customer loyalty. Firms are not well informed, however, on how to deal successfully with service failures or the impact of complaint handling strategies. In this study, the authors find that a majority of complaining customers were dissatisfied with recent complaint handling experiences. Using justice theory, the authors also demonstrate that customers evaluate complaint incidents in terms of the outcomes they receive, the procedures used to arrive at the outcomes, and the nature of the interpersonal treatment during the process. In turn, the authors develop and test competing hypotheses regarding the interplay between satisfaction with complaint handling and prior experience in shaping customer trust and commitment. The results support a quasi "brand equity" perspective—whereas satisfaction with complaint handling has a direct impact on trust and commitment, prior positive experiences mitigate, to a limited extent, the effects of poor complaint handling. Implications for managers and scholars are discussed.

Is a company known by the company it keeps? assessing the spillover effects of brand alliances on consumer brand attitudes

Abstract: The authors examine the growing and pervasive phenomenon of brand alliances as they affect consumers’ brand attitudes. The results of the main study (n = 350) and two replication studies (n = 150, ...

Symbolic and functional positioning of brands

Abstract: Some brand strategists have distinguished between symbolic and functional brands, i.e. brands that basically satisfy consumers’ functional or product‐related needs and brands bought to enhance self‐ or social esteem. It has been suggested that brands should be positioned as either functional or symbolic but not both. However, empirical research on the dimensionality of brand symbolism/functionality has been lacking. In this study, scales were developed to assess a brand’s symbolic or functional association with consumers. Subsequent data analysis suggests that brand symbolism and functionality are separate phenomena and, further, that symbolism comprises two dimensions, termed prestige and personality expression. Thus, contrary to current thinking, it seems that brands can be successfully positioned as both symbolic and functional and, if a symbolic brand concept is desired, prestige or upscaleness is just one of the possible positioning options available.

Defining A "Brand": Beyond The Literature With Experts' Interpretations

Abstract: There are many definitions of the "brand", yet a comprehensive theory of the brand construct is still missing. This paper is a step towards developing a theory for the brand construct. Through analysis of the literature and focused interviews with 20 leading edge brand consultants, we propose a concept of the brand as a multidimensional construct, matching a firm's functional and emotional values with the performance and psychosocial needs of consumers.

Brand Values and Capital Market Valuation

Abstract: Brand value estimates are significantly positively related to prices and returns, incremental to accounting variables. Questionable brand value estimate reliability underlies lack of financial statement recognition for brands. Findings suggest estimates are relevant and sufficiently reliable to be reflected in share prices. Simultaneous equations estimation reveals inferences are unaffected by potential bias resulting from simultaneity between brand value estimates and equity market value. Brand value estimates are positively associated with advertising expense, operating margin, and market share. Yet, brand value estimates provide significant explanatory power for prices incremental to these variables, and to recognized brand assets and analysts earnings forecasts.

Consumers' true brand loyalty: the central role of commitment

Abstract: In current highly competitive environments, improving consumers' loyalty to brands allows firms to secure a comfortable long-term position in the market-place. This article aims at placing the issue of brand loyalty within a larger perspective than a set of repetitive discrete transactions between consumers and brands. Two different approaches for analysing brand loyalty are then discussed: the downstream one, based on observing consistent purchases of a brand over a period of time and the upstream approach, which focuses on the motives that are behind a repeat purchasing of a brand. The relevance of the latter approach is then shown by highlighting the crucial role of the consumers' commitment to the brand in better understanding the loyalty phenomenon. Therefore, our article proposes an integrative conceptual framework of true brand loyalty including its main cognitive and affective causes and effects.

The effects of extensions on brand name dilution and enhancement

Abstract: In this article, the authors examine new product extension strategies that are likely to be effective in building brand equity. The framework accounts for mixed findings in brand equity literature ...

Brand equity valuation: a global perspective

Abstract: Since late 1980s there has been a frenzy of mergers and acquisitions in which brands have played the primary role. It is no longer rare to find offers at a multiple of more than 25 times company earning, or two or three times its share value. In this paper we attempt to reach several objectives. First, the marketing and finance perspectives of brand equity are presented, and their interrelationships are shown. Second, the different measurements of brand equity are presented. Next, a comprehensive model of global brand equity, which we believe is capable of both estimating the brand equity more accurately and show the sources of the equity will be proposed.

Exploring the brand value-shareholder value nexus for consumer goods companies

Abstract: It is generally claimed that brand names are a corporate asset with an economic value that creates wealth for a firm’s shareholders. However, the scholarly literature has neither provided a comprehensive theoretical basis for this claim nor documented an empirical relationship between brand value and shareholder value. This exploratory study describes a rationale for, and documents, the statistical strength and functional form of a brand value-shareholder value relationship for publicly held consumer goods companies in the United States. A theoretical argument supportive of a positive relationship between a firm’s accumulated brand value and market-to-book (M/B) ratio was empirically validated. However, even though firms with higher accumulated brand values have higher M/B ratios, the functional form of the relationship was found to be concave with decreasing returns to scale. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are outlined, as well as study limitations and directions for future research.

Modelling the components of the brand

Abstract: Models of the components of brands are gaining more attention among practitioners and academics We review why managers have a tendency to develop mental models and overview the key published models of the components of brands Among 20 leading edge brand practitioners we found evidence of their using their own mental models to make sense of brand complexity There were similarities between elements of their models and those of the “atomic brand model” This particular model was favourably received by experts and from their evaluations we propose the more comprehensive “double vortex model” of the brand

A conceptual framework for assessing brand equity in division I college athletics.

Abstract: In an effort to enhance the organization's image and increase its revenues, sport managers should incorporate the concept of brand equity, the strength of a team/university name in the marketplace, into strategic marketing efforts. This article, building on Aaker's (1991) theoretical structure, develops a conceptual framework of brand equity applied to Division I college athletics. The brand equity framework provides a closed-ended system whereby antecedents (team-related, university-related, and market-related) create brand equity that then results in marketplace consequences (e.g., national television exposure, ticket sales). These consequences then feed into a marketplace perception that impacts the antecedents of brand equity through a feedback loop. Directions for future research efforts that address evaluating the validity of the model, implications for different sports within Division I athletics, and relationships to other popular marketing concepts are offered.

Why are we seduced by luxury brands

Abstract: Why are we seduced by luxury brands? What functions do these brands fulfil? What added values do they convey? What brands deserve the appellation ‘luxury’ and which ones do not? Such were the questions posed by an empirical research study seeking to understand luxury from the consumers' standpoint. The results, summarised in the present article, show that there is no single and homogeneous vision of what a luxury brand is. There are four types of luxury brands, each one characterised by a different value or functions profile, and aiming at different consumer segments. Analysing the functions luxury brands fulfil provides new insights into the reasons why a brand is or is not attractive. Focusing on a young sample, this study also provides clues as to sustaining brand equity long term.

Brand Equity and Vertical Product Line Extent

Abstract: This paper addresses the question of how the vertical structure of a product line relates to brand equity. Does the presence of "premium" or high-quality products in a product line enhance brand equity? Conversely, does the presence of "economy" or low-quality products in a product line diminish brand equity? Economists and marketing researchers refer to variation in quality levels of products within a category as "vertical" differentiation, whereas variation in the function or "category" of the products is referred to as "horizontal" differentiation. Much of the existing research on the relationship between product line structure and brand equity has focused on the horizontal structure of the product lineand has been primarily concerned with brand extensions-what happens when the product line of a brand is extended horizontally into new categories? Researchers have been concerned primarily with how the extension fares, but the effect of the extension on the core products is also important. There is an analogous question of what happens when the product line of a brand is extended vertically, either "up market" or "down market." This question of vertical extensions is part of the more general issue of how the vertical structure of a product line relates to brand equity. The specific research questions addressed in this paper are: (1) do "premium" or high-quality products enhance the brand equity associated with the other products in the line? (2) Conversely, do "economy" or low-quality products diminish the brand equity associated with the other products in the line? These research questions are relevant to three managerial issues in product-line strategy. First, what are the costs and benefits of including "down market" products within a brand? Second, what are the implications of including high-end models within a brand? Third, when should high-end and low-end products be offered under an existing brand umbrella and when should these products be offered under separate brands? We address these research questions empirically through an analysis of the models and brands within the U.S. mountain bicycle industry. We use price premium above that which can be explained by the physical characteristics of the bicycle as a metric for brand equity. We then test several hypotheses related to the relationship between extension of the product line upward and downward and the price premium commanded by the brand. We further support this analysis with a simple laboratory experiment. The analysis reveals that price premium, in the lower quality segments of the market, is significantly positively correlated with the quality of the lowest-quality model in the brand's product line; and, that for the upper quality segments of the market, price premium is also significantly positively correlated with the quality of the highest-quality model in the brand's product line. The results of the analysis are supported by the outcome of an experiment in which 63 percent of the subjects preferred a product offered by a high-end brand to the equivalent product offered by a low-end competitor. These results imply that managers wishing only to maximize the equity of their brands would offer only high-quality products and avoid offering low-quality products. However, this result must be moderated by the overall objective of maximizing profits. Maximizing profits is likely to involve a tradeoff between preserving high brand equity (and therefore high margins) and pursuing the volume typically located in the lower end of the market. One of the most significant implications of this research is that product line managers need to be mindful not just of the incremental cannibalization or stimulation of sales of products that are immediate neighbors of an extension to the product line, but also the effect of such an extension on the brand equity in other, possibly quite different, parts of the product line.

Brand Extension as Informational Leverage

Abstract: The marketing literature refers to the concept of brand capital and provides empirical evidence that firms with a large stock of well-established brands have an advantage in introducing new products. This paper develops a theory of brand extension as a mechanism for informational leverage in which a firm leverages off a good's reputation in one market to alleviate the problem of informational asymmetry encountered in other markets. It is shown that brand extension helps a multi-product monopolist introduce a new experience good with less price distortion. Thus, the paper provides a theoretical foundation for the concept of brand capital.

Place‐based marketing strategies, brand equity and vineyard valuation

Abstract: Many firms, wine producers among them, have successfully communicated the quality of their products to the market by emphasizing the geographic origin, or location of production of critical ingredient(s) found in the product. The purpose of this article is to: introduce the concept of a “place‐based” marketing strategy, i.e. a marketing strategy that identifies a consumer product with a specific geographic area; explain why it is essential to the wine business; and, why it may be superior to other types of marketing strategies for certain types of agricultural products. Additionally, traditional valuation techniques applied to agricultural land typically assume that agricultural goods are undifferentiable commodities. With the growing trend toward the production of “place‐based” agricultural products, the traditional valuation methods omit an important variable – the potential for the geographical source to help develop a product‘s brand equity. This paper also discusses land valuation techniques and applies the concept of products of place to the trend among Californian wine growers to produce wines with vineyard designations.

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

Abstract: The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope. When you put your brand name on several products, indeed, the line extension allows an increase in sales in the short term, but it undermines brand name in the mind of the consumer in the long term. A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer. Once a word is precisely associated with a brand, it is almost impossible for a competitor to create some stronger associations. There are no barriers to global branding. A brand should know no borders.

Brandfests: Servicescapes for the Cultivation of Brand Equity

Abstract: This paper presents an ethnography of the brandfest, a brand centered event that is strategically important to the cultivation of customer loyalty. The paper discusses specifically the mechanisms and processes that appear to be integral to building such relationships as those between consumers and the products that they own, and among consumers themselves. We conclude with a discussion of directions for future research.

Fashion brand preferences among young consumers

Abstract: Although there has been some research into young consumers, for instance their approaches to product categorization; their decision‐making strategies; and their role in family decision making, considerable work remains to be done to understand how young consumers develop brand loyalty, brand preference and reliance. This paper reports the initial findings from an exploratory study of over 200 young consumers (aged 7‐10) which examined perceptions of branded fashion clothing; and the impact of social influences on young consumers’ evaluations of branded fashion products. The findings indicate that product/brand imagery is clearly established among young consumers, particularly for branded fashion sportswear; and the results suggest that research design must take account of both age and gender differences when choosing methods for eliciting data from young consumers.

How advertising slogans can prime evaluations of brand extensions: further empirical results

Abstract: A replication of Boush’s exploratory study provides further evidence about how advertising slogans prime evaluations of brand extensions. Two hypotheses are investigated. First, that a brand extension will be rated as more similar to existing family‐branded products if the advertising slogan primes attributes that the brand extension shares with existing products than if the slogan primes attributes that the brand extension does not share with the existing family‐branded products. Second, given a positively evaluated brand, a brand extension will be evaluated more positively if the advertising slogan primes features that the extension shares with existing family‐branded products than if the slogan primes attributes that the brand extension does not share with existing family‐branded products. The research shows priming can play an important role in supporting or undermining a brand extension strategy by drawing attention to attributes either that a new product has in common with existing products or that conflict with existing products.

Criteria to Assess Brand Success

Abstract: The academic and trade press often talk about the "success" of brands or "successful brands", yet there is disagreement regarding suitable brand success criteria. Reaching a consensus on the definition of brands' success criteria is essential not only for an appropriate use of the term "success", but also for improving firms' understanding of which criteria should be used as a measure of their success. Following a literature review on measures of brand success, we report on depth interviews with 20 leading-edge brand consultants to consider appropriate criteria to measure brand success.

An integrated approach to corporate branding

Abstract: The danger of a paper with ‘integrated’ in its title is the automatic assumption it will contain a polemic on the virtues of direct marketing, advertising and public relations working together. Although it is agreed that there are benefits in co-ordinating external communications, this paper is actually concerned with values; with integrating the actions of employees with marketing strategy. The rationale for this is simple and has long been recognised, intellectually, by marketers and their advisors: the reputation of a corporate brand is a result of all forms of interaction with an organisation. Consequently, there is little point in delivering an advertising campaign that bears little relation to the reality of an organisational culture or cannot be supported by the actions of employees. Intellect, unfortunately, has little to do with reality. The world abounds with advertising, and for that matter design and direct marketing, that suggest certain attributes which are all too rarely delivered by the organisation. In contrast, excellent corporate brands marry communications and operations in a credible way, not by employing integrated agencies, but through clearly stated values that unify the way they think and behave. The benefit of this approach is an image of the corporate brand, which recognises our desire for clarity and understanding. As Iris Murdoch says: ‘We see parts of things, we intuit whole things. We seem to know a great deal on the basis of very little … we fear plurality, diffusion, chaos, we want to transform what we cannot dominate or understand into something reassuring and familiar.’1