Does brand attachment protect consumer–brand relationships after brand misconduct in retail banking?

Purpose This research aims to examine the role of consumers' brand trust and attachment on advocacy intention before and after the occurrence of brand misconduct in retail banking. In addition, the influence of brand attachment on consumers' willingness to switch, advocate for and forgive brands is examined in a post-misconduct scenario. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a self-administered online survey questionnaire. A total of 304 valid and usable responses from Australian participants were analysed using IBM SPSS 27.0. Findings The findings reveal that brand attachment mediates the positive relationship between trust and advocacy intention. Furthermore, brand attachment (1) dilutes consumers' switching intention and (2) strengthens their willingness to forgive the bank after misconduct. Practical implications Results suggest that retail banks should create strong brand attachments with their consumers. In addition to brand trust, brand attachment will generate greater advocacy intention among consumers. Moreover, practitioners in retail banking can leverage brand attachment to mitigate the negative impact of brand misconduct. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to examine the impact of brand attachment on the consumer–bank relationship within the context of brand misconduct. The study is also unique in its analysis of the mediating role of brand attachment between brand trust and advocacy. This research further adds to the current literature by suggesting that strong and positive customer connections to the brand facilitate communication and marketing efforts after brand misconduct and that these are effective in maintaining consumer-bank relationship.©2023 Emerald Publishing Limited. This manuscript version is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY–NC 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Consumers' preference for eco-friendly packaged products: pride vs guilt appeal

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the influence of eco-friendly packaging on consumers' responses. A research framework is examined to identify significant antecedents of eco-friendly packaging behaviour, namely environmental responsibility, knowledge, attitudes, and message framing, to determine their relative importance. Design/methodology/approach: A set of hypotheses is tested across two studies. Findings: Study 1 (n = 160) shows that attitude is an important mediator between consumers' environmental responsibility and environmental knowledge and intentions when adopting eco-friendly packaging. Furthermore, study 2 (n = 132) finds that where eco-friendly packaging is concerned, the advertised message has to be framed with a particular emotional appeal congruent to a specific psychographic trait to stimulate pro-environmental behavioural intention. Practical implications: Based on the findings of this research, advertisers and environmental practitioners can utilise the correct type of message appeals to implement pro-environmental campaigns and programs for appropriate consumer segments effectively. Originality/value: Aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, SDGs 12 on ensuring “responsible consumption and production”, the research findings have highlighted the importance of individual's environmental knowledge (eco-literacy) and responsibility as they act as precursors toward sustainable and responsible consumption

The Role of Corporate Workplace Inclusivity Policies, Brand Equity, and Innovation Intensity in Firm Profitability : A Moderated Mediational Approach

Firms are increasingly adopting pro-lesbian, -gay, -bisexual, -transgender, inclusivity and diversity (LGBT-ID) policies for workforce management. This study develops a parsimonious, albeit complex, moderated-mediated framework by employing a panel dataset combining data from archival sources and involving a sample of predominantly large and publicly held firms from the USA between 2002 and 2018. The number of observations varied across variables with a minimum of 414 observations (corporate brand equity) and a maximum of 3,566 observations (self-reported LGBT-ID policy). This treatise demonstrates that adopting LGBT-ID policies positively impacts firms’ profitability. Moreover, pro-LGBT-ID policies during this specific period have a positive effect on corporate brand equity, which in turn affects firm profitability, indicating that brand equity plays a mediating role in the nexus between pro-LGBT-ID policies and firms’ financial performance. Furthermore, innovation intensity strengthens the relationship between pro-LGBT-ID policies and brand equity during the sample period of the study.© The Author(s) 2023. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Enhancing consumers' intention to stay in an eco-resort via climate change anxiety and connectedness to nature

This research investigates the impact of consumers' environmental knowledge, connectedness to nature and climate change anxiety on their intention to stay in an eco-resort. Data (n = 388) were collected from Australian respondents through a structured online questionnaire and analysed using IBM SPSS AMOS 28. Drawing propositions from the norm activation theory and integrating positive and negative feelings in a single model, we find that consumers' environmental knowledge positively influences their pro-environmental behavioural intention (β = 0.137, SE = 0.047, p = 0.007). Moreover, this relationship is serially mediated by consumers’ connectedness to nature and climate change anxiety (β = 0.026, SE = 0.008, CI: 0.012, 0.043). Our research expands the conceptual domain of the focal variables from environmental psychology to the area of consumer psychology in sustainable tourism. The implications of our findings are particularly relevant for marketers in the eco-resort industry, as they highlight the significance of leveraging connectedness to nature and climate change anxiety as mediating factors to develop compelling promotional strategies that communicate eco-friendly practices and immersive sustainable experiences, thereby appealing to environmentally conscious consumers and gaining a competitive edge in tourism.© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Brand attachment: a review and future research

This paper conducts an integrative review and provides a synthesisation of key themes in the brand attachment literature. A total of 171 papers were selected and analysed using a framework-based approach. In addition to exploring the theories and frameworks, this review summarises the contexts, antecedents, outcomes, mediators, and moderators of brand attachment. Based on the gaps identified in current studies, directions are provided for future brand attachment research. The review suggests that there are multiple directions in which to take the domain further. Theoretical underpinnings require conceptual clarity and consistency with attachment theory, and the development and validation of research frameworks are essential. Furthermore, the application of contextual measurements and rigorous methodologies is warranted to address the shortcomings of the current literature. The recommendations of this review are expected to facilitate advancements in brand attachment research

Conceptualising Luxury Brand Attachment

This research conceptualises luxury brand attachment and develops a measurement scale for the construct. Underpinned with self-expansion and social identity theory, a research model is proposed with a set of hypotheses to investigate the inter-construct relationships. The self-congruity aspect within the luxury brand attachment construct is postulated to be moderated by the influence of consumers’ public self-consciousness and the product’s private/public status. The findings of this research will provide meaningful insights for academics and practitioners

Marketing in the metaverse: Moving forward – What’s next?

The widespread adoption of the metaverse has generated significant discussions within the marketing community about the challenges and opportunities it presents for consumer interaction with brands. This paper investigates how the metaverse may affect marketing and suggests a novel paradigm to deal with these problems. Furthermore, this article highlights new research directions. The article also offers a checklist for researchers to use when researching the potential advantages or disadvantages of the metaverse for digital marketing and advertising, branding, services, supply chain and logistics, ethics and sustainability, diversity and inclusion and consumer wellness. The proposed research agenda intends to offer insightful information to academics, practitioners, and decision-makers

Luxury brand attachment: Predictors, moderators and consequences

Although there is ample evidence that consumer attachment varies across luxury and non-luxury brands, there is a lack of research in understanding the predictors, moderators and consequences of luxury brand attachment (LBA). This paper aims to develop and test a research model for LBA (study 1), examine the moderating influence of self-consciousness on the relationship between actual/ideal self-congruence and LBA (study 2) and validate the research model across privately and publicly consumed products (study 3). Data (n = 961) were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling with the IBM SPSS AMOS 25.0. The results show that consumers’ perceived actual and ideal self-congruence have a significant positive impact on LBA. In addition, LBA results in consumer advocacy. Private (public) self-consciousness enhances the relationship between actual (ideal) self-congruence and LBA. However, social anxiety did not influence the relationship between self-congruence and LBA. Moreover, the relationship between actual self-congruence and LBA was stronger for privately consumed products. This research would provide luxury managers with an understanding of how consumers develop a bond with luxury brands based on the perceived brand self-congruence. The LBA model would also help managers segment luxury consumers and identify the segments with low, medium and high attachment. In addition, using the findings of this research, luxury managers can incorporate the relevant aspect of self-congruence into brand positioning and advertising messages

Regulatory focus and junk food avoidance: The influence of health consciousness, perceived risk and message framing

The purpose of this research is to examine: (1) the health-related factors namely perceived health consciousness and perceived risk that motivate a person's intention to avoid junk food consumption, and (2) the influence of regulatory focus (promotion vs prevention foci) on a person's intention to avoid junk food consumption under the conditions of gain-framing vs loss-framing health communication and messages. A set of hypotheses are tested across three studies. Study 1 (n = 148) shows that regulatory focus influences the consumers' intention to avoid junk food. Also, health consciousness mediates the relationship between regulatory focus and junk food avoidance intention. Study 2 (n = 132) finds that perceived risk amplifies the relationship between regulatory focus and health consciousness. Study 3 (n = 168) demonstrates that message framing combined with the appropriate regulatory focus positively influences the consumers' intention to avoid junk food. The findings validate and extend the current theoretical framework in relation to unhealthy eating behaviours (e.g., junk food consumption). Based on the findings of this research, the practitioners can utilise the correct type of health information or claims for the appropriate consumer segment (whether prevention or promotion foci) to effectively implement campaigns and programs