The influence of CSR and ethical self-identity in consumer evaluation of cobrands

An important aspect of brand perception emanates from its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity. When two brands involved in CSR activities form a cobranding alliance, their respective CSR perceptions can impact consumer attitudes toward the alliance. As an ethically-oriented strategy, the alliance can be potentially beneficial to both partner brands, and can create opportunities for promoting CSR activities. The research streams on brand management, cobranding, and CSR, however, are silent about this important branding strategy that has several embedded business and societal benefits. This study examines how CSR-based consumer perceptions and ethical self-identity impact consumer evaluation of cobrands. Employing a quasi-experimental between-subjects design, the study tests six cobranding scenarios in three product categories. The data were collected via structured questionnaires resulting in 318 valid responses. The data were analyzed employing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The results confirm that positive CSR perceptions toward the partner brands are robust indicators of attitudes toward cobrands. Further, the match between the CSR activities of the partner brands (positive CSR fit) and the product categories (product fit) influences cobrand attitudes. The results also show evidence of ‘spill-over’ effects, where the alliance has a positive impact on subsequent CSR perceptions toward the partner brands. Additionally, the findings demonstrate an asymmetry in the effects of the cobrand on subsequent CSR perceptions wherein consumers with low ethical self-identity show greater spill-over effects from the cobrand than those with high ethical self-identity. The study contributes to knowledge in the domains of business ethics, cobranding, and social responsibility. The findings have managerial implications for designing CSR-based ethical branding strategies for cobrands

Adoption and motivational factors for online grocery shopping in the UK

Following upon the results of previous qualitative research (Authors, 2005), the objective of this paper is to confirm the role of situational variables in the adoption process of online grocery shopping. Situational variables and life events in particular (e.g. having a baby, health problems) emerge as the trigger for starting online grocery shopping for two clusters. However, the adoption of e-grocery shopping seems to be re-evaluated frequently and consequently post-adoption evaluation appears crucial to the decision of whether to continue with or to drop internet grocery shopping

Four steps to ensuring best practice in new brand launches

When introducing new brands and/or extensions, substantial promotion is often used to encourage trial and purchases . B ut are marketing communications at new brand launch effective ? What are the best practice tools for measuring the success of new brands and extensions

Service failures in e-retailing: examining the effects of response time, compensation, and service criticality

This study examines the role of response time in recovering from service failures in e-retailing. Employing an experimental design, the study reveals that customers construe time in abstract terms. Response time during service recovery is evaluated in combination with the compensation provided by the firm and criticality of the service experience. The extent to which the three factors – response time, compensation, and criticality – activate abstract construals, matters to customers. The study demonstrates that delaying the process of recovery can result in customer satisfaction, repatronage, and positive word of mouth, when an apology is provided and criticality of the service is low. Further, delay in service recovery is acceptable when negative emotions elicited by the failure are low. The findings provide empirical insights on the viability of delayed recovery following service failures in e-retailing, contravening the notion that delayed recovery is always inefficacious. The study advances a novel perspective on the role of response time in online service failure and recovery, and also accounts for how customers construe recovery efforts. Whilst establishing the prominence of construal levels in understanding customer responses to online service recovery, the study highlights avenues for future research and proposes innovative managerial perspectives for e-retailers

Customer commitment to luxury brands : antecedents and consequences

The intensifying competition in the luxury sector necessitates the need for managers to identify the factors underpinning customers' commitment to a luxury brand. Understanding commitment not only provides an insight into the question of how customers commit but also uncovers why customers commit to a particular brand. Using a questionnaire-based survey with customers, this research examines the antecedents and consequences of customer commitment to luxury brands. The findings indicate the differential influence of various antecedents on affective, calculative and normative commitment, and highlight the role played by these forms of commitment on consumption satisfaction and advocacy intentions. The results demonstrate the importance of affective commitment as a relationship enhancer, and identify managerial implications for customer commitment to luxury brands

They are not all same: variations in Asian consumers' value perceptions of luxury brands

Asian markets are steadily becoming key growth regions for luxury brands. However, despite the growth, many luxury brand firms are unable to obtain the desired economic returns through their marketing strategies in Asia. Often these firms treat consumers across Asian markets as homogenous groups, which could lead to inaccurate luxury brand management strategy. Additionally, there is limited understanding of consumer value perceptions toward luxury brands across the Asian markets. Employing impression management theory and the horizontal/vertical collectivistic cultural distinctions, this study examines differences and similarities in constituent luxury value perceptions across three prominent Asian markets, namely China, India, and Indonesia. The results of a quantitative survey conducted with 626 real luxury consumers in these three countries identify variations in perceptions of symbolic, experiential, and functional value of luxury brands. The study contributes to knowledge on constituent luxury value perceptions, along with providing theoretical explanations for the differences between consumers across Asian markets. With the emerging novel insights on Asian consumers, luxury brand firms can align their marketing strategies to respective markets by leveraging the similarities and differences in consumer value perceptions. This approach, informed by empirical evidence, will enhance luxury brands’ competitiveness and profit opportunities in the high-growth Asian markets. The study identifies a number of future research directions

The added value of brand alliances in higher education

This study examines perceptions of brand alliances, in the form of dual degrees, between UK universities. Signalling theory and attitude accessibility are applied to test for evidence of added value of dual degrees bearing the names of two universities compared to single degrees. The results support the main hypothesis that perceptions of added value of a dual degree initiated by a high (low) ranked context university decline (increase) in line with the ranking of a lower (higher) rank partner university. The findings reveal interaction effects between the rank position of the initiating university and the evaluation criteria. Name-order effects explain the higher perceived value of a dual degree between high-and-low ranked universities compared to a dual degree between low-and-high ranked universities. In addition to being the first study to examine brand alliances in the UK HE domain, the study makes a number of contributions to the general brand alliance literature and provides managerial guidelines

Loyalty to product variants

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