Li Chen, Michelle A

English

Scholarship@Western

Researchers contribute to the existing body of literature on a particular topic byinvestigating how various pieces of information fit together. This is done by: Identifying possible mediators and moderators Referencing the work of other puzzlers (researchers) For example, by looking at how other researchers define brand transgression ormanipulate small and large brand sizes Satisfying their curiosity Study 2 of our research stemmed from being curious about whethermaterialism had an effect on consumer’s likelihood to punish a brand. This is how our review played out:  Self-brand distance > power distance belief > anger and punishment > empathyAnd this the research question that came out of it:How does a consumers’ level of trait empathy affect their response to brandtransgressions in light of public backlash from consumers? To make innovative contributions, researchers constantly live in a state ofwondrous possibilities by asking novel questions and making educatedhypotheses. Our study 1 hypotheses are: H1: Following a brand transgression, high-empathizers will punish small (vs.large) brands less and help small (vs. large) brands more whereas for low-empathizers brand size will have no effect on punishment or helpingbehaviour. H2: The conditional effect of brand size on punishment and helping intentionswill be mediated by humanization such that high empathizers will humanizesmall (vs. large) brands more in light of a brand transgression leading to lowerpunishment and greater helping behaviour.Our research is currently undergoing ethics review. In the meantime, below is asummary of our research project. Stay tuned for our findings!  LESSONS FROM USRI: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR EDITIONEMPATHY AND BRAND SIZEThere’s detective work involved. There’s creativity in research.   It’s all a big puzzle.  Recent studies explore how empathy towards victims of brand transgressionsinfluences consumer perceptions and increases punishment behaviour towards thetransgressing brand. The literature also investigates the influence of brand size onforgiveness, perceptions of power and expectations following a brand transgression.The purpose of the current study is to investigate how the size of a brand determineswhether high-empathy consumers empathize with the victim vs. the brand in light of abrand transgression. Ultimately, we seek to inform positioning strategies that decreaseconsumer punishment of the transgressing brand. We predict that, when a small brandfaces a transgression, high empathizers will humanize the brand more, ally themselvesto the brand, and engage in less punishing behaviours. It takes time.Like how evidence and clues guide a detective’s work, researchersreview and identify papers related to their case and let the literaturereview guide the direction of their research.Materialism Brand SizeHumanizationPunishmentIntentionsEmpathy

Lessons from USRI 2021: Consumer Behaviour Edition - Empathy and Brand Size

https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1238&amp;context=usri

Lessons from USRI 2021: Consumer Behaviour Edition - Empathy and Brand Size

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Scholarship@Western