Journal of Product & Brand Management

Long‐Yi Lin

2010 Journal of Product & Brand Management

doi: 10.1108/10610421011018347

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship of consumer personality trait, brand personality and brand loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – The convenience sampling method was used to collect primary data. A total of 400 adult consumers were interviewed who looked round or bought toys and video games in Taipei City Mall, and 387 effective questionnaires were collected; the effective response rate was 96.75 per cent. Regression analysis was adopted to test hypotheses. Findings – The major findings were: a significantly positive relationship between extroversion personality trait and excitement brand personality; a significantly positive relationship between agreeableness personality trait and excitement brand personality, sincerity brand personality and competence brand personality; competence and sophistication brand personality have a significantly positive influence on affective loyalty; competence, peacefulness and sophistication brand personality have a significantly positive influence on action loyalty; agreeableness and openness personality trait have a significantly positive influence on affective loyalty; agreeableness and openness personality trait have a significantly positive influence on action loyalty. Research limitations/implications – The restriction on selecting countries and brands, and the restraint of the sampling coverage present limitations. The paper verifies that consumers with different personality traits will have different cognizance towards brand personality, which can also be applied to the toy and video game industries. The paper proves that a distinct brand personality can appeal to more brand loyalty. It shows that agreeableness and openness of personality traits have a positive influence on brand loyalty. Practical implications – The paper highlights the value of brand personality that benefits a company. It emphasizes the importance of brand loyalty for a company. Consumers who register in agreeableness and openness are the target audience for BANDAI. Originality/value – The extra value of the paper is to link the theory and practice, and explore the relationship of consumer personality trait, brand personality and brand loyalty.

Ian Clark Sinapuelas; Sanjay Ram Sisodiya

2010 Journal of Product & Brand Management

doi: 10.1108/10610421011018356

Purpose – The purpose of this empirical paper is to determine the effects of line extension introductions on parent brand equity. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a cross‐sectional sample of 318 supermarket brands. A system of equations is proposed and estimated using seemingly unrelated regression. Findings – Brands benefit from line extension introductions, but only high equity brands benefit from innovation. Low equity brands benefit from the solo advertising of their new line extensions. Practical implications – The results suggest that there are two routes for improving brand equity; high equity brands can introduce innovative products, while low equity parent brands may improve brand equity by supporting new line extensions with solo advertising. Originality/value – The paper is important in identifying the effects of new product introduction and innovation on brand equity.

Bashar S. Gammoh; Kevin E. Voss; Xiang Fang

2010 Journal of Product & Brand Management

doi: 10.1108/10610421011018365

Purpose – The paper attempts to examine the effect of multiple brand alliances using a portfolio diversification approach. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports the findings of a four‐level, single factor design study in which 149 randomly assigned participants were exposed to a product concept description for a new product in conjunction with: no ally (control), one ally, three homogeneous allies, and three heterogeneous allies. Findings – Results support previous findings in the literature with regard to the effect of a single brand alliance. However, no support was found for the proposition that consumer evaluations of an unknown focal brand, when three well‐known heterogeneous allies are present, will be higher than when either one well‐known ally is present or three well‐known homogeneous allies are present. Research limitations/implications – Consistent with previous published research and despite diversifying the brand allies; it is impossible to conclude that multiple brand allies provide increased evaluations, relative to a single ally, for a previously unknown brand. More research is necessary regarding when and why multiple allies might be beneficial. Originality/value – As the use of multiple brand alliances proliferates in the marketplace, it is important to understand the effect of such strategies on consumers' evaluations. The paper contributes to this growing body of research by investigating the effect of multiple brand alliances using a portfolio diversification approach.

Marianela Fornerino; François d'Hauteville

2010 Journal of Product & Brand Management

doi: 10.1108/10610421011018374

Purpose – This experimental research seeks to offer a method for measuring the respective product and brand contributions to the global perceived quality dimension in the case of five brands of orange juices. Design/methodology/approach – The disconfirmation of expectations approach method was used which employs the mismatch between expected and blind evaluation of a product. The assimilation effects (when the perceived quality of the product tends to be congruent with the expected quality attributed to the brand) and the contrast effects (when the perceived quality of the product is influenced negatively by the brand) were measured. Findings – Results indicate an assimilation effect for the national brands, particularly strong with the most preferred brand, and a non‐significant brand effect for the retailer's brand, although both products were rated the same in the blind evaluation. Practical implications – From a theoretical and methodological point of view, the research suggests that global measures of perceived quality may be more appropriate tools than analytical constructs from product attributes when evaluating brand equity. Originality/value – A general experimental design of the disconfirmation of information is offered in order to evaluate the share of the product and the brand in the consumer assessment of the perceived quality of a brand. This design places the respondents in two successive cognitive processes when they evaluate the brand and the product, which explains the assimilations and/or contrast effects which have been observed.

Natalia Maehle; Rotem Shneor

2010 Journal of Product & Brand Management

doi: 10.1108/10610421011018383

Purpose – The purpose of this research paper is to uncover the relations between brand and human personality by identifying brand preferences of consumers with different personality types. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the existing literature, 15 propositions are suggested linking Ekelund's DI types as parsimonious proxies of human personality and brand personality dimensions as suggested by Aaker. Propositions were tested through statistical analysis of survey data collected in two stages. Findings – It was found that consumers prefer brands with personalities that match their own. For example, consumers with Blue DI type exhibit clear aversion from the excitement dimension of brand personality, whereas consumers with Red DI type exhibit clear preference for the sincerity dimension of brand personality. No clear findings emerged concerning the Green DI type, mostly likely linked to the individualistic, non‐conformist and innovative orientations of such individuals. In addition data revealed a possible hierarchy of brand personality dimensions' influence. Practical implications – Findings provide guidelines for better tailoring of promotional materials based on target customer groups, as well as the ability to evaluate underperforming brands in terms of a brand‐human personality mismatch. Originality/value – The paper fills a gap in the literature about the congruence between brand and human personalities, and demonstrates how brand personality dimensions impacts brand preference among different consumer types.

Anthony Allred; E.K. Valentin; Goutam Chakraborty

2010 Journal of Product & Brand Management

doi: 10.1108/10610421011018392

Purpose – This study intends to examine effects of price ending and level on preference for a provider of a risky service, LASIK eye surgery, which poses notable health and financial risk. Additionally, the study aims to explore quality concerns thought to intervene between price cues and preference. Design/methodology/approach – Price was manipulated by showing each of three groups an advertisement offering LASIK surgery at one of three prices: US$299, US$300 or US$600. Subjects were asked how likely they were to choose the featured provider if they were to have LASIK surgery; replies were interpreted as indicating the degree to which the featured provider was preferred to all other potential providers. To facilitate exploring the possibility that pricing affects preference via perceived quality, subjects were asked 16 questions about service quality. Findings – LASIK provider preference ratings were significantly lower at US$299 than at US$300 and, thus, contradicted much prior research into the effects of 9 and 0 price endings. Supplemental analyses implied that, in consonance with prior research, US$299 was seen as much less than US$300. However, cognitive price underestimation attenuated preference because it raised stronger concerns about quality and risk. Exploratory analyses revealed three pertinent quality dimensions: outcome expectations, service process expectations, and customer apprehensions. Research limitations/implications – Findings are based on a small convenience sample not limited to serious LASIK surgery candidates. The depiction of quality within the risky‐service context was rudimentary and requires refinement. Practical implications – Purveyors of risky services seem ill‐advised to use prices ending in 9. While 9‐endings tend to stimulate sales of common low‐risk goods, they appear to attenuate sales of risky offerings. Originality/value – Results shed light on the generalizability of findings from prior psychological pricing research focused on goods and services quite unlike LASIK surgery. They also provide insights into designing more refined inquiries into quality concerns and the effects of pricing on quality concerns, which seem to affect preference.

Ruiliang Yan; John Wang

2010 Journal of Product & Brand Management

doi: 10.1108/10610421011018400

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework to help the manufacturer and the giant retailer to obtain optimal service level, pricing strategy, and market structure in order to maximize their respective profits. Design/methodology/approach – A profit‐maximization model is developed to determine the optimal service level, pricing strategy, and market structure for supply chain players. Findings – Using a profit‐maximization model, it is demonstrated that optimal service level and pricing strategy exist under different market structures in a manufacturer‐giant retailer supply chain. In order to maximize their respective profits, the manufacturer and the giant retailer should cooperatively employ a coordinative market structure as an optimal market structure and a bargaining model can be utilized to implement profit sharing for the manufacturer and giant retailer to optimize their profits. Furthermore, it is also shown that the value of coordinative structure always increases with the customers' sensitivity of service, the number of customers preferring to purchase from giant retailer, and the decreasing price sensitivity. Research limitations/implications – The study assumes that all supply chain players have perfect market information. However, market information to the supply chain players could be incomplete and asymmetric. It is recommended that future research explores optimal service level and pricing strategy under incomplete and asymmetric information setting. Practical implications – The paper provides a very useful model framework to study optimum service level, pricing strategy, and market structure for business managers who are working in the manufacturer‐giant retailer supply chain. Originality/value – The paper fills a conceptual and practical gap for a structured analysis of the current state of knowledge about service level, pricing strategy, and market structures in a manufacturer‐giant retailer supply chain. The paper provides practical, solid advice and business examples that demonstrate the application of the optimal strategies for supply chain management.