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Mickey D’s Has More Street Cred Than McDonald’s: Consumer Brand Nickname Use Signals Information Authenticity:

Mickey D’s Has More Street Cred Than McDonald’s: Consumer Brand Nickname Use Signals Information... Consumers often observe how other consumers interact with brands to inform their own brand judgments. This research demonstrates that brand relationship quality–indicating cues, such as brand nicknames (e.g., “Mickey D’s” for McDonald’s, “Wally World” for Walmart), enhance perceived information authenticity in online communication. An analysis of historical Twitter data followed by six experiments (using both real and fictitious brands across different online platforms [e.g., online reviews, social media posts]) show that brand nickname use in user-generated content signals a writer’s relationship quality with the target brand from the reader’s perspective, which the authors term “inferred brand attachment.” The authors demonstrate that inferred brand attachment boosts perceived information authenticity and leads to positive downstream consequences, such as purchase willingness and information sharing. The authors also find that this effect is attenuated when brand nicknames are used in firm-generated content. How consumers’ relationships with brands are portrayed and perceived in a social context (e.g., via brand nickname use) serves as a novel context to examine user-generated content and provides valuable managerial insight regarding how to leverage consumers’ brand attachment cues in brand strategy and online information management. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Marketing Journal SAGE

Mickey D’s Has More Street Cred Than McDonald’s: Consumer Brand Nickname Use Signals Information Authenticity:

American Marketing Journal , Volume 85 (5): 16 – Jun 4, 2021

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References (59)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
Copyright © 2022 by American Marketing Association. All rights reserved
ISSN
0193-1806
eISSN
1547-7185
DOI
10.1177/0022242921996277
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Consumers often observe how other consumers interact with brands to inform their own brand judgments. This research demonstrates that brand relationship quality–indicating cues, such as brand nicknames (e.g., “Mickey D’s” for McDonald’s, “Wally World” for Walmart), enhance perceived information authenticity in online communication. An analysis of historical Twitter data followed by six experiments (using both real and fictitious brands across different online platforms [e.g., online reviews, social media posts]) show that brand nickname use in user-generated content signals a writer’s relationship quality with the target brand from the reader’s perspective, which the authors term “inferred brand attachment.” The authors demonstrate that inferred brand attachment boosts perceived information authenticity and leads to positive downstream consequences, such as purchase willingness and information sharing. The authors also find that this effect is attenuated when brand nicknames are used in firm-generated content. How consumers’ relationships with brands are portrayed and perceived in a social context (e.g., via brand nickname use) serves as a novel context to examine user-generated content and provides valuable managerial insight regarding how to leverage consumers’ brand attachment cues in brand strategy and online information management.

Journal

American Marketing JournalSAGE

Published: Jun 4, 2021

Keywords: brand nickname; information authenticity; inferred brand attachment; user-generated content

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