Why familiar brands are sometimes harder to remember

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 621-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Stocchi ◽  
Malcolm Wright ◽  
Carl Driesener

Purpose This paper aims to show that strength-based theories of memory provide only a partial description of how consumers retrieve brands from memory. Dual-process theories of memory such as the Source of Activation Confusion (SAC) model provide a more robust explanation of brand retrieval by accounting for the separate effects of brand familiarity and category knowledge. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines brand image associations for 27 brands in three product categories using marketing field data. The authors apply a quasi-experimental approach to divide respondents into four groups based on their levels of brand familiarity and category knowledge. The authors compare brand retrieval for each group to test whether the SAC model, a dual-process theory of memory, or traditional strength-based theories of memory better explain brand retrieval. Findings Familiar brands are harder to remember when consumers know more about the product category. This effect cannot be explained by strength-based theories of memory, but it is a prediction of the SAC model. This outcome is a critical test that discriminates between competing theories of brand retrieval. Research limitations/implications Researchers may draw on the SAC model to identify new ways of analysing brand image data to better understand how consumers retrieve brands from memory. This includes, above all, developing methods to separately measure the effects of brand familiarity and category knowledge. Practical implications To maximise the chance that consumers will remember brands, managers of highly familiar brands should avoid promoting category knowledge through their branding and communications strategies. By contrast, managers of less familiar brands should promote category knowledge by linking their brand to episodes of category consumption. Originality/value This work illustrates that a quasi-experimental approach can be used to extend quantitative psychological models from laboratory experiments to marketing field data. It also illustrates the use of a critical empirical test to discriminate between competing theories in marketing.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-87
Author(s):  
Harsandaldeep Kaur ◽  
Kanwalroop Kaur

Purpose Although the prominence of brand logo for companies is widely acknowledged, a close examination of the literature reveals lack of empirical research pertaining to effect of brand logo on consumer perception toward brand. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to fill the gap in marketing studies concerning the effect of a logo on consumer evaluations. The research addresses two questions: first, how brand logo favorability helps to increase brand image; and second, how brand logo form consumer perceptions toward brand through brand personality dimensions and brand familiarity? Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from 816 respondents using mall-intercept technique. Structural equation modeling via AMOS was conducted to test the proposed model to gain insight into the various relevant influences and relationships. Findings The findings revealed the importance of the company’s brand logo in enhancing the brand image. The results further highlighted that brand personality dimensions and brand familiarity mediate the relationship between brand logo and brand image. Practical implications The study offers managers a new perspective for building strong brand identity with the help of logos along with the brand personality dimensions and brand familiarity to enhance brand image. Originality/value This study provides novel insights on the impact of brand logo on brand image. This is the first study to determine the mediating role of brand personality in the relationship between brand logo and brand image. It thereby adds to the literature of visual identity by developing the sphere of influence of brand logo and its effects toward brands.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Zhang

PurposeThe purpose of this review article is to demonstrate how the quasi-experimental approach has been used to study environmental and natural resource issues related to agricultural production.Design/methodology/approachThis review article first provides a short introduction to the quasi-experimental approach using the potential outcomes framework and then uses studies on the environmental sustainability of agricultural production to illustrate how quasi-experimental methods have been applied. Papers reviewed consist of studies that estimate the environmental externalities from agricultural production, evaluate agri-environmental and other related policies and programs, and demonstrate issues related to on-farm resource use and climate adaptation.FindingsDifference-in-differences (DID) and two-way fixed effects methods that utilize the spatial and temporal variation in panel data are widely used to estimate the causal impact of changes in agricultural production and policy on the environment. Utilizing the discontinuities and limits created by agricultural policies and regulations, local treatment effects on land and other input use are estimated using regression discontinuity (RD) or instrumental variable (IV) methods with cross-sectional data.Originality/valueChallenges faced by the food systems have made agricultural sustainability more critical than ever. Over the past three decades, the quasi-experimental approach has become the powerhouse of applied economic research. This review article focuses on quasi-experimental studies on the environmental sustainability of agriculture to provide methodological insights and to highlight gaps in the economics literature of agricultural sustainability.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 1095-1113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro

Purpose The purposes of this paper are to explore the effects of brand credibility, brand familiarity and brand image on brand attachment and brand attitude; and to test how a grocery product category and the perception of quality of own-label brands vs manufacturer brands moderate the inter-relationship of brand credibility, brand familiarity and brand image on brand attachment and brand attitude. Design/methodology/approach A survey is administered to a quota sample of Portuguese supermarket shoppers via a face-to-face personal interviewing method. The survey was conducted in Lisbon, Amadora and Sintra. The three municipalities were chosen for being the most densely populated and for having the largest number of grocery retailers in Portugal. From a total of 800 questionnaires collected using a face-to-face personal interviewing method in low-, medium- and high-peak shopping days, 756 were usable for data analysis. The respondents’ profile is according to the last Censos in Portugal conducted by the National Statistical Institute of Portugal, representing a quota sample. Findings Credibility and familiarity seem to be more important to enhance attachment in the case of the manufacturer brands and image for retailer own-brands. Brand image is more effective in attach customer in the case of manufacturer brands. Grocery store (supermarket) brand managers should be more effective in communicating the extension of the store image to the image of the products; they should develop a consistent and differentiating brand image. Originality/value This paper provides an important contribution to supermarket retail service by shedding light about how consumers’ overall evaluation and attachment to a brand are affected by the grocery product category and the perception of the quality of an own-label brand vs a manufacturer brand.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 897-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacopo Cerri ◽  
Francesco Testa ◽  
Francesco Rizzi ◽  
Marco Frey

Purpose Surveys measuring consumers’ preferences for sustainable food might suffer from socially desirable responding. Social desirability stems in part from social norms about sustainable lifestyles, when respondents need approval from others and when privacy is not guaranteed during survey completion. While various studies showed this phenomenon through laboratory experiments and by comparing different modes of survey administration, no research adopted factorial survey experiments (FSEs) to measure which factors are perceived by consumers as critical for socially desirable answering. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap, at least for young consumers in a case study with organic fruit. Design/methodology/approach In total, 143 under-30 respondents were involved in an FSE. Each respondent evaluated six hypothetical scenarios (n=858) describing a consumer surveyed about his/her preferences for organic fruit. Respondents indicated whether they believed participants would have answered honestly or not to the survey described in each scenario. Generalized linear mixed models were used to model how scenario attributes were perceived to influence honest answering. Findings Respondents believe that people are more prone to bias their answers the more they seek approval from others. Moreover, the presence of acquaintances during survey completion is another critical driver of survey misreporting. Originality/value This study, by using a novel robust quasi-experimental approach, confirms that social desirability could lead consumers to misreport their preferences when surveyed about an organic fruit. This confirms that well-designed surveys, adopting proper remedies for social desirability should be adopted even for those food products, like fruit, which are usually deemed to be less subjected to misreporting. It also introduces FSEs as a flexible tool for collecting insights from consumers about potential antecedents of their behavior.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morris Mendelson ◽  
Jasmine Alam ◽  
Chris Cunningham ◽  
Adam Totton ◽  
Carrie Smith

PurposeTransformational leadership has been shown to have a positive impact on a host of employee level and organizational performance indicators. However, little research has sought to understand some of the antecedents of this style of leadership. The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between having a post-secondary education and perceptions of transformational leadership.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from two surveys issued in a mid-sized energy company located on the eastern seaboard of North America. One-way ANOVA comparing employees’ perceptions of transformational leadership exhibited by their supervisors that either did or did not have a post-graduate degree demonstrated a strong, positive relationship between the attainment of a Master’s degree and perceived levels of transformational leadership qualities.FindingsThe findings of this quasi-experimental field study demonstrated a strong, positive relationship between the attainment of a Master’s degree and perceived levels of transformational leadership qualities.Originality/valueThis study is the first of its kind to demonstrate that more educated managers are generally perceived to be more transformational in their leadership style.


2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 237-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashutosh Dixit ◽  
Kenneth D. Hall ◽  
Sujay Dutta

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of price attribute framing and factors such as urgency and perceived price fairness on customer willingness to pay (WTP) in automated retail settings. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted two sets of quasi-experimental scenarios surrounding vending-machine purchase decisions. The first set was analyzed with MANOVA, the second set with choice-based conjoint (CBC) analysis. Findings – When prices are framed positively (as a discount), customer WTP is higher at high published price levels than it is for unframed or negatively framed prices. The effect on WTP holds whether the reference price range is broad (few large increments) or narrow (numerous small increments). In the CBC scenarios, immediate availability of the product was most influential on choice, followed by price and brand effects. These findings held under conditions invoking both urgency and price fairness. Providing an explanation for higher prices increases perceived price fairness. Research limitations/implications – Further study might assess the presence or absence of interaction effects in the conjoint scenarios. Practical implications – Managers should consider transparency in dynamic pricing, particularly when the price change is outside the control of the firm. The conjoint scenario results also offer evidence that dynamic pricing will not impact other marketing-mix decisions for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) dramatically (availability at point of purchase and presence in the consumer consideration set remain strong influences on choice). Social implications – Understanding these effects on WTP could help managers manage perceptions of unfairness and optimize WTP. Originality/value – A theoretical contribution from this study is that the immediate loss/gain consideration under theories of decision making under uncertainty outweigh considerations such as scarcity urgency or perceived unfairness. Use of conjoint analysis in WTP research, study of dynamic pricing in FMCG setting.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 662-686
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Staikos ◽  
Wenjun Xue

Purpose With this paper, the authors aim to investigate the drivers behind three of the most important aspects of the Chinese real estate market, housing prices, housing rent and new construction. At the same time, the authors perform a comprehensive empirical test of the popular 4-quadrant model by Wheaton and DiPasquale. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors utilize panel cointegration estimation methods and data from 35 Chinese metropolitan areas. Findings The results indicate that the 4-quadrant model is well suited to explain the determinants of housing prices. However, the same is not true regarding housing rent and new construction suggesting a more complex theoretical framework may be required for a well-rounded explanation of real estate markets. Originality/value It is the first time that panel data are used to estimate rent and new construction for China. Also, it is the first time a comprehensive test of the Wheaton and DiPasquale 4-quadrant model is performed using data from China.


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