Consumers and their celebrity brands: how personal narratives set the stage for attachment

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 831-847
Author(s):  
Bennie Eng ◽  
Cheryl Burke Jarvis
Keyword(s):  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Brand Relationships ◽  
Brand Attachment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relationship Norms ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate how consumer attachment to celebrity brands is driven by perceived narratives about the celebrity’s persona, which triggers communal (i.e. altruistic) relationship norms. The research investigates the differential role of narratives about celebrities’ personal vs professional lives in creating attachment and identifies and tests moderating effects of narrative characteristics including perceived source of fame, valence and authenticity. Design/methodology/approach Three online experiments tested the proposed direct, meditating and moderating relationships. Data was analyzed using mediation analysis and multiple ANOVAs. Findings The results suggest relationship norms that are more altruistic in nature fully mediate the relationship between narrative type and brand attachment. Additionally, personal narratives produce stronger attachment than professional narratives; the celebrity’s source of fame moderates narrative type and attachment; and on-brand narratives elicit higher attachment than off-brand narratives, even when these narratives are negative. Practical implications The authors offer recommendations for how marketers can shape celebrity brand narratives to build stronger consumer attachment. Notably, personal (vs professional) narratives are critical in building attachment, especially for celebrity brands that are perceived to have achieved their fame. Both positive and negative personal narratives can strengthen attachment for achieved celebrity brands, but only if they are on-brand with consumer expectations. Originality/value This research is an introductory examination of the fundamental theoretical process by which celebrity brand relationships develop from brand persona narratives and how characteristics of those narratives influence consumer-brand attachment.

scholarly journals Does brand-relationships matter? The role of brand attachment in salesperson performance in retailing

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavia Braga Chinelato ◽  
Cid Gonçalves Filho ◽  
Clodoaldo Lopes Nizza Júnior
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Sales Performance ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Brand Relationships ◽  
Salesperson Performance ◽  
Brand Attachment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Salesperson performance is accepted as a relevant factor of retailing success. However, scarce studies reveal the relationship between sales performance and brand relationship. The purpose of this study is both, from one side, to empirically demonstrate the impact of salesperson brand attachment (SBA) on sales performance and, on the other side, to identify the mediators of this relationship in small retailing. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted with a sample of 206 small retailers from different sectors of an emerging country. The proposed model was tested using partial least squares–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS3. Findings The results demonstrated that SBA is relevant to driving sales performance through two relevant paths – one following SBA–satisfaction–performance and one path following the SBA–commitment–performance. The model was able to explain 63% of the outcome performance. Practical implications Regarding small retailers, where the owners, employees and managers have higher levels of interaction than the large national retail chains, the marketing executives must invest in improving the attachment to the brand and create emotional bonds and cognition between marketers and the brand. They must develop strategies to promote job satisfaction and organizational commitment because they determine performance. Originality/value Despite the relevance of small businesses for economies worldwide and the importance of salesperson brand relationships, no study has been developed to demonstrate the impacts of such relationships on salesperson performance in retailing. Furthermore, in addition to the central role of organizational commitment in the sales research, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore how to mediate the relationship between brand attachment and sales performance.

Overconfidence of vocational education students when entering higher education

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark P. Bowden ◽  
Subhash Abhayawansa ◽  
John Bahtsevanoglou
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
First Year ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – There is evidence that students who attend Technical and Further Education (TAFE) prior to entering higher education underperform in their first year of study. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of self-efficacy in understanding the performance of students who completed TAFE in the previous year in a first year subject of microeconomics in a dual sector university in Melbourne, Australia. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilises data collected by surveys of 151 students. Findings – A student’s self-efficacy is positively associated with their marks in a first year subject of microeconomics. However, the relationship between final marks and self-efficacy is negative for those students who attended TAFE in the previous year suggesting that they suffer from the problem of overconfidence. When holding self-efficacy constant, using econometric techniques, TAFE attendance is found to be positively related to final marks. Research limitations/implications – The findings are exploratory (based on a small sample) and lead to a need to conduct cross institutional studies. Practical implications – The research points to the need for early interventions so that TAFE students perform well in their first year of higher education. It also points to potential issues in the development of Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) programs. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the inter-related impact of attendance at TAFE in the previous year and self-efficacy on the subsequent academic performance of TAFE students.

Perceived stress and psychological well-being of working mothers during COVID-19: a mediated moderated roles of teleworking and resilience

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vartika Kapoor ◽  
Jaya Yadav ◽  
Lata Bajpai ◽  
Shalini Srivastava
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Working Mothers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Inverse Association ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe present study examines the mediating role of teleworking and the moderating role of resilience in explaining the relationship between perceived stress and psychological well-being of working mothers in India. Conservation of resource theory (COR) is taken to support the present study.Design/methodology/approachThe data of 326 respondents has been collected from working mothers in various sectors of Delhi NCR region of India. Confirmatory factor analysis was used for construct validity, and SPSS Macro Process (Hayes) was used for testing the hypotheses.FindingsThe results of the study found an inverse association between perceived stress and psychological well-being. Teleworking acted as a partial mediator and resilience proved to be a significant moderator for teleworking-well-being relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based at Delhi NCR of India, and future studies may be based on a diverse population within the country to generalize the findings in different cultural and industrial contexts. The present work is based only on the psychological well-being of the working mothers, it can be extended to study the organizational stress for both the genders and other demographic variables.Practical implicationsThe study extends the research on perceived stress and teleworking by empirically testing the association between perceived stress and psychological well-being in the presence of teleworking as a mediating variable. The findings suggest some practical implications for HR managers and OD Practitioners. The organizations must develop a plan to support working mothers by providing flexible working hours and arranging online stress management programs for them.Originality/valueAlthough teleworking is studied previously, there is a scarcity of research examining the impact of teleworking on psychological well-being of working mothers in Asian context. It would help in understanding the process that how teleworking has been stressful for working mothers and also deliberate the role of resilience in the relationship between teleworking and psychological well-being due to perceived stress, as it seems a ray of hope in new normal work situations.

Innovation in SMEs: the role of employee training in German SMEs

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irem Demirkan ◽  
Ravi Srinivasan ◽  
Alka Nand
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Employee Training ◽  
Lower Proportion ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis paper explores the role of effective resource and knowledge management capabilities on product innovation capabilities of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, the authors research the role of the human resource investments in the form of employee training in developing firm's innovation capabilities and how SMEs manage these investments when we account for the boundary conditions such as the level of employee education, SME size and the frequency of investments in research and development (R&D).Design/methodology/approachThe authors use survey data conducted by The Centre for European Economic Research (Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung – ZEW). The final sample for analysis includes 983 SMEs from Germany that belong to 13 different industries. The authors use hierarchical OLS regression to test the hypotheses presented in this paper.FindingsThe authors find a positive association between increased investments in employee training and product innovation capabilities in the context of SMEs. More specifically, the authors’ findings support that (1) the relationship between employee training and innovation capabilities is weaker in industries with greater proportion of employees with university degrees, (2) the effectiveness of investments in employee training is lower among larger SMEs than smaller SMEs, and (3) continuous R&D weakens the relationship between training expenditure and innovation capabilities. While on the one hand the authors’ findings contribute to the debate of whether employee training is necessary for SMEs by affirming this notion, on the other hand the authors show that investments in employee training have differing implications for small and large SMEs within boundary conditions. Moreover, these findings have practical implications for the managers of all SMEs in terms of management of their knowledge resources.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors’ research makes important contributions to the study of innovation in SMEs. First, the authors contribute evidence to the debate whether employee training is necessary for SMEs by showing that employee training is particularly important for SMEs that are smaller in size, have lower proportion of employees with university degrees and when they invest in research and development in a targeted manner. The authors also demonstrate that investments in employee training is not a waste, rather such investments can increase the likelihood of survival for many of these firms through its positive impact on product innovation.Practical implicationsFor managers of SMEs, the authors’ findings suggest that while investments in employee training are important, the managers of particular SMEs with above-mentioned qualities should be persistent in such investments and must make deliberate efforts to reap the benefits in terms of innovative capabilities. Unlike large firms, who have the financial means to carry out investments in an abundant manner, SMEs appear to be more enterprising with their scarce resources when we also consider the role of investments in human resources.Originality/valueThe authors’ research makes important contributions to the study of innovation in SMEs. First, the authors contribute evidence to the debate whether employee training is necessary for SMEs by finding that employee training is particularly important for SMEs that are smaller in size, have lower proportion of employees with university degrees and when they do not invest in R&D continuously. The authors also demonstrate that investments in employee training is not a waste, but such investments can increase the likelihood of survival for many of these firms.

Drivers for voluntary intellectual capital reporting based on agency theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktoria Goebel
Keyword(s):  
Propensity Score ◽  
Agency Theory ◽  
Propensity Score Matching ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Management Report

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers for voluntary intellectual capital (IC) reporting based on agency theory. This study responds to calls for critical investigations of IC reporting utilising Goebel’s (2015a) IC measuring approach to investigate the role of IC value and mispricing for IC reporting.Design/methodology/approachA mandatory management report offers a unique research setting in Germany. The content analysis results of 428 German management reports are used in a regression analysis with leverage, ownership diffusion, IC value and mispricing. Additionally, a propensity score matching approach examines the relationship between IC reporting and IC value.FindingsThe regression results show that companies use voluntary IC reporting to encounter mispricing. IC reporting is negatively associated with leverage, whereas ownership diffusion and IC value show no significant results. The propensity score matching approach is also not significant.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to strengthening and testing agency theory for IC reporting. As mispricing is identified to play an important role for IC reporting, IC research should account for mispricing.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest to reopen a discussion on the declared aims of the German management report and the international integrated reporting model to provide information on value creation, as IC value shows no link to IC reporting.Originality/valueThis study innovatively links IC reporting to IC value and mispricing to investigate drivers for voluntary IC reporting.

The effect of industry association on firm innovation in Chinese private ventures

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 2414-2435
Author(s):  
Wenge Zhang ◽  
Jun Li ◽  
Yiyuan Mai
Keyword(s):  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Firm Innovation ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Industry Association ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emerging Industries ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Firm Learning

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between industry association membership and firm innovation in Chinese private ventures. A secondary objective is to investigate potential moderating effects of firm learning practices and founder characteristics on the above relationship, and to draw out implications for policymakers and practitioners. Design/methodology/approach The paper utilizes data from a sample of 567 Chinese entrepreneurial firms operating in 9 designated emerging industries. Hierarchical regression models were employed to analyze the effect of industry association membership on firm innovation, and the potential moderating effects. A 2SLS procedure was adopted to control for potential endogeneity issue. Supplemental analyses were conducted to ensure the robustness of the findings. Findings The paper provides empirical insights about how industry association membership, along with firm learning practice and founder leadership, affect firm innovation in Chinese private ventures in emerging industries. It suggests that industry association membership positively affects firm innovation. Further, there is a three-way interaction effect of industry association membership, learning practice and founder power on innovation. Research limitations/implications Due to the design of the data set, there are some limitations. First, the study only considered whether a firm belongs to an industry association, but not the nature of such membership (length, firm status in the association, etc.). Second, the cross-sectional design may limit the power of the study to make casual implications about the tested relationships. Practical implications The paper provides important practical implications for policymakers and entrepreneurs in China. In general, the results suggest that private ventures pursuing innovation in emerging industries can benefit from industry associations, and entrepreneurs shall actively engage in firm-level and personal-level learning. For policymakers, the study suggests that to foster innovation in an emerging industry, special attention shall be paid to building necessary institutional support to develop and to strengthen the role of industry association in the industry. Originality/value This paper fulfills an important gap in the literature in that it is one of the first, which investigates the role of the industry association in firm innovation, especially in a non-western context. This paper provides new insights into the role of industry association and firm innovation in an under-researched developing economy context.

Service quality and global competitiveness: evidence from global service firms

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1058-1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenbin Sun ◽  
Jing Pang
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Competitiveness ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between service quality and firms’ global competitiveness in the service industry. A set of moderating effects is formulated to further reveal how the relationship varies under different situations. Design/methodology/approach This paper tests the model with data collected from multiple sources such as World’s Most Admired Companies and COMPUSTAT. Two types of robust regressions for panel data are employed in the empirical model estimation. Findings Service quality is found to significantly drive global competitiveness. Specifically, its impact is stronger for large service firms and when the global environment is characterized as low munificence, high dynamism, or high complexity. Practical implications The paper provides a set of implications for managers of service firms regarding global expansion and quality management. It generates useful guidelines of maximizing the power of service quality when a firm’s global competitive advantage is considered. Originality/value This paper takes the first attempt to formulate service quality’s influence on firm’s global competitiveness with a consideration of specific situational factors.

Understanding level 5 leaders: the ethical perspectives of leadership humility

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 724-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cam Caldwell ◽  
Riki Ichiho ◽  
Verl Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Research Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Building Trust ◽  
Good To Great ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Follower Trust ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Ethical Perspectives

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the ethical perspectives of leadership humility. Jim Collins, in his seminal work, Good to Great, noted that all great organizations are led by “Level 5 leaders (L5Ls).” These leaders exhibit fierce resolve, but incredible humility. This paper examines the nature of humility and its assumptions associated with 12 frequently cited ethical perspectives. Humility builds high follower trust and commitment so often lacking in the modern organization. The paper identifies four practical contributions for scholars and leaders who seek to understand the role of humility in leadership effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a conceptual paper which relies heavily on research from the current literature about leadership, trust, and humility. Findings This paper compares humility with 12 well-regarded ethical perspectives and presents humility as an ethically-relevant leadership construct that helps leaders to build trust, commitment, and followership. Research limitations/implications Because this paper is not an empirical study, it does not present research information, propositions, or hypotheses. Practical implications This paper suggests that leaders can be more effective if they come to understand the implicit ethical nature of leadership and the importance of humility in building trust. Originality/value Although Collins’ research about great organizations identified the importance of Level 5 leadership 15 years ago, very little has been written about the nature of humility as a leadership virtue. More importantly, this paper is among the first to identify the relationship between ethics and humility for L5Ls.

Exploring consumers' response to text-based chatbots in e-commerce: the moderating role of task complexity and chatbot disclosure

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xusen Cheng ◽  
Ying Bao ◽  
Alex Zarifis ◽  
Wankun Gong ◽  
Jian Mou
Keyword(s):  
Task Complexity ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Identity Disclosure ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeArtificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbots have brought unprecedented business potential. This study aims to explore consumers' trust and response to a text-based chatbot in e-commerce, involving the moderating effects of task complexity and chatbot identity disclosure.Design/methodology/approachA survey method with 299 useable responses was conducted in this research. This study adopted the ordinary least squares regression to test the hypotheses.FindingsFirst, the consumers' perception of both the empathy and friendliness of the chatbot positively impacts their trust in it. Second, task complexity negatively moderates the relationship between friendliness and consumers' trust. Third, disclosure of the text-based chatbot negatively moderates the relationship between empathy and consumers' trust, while it positively moderates the relationship between friendliness and consumers' trust. Fourth, consumers' trust in the chatbot increases their reliance on the chatbot and decreases their resistance to the chatbot in future interactions.Research limitations/implicationsAdopting the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework, this study provides important insights on consumers' perception and response to the text-based chatbot. The findings of this research also make suggestions that can increase consumers' positive responses to text-based chatbots.Originality/valueExtant studies have investigated the effects of automated bots' attributes on consumers' perceptions. However, the boundary conditions of these effects are largely ignored. This research is one of the first attempts to provide a deep understanding of consumers' responses to a chatbot.

Celebrity transgression and consumers’ forgiveness: does religiosity matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anwar Sadat Shimul ◽  
Matthew Barber ◽  
Mohammad Ishmam Abedin
Keyword(s):  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Intrinsic Religiosity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Equation Modelling ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of religiosity on consumers’ forgiveness when celebrities get involved in transgression. The celebrity’s reaction and its impact on consumers’ forgiveness is tested as well. In addition, consumers’ attitudes towards the brand and celebrity as well as purchase intention for the endorsed brand are examined both before and after the transgression. Design/methodology/approach Data (n = 356) were collected through a self-administered online survey and analysed though structural equation modelling in AMOS 26. Findings The results show that consumers’ attitude towards celebrity, brand and purchase intention gets weaker once the celebrity gets into transgression. Consumers tend to forgive more if the celebrity apologises (vs denies) for the wrongdoing. The hypothesised relationship between attitude towards celebrity and purchase intention did not sustain after the transgression. In addition, consumers’ intrinsic religiosity strengthens the relationship between attitude towards the celebrity and purchase intention. Practical implications The findings of this research present valuable implications for brands practitioners. Brands should formulate actionable contingency plans to mitigate the negative ramifications of celebrity transgressions. Specifically, intrinsic religiosity and celebrity apologies should assist consumers in forgiving the transgression and negate the implications that could have arisen if the celebrity instead denied the transgressions. Originality/value This research extends the previous research by examining religiosity and forgiveness within the context of celebrity transgressions. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first few research studies to consider the role religiosity plays in consumers’ intention to forgive celebrity transgressions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document