Brand Communities and New Product Adoption: The Influence and Limits of Oppositional Loyalty

2008 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 65-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Thompson ◽  
Rajiv K. Sinha
Keyword(s):  
New Products ◽  
New Product ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Product Adoption ◽  
Community Members ◽  
New Product Adoption ◽  
Community Membership ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
The Impact

Brand communities have been cited for their potential not only to enhance the loyalty of members but also to engender a sense of oppositional loyalty toward competing brands. However, the impact of brand community membership on actual new product adoption behavior has yet to be explored. This study examines the effects of brand community participation and membership duration on the adoption of new products from opposing brands as well as from the preferred brand. Longitudinal data were collected on the participation behavior, membership duration, and adoption behavior of 7506 members spanning four brand communities and two product categories. Using a hazard modeling approach, the authors find that higher levels of participation and longer-term membership in a brand community not only increase the likelihood of adopting a new product from the preferred brand but also decrease the likelihood of adopting new products from opposing brands. However, such oppositional loyalty is contingent on whether a competitor's new product is the first to market. Furthermore, in the case of overlapping memberships, higher levels of participation in a brand community may actually increase the likelihood of adopting products from rival brands. This finding is both surprising and disconcerting because marketing managers usually do not know which other memberships their brand community members possess. The authors discuss how managers can enhance the impact of their brand community on the adoption of the company's new products while limiting the impact of opposing brand communities.

The impact of switching costs and brand communities on new product adoption: served-market tyranny or friendship with benefits

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Thompson ◽  
James M. Loveland ◽  
Katherine E. Loveland
Keyword(s):  
Community Participation ◽  
Switching Costs ◽  
Product Category ◽  
New Product ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Product Adoption ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Main Effects ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the competing effects of brand community participation, which should enhance loyalty to both the brand and to already-owned products, against switching costs, which should make consumers sensitive about the financial costs associated with new products. Design/methodology/approach Using the participation and weekly adoption data from 7,411 members in two brand communities and one product category forum over a six-month period, switching costs were computed for each member using 10 years of product release and pricing data. Findings Consistent with prior research, switching costs had a significant effect on reducing product adoption. Brand community participation also had a significant effect on overcoming switching costs. However, these main effects were qualified by an interaction, such that the most active participants were more likely to buy the new product when switching costs were higher. Originality/value Most importantly, these findings provide unique insights into financial switching costs and demonstrate ways in which brand community participation provides a way to mitigate switching costs for consumers who would most be affected by them.

Do brand communities benefit objectively under-performing products?

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Thompson ◽  
Andrew M. Kaikati ◽  
James M. Loveland
Keyword(s):  
Community Participation ◽  
New Product ◽  
Product Knowledge ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Product Adoption ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Industry Standards ◽  
Under Performing ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of brand community participation on new product adoption when the new product is the one which clearly under-performed compared to industry standards. Design/methodology/approach The data on participation behavior, membership duration and adoption behavior of 5,893 members of three different online communities (two brand forums, one general product forum) were gathered and assessed using a Cox PH model. Findings Results show that higher participation in a brand community leads to a greater likelihood of adopting objectively under-performing products, while also reducing the likelihood of purchasing rivals’ products. This occurs despite the higher levels of product knowledge possessed by these consumers. The findings also identify a key limiting condition for oppositional loyalty, that it is driven by membership duration, rather than by active participation in the brand community. Originality/value Prior research on the impact of brand community participation on product adoption has tended to focus on the adoption of products that are objectively superior to competing products. Unfortunately, only one product can be the performance leader in a given market at any time. Thus, managers do not know if brand communities are powerful enough to enhance the likelihood of adopting objectively under-performing products. This manuscript thus provides important insights for managers wishing to launch new products in categories where there are active brand communities.

Psychographics and New Product Adoption: An Exploratory Study

1983 ◽  
Vol 57 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1071-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Goldsmith
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
New Products ◽  
Nominal Group Technique ◽  
New Product ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Innovative Behavior ◽  
Product Adoption ◽  
New Product Adoption

To study the role of venturesomeness in new product purchase, lifestyle items regarding new products were collected from a sample of students using the Nominal Group Technique. The items were combined in a questionnaire with a list of new products and Malhotra's self-concept scale and given to a second sample of students. Correlations of scores on the lifestyle statements with the number of new products purchased confirms that venturesomeness plays a role in innovative behavior. The more venturesome subjects saw themselves as excitable, indulgent, informal, liberal, vain, and colorful. Some early purchasers desire more information before they purchase than others. These individuals saw themselves as organized and rational.

scholarly journals Strong Anxiety Boosts New Product Adoption When Hope Is Also Strong

2020 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
pp. 60-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Ting Lin ◽  
Deborah J. MacInnis ◽  
Andreas B. Eisingerich
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Control ◽  
New Products ◽  
Action Planning ◽  
New Product ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
The Other ◽  
Product Adoption ◽  
Adoption Studies ◽  
New Product Adoption ◽  
The One

New products can evoke anticipatory emotions such as hope and anxiety. On the one hand, consumers might hope that innovative offerings will produce goal-congruent outcomes; on the other hand, they might also be anxious about possible outcomes that are goal-incongruent. The authors demonstrate the provocative and counterintuitive finding that strong anxiety about potentially goal-incongruent outcomes from a new product actually enhances (vs. weakens) consequential adoption intentions (Study 1) and actual adoption (Studies 2 and 3) when hope is also strong. The authors test action planning (a form of elaboration) and perceived control over outcomes as serial mediators to explain this effect. They find that the proposed mechanism holds even after they consider alternative explanations, including pain/gain inferences, confidence in achieving goal-congruent outcomes, global elaboration, affective forecasts, and motivated reasoning. Managerially, the findings suggest that when bringing a new product to market, new product adoption may be greatest when hope and anxiety are both strong. The findings also point to ways in which marketers might enhance hope and/or anxiety, and they suggest that the use of potentially anxiety-inducing tactics such as disclaimers in ads and on packages might not deter adoption when hope is also strong.

Consumer Relationships with Brands

2015 ◽  
pp. 45-61
Keyword(s):  
New Products ◽  
New Product ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Consumer Loyalty ◽  
Product Adoption ◽  
New Product Adoption ◽  
Brand Relationships ◽  
Know How ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
And Behaviors

A brand can be one of a firm's most valuable assets; however, the value of a brand is contingent on the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of its consumers. A brand can legally belong to a firm, but its value is in consumers' hands. Thus, it is important to know how a brand can connect with its users and how to build strong brand relationships that lead to consumer loyalty and advocacy for a brand. Brands can also influence the adoption of new products by helping consumers to reduce the uncertainty of new product adoption. This chapter addresses how marketing strategies can enhance brand relationships.

Threats to the External Validity of Brand Extension Research

2001 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard R. Klink ◽  
Daniel C. Smith
Keyword(s):  
External Validity ◽  
Brand Extension ◽  
New Product ◽  
Consumer Information ◽  
Perceived Fit ◽  
Product Adoption ◽  
Single Exposure ◽  
New Product Adoption ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Design Factors

The findings of prior research suggest that a brand's extendibility is constrained by the degree of perceived fit between the brand and extension product categories. However, there are many examples of brands that have been extended successfully into “perceptually distant” domains. Drawing on theories of consumer information processing and product adoption, the authors identify three background traits of prior work that may help explain the discrepancy between prior research and marketplace observation: (1) limited extension information, (2) failure to account for consumers' new product adoption tendencies (i.e., earlier versus later), and (3) single exposure to proposed extensions. In this study, the authors find that the effects of fit disappear when attribute information is added to extension stimuli and are applicable only for later product adopters. The authors also find that perceived fit increases with greater exposure to an extension. Beyond implications for brand extension research, this study underscores the need to recognize that certain research design factors related to external validity, which are often assumed irrelevant, can alter what is held to be true.

scholarly journals Sales Manager Influence Of New Product Adoption By Their Salesforce: A Theoretical Perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 539-546
Author(s):  
Gregory McAmis ◽  
Lukas P. Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Social Information Processing ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
New Product ◽  
Sales Force ◽  
Sales Manager ◽  
Sales Managers ◽  
Product Adoption ◽  
New Product Adoption ◽  
New Product Introductions ◽  
The Impact

New product introductions are an important part of the success of many organizations, and they often hinge on the perceptions of the sales force.   In turn, much of sales person perceptions are derived from managerial guidance and input.  Although the extant literature has investigated some of the antecedents to the adoption of new products by salespeople, very little attention has been paid to the impact of the sales manager over this process.  Using elements of social information processing, this paper explores how sales managers can exert influence over new product adoption by their salespeople. 

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