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The purpose of this paper is to analyze how brand love is built in the context of brand pages by proposing a model in which brand love depends on relationships ties with other brand consumers (sense of brand community) and with the brand itself (self–brand connection).

Information was collected from a sample of 559 members of the community of a well-known baby food brand on Facebook. Data were collected through an online questionnaire sent by the company.

Results suggest that both sense of brand community and self–brand connection foster brand love and that self–brand connection exerts a mediating role between sense of brand community and brand love. Furthermore, the effect of brand community on brand love is conditioned by a personal trait of individuals such as brand engagement in self-concept. In addition, this study identifies a new consequence of brand love not previously analyzed in the literature: brand equity.

A potential shortcoming is the product category analyzed and that the length of membership was not controlled and it may be a moderator between participation and community consequences.

The key implications are the importance of nurturing relationship ties among brand users and building self–brand connections on brand pages as precursors of brand love.

The study offers empirical evidence about the mechanism through which brand love is formed on social-media platforms such as Facebook. Furthermore, the authors have demonstrated the relationship between brand love and brand equity, which had not been examined yet in the literature.

This paper aims to help in the development of a better understanding of key brand-related terms and discuss the key challenges and trends in brand management.

This is an editorial based mainly on an extensive and broad literature review on brand management.

First, this work defines some key brand management terms and presents brand-related issues and concerns that remain unchanged over time. Then it discusses some of the brand management-related matters that are changing since the past few years. Challenges for the management of brands from the side of the companies that have introduced them are then presented. It finally provides a glimpse of the five papers selected for this special issue and then identifies avenues for further research.

This work and the whole special issue together help in the understanding of the dynamic nature of the management of brands over time with implications to the management and the academic engagement with brands.

Este artículo tiene como único propósito ayudar en la obtención de una mayor comprensión de conceptos claves relacionados con la marca y presentar los desafíos y tendencias claves en la gestión de ésta.

Editorial basado principalmente una extensión y amplía revisión de la literatura relacionada con la gestión de la marca.

En primer lugar, este Editorial define algunos conceptos clave de la marca y presenta una serie de cuestiones que han permanecido y permanecen invariables a lo largo del tiempo. Posteriormente, discute otra serie de aspectos y cuestiones que están cambiando en los últimos años para a continuación describir los principales desafíos actualmente existentes para la gestión de la marca desde la perspectiva de las empresas. Este Editorial finaliza con una breve presentación de los cinco artículos seleccionados para este número especial así como una descripción de futuras líneas de investigación.

Este Editorial y en su conjunto todo el número especial dedicado a la marca ayuda a una mayor comprensión de la naturaleza dinámica de la gestión de las marcas a lo largo del tiempo y de sus implicaciones académicas y empresariales.

This study aims to examine personal factors that drive the initiation of an online firestorm, an online collaborative attack against a brand that usually occurs when a brand fails or engages in misconduct.

A structured questionnaire is used for data collection. Via an online panel, 303 questionnaires are completed. Hypotheses are tested using structural equation modelling.

Civic engagement and, to a lesser extent, narcissism explain intentions to initiate online firestorms. Individuals’ inherent concern for others and for ethical issues prompts them to punish a brand publicly, with the expectation that other individuals will follow and that the brand will feel compelled to react. Misconduct-related appraisal factors, such as severity, proximity, moral inequity and outrage, can amplify the effect of civic engagement.

Future research should investigate whether the findings hold for different types of misconduct, cultures and other forms of narcissism.

By providing managers with a better understanding of the motivations for launching an attack, this study offers guidance on managing a brand when an online firestorm occurs.

Whereas previous research has focused on external drivers of online firestorms, this study builds on the prosocial behaviour literature to analyse the individual characteristics prompting the initiation of an online firestorm.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the building of consumer–brand identification through the use of two themes (underdog and topdog) in the design of brand storytelling. It proposes that the underdog theme is superior because it is more effective in immersing readers in the story and generates higher emotional responses. The moderating effect of consumers’ implicit mindsets is also explored.

An experimental study with a single-factorial design is conducted with 301 consumers assigned at random to one of two brand storytelling conditions: underdog theme or topdog theme.

The results show a full mediating effect of the underdog (vs topdog) theme on brand identification through reader immersion and empathic feelings.

The use of a fictitious brand and a specific product category may limit the generalizability of the results.

Placing the brand in a story with an underdog plot is more effective in catching consumers’ attention than using a topdog brand story. In particular, using an underdog theme is a good approach for targeting consumers who have a growth mindset.

This study explains the persuasiveness of brand storytelling in terms of the characteristics of the storytelling itself rather than the individual characteristics of consumers (e.g. their own underdog dispositions). The results also suggest that the implicit mindset of the individual plays a role.

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the role of the human metaphor (anthropomorphism) and consumers’ liking for the humanized version of the brand as antecedents of three key components of brand love: self-brand integration, positive emotional connection and feelings of anticipated separation distress.

A sample of 399 consumers provided information about a brand from a stated list of 16 brands of clothing.

Both anthropomorphism and consumers’ liking for the humanized brand have positive effects on specific components of brand love. The results confirm that brand anthropomorphism is only desirable when the humanized version of the brand is attractive for consumers.

A potential shortcoming is the qualitative technique employed to observe anthropomorphic thought. Collecting ratings of anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic traits could be viewed as a method more easily applied in market research surveys.

Managers have to control how consumers imagine the brand as a human entity because it affects brand love. For example, by tracking consumers’ opinions and traits of those people associated with the brand and brand user stereotypes can condition consumers’ imagination of the humanized brand.

Compared to the limited number of studies about the relationship between anthropomorphism and brand love, this study focuses on the effects of anthropomorphism as a process, and not as a personal trait, on brand love. It also relies on consumers’ imagination instead of brand personification strategies to stimulate anthropomorphism.

Adopting an exploratory approach, this paper aims to focus on the potential negative consequences that online firestorms (OFs) might have on consumer–brand relationships. Specifically, the authors focus on the individual level through taking a close look at the content that users generate during these attacks.

The authors conducted content analysis to study four recent brand-related OFs that occurred on Twitter.

The results show that brands are at the core of the users’ conversations, although other actors, such as competing firms, can also be affected. Negative comments greatly exceed positive ones. Actions against the brand, both passive (avoidance) and active (vengeance), emerged during the OFs.

The exploratory nature of the study could cast doubt on the generalizability of the results. Moreover, the number of OF analyzed is limited, although they represent an interesting variety of brand misconducts.

Nowadays, brands are publicly scrutinized through social networks, as the networks enable users to speak out about brands’ perceived mistakes and wrongdoings. This paper confirms that managers should monitor, understand and try to respond to OFs to minimize their impact.

Online firestorms are a recent phenomenon that has gained attention finally, as they can reach hundreds of users in real-time and can involve a huge amount of comments posted online against a brand. These attacks could severely damage the brand, even when there is no strong evidence of the posted content being true. This paper adds to the scarce literature on the topic and analyzes the negative effects for brands.

Este trabajo exploratorio identifica posibles consecuencias negativas que los ataques colaborativos online contra las marcas podrían tener en las relaciones marca-consumidor. Para ello se adopta la perspectiva del participante en el ataque colaborativo mediante un análisis pormenorizado del contenido que los usuarios generan durante el tiempo que dura el ataque contra la marca.

Se ha llevado a cabo un análisis del contenido generado durante cuatro ataques colaborativos recientes que protagonizaron distintas marcas en Twitter.

Del análisis de contenido se desprende que las marcas son las protagonistas de las conversaciones de los usuarios aunque otros actores tales como marcas competidoras también han sido mencionadas. Los comentarios negativos predominan sobre los positivos. También se identifican acciones contra la marca, tanto pasivas (evitar comprarla) como activas (venganza).

El carácter exploratorio del estudio impide la generalización de sus resultados. El número de ataques colaborativos analizados son limitados aunque representan una interesante variedad de errores y malas conductas por parte de las marcas.

Actualmente las marcas son objeto de escrutinio público en las redes sociales en tanto que facilitan la interacción entre usuarios y el comportamiento informativo de cualquier tipo. Este trabajo confirma que los responsables de marca deben controlar, comprender y tratar de responder a estos ataques colaborativos contra las marcas para minimizar su impacto.

Los ataques colaborativos contra las marcas son un fenómeno que está recibiendo una enorme atención últimamente en la medida en la que miles de usuarios participan en ellos en tiempo real generando una enorme cantidad de comentarios online contra una marca. Estos ataques pueden dañarla seriamente, incluso ante la ausencia de evidencias claras de que el contenido que se comparte sea cierto. Este trabajo contribuye a la escasa literatura existente sobre los ataques colaborativos online contra las marcas y analiza sus posibles efectos negativos.

Artículo de investigación

In a context where the sharing economy (SE) plays an important role in the transformation of today’s business landscape, profoundly changing the behavior of consumers and many established companies, some companies have begun to adapt to SE by incorporating its value propositions into their business models. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to study the role of consumer innovativeness, brand levels and the need for uniqueness on the way to attitudes and intentions to participate in SE.

This study collected the data through an online user survey, achieving a total sample of 717. The data were first analyzed using structural equation modeling and then combined with the use of the PROCESS macro.

The findings provide empirical evidence of the antecedents of consumer innovativeness in a SE context and its role in explaining consumer attitudes and intentions to participate in non-ownership consumption. Furthermore, they also demonstrate that brand tiers and the need for uniqueness moderate the relationship between intentions and participation.

The results of this study contribute to the theoretical development of the SE by presenting the first conceptual model that considers including the brand tiers effect and connects it to two leading theories on consumer behavior (diffusion of innovations theory and uniqueness theory). In addition, the study’s findings provide valuable insights for sharing platforms and traditional companies that choose to participate in the collaborative economy.

The sharing economy (SE) is significantly affecting traditional companies, which have felt a need to adapt their business model. The aim of this study is to identify the different types of adaptation developed by companies within a SE context, and to examine how they relate to their characteristics.

A content analysis involving 149 real-world adaptation cases was carried out, after which a Kruskal–Wallis test and a multiple correspondence analysis were used to explore the relationships between the types of adaptation identified, the business characteristics and the strategic decisions taken for these adaptations.

Through the analyses proposed in the study, the main conclusions suggest that the way companies adapt to SE is related to business characteristics and the strategic decisions taken for these actions, demonstrating throughout the article what types of adaptations are made depending on variables such as sector of activity or business orientation.

This study is the first to examine the variables affecting the decisions among traditional companies in response to the SE. In addition, this work explores the SE from the business point of view, shedding light on the participation in SE by traditional companies.

共享經濟現時正顯著地影響著感到需要改變它們的商業模式的傳統公司。本文旨在確定在共享經濟的背景裡, 公司為適應有關的環境而進行的各種改變; 研究亦擬探討這些改變與公司特徵之間的關係。

研究人員對149個真實世界的改變個案進行內容分析, 繼而進行克拉斯卡 - 瓦立斯檢定 (Kruskal-Wallis test) 和多重應對分析 (Multiple Correspondence Analysis) , 以探究被確定的改變的種類、企業的特徵與採用這些改變的策略性決策之間的關係。

研究人員、透過本研究建議的分析取得結論; 主要的結論似顯示、企業為應對共享經濟所作的改變、與它們的企業特徵和採用哪些行動的策略性決策是有關聯的。整篇論文, 顯示了企業所採用的改變種類、均取決於像活動領域和企業經營理念等的變數。

本研究為首個研究、去探討影響傳統公司回應共享經濟所作的決策的變數。再者, 本研究探究了以商業理念的觀點來考慮的共享經濟, 這使我們更容易理解傳統公司參與共享經濟的課題。

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the consequences that brand alliances have on a new and unknown online brand in terms of attitude to its web site, brand trust, brand equity and consumer's willingness to engage in online transactions.

A sample of 367 subjects participated in an online experiment of buying a travel package from an unknown travel agency which is allied with other known and well‐reputed brands. The information provided by the participants in different online designs of brand alliances was used to test the theoretical model proposed in the paper. This model was tested and compared with other alternative models using conventional maximum likelihood estimation techniques.

The results show that attitude toward brand alliance represents a strategic marketing opportunity to help an unknown online brand to leverage a favourable first impression from consumers in terms of brand trust and attitude toward the brand's web site. Furthermore, online brand trust does not exert a fully‐mediated role between the brand alliance's evaluation and subsequent consumers' reactions to the online brand.

The limitations of the study are those typically applied to the experimental methodology. Specifically, a single product category was used which limits the generalizability of the results. No actual behaviour was measured but just intentions and perceptions.

Partnering with well‐known and reputed brands improves the equity of the new online brand which, in turn, enhance consumers' disposition to engage in online transactions with the online brand.

Despite the popularity of brands as a symbol that can build trust and enhance the perception of value and quality, to date, the authors have not found research about the use of well‐known and reputed brand names as a mechanism of helping new and unknown online brands to persuade consumers to engage in online transactions. The results of this paper add to the growing literature on brand alliance which has been generally focused on an off‐line context.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the synergistic effects derived from an integrated marketing communication (IMC) strategy with a criterion of strategic consistency in the message between two different communication tools (advertising and sponsorship) compared to a non‐integrated strategy. Specifically, it focuses on the synergistic effects that IMC has on consumer information processing, attitude and recall of the communication campaign.

The study uses the experimental methodology in order to compare two conditions (integrated campaign versus a non‐integrated campaign).

The results of this study show that a strategic consistency‐based integration has more positive effects on information processing, attitude and recall of the communication campaign compared to the non‐integration strategy.

This paper offers empirical evidence that might be useful for advertisers about the increased effectiveness of a strategic consistency‐based integration campaign. Research limitations in this paper provide avenues for future studies in order to validate the effectiveness of this strategic consistency‐based integration in others contexts.

The originality of this research resides in testing the synergistic effects of an IMC strategy by a new experimental methodology to operationalizing the strategic consistency in the message communicated between the two communication tools.