Luluo Peng, Yuting Wei, Xiaodan Zhang and Danping Wang
The brand logo, as a fundamental element of marketing communications, serves as a crucial visual representation of a brand. In the current era of mobile Internet, logo flatness…
Abstract
Purpose
The brand logo, as a fundamental element of marketing communications, serves as a crucial visual representation of a brand. In the current era of mobile Internet, logo flatness has become a new trend in practice. However, there remains a scarcity of research that explores the effects of logo flatness on consumer perceptions and brand attitudes.
Design/methodology/approach
Across four studies, using both observational analyses of real brands and experimental manipulations of fictitious brands, the authors examined the impact of logo flatness on consumer perceptions and brand attitudes.
Findings
Results show that logo flatness promotes the perception of modernity due to the simplicity it presents. Consumers will evaluate the brand more positively when their perception of the logo association is congruent with the brand image. Notably, traditional brands using skeuomorphic logos and modern brands employing flat logos can effectively enhance consumers' brand attitudes.
Practical implications
The findings of this study have significant implications for businesses seeking to enhance consumers' brand attitude and foster brand renewal through the strategic selection and design of logos that align with their brand image.
Originality/value
This study provides a theoretical and empirical test of the influence of logo flatness on consumers' perception of brand image, thereby enriching the existing research on brand management.
Details
Keywords
Luping Sun, Xiaona Zheng, Luluo Peng and Yujie Cai
In marketing, most research on intention–behavior consistency (IBC) is dedicated to improving the predictive ability of stated intentions for future behaviors, with relatively…
Abstract
Purpose
In marketing, most research on intention–behavior consistency (IBC) is dedicated to improving the predictive ability of stated intentions for future behaviors, with relatively less exploration into the precursors of IBC, especially those linked to regular durable goods void of ethical consumption characteristics. This study aims to focus on the antecedents of IBC for such products, specifically examining category-level and product-level IBC in light of consumer knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a two-round survey to collect 3,560 Chinese consumers' vehicle purchase intentions and behaviors. The authors have also leveraged a large vehicle database (containing detailed vehicle attribute information) to measure consumer product knowledge (i.e. product judgment accuracy). A trivariate probit model was proposed to account for the potential selection bias arising from sample attrition while examining the effects of consumer knowledge on category- and product-level intention-behavior consistency.
Findings
Findings reveal that 47% of the participants displayed category-level IBC, and within this group, a further 39% exhibited product-level IBC. Notably, product knowledge, manifested as accurate product judgment, correlates negatively with category-level IBC but positively with product-level IBC. Intriguingly, the negative association between inaccurate judgment and product-level IBC is less pronounced for consumers overestimating the target product than for those underestimating it. Furthermore, consumers with direct experience are less prone to show category-level IBC, but are more inclined to display product-level IBC.
Practical implications
Vehicle marketers should prioritize consumers who show interest in their products but possess inaccurate knowledge, to retain whom companies can nurture their product knowledge. As for consumers with accurate knowledge, companies should try to expedite their purchase. Vehicle marketers also need to devise suitable advertising strategies to prevent consumers from undervaluing their products. For those overestimating competitors' products, companies can provide information to correct their overestimation and draw attention to possible confirmation biases. Vehicle marketers should encourage potential buyers who have shown interest in their product to participate in test-drive events, exhibitions, and other direct experience opportunities. Yet, for consumers still in the “whether-to-buy” decision-making phase, companies should not rush them into a test drive.
Social implications
In the policy-making realm, governmental administrators can implement extensive consumer education programs, with a focus on the importance of product knowledge. This may involve providing consumers with accurate information and buying guides through various channels, which can help consumers make informed purchase decisions. Moreover, to foster healthy competition among vehicle companies, governmental administrators can establish regulations that require vehicle companies and other relevant industries to provide accurate and transparent product information, including performance, safety, and environmental aspects. Finally, in order to protect consumer rights, governmental administrators can also strengthen regulations to ensure fair treatment and safeguards for consumers throughout the purchasing process. This includes cracking down on false advertising and fraudulent practices, maintaining market order, and enhancing consumer confidence and purchase consistency.
Originality/value
This study is among the first attempts to examine the relationship between consumer knowledge and intention-behavior consistency, especially for regular durable products void of ethical consumption characteristics. Responding to the call of previous literature (e.g. Morwitz, 1997), the authors distinguish between and examine two forms of intention-behavior consistency simultaneously (using a sample selection model) and obtain more reliable conclusions. Moreover, the study's large-scale two-round survey had obtained individual-level purchase behavioral outcomes, which allowed the authors to measure each consumer's IBC at both category and product levels. More importantly, the authors show the opposite effects of consumer knowledge on the two forms of intention-behavior consistency.
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Xiaodan Zhang, Yanping Gong and Luluo Peng
Online communities are increasingly important for organizations and marketers. However, the issue of how structural features of online communities affect consumers' behavioral…
Abstract
Purpose
Online communities are increasingly important for organizations and marketers. However, the issue of how structural features of online communities affect consumers' behavioral engagement remains relatively unexplored. The purpose of this study is to examine how and why different types of interdependence within online communities (i.e. task/outcome interdependence) influence individual engagement in group activities, thereby providing insights regarding online community design.
Design/methodology/approach
Two surveys were conducted with two online groups in China. One is a task-interdependent group from Douban Forum, and the other is an outcome-interdependent group from Sina Forum. A total of 159 valid responses from the task-interdependent group and 162 valid responses from the outcome-interdependent group were received. We analyzed the data using multivariate regression with Smart PLS and SPSS.
Findings
The results reveal that both task and outcome interdependence are positively related to individual behavioral engagement in online group behavior, and collective efficacy mediates the aforementioned effects. In addition, task complexity moderates the relationship between task interdependence and individual behavioral engagement; communication within group moderates the relationship between outcome interdependence and behavioral engagement, and the effect is mediated by collective efficacy.
Originality/value
This study is the first to investigate the role of an important factor of group structure, namely, interdependence, in fueling individual behavioral engagement in online communities. The results shed light on companies' design strategies to develop and retain online community members and also provide important insights for researchers interested in social network marketing.
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Ping Wang, Luping Sun and Luluo Peng
Word‐of‐mouth (WOM) has been found to significantly influence consumers' decision making. Much attention has been paid to the effect of WOM characteristics such as the number of…
Abstract
Purpose
Word‐of‐mouth (WOM) has been found to significantly influence consumers' decision making. Much attention has been paid to the effect of WOM characteristics such as the number of postings, the dispersion of online conversations, the reputation of the reviewers, and the review quality on product sales. Little research, however, has examined the interaction process of online reviews. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consumers' product attitude formation process in online WOM. Three research questions will be addressed in this paper, i.e. the effect of prior responses on the following repliers' product attitude, the negativity effect and the role of main messages in shaping consumers' product attitude formation process.
Design/methodology/approach
The product attitude formation process of online WOM is investigated using the data of product reviews (main messages) and their corresponding responses. The paper collected 26 product reviews from various web sites and kept the first 40‐50 responses for each review, which resulted in 26 main messages and 1,173 observations (i.e. responses) in total. A hierarchical Bayesian ordinal choice model is then specified and estimated with the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to address the research questions and to capture the main message heterogeneity.
Findings
The paper finds that the impact of prior responses (e.g. the proportion of positive and negative responses) on the product attitudes of the following responses differs significantly across products. This heterogeneity can be well explained by the characteristics of the main messages at the second‐level specification. Thereby, factors that influence consumers' product attitudes in the interaction process of online WOM include prior responses and main message characteristics. Another interesting finding is that positive responses have larger impacts on product attitudes than negative ones.
Originality/value
This research contributes to both academic research and the firms' online WOM management. Theoretically, this research is the first attempt to examine the formation process of attitudes toward new products in online communications. This research contributes by modeling how the dynamic process of online WOM influences new product attitudes. Furthermore, inconsistent with the “negativity effect” proposed by researchers (e.g. Skowronski and Carlston), the paper finds that positive responses matter more than negative ones in online communications. In addition, the way the paper configures the data for online communications is innovative and provides a perspective to quantitatively model the communication process. Managerially, this research provides implications for firms to intervene in the online communication process and influence consumer attitude of new products.