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The purpose of this research is to propose and test a model that aims to identify key determinants which could alleviate the loss of brand trust and loyalty caused by brand name change using the resistance to change theory (RCT).

Because of the causal nature of the research, the quantitative research methodology was considered as best suitable. An online questionnaire was administered on a sample composed of 313 consumers.

The paper provides empirical insights regarding the fact that consumers’ resistance to the brand name substitution is the main determinant of the transfer of consumers’ trust from the old to the new brand. Finally, loyalty transfer heavily relies on trust transfer.

Because of the convenience sample used, the research results may lack generalisability. Furthermore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed hypotheses based on different brand name change cases.

The paper includes implications for the alleviation of consumers’ resistance to the brand name substitution, a main determinant for the loss of brand trust and loyalty in the case of brand name change.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study how consumers’ resistance to the brand name change can be diminished. Overall, our research supports the use of the RCT for a better understanding of brand name change-related issues.

Despite the prevalence with which firms change the brand names they use, this research stream has received little academic attention. Managers confronted with brand name substitutions fear most a loss of brand equity, which would decrease their market share. This research aims to identify key influences that might enable companies to minimise their brand equity losses in response to brand name substitutions.

A preliminary qualitative investigation (20 semi‐directive interviews) pertained to better understand how brand equity loss might be minimised in the case of a brand name substitution. This qualitative research and a relevant literature review provided input for the questionnaire design. Furthermore, the resulting survey data from a sample of 300 consumers served for the test of the research propositions.

This study identifies five key influence factors that marketing managers can use to transfer brand equity in the case of brand name substitution, based on consumers' knowledge of the brand change, attitude toward brand change, perceived similarity between the old and new brands, degree of attachment to the initial brand, and recognition of the presence of an umbrella brand. Finally, the brand equity dimensions are interrelated, such that the transfer of perceived quality and brand image influences loyalty transfer, and brand quality transfer improves brand image transfer.

This research represents a first attempt to answer the pressing question: how can firms transfer brand equity successfully in the case of brand name substitution? The study also identifies for the first time key influence factors that favour brand equity transfer from an old to a new brand.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the exploitation of export information in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the contrasting institutional contexts of France and Romania.

The qualitative approach is based on 18 semi‐directed interviews with managers in Romanian and French exporting SMEs. With an absorptive capacity (AC) perspective, this study investigates export information processing in SMEs as a beginning‐to‐end process, including antecedents, inputs, and outputs.

The efficiency of export information acquisition and assimilation in SMEs reflects the richness of their international experiences, as well as the richness of export information sources accessed in foreign settings. The transformation and exploitation of export information in SMEs takes various forms: sense‐making, decision making, and development of new export market‐related know‐how and capabilities. The AC framework appears consistent with exporting SME managers' perceptions. The managers' testimonies are generally homogeneous across both countries.

This research offers valuable insights into how SMEs can acquire relevant information and then assimilate, transform, and exploit that information. It neither establishes causality across the different dimensions of AC nor links information processing and exploitation to performance.

This research uses a dynamic AC framework to clarify export information processes. Contrary to the vast majority of existing studies that focus on a single element or phase of export information management, this study reviews the entire process, from the antecedents of information acquisition to the transformation and exploitation of export information.