Claudia Costa and Rita Coelho do Vale
This paper aims to analyze the implications of communicating customer involvement in the ideation and concept stage of new product development (NPD). This paper assesses the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the implications of communicating customer involvement in the ideation and concept stage of new product development (NPD). This paper assesses the extent to which the awareness that a product was co-created jointly by company professional designers and consumers affects observer consumers’ attitudes toward the product and the company. While earlier research has mainly emphasized the positive and desirable consequences of consumer participation in NPD, the present set of studies shows that labeling products as having been co-created is not always valuable; rather, it is dependent on the level of perceived complexity of the products.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses are tested in four experimental studies using several categories of product complexity (low, medium and high). The data have been collected on young adult samples, measuring the participants’ perceptions of a firm’s innovation ability and product purchase intentions.
Findings
The results suggest that there are benefits at the corporate level (higher perceptions of innovation ability) to inform the market about consumer involvement, particularly when consumers and company professionals work together. The findings also indicate that product complexity plays a critical role in translating the perceptions of greater corporate abilities (innovation) in purchase intention, and it is particularly beneficial for low-complexity products.
Originality/value
The previous research has mainly focused on the impact of involving consumers in firms and participating consumers; however, it has neglected the role of observer consumers. This study adds to the innovation literature by showing that the value of learning about other consumers’ involvement in firm NPD is not universally beneficial and that product complexity is a critical boundary condition.
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Rita Coelho do Vale and Pedro Verga Matos
The purpose of this paper is to understand the importance of private labels (PLs) offered by each retailer on store loyalty, combining different loyalty-driven factors and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the importance of private labels (PLs) offered by each retailer on store loyalty, combining different loyalty-driven factors and assessing the importance of PLs on different loyalty stages – attitudinal and behavioural store loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a questionnaire (online survey) run in Portugal (n=469). Multi-level regressions were run to estimate the different loyalty models (base and full models) on each loyalty stage.
Findings
Results stress the positive contribution of PLs on consumers’ loyalty across different loyalty stages. However, findings suggest that this relationship may not be as strong as suggested in earlier studies. Findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between attitudinal and behavioural loyalty, emphasizing the complexity of the consumer loyalty construct and that multiple store-related factors can positively contribute to it.
Research limitations/implications
Data were collected in one single country. It would be interesting to collect similar data in other countries in order to assess the extent to which results prevail across different competitive and cultural contexts.
Practical implications
Findings indicate that the loyalty factors that contribute to store loyalty are not homogeneous across the different loyalty stages, strengthening the idea that retailers should adopt different loyalty strategies depending on the loyalty stage its target customers are in.
Originality/value
This study is the first of its kind combining in a single framework the loyalty towards the retailers’ brand, store-related variables (in-store and economic factors), and specific consumer and retailer characteristics across different loyalty stages.
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Vasco M. Pontinha and Rita Coelho do Vale
The main purpose of this paper is to develop a brand love measurement scale, adopting an etic approach and testing for differences on how consumers experience brand love across…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is to develop a brand love measurement scale, adopting an etic approach and testing for differences on how consumers experience brand love across different cultures.
Design/methodology/approach
An integrative model of brand love was first developed and then data was collected through an online survey (N = 322) in two countries (the USA and Portugal) with different characteristics (individualistic vs collectivistic). A structural equation model method was followed, including an exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and multi-group analysis to test the set of hypotheses.
Findings
As proposed in the initial model, results indicate that brand love is the result of a dynamic interaction between five integrated emotional dimensions: passionate driven behavior, commitment, affection and connection, consumer-brand identification and brand relationship. The multi-group analysis across countries suggests that the socio-cultural context, namely, the collectivistic vs individualistic nature of the sample, significantly influences the brand love experience.
Originality/value
This is the first brand love measurement scale developed from an etic perspective, encompassing complex and dynamic emotional dimensions that in combination, form the brand love experience. Results indicate that the brand love experience may significantly differ from culture to culture, pointing out the most relevant dimensions in each of the socio-cultural contexts that better predict brand love and its consequences. These findings are particularly relevant for practitioners working on global brand management.
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Rita Coelho do Vale and Pedro Verga Matos
This paper aims to analyze the impact of copycat packaging strategies on consumers’ product choices, assessing to what extent the adoption of this type of packaging increases the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the impact of copycat packaging strategies on consumers’ product choices, assessing to what extent the adoption of this type of packaging increases the likelihood of purchase of private labels (PLs).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected in a preliminary field study (1,032 observations), followed by two experimental studies. Study 1 analyzed to what extent PLs’ packaging similarity influences consumers perceptions regarding product quality and production origin across six product categories. Study 2 analyzed, in a simulated real retail setting, to what extent copycat packaging strategies influence consumers’ choice across 22 product categories.
Findings
Results indicate that the higher the level of package similarity between PLs and national brands (NBs) (copycat strategy), the higher the likelihood that PLs’ products are perceived as being produced by one of the NBs’ manufacturers, leading to enhanced perceptions of quality of the PL products, and that the higher the level of package similarity, the higher the likelihood of consumption of PLs, especially when consumers are choosing products of utilitarian versus hedonic nature.
Research limitations/implications
Data were collected in a south-western European country, which will aid the development of further studies in different retail settings.
Originality/value
This paper analyzes the impact of copycat packaging adoption by retailers on consumers’ perceptions and preferences about PLs. To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to assess, across multiple product categories and use market copycats, the potential effects of PLs packaging strategies on consumers’ purchase behavior.
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Nebojsa S. Davcik, Piyush Sharma, Ricky Chan and Rajat Roy
The purpose of this paper is to present the contemporary thinking on deliberate lookalikes and to provide a better understanding of its key forms (counterfeits, copycats and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the contemporary thinking on deliberate lookalikes and to provide a better understanding of its key forms (counterfeits, copycats and no-name imitations) and markets (deceptive and non-deceptive).
Design/methodology/approach
This editorial contains a review of current and past literature on deliberate lookalikes along with summaries of all the articles accepted for publication in the special issue on deliberate lookalikes. The guest editors used academic databases such as Web of Science to find the most representative scholarly work on deliberate lookalikes literature.
Findings
This editorial identifies pertinent research gaps in the literature on deliberate lookalikes. The five selected articles address some of these research gaps and provide useful insights on the purchase and usage of deliberate lookalikes along with directions for future research and ways to apply different research methods that could have important implications for scholars and managers.
Originality/value
The editorial and special issue extends the knowledge about the deliberate lookalikes and their effects on firms, brands and consumers. This work opens new avenues for the research about different forms and markets in the context of lookalikes.
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Madhu Mandal and Satyabhusan Dash
This paper intends to contribute to the evolving understanding of Indian adolescents as consumers by examining their unique relationships with food brands, focusing specifically…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper intends to contribute to the evolving understanding of Indian adolescents as consumers by examining their unique relationships with food brands, focusing specifically on brand love. It further investigates the key drivers that cultivate brand love among adolescents and explores the resulting outcomes of brand love.
Design/methodology/approach
About 37 in-depth interviews, including three exercises, were conducted with adolescents aged 11–16. The first and second exercises used projective techniques to explore respondents’ culture-bound love relationships with their favorite brands. Using the laddering technique, the third exercise investigated the critical drivers of respondents’ brand love.
Findings
The study reveals that adolescents derive value through attribute-benefit-value linkages from the consumption experience, leading to brand love. The customer value–brand love dynamics result in adolescents’ customer engagement behavior. Additionally, Indian adolescent customers seek brand consumption as a medium to instate their social identity and achieve hedonic pleasure from the experience. The study highlights the role of socialization and attitudinal autonomy in shaping adolescent–brand interactions.
Originality/value
The study could be relevant for both academicians and practitioners as they unveil the consumer psychology of contemporary adolescents in emerging countries like India and how similar or different they are from adult consumers. Also, there are very few adolescent–brand relationship studies in the past that have been deliberated in the context of food brands. Brand managers may design their product development and communication appeals around higher levels of abstraction in the attribute-benefit-value linkages discovered by this study.
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Noel Yee Man Siu, Tracy Junfeng Zhang and Raissa Sui-Ping Yeung
Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate the impact of online customer engagement on brand love via dual mediating mechanisms, empowerment…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate the impact of online customer engagement on brand love via dual mediating mechanisms, empowerment (bright side) and stress (dark side). The roles of perceived brand quality and extroversion as weakener and facilitator respectively on the dark side effect are also examined.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey is conducted, targeting people who have experience in participating in online engagement activities. The dual mediation and moderation analysis are examined.
Findings
The results confirm the proposed dual mediating mechanisms. Perceived brand quality and extroversion also significantly moderate the engagement–stress link.
Research limitations/implications
This study explains the mediating mechanisms between online customer engagement and brand love, with a focus on the fast-moving consumer goods industry. This calls for further research on other industries.
Practical implications
This study provides marketers with insights that online customer engagement strategies are not always good and that they should be more careful in formulating such strategies.
Originality/value
This study advances the understanding of the relationship between customer engagement and brand love in the virtual community especially in the social media context.