Anna Vredeveld and Selcan Kara
The purpose of this study is to examine the behavioral and emotional outcomes of nostalgic brand meanings derived from brand use that occurs in the early stages of a romantic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the behavioral and emotional outcomes of nostalgic brand meanings derived from brand use that occurs in the early stages of a romantic relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses survey data (n = 656) and relies on structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Relationship brand nostalgia has implications for how the relationship partners use the brand together as part of celebrating special occasions, how connected the brand is to their relational identity and how upset they would be if the brand was discontinued. Additionally, interpersonal relationship characteristics (relationship satisfaction and relationship power) influence these outcomes of relationship brand nostalgia.
Research limitations/implications
The findings from this research show that it is important to account for real (experienced) brand nostalgia when considering behavioral and emotional implications of nostalgia in consumer–brand relationships. Specifically, brand use as part of early romantic relationship milestones influences the creation of nostalgic brand meanings, which in turn influence shared brand use, relational brand connections and brand separation distress.
Practical implications
Brand managers can increase relational brand connections and brand separation distress by encouraging shared brand use as part of romantic relationships milestones.
Originality/value
This research addresses gaps in extant research by examining the outcomes of relationship brand nostalgia, which is defined as brand nostalgia anchored in shared brand use that occurred as part of early relationship milestones.
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Selcan Kara and Anna J. Vredeveld
The purpose of this study is to uncover the dimensions of shared brand use as a part of romantic relationships and examine the dynamics among shared brand use, brand preference…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to uncover the dimensions of shared brand use as a part of romantic relationships and examine the dynamics among shared brand use, brand preference similarity, brand variety seeking and relationship satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 1,820 MTurk respondents participated in four online surveys and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The findings of the study show that shared brand use has five use dimensions: special occasion, mundane, activity, nostalgia and relational identity expression; shared brand use leads to brand preference similarity that elicits increased brand variety seeking as a part of the relationship and relationship satisfaction moderates the effect of brand preference similarity on brand variety seeking.
Originality/value
Building on extant literature on branding, variety seeking and shared consumption, the authors develop a measure that captures different facets of shared brand use as a part of romantic relationships, move beyond the existing research on variety seeking in the context of experiential purchases to show how romantic relationship partners engage in purposeful brand variety seeking as a part of their romantic relationships and document that relationship satisfaction is an important factor that influences how partners purposefully engage in brand variety seeking.
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Duygu Akdevelioglu and Selcan Kara
This paper aims to examine innovativeness and extraversion as antecedents of perceived and social media opinion leadership in different country-level contexts and explore how…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine innovativeness and extraversion as antecedents of perceived and social media opinion leadership in different country-level contexts and explore how these antecedents influence product adoption differently.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey method was used to collect data from Turkey and the USA. A total of 415 respondents participated in two studies, and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
This research shows that innovativeness affects perceived opinion leadership, whereas extraversion affects social media opinion leadership, and these effects are moderated by country-level differences.
Practical implications
Tthis research provides strategic information strategic information on how to identify and target influencers in social media across countries. This paper has implications for marketers who are trying to find influential consumers to increase new product adoption. Social media opinion leaders are important seeding points, because they actively initiate new product adoption for other consumers. Marketers should create strategies that are in line with the country’s cultural orientation in addition to personal/psychological traits.
Social implications
This research provides valuable information to better explain the consumers’ adoption of technological products and the factors affecting this process in the context of social media. Specifically, this paper identifies strategies to use cultural differences across countries (i.e. Turkey versus the USA) and personality traits (i.e., innovativeness and extraversion) in the adoption of new products.
Originality/value
This paper extends prior literature on opinion leadership by uncovering consumer dynamics internationally, which are known to influence social media use. Specifically, by examining the effect of innovativeness and extraversion on opinion leadership in different countries, this research contributes to the literature on new product adoption and has implications for effectively identifying influencers in social media.
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Kunter Gunasti, Selcan Kara and William T. Ross, Jr
This research aims to examine how credence, search and experience attributes compete with suggestive brand names that are incongruent with the attributes they cue (e.g. expensive…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to examine how credence, search and experience attributes compete with suggestive brand names that are incongruent with the attributes they cue (e.g. expensive EconoLodge Motel, short-lasting Duracell battery and joint-stiffening JointFlex pill).
Design/methodology/approach
This study relies on experimental studies, together with analyses of variance, t-tests and logistic regressions.
Findings
Incongruent suggestive brand names can distort product evaluations and alter perceptions of product performance in joint product judgments involving contradictory credence attributes; they can misdirect product evaluations even if the search attributes conflict with competitor brands. Furthermore, they are more likely to backfire if contradictory experience attributes are readily available to consumers.
Research limitations/implications
This test of the role of incongruence between suggestive brand names and actual product features includes key concepts that can inform continued studies, such as search attributes that consumers can readily observe, experience attributes that can be observed only after product use and credence attributes that might not be observed even after use.
Practical implications
This study provides applicable guidelines for managers, consumers and policymakers.
Originality/value
The findings expand beyond prior literature that focuses on memory-based, separate evaluations of advertised benefits and inferences or expectations of unavailable attributes. Specifically, this study details the implications of congruence between the suggestive brand names and different types of attributes observable at different consumption stages.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Opinion leaders are influenced by either innovativeness levels or network centrality. Difference in cultural characteristics determine which type of opinion leadership prevails and how this leads to early adoption of new products and influence on other network members.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.