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The “meaning transfer model (MTM)” is one of the less researched models in celebrity endorsement. The purpose of this paper is to empirically measure and validate a comprehensive model of meaning transfer in celebrity endorsements.

Based on a conceptual model of meaning transfer that starts from celebrity identity as an antecedent of perceived celebrity meaning (CM), the study integrates CM, brand meaning (BM) and consumer behavior (CB) and two moderators leading to six studied hypotheses. The model is empirically tested using survey data (of 483 consumers) from India with the application of factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

Major results indicate a positive effect of CM on BM and BM on subsequent CB. The moderating effect of consumer knowledge and product involvement in successful meaning transfer is also observed.

Contribution of the present study lies in the validation of a comprehensive model of meaning transfer in celebrity endorsements that may pave the way to the explanation of previous confounding results.

The present study provided an actionable model for marketers that would lead to successful meaning transfer and the various factors that need to be controlled.

This is the first study to validate the MTM that integrates the basic tenets of celebrity endorsement theory.

Srikumar Misra founded Milk Mantra as a milk producing and selling company in the state of Odisha, India in 2010. The company subsequently diversified into milk-based products such as yogurt and cottage cheese and spread its foray into the neighboring states. In 2014, the company had to overcome a few challenges from the macro environment as well as think of a marketing and communication strategy to gain competitive advantage.

The case is based on the primary research and has been developed using interviews of the company representatives and documents made available from the company. Wherever required, written permission has been obtained from the company representatives.

This case could be a part of the Marketing Management course in a graduate/undergraduate program in Business Management. The case could also be a part of a Brand Management or Integrated Marketing Communications course in the same program for specialized subjects such as branding a generic product or brand communications. This case could also be used for a short discussion in a distribution and logistics course.

The specific topics, which could be facilitated through this case, are the 4 Ps of marketing, distribution and marketing strategy. The case also relies on the theories of branding and marketing communication.

The case is aimed at pointing out the basic nuances of entrepreneurship without a profit motive and the challenges faced in the course of achieving the same.

This case could be a part of the Entrepreneurship course in a Post-Graduate Program in Business Management. In case of an Executive Education Program, this case can be used to facilitate issues in Entrepreneurship Development and Non-Profit Marketing.

The present case is a field-based illustrative study on Xplant, a unit set up by Xavier Research Foundation to promote production and selling of seasonal and ornamental plants with accessories to prospective buyers. The uniqueness about the organization was that it was solely governed and run by the students of Biotechnology Course at Xaviers College, Ahmedabad, India. However, in early 2012, it was found that the organization was facing a lot of issues such as competition, lesser demand and lack of motivation of the employees (students). All of which were taking the unit away from achieving sustainability.

Understanding the basics of a new venture and entrepreneurship; understanding the role of the team members in promoting the entrepreneurship venture; role of leadership in entrepreneurship; impact of independence of the entrepreneur and transference of business vision on long-term success of the venture; role of environment in success/failure or entrepreneurial ventures; and problems faced by entrepreneurship ventures.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email subhadip.roy@iimu.ac.in to request teaching notes.

Marketing, Marketing environment, Marketing strategy.

Post Graduate (MBA), Executive Education Program.

The present case study deals with the marketing strategies of Punascha (meaning re-beginning), a publisher of Bengali non-textbooks based in Kolkata, India. This case is suitable for teaching in Marketing Management course in a Post Graduate Program in Business Management. It could also be taken up for an executive program in marketing strategy. The case study is a live case study, which was based on in-depth interviews with the company people and company site visit. The case study discusses how Punascha started from a humble beginning in 1988 and became one of the leading publishers of Bengali books in India. The key focus of the case is on how a company can use marketing tools effectively (and uniquely) and become successful.

Understanding the basics of 4Ps of marketing and how they are used in synchronisation with each other to achieve the marketing objectives. Understanding the role of marketing environment in marketing strategy. Realizing the need of a new product development strategy. Assessing the need of non-traditional modes of marketing communications and its role in product promotion.

Teaching notes.

This study aims to explore the dimensions of perceived consumption vulnerability (PCV) for the elderly citizens (EC) in India and its consequences. Consumer vulnerability is a recent and important construct for marketers and policymakers to understand the consumption behavior of the EC.

To achieve the study objectives, the authors conducted 50 in-depth interviews and six focus group discussions of ECs in two large cities in India. The authors used grounded theory methodology to understand the PCV construct.

The findings suggest a five-dimensional formative PCV construct with the dimensions being Physical, Financial, Social, Technological and Service Vulnerability contributing to PCV. The findings also suggest a relationship between PCV and consumption variables such as search cost, choice evaluation, consumption and overall satisfaction.

The major contribution of the present study is the exploration of the PCV construct for the EC and its dimensions. The propositions developed in the study could be tested in future studies using a quantitative approach.

The findings call for compassion from the marketers while dealing with the ECs and a separate service strategy that addresses the specific needs of the ECs.

The findings call for public policy action to protect the consumption rights of the ECs to reduce their consumption vulnerability.

The present study is a novel attempt to explore the PCV construct and its role in defining consumer behavior of the ECs.

The major issues discussed in the case are related to first-mover advantage, segmenting, targeting and positioning and marketing strategy.

The case could be discussed in a postgraduate program for marketing and brand management and also for strategic management. It could also be used for an executive development program for marketing and business strategy.

The present case is on the Renault Duster, a compact SUV (sports utility vehicle) launched by Renault India in 2012. Equipped with attractive design, innovative features and smart technology, the company used buzz marketing and social media marketing to promote the brand. Competitive pricing of Duster attracted both premium hatchback and sedan buyers in India as the company realized both sales and awards. However, sales started declining from the second half of 2013, and competition used both pricing strategy and exhaustive mass media advertising to compete with the Duster. The other cars from Renault India could not replicate the success of the Duster, which was contributing to around 80 per cent of the total sales of the company in India. Renault thus faced the challenge of losing their ground in the Indian market if they could not revive the sales of the Duster.

Product differentiation and brand positioning (the case is a good example of first-mover advantage); market segmentation and creating a new segment; branding strategy and the role of marketing communications in the same; analyze the role of a long term growth strategy and how it influences product/marketing strategy (business strategy course); understand the probable threats of business due to overdependence on one product (business strategy course); understand the impact of inter-firm rivalry on brandsuccess (business strategy course).

Teaching notes areavailable for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

This study aims to analyse the roles in which children have been portrayed in advertisements over three decades (1990–2000, 2000–2010 and 2010–2020) and what have been the changes in the portrayal of the children, including the changes in product type and target audience.

The content of 212 television advertisements was analysed for the study; 32 advertisements belonged to 1990–2000, 38 belonged to 2000–2010 and 142 belonged to 2010–2020.

It could be observed that in 2010–2020, marketers had primarily focused on children as their central idea behind making any advertisement. They were projecting children as an emotional and informational tool for attracting adults and children, directly or indirectly.

The implications of this study are manifold. Firstly, the study supports the theories of socialisation and the changing role of children in the same. Secondly, the trend over the decades hints at the marketer’s changing strategy behind using children in advertisements to target adult audiences.

The significant implication for the practitioner is the possibility of having a child protagonist in an ad for the non-children target audience.

This paper is one of the first to analyse the changing role of children in advertisements over a long time horizon.

The present field-based case study is related to topics in marketing area, more specifically brand management, strategic marketing and business strategy.

This case is primarily meant for second-year students in a postgraduate program in business management (MBA). The case could also be discussed in an executive development program on marketing/business strategy.

The present case is based on Aava natural mineral water, the brainchild of Mr Behram Mehta, Chairman of Shelpee Enterprises. The case explores at the various marketing strategies adopted by Aava in India. The case traces the brand's foray into the Indian bottled water market as a regional players and its growth as a pan Indian brand. However, in early 2012, the majority of Aava's sales were coming through institutional sales. The brand was facing a challenge of trying to find a foothold in the retail market. The balance between becoming a mass and a premium brand was also looming large. The major question that Aava needed to answer is whether it should restrict itself to the B2B market or whether it should try to penetrate the retail market. Given the latter is more beneficial for the company, the issues of product, pricing and brand communication needed to be revisited since these are not similar for B2B and B2C brands.

The various learning outcomes of the case include: understanding the differences between B2B and B2C marketing and the need for different strategies for both, apply marketing research findings to introduce a product in a market, evaluate and execute marketing communication strategies based on human behaviour for more effectiveness, evaluate alternatives leading to the right choice of branding/marketing strategy, understand the role of 4Ps of marketing for successful business and industry analysis.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

The purpose of this study is to construct and validate a generalizable scale to measure service induced perceived stress for customers of personal services with a high level of intangibles having both online and offline components.

Five studies were conducted to this end. The first was qualitative and the rest were quantitative (survey) with a total sample size of 1,300. The last study was conducted in a different country than the first four.

The studies resulted in a five-dimensional SERVSTRESS scale to measure service induced stress for customers with the following dimensions, namely, psychological stress; information stress; complexity stress; personnel stress and outcome stress. The scale was tested in a nomological network.

The present study addresses a hitherto unaddressed gap in marketing literature with the construction and validation of a scale to measure service stress of a customer (named SERVSTRESS) using data from five studies spanning two countries.

The SERVSTRESS scale is relevant for the practitioners as it adds more value beyond the traditional service quality measures and allows the marketer to understand the nature of the stressors (with a specific focus on which is going right and which is going wrong) in the service delivery and allow him/her to take remedial actions.

The originality of the study is in the creation of a new scale to measure personal service stress and uncovering its underlying dimensions.

This study aims to investigate the nuances of celebrity spokesperson effectiveness in business-to-business (B2B) advertising. Specifically, the study addresses the question of endorser effectiveness in the presence of product complexity (high vs low) and how this effect is moderated by endorser gender. In addition, the study also explores whether the way an endorser is placed in the advertisement (product-facing vs audience-facing) would have differential effects on the buyer.

The present study uses experimental design to fulfil the study objectives. Two experiments are conducted (total n = 201) on employees in a purchasing role in organisations, with the dependent variable being dwell time (captured using an eye-tracking device).

Major findings indicate that celebrity gender has a moderating effect depending on the product complexity. Results also indicate a significant effect of how the celebrity is placed in the advertisement on the buyer.

The findings emphasise the role of the spokesperson in B2B advertising using neuro-behavioural data. It also contributes to the theoretical nuances of spokesperson gender in B2B advertising and the role of kinesics in advertising using spokespersons.

The study provides guidelines on the choice of the spokesperson and their physical posture in the advertisement for B2B advertisers that may lead to communication effectiveness.

The present study is in a domain that is scarcely researched in B2B and adds novelty as it uses physiological data instead of self-reported measures.