Document Type : Original Research
Authors
1 Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka
2 College of Economics and Management, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
Abstract
Consumer based brand equity (CBBE) is a complex, multi-faceted concept and the facets of CBBE capture consumers’ brand related beliefs. From a managerial perspective, it is imperative to know the most damaging facet of CBBE in order to launch appropriate management strategies to safeguard that particular facet. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of product harm crisis on facets of CBBE, with special reference to Chinese and Sri Lankan young consumers. Results based on independent samples t test, correlations and a series of one sample t tests showed that product harm crisis has a detrimental impact on facets of CBBE and country significantly shape consumer perceptions in this regard. Further study showed that out of main facets considered in the study, i.e., brand attitude, brand trust, perceived quality of the brand, perceived quality of the products of the brand and brand desirability; brand attitude is more detrimentally affected by the crisis in both countries. Therefore, from managerial perspective, in particular from multinational company’s perspective, current study showed that it is more worthwhile to consider CBBE as separate facets rather than as a composite variable in a product harm crisis situation, as the overall picture of CBBE may not reflect the economic significance of CBBE.
Keywords
Aaker DA. (1996a), Measuring brand equity across products and markets, Californian Management Review, 38(.3):102– 120.
Aaker DA. (1996b), Building strong brands. New York: Free Press
Aaker, D.A. (1991), Managing Brand Equity. New York: Free Press
Aaker, J. L., & Maheswaran, D. (1997), The effect of cultural orientation on persuasion, Journal of Consumer Research, 24: 315-328.
Aaker, J. L., & Williams, P. (1998), Empathy versus pride: The influence of emotional appeals across cultures, Journal of Consumer Research, 25: 241-261.
Ambler, T. (2003), Marketing and the Bottom Line: Creating the Measures of Success. London: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.
Anderson, J.R. (1983), The architecture of Cognition, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Baron, R.M., & Kenny, D.A. (1986), The moderator mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and Statistical considerations, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51: 1173-1182.
Brown, J.S., Collins, A., and Duguig, P. (1989), Situated cognition and culture of learning, Educational Researcher, 18 ( 1): 32-42.
Buil, I., de Chernatony, L. & Martinez, E. (2008), A cross-national validation of the consumer based brand equity scale, Journal of Product and Brand Management, 17(6): 384–392.
Burmann, C., Jost-Benz, M. & Riley, N. (2009), Towards an identity-based brand equity model, Journal of Business Research, 62: 390–397.
Chaikan, S. (1986), The Heuristic model of persuasion. In Social Influence: The Ontario Symposium, in Zanna, M.P., Higgins, E.T., and Herman, C.P. (Ed.). Hillsdale, NJ. Lawrence Erlbaum associates Vol. 4.
Chieng, F.Y.L., & Goi, C.L. (2011), Customer-based brand equity: A literature Review, Journal of Arts Science & Commerce, II (I): 33-42.
Christodoulides, G., & Chernatony, L. (2011), Consumer based brand equity conceptualization and measurement. A literature review, International Journal of Market Research, 51 (1): 43-66
Coombs, W.T., & Holladay, S.J. (2008), Comparing apology to equivalent crisis response strategies: Clarifying apology’s role and value in crisis communication, Public Relations Review, 34 (3): 252-257.
Davis, R., Buchanan-Oliver, M., & Brodie, R.J. (2000), Retail service branding in electronic-commerce environments, Journal of Service Research, 3 (3): 178–186.
Dawar, N., & Pillutla, M.M. (2000), Impact of Product- Harm Crises on Brand Equity: The Moderating Role of Consumer Expectations, Journal of Marketing Research, 38 (5): 215-226.
Douglas, S.P., & Craig, C.S. (1983), International Marketing Research, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Dyson, P., Farr, A., & Hollis, N.S. (1996), Measuring and using brand equity, Journal of Advertising Research, 36 (November, December): 9-21.
Erdem, T., Swait,J., & Valenzuela, A. (2006), Brands as Signals: A Cross-Country Validation Study, Journal of Marketing, 70 (January 2006):34–49
Faircloth, J. B., Capella, L. M., & Alford, B. L. (2001), The effect of brand attitude and brand image on brand equity, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 9 ( 3): 61–74.
Farquhar, P. (1989), Managing brand equity, Journal of Advertising Research, 30 (4): RC7– RC12.
French, A., & Smith, G. (2013), Measuring brand association strength: a consumer based brand equity approach, European Journal of Marketing, 47 ( 8):1356 - 1367
Hofstede G. (1991). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. Berkshire, England: McGraw-Hill,
Hofstede, G. (1980), Motivation, Leadership, and Organization: Do American Theories Apply Abroad? Organizational Dynamics, 9 (summer): 42–63.
Hofstede, G. (1997), Culture and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw Hill.
Holbrook, M.B, & Corfman, K.P. (1985), Quality and value in the consumption experience: Phaedrus rides again, In: Perceived quality. Lexington (MA), Jacoby J, Olsen J, (Ed.).: Lexington Books, pp. 31– 57.
Katz, D. (1960), The functional approach to the study of attitudes, Public Opinion Quarterly, 24 (summer): 163-204.
Keller, K.L. (1993), Conceptualizing, measuring and managing customer-based brand equity, Journal of Marketing, 57 (1): 1–22.
Keller, K.L. (2003), Brand Synthesis: The multidimensionality of brand knowledge, Journal of Consumer Research, 29 (March): 595-600.
Klein, J. & Dawar, N. (2004), “Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumers’ Attributions and Brand Evaluations in a Product-Harm Crisis,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol.21 No. 3, pp. 203–217.
Kocak, A., Abimbola, T. & Ozer, A. (2007), Consumer brand equity in a cross-cultural replication: an evaluation of a scale, Journal of Marketing Management, 23 (1/2): 157–173.
Kotler, P., Keller, K.L., Koshy, A., & Jha, M. (2009), Marketing Management: A south Asian Perspective, (13th Edition), Prentice- Hall.
Lassar, W., Mittal, B. & Sharma, A. (1995), Measuring customer-based brand equity, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 12 (4): 11–19.
Laufer, D., & Coombs, W. (2006), How should a company respond to a product harm crisis? The role of corporate reputation and consumer-based cues, Business Horizons, 49 (5): 379-385.
Laufer, D., Gillespie, K., McBride, B., & Gonzalez, S. (2005), The role of severity in consumer attributions of blame: Defensive attributions in product harm crises in Mexico, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 17 (2/3):33-50.
Loftus, E.F., & Loftus, G.R. (1980), On the performance of stored information in the human brain, American Psychologist, 35 (May):409-420.
Lutz, R.J. (1991), The role of attitude theory in marketing, in perspectives in Consumer Behavior’, (4th Eds.). H.H. Kassarjian and Robertson, T.S (Eds.). Glen view, IL:Scott, Foresman and company, pp. 317-339.
Lynch, J.G., Mamorstein, H.J. & Weigold, M., (1988), Choices from sets including remembered brands: Use of recalled attributes and prior overall evaluations, Journal of consumer Research, 15(September) :169-184.
MacKenzie, S.B. (1986), The role of attention in mediating the effect of advertising on attribute importance, Journal of Consumer Research, 13(September): 174-195.
Malhotra, N. K., & Peterson, M. (2006), Basic Marketing Research. Prentice- Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Netemeyer, R.G., Krishnan, B., Pullig, C., Wang, G., Yagci, M., Dean, D., Ricks, J. & Wirth, F. (2004), developing and validating measures of facets of customer-based brand equity, Journal of Business Research, 57(l2): 209–224.
Pappu, R., Quester, P.G. & Cooksey, R.W. (2005), Consumer-based brand equity: improving the measurement – empirical evidence, Journal of Product and Brand Management, 14 (3): 143–154
Petty, R.E., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1986), Communication and Persuasion, New York: Springer-Verlag.
Rego, L., Billet, L., Morgan, M.T., & Neil, A. (2009), Consumer-based brand equity and firm risk, Journal of Marketing, 73 ( 6):. 47–60.
Ro, H. (2012), Moderator and Mediator effects in hospitality research, International Journal of Hospitality research, 31: 952-961
Rossiter, J.R. & Percy, L. (1987), Advertising and promoting Management, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Shankar, V., Azar, P. & Fuller, M. (2008), BRAN*EQT: a multicategory brand equity model and its application at Allstate, Marketing Science, 27 (4): 567–584.
Siomkos, G., & Kurzbard, G. (1994), The Hidden Crisis in Product-Harm Crisis Management, European Journal of Marketing, 28(2):30-41.
Siomkos, G.J. (1999), On achieving exoneration after a product safety industrial crisis, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 14(1): 17–29.
Srivastava, R., & Shocker, A.D. (1991), Brand Equity: A perspective of its meaning and measurement, Working Paper, Graduate school of Business, University of Texas at Austin.
Sweeney, J., & Swait, J. (2008), The effects of brand credibility on customer loyalty, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 15: 179–193
Taylor, M. (2000), Cultural Variance as a challenge to global public relations: A case study of the Coca- Cola scare in Europe, Public Relations Review, 26( 3): 277-293.
Theofilou, A.K., Vassilikopoulou, A., & Lepetsos, A. (2011), Methodological considerations in crisis management research: Fictitious scenarios vs. real crises, Cambridge Business & Economic Conference, Cambridge.
Till, B.D. & Shimp, T.A. (1998), Endorsers in Advertising: The case of negative celebrity information, Journal of Advertising, 27 (1): 67-82.
Van Heerde, H., Helsen, K. & Dekimpe, M. (2007), The impact of product harm crisis on marketing effectiveness, Marketing Science, 26 (2): 230-245.
Vassilikopoulou A., Chatzipanagiotou, K., Siomkos, G., & Triantafillidou,A. (2011), The role of consumer ethical beliefs in product harm crises, Journal of Consumer Behavior, 10: 279-289.
Vázquez, R., Del Rio, A.B. & Iglesias, V. (2002), Consumer-based brand equity: development and validation of a measurement instrument, Journal of Marketing Management, 18 (½): 27–48.
Weiner, B. A. (1986), An Attributional Theory of Motivation and Emotion. Springer-Verlag: New York.
Wells, W. D. (1993), “Discovery-oriented consumer research”, Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (March):489-504.
Wilkie, W. (1986), Consumer Behavior, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Winters, L.C. (1991), Brand equity measures: some recent advances, Marketing Research, 3 (4): 70–73.
Wix, .D.G., & Mone, P.J. (2007), Planning for and implementing a Product Recall, Defense Counsel Journal, 74 (3): 220-232.
Yoo, B. & Donthu, N. (2001), Developing and validating a multidimensional consumer-based brand equity scale, Journal of Business Research, 52(1): 1–14.
Yoo, B. & Donthu, N. (2002), Testing cross-cultural invariance of the brand equity creation process, Journal of Product & Brand Management, 11 (6): 380 – 398
Yoo, B., Donthu, N., & Lee, S. (2000), An examination of selected marketing mix elements and brand equity, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28 (spring): 195-211.
Zeithaml VA. (1988), Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: a means– end model and synthesis of evidence, Journal of Marketing, 52 (July): 2– 22
Zhao, Y., Zhao, Y., & Helsen, K. (2011), Consumer Learning in a Turbulent Market Environment: Modeling Consumer Choice Dynamics after a Product-Harm Crisis, Journal of Marketing Research, 48 (April): 255-267
Zhou, L. & Whitla, P. (2012), How negative celebrity publicity influences consumer attitudes: The mediating role of moral reputation, Journal of Business Research, doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.12.025.
)