How much do you like a person who loves the brands you hate? We investigated an effect we call the brand negativity bias, which occurs when an unfavorable brand reduces the attitudes toward an associated target product or person. Using a person perception paradigm in the context of brand placements, Experiment 1 established that unfavorable brands reduced attitudes toward a new digital product (i.e., a movie) in which the brand was placed. Experiment 2 showed this effect was driven by a reduced ability to connect with the character in the movie who was associated with an unfavorable brand in two serial processes (lower perceived similarity leading to lower empathy). These results provide the first evidence showing how unfavorable brands can reduce empathy between people. Supporting the brand negativity bias, we found that unfavorable brands yielded stronger effects across every evaluative outcome suggesting that unfavorable brands held more influence over consumer judgment compared to favorable brands. Lastly, these results add a layer of complexity to B2B partnerships and tell a cautionary story of when unfavorable brand associations transfer between entities.

본 연구에서는 국내 선행 연구에서 간과되어 왔던 내국 브랜드를 대상으로 브랜드 글로벌성이 품질 인식에 미 치는 영향을 분석하였다. 동시에, 본 연구에서 브랜드 글로벌성의 효과가 제품 특성에 따라 달라질 수 있음을 검증하고자 하였다. 제품 특성으로 국가 전형성, 구매 위험도 및 상징적 가치를 살펴봤다. 가설 검증을 위해 전국 성인 소비자 356명 대상으로 온라인 조사를 시행하였다. 검증 결과, 브랜드 글로벌성이 브랜드 현지성과 함께 내국 브랜드에도 중요한 품질 단서로서 소비자들이 인식 한 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 브랜드 현지성 대비 글로벌성의 중요성이 제품의 국가 전형성 즉 한국을 대표하는 정도가 높을수록, 제품의 상징성 즉 사회 신호적 가치와 소비 가시성이 높을수록 커지는 것으로 나타났다. 반면 에 구매 위험도에 따라 브랜드 글로벌성의 중요성은 달라지지 않았다.

The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of brand extensions. Specifically, the study examines how consumers’ perceived fit between parent brand and newly extended brands may help facilitate consumers’ post extension evaluation of parent brand equity and brand concept.

Co-branding is defined as a marketing strategy in which “two brands are deliberately paired with one another in a marketing context such as in ads, products, products placements, and distribution outlets” (Grossman 1997, p. 191). Prior research suggests that the crucial key to the success of co-branding is perceived fit including both product category fit and brand image fit. The product category fit is the relevancy of product category between partner brands about co-branding product or brand. For example, “Apple” collaborated with “Nike” to make a smart watch for sports activates. The brand image fit is about how the images (such as luxury image, young and fun image) fit between the partner brands. Prior co-branding research shed light on the effects of perceived fit between co-branding partner brands. Nevertheless, the findings of prior research have been limited to the two types of perceived fit. This research introduced the new-type of perceived fit called “sensory fit” In the current study, the sensory fit is defined as the perceptual congruency between partner brands’ sensory factors such as color, shape, size, and so on. Still, the sensory fit in context of co-branding are yet to be fully investigated by academic research. To fill the gap in the literature, we designed two experimental studies to better understand how the sensory fit affects the evaluations of co-branding. In study 1, we manipulated the partner brands’ sensory attributes (i.e., pronunciation of brand name and shape of brand logo). The results showed that the sensory fit significantly influences consumers’ response to co-branding. That is, a significant interaction (sensory fit × product involvement) was observed, suggesting that participants showed more positive attitudes on the evaluation of co-branding in the low-involvement product (i.e., mug) condition. However, the same pattern was not observed in the high involvement product condition (i.e., laptop). In Study 2, we replicated the findings of Study 1 and used letter style of brand name to manipulated the sensory fit. Findings showed a significant main effect of sensory fit again. Interestingly, the sensory fit was found in the high-involvement and hedonic products condition only. In sum, our findings suggest that the sensory fit should be considered as it predicts the success of co-branding strategy.

Some clothing manufacturers and retailers use attractive endorsers on their advertising. However, according to recent research, consumers with low body esteem evaluate the clothing items more negatively when they try them on in the fitting room and find that they are inferior to the attractive advertising endorser wearing the same items (Dahl, Argo, & Morales, 2012). Is it always true? Should clothing companies not use attractive endorsers? When Dahl, et al. (2012) emphasized the negative impact of an attractive endorser and discussed body esteem, they implicitly assumed body-related consumption, in which consumers wear clothing items to enrich their physical appearance. However, other research on fashion has suggested that consumers often wear clothing items for self-expression (e.g., Piacentiti & Malier, 2004). Luxury fashion brands have been particularly regarded as symbols of wealth, so consumers wear luxury fashion clothing items to show off their high status (Shavitt, 1989; Wilcox, Kim & Sen, 2009). Thus, status-related consumption should be considered in addition to body-related consumption. Considering status-related consumption, this research introduces another kind of self-esteem, i.e., status esteem, which refers to how confident consumers are in their status. Assuming that there are two types of self-esteem, body esteem (or external esteem) and status esteem (or internal esteem), both of which are related to clothing, we hypothesize that consumers low in status esteem will evaluate a status-related product more positively than consumers high in status esteem when their consumption aligns (vs. when it does not align) with an attractive endorser even though they are low in body esteem. To test the hypothesis, we conducted three laboratory experiments. The result of multiple regression analysis showed that our hypothesis was supported. By suggesting that even consumers with low body and status esteem can evaluate status-related product positively, when finding that they are inferior to the advertising endorser in terms of body, this research expands our understanding on how attractive advertising endorsers affect consumer evaluation of clothing items focusing on two kinds of selfesteem, body and status esteem.

This study investigated the impacts of two different health claim regulatory systems, FoSHU (Foods for Specified Health Uses) and FFC (Foods with Function Claims) systems, in Japan on consumer evaluations of food products in terms of healthfulness. The FoSHU system was introduced in 1991 as an individual product approval system to allow product-specific health claims, while the FFC system was introduced lately in 2015 as a notification system like NLEA (Nutrition Labeling and Education Act) in the US. The latter system seems advantageous over the former in terms of shortening the product development period. However, the FoSHU system awards brand with a symbolic logo designed for FoSHU foods, whereas the FFC system does not. Which system leads to higher consumers’ healthfulness perceptions? The results of ANOVA showed that, if the health functions of the food product are not attributed to the product category, but to a specific food product brand, health claims have a strong impact on healthfulness. In contrast, if the health functions are attributed to the entire product category, health claims do not have a strong impact on healthfulness perception. In the latter cases, the FoSHU symbolic logo helps consumers to identify functional foods. Thus, in this study, it is suggested that, in Japan, the new US style health claim regulatory system is affective in the limited product categories. Public policy makers should recognize the important role of the symbolic logo for the previous system and consider introducing another logo to the new system.

본 연구는 우리나라 소비자의 개인주의화에 따라 일본에 대한 적대감에 변화가 발생할 수 있다는 관점에서 접근하는 연구이다. 구체적으로 본 연구에서는 개인주의 성향이 높은 소비자는 상대적으로 일본에 대한 적대감이 낮으며, 일본 브랜드 평가에 있어서도 적대감에 영향을 받는 정도가 낮을 수 있다는 주장을 제기한다. 이를 위해서 본 연구는 304명의 성인 소비자를 대상으로 4개의 일본 브랜드에 관해 설문조사를 수행했다. 검증 결과, 소비자의 개인주의 성향이 일본에 대한 적대감 인식에 영향을 미치는 동시에 소비자 적대감 효과를 조절한다는 연구 가설이 확인되었다. 동시에 소비자의 브랜드 친숙도도 적대감 효과를 조절하는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구의 결과는 소비자의 사회심리적 요인과 특성에 따라 소비자 적대감과 그 영향력이 달라질 수 있다는 가능성을 제시하여 학술적으로 의미가 있는 것으로 평가된다. 동시에 우리나라 소비자가 개인주의화가 진행함에 따라 소비자 적대감과 같은 요인들에 영향을 받는 정도가 줄어들 수 있음을 시사해준다.

This study demonstrates how consumers’ implicit self-theory orientations (Entity vs. Incremental) relate to their perceptions of luxury brand appeals (Functional vs. Non-functional). Specifically, our experiments show that the entity theorists are likely to value the hedonic appeal of luxury brands, whereas incremental theorists value their functional appeal. The study provides useful insights for managers for designing advertising messages and their positioning strategies for luxury brands.