Abstract
Theory posits that, over time, placebo-type brand-equity effects may develop through the process of wine purchase and consumption. This being so, the extent to which factors like brand familiarity, brand exposure and brand knowledge combine to inform and reinforce such brand-equity effects remains still largely unexplored. With the aim of modelling this potentially mediating dynamic, we present a two-stage wine tasting experiment employing the combined reportage of fourteen experimental groups, each consecutively tasting seven Sauvignon Blanc wines first blind, and then, afterwards, sighted. Results demonstrate how brand familiarity mediates the effect of brand exposure on the sighted assessment of wine both directly, and via its relation to brand knowledge. This novel finding extends the literature on the consumer response to brand information, suggesting that conventional mass media marketing strategies aimed merely at imparting brand knowledge may prove insufficient unless they also create a degree of brand familiarity in the minds of their customers.
Highlights
The aetiology of brand affect is tied to a form of “system 1” conditioning (Kahneman, 2012)
In particular the joint mediation effect of BK and BF on the relationship between BE and sighted assessment scores is statistically significant at the 95% level, and the null hypothesis is rejected in favour of H1
This study aimed to assess the mediating influence of certain brand awareness dimensions on sighted quality assessments when made in the presence of a particular wine brand
Summary
The aetiology of brand affect is tied to a form of “system 1” conditioning (Kahneman, 2012). Forms of cue-based product assessment may derive from any number of extrinsic sources including: brand name, product price, expert ratings, prior knowledge and level of category involvement. With specific reference to the influence of brands, across a broad array of product categories including pain medication, beer, yoghurt, fast-food hamburgers, and sugar drinks, there is substantial evidence of subjects employing brands as heuristic enablers (Allison and Uhl, 1964; McClure, Li, Tomlin, Cypert, Montague & Montague, 2004; Pasovaara, Luomala, Pohjanheimo, and Sandell, 2012; Robinson, Borzekowski, Matheson & Kraemer, 2007; Shiv, Carmon, & Ariely, 2005; and Waber, Shiv, Carmon, & Ariely, 2008)
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