Is Brand Awareness a Marketing Placebo

Abstract

This study examines the rarely discussed influence of brand awareness on placebo effects in marketing through response expectancy, using t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), seemingly unrelated regression model (SUR), and regression to analyze the data, examine the placebo effects of brand awareness on brand attitudes and purchase intentions, and ascertain whether price moderates the relationship between brand awareness placebo and response expectancy. Results show that brand awareness can be a placebo that activates response expectancy and then influences brand attitudes and purchase intentions, which alters actual product efficacy. Moreover, price moderates the relationship between brand awareness and response expectancy.