What makes a corporate heritage brand authentic for consumers? A semiotic approach

Anne Rindell,Fernando Pinto Santos

doi:10.1057/s41262-021-00243-9

Abstract

In this article, the purpose is to develop a consumer-focused understanding of authenticity within corporate heritage research. Our research question is as follows: “What makes a corporate heritage brand authentic for consumers?” We employ Peirce’s semiotic concepts of icon, index and symbol to analyse consumers’ perceptions of the Finnish corporate heritage brand Fazer, founded in 1891. Our study shows that childhood memories, consumer experiences and expectations as well as shared social conventions make the corporate heritage brand authentic for consumers. Thus, our research empirically advances the understanding of authenticity as socially constructed. Importantly, our study highlights the temporal dimension of this construction and advances the current knowledge on corporate heritage brands by showing that uniqueness, credibility and consistency over time are key dimensions of corporate heritage brand authenticity assessments. This understanding is fundamental for corporate heritage management practice, especially for developing the strategic positioning of corporate heritage brands in the markets by harnessing the assessments of authenticity.

Highlights

Marketing interest in authenticity has existed for some time (Grayson and Martinec 2004; Beverland 2006; Alexander 2009; Gundlach and Neville 2012; Akbar and Wymer 2017; Napoli et al 2016)
Theorise about how consumers assess the authenticity of a corporate heritage brand Reflect upon and theorise from the themes and categories identified earlier, through the sensitising lenses of theoretical resources on semiotics and authenticity, as well as brand authenticity
The data have been analysed with a semiotic approach, and the findings are discussed

Summary

Introduction

Marketing interest in authenticity has existed for some time (Grayson and Martinec 2004; Beverland 2006; Alexander 2009; Gundlach and Neville 2012; Akbar and Wymer 2017; Napoli et al 2016). As argued by Grayson and Martinec (2004), humans have strived for authenticity for hundreds of years. Continuity refers to a time dimension within branding, which has come into focus in the emerging stream of corporate heritage research. We aim to develop a finer-grained understanding of authenticity from a consumer perspective within corporate heritage research. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have focused on consumer perceptions of authenticity vis-à-vis corporate heritage.

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Conclusion