Associative Network Theory Research Articles

Mobile platform expansion: How does it affect the incumbent food delivery app and other sales channels?

Food delivery apps (FDAs) are popular sales platforms, and many restaurants rely on multiple FDAs. Adding more FDAs represents a novel type of channel expansion (i.e., platform-to-platform), though no prior studies have examined its performance implications to determine if introducing a new, competing FDA might cannibalize or enhance a restaurant's customer acquisition and sales through the incumbent FDA. Furthermore, introduction timing, local competition, and store characteristics might moderate these effects, with implications for the restaurant's total sales over time. Using associative network theory, together with 557,127 purchase records gathered from 173,537 customers, we apply a panel regression model across 18 store locations of a restaurant chain. The results show that adding a competing FDA has positive synergistic effects on the restaurant's customer acquisition and sales (including sales revenues and order volumes) through the incumbent FDA, especially if it adds the competing FDA long (vs. soon) after the prior FDA and the store is younger (vs. older). Larger stores and those located in competitive areas benefit more from mobile platform expansion. The positive effects of introducing a competing FDA on total sales diminish over time though. These findings can inform both research into and the practice of mobile platform expansions.

Spotlight on a complex crisis spillover: A multi-organisational perspective on rebuilding trust and reducing distrust in the Australian banking industry

Recent crisis spillover research expands our understanding of the effects of crisis spillover on reputation, legitimacy, consumer attitudes and behaviours, as well as how organisations can respond to these types of crisis spillover events. However, there remains scant exploration of the impact of crisis spillover on trust and limited if any consideration of distrust as a separate and distinct concept from trust. In a crisis, trust is an important relationship outcome, and the present lack of empirical understanding of it in crisis spillover can limit future research and practice. Consequently, this study’s examination of message strategies that address both trust and distrust concerns, and in turn repair these key relational concepts, can address the current void in public relations theory. In addition, the research record provides limited insights into the strategies employed by multiple organisations with varied responsibility for crisis spillovers. To address these gaps in our understanding about complex crisis spillover, this study adopts associative network theory and extends its application via a case study approach focussing on the Australian banking industry. The findings contribute new knowledge to the crisis communication, trust repair and crisis spillover literature.

Always on your mind? – investigating consideration sets and private labels at the retailer and category level

ABSTRACT The consideration set has been widely studied as a consumer tool to simplify purchase decisions. However, important questions remain about how a retailer’s private label strategy may impact consumers’ consideration sets. In the present study, we employ the Associative Network Theory of Memory as a theoretical foundation and examine how private label consideration at the retailer level may affect consumers’ decision-making at the product category level. Results from two empirical studies indicate that a higher number of private labels considered at the retailer level enhances consideration set heterogeneity at the category level. Critically, this stimulated heterogeneity further increases the purchase probability of private labels in consumers’ consideration sets. This chain of effect also adds explanatory power to the impact of private label attitude on private label purchase probability through serial mediation. Consequently, retailers are encouraged to dilute consumers’ consideration sets by constructing and communicating a diverse private label portfolio.

Meme marketing effectiveness: A moderated-mediation model

Underpinned by brand placement literature, associative network theory, and narrative transportation theory, this research examines how meme marketing types (brand prominent and brand subtle) create immersive consumer experiences through narrative transportation and the moderating effects of consumer brand knowledge, meme literacy, and linguistic characteristics (i.e., pronouns) on meme marketing effectiveness. Study 1 (N = 300) confirms that brand prominent meme marketing generates more favourable consumer outcomes (attitude towards ad, customer engagement) and narrative transportation compared to brand subtle meme marketing. Additionally, Study 1 examines the moderating effects of consumer brand knowledge and the mediating role of narrative transportation. Study 2 (N = 300) validates the findings of Study 1 and assesses the mediating role of narrative transportation between brand prominent meme marketing (vs. brand subtle) and outcomes among consumers with varying meme literacy. Brand prominent meme marketing yields profound consumer outcomes and narrative transportation, especially with low brand knowledge. Study 3 (N = 253) confirms the results of Studies 1 and 2 and further introduces a novel linguistic moderator, examining the use of first-person and second-person pronouns within the meme marketing content using a different product category. This study uncovers the influence of second-person pronouns on intensifying narrative transportation. Empirical evidence supports all three moderated mediation models. Overall, this study adds to the knowledge on meme marketing and provides useful insights for designing and targeting effective meme marketing campaigns.

Internal Branding of a University Business Through Building and Gaining from Employee-Based Brand Equity

ABSTRACT Like other businesses, universities spend to build their brands, but rarely measure the sources and benefits of brand equity, especially employee-based brand equity (EBBE). We borrowed from an EBBE model, the Associative Memory Network Theory, social information processing, and exchange theories to examine the impact of brand-related information generated and disseminated to employees in a private African university on role clarity, brand knowledge, brand commitment, and four EBBE benefits. Cross-sectional data was collected from 588 lecturers, administrators, and technical staff. Structural equation modeling results revealed that brand information generated and disseminated impacted role clarity, brand knowledge, and commitment. Brand commitment impacted three EBBE benefits: brand citizenship behavior, employee intention to stay in organization and spread positive word-of-mouth. Role clarity and brand knowledge were significant mediators. Thus, for sustainability, university managers should communicate explicitly through frequent verbal brand communications and orientation, and implicitly through behaviors that reflect brand prestige.

Examining the effects of celebrity negative publicity on attitude to, and reputation of, brand and corporation, directly and based on moderating factors

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effects of celebrity negative publicity on attitude towards brand, corporation, brand reputation and corporate reputation, both directly and through the moderating effects of social media involvement, brand commitment, identification and attribution (both types). Associative network theory has been used to explain these effects.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey of 550 respondents was carried out in London and surrounding areas. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data.FindingsThe findings suggest that celebrity negative publicity affects brand reputation and corporate reputation. Further, the moderating effects of social media involvement and brand commitment on attitude towards brand and corporation, identification on attitude towards brand, attribution types on attitude towards corporation were not found.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the effects of celebrity negative publicity on attitudes towards brand, attitude towards corporation, brand reputation and corporation reputation, directly, and through the moderating effects of attribution (both types), identification, commitment and social media. Findings from this study will minimise the gap in the literature on the topic and will help managers and policymakers to understand the effects of celebrity negative publicity in detail.

Event Engagement: Using Event Experiences to Build Brands

Companies invest considerably in event experiences; however, many are criticised for hosting events without understanding the full extent of their impact, or how to optimise their design. To benefit from event experiences, it is critical to consider not only how customers engage with the event, but also how event engagement transfers to engagement with the host brand to ultimately drive brand loyalty. This paper empirically explores the role of customer event engagement in facilitating brand engagement, within the context of branded marketing event experiences. Surveying attendees of such branded event experiences, six Australian wine brands, running 10 diverse events, agreed to collaborate in the research, yielding a total response of 274 participants. Results indicate that, for emotional, sensorial, pragmatic and relational experiences, event engagement fully mediates the relationship with customer brand engagement. Furthermore, it is the engagement with the host brand, rather than engagement with the event, that facilitates the effect on behavioural intentions of loyalty. These findings suggest that viewing engagement with a single focus (i.e., only event or only brand engagement) provides limited insight and does not uncover the true impact of event experiences; it is only through exploring the interrelationships between the engagement foci that we can truly understand how event experiences impact behavioural brand loyalty. This offers important managerial implications to facilitate engagement transfer (i.e., between event and brand), while drawing on associative network theory to explain how customer engagement spills over from the event to the brand and better account for the interdependence across engagement objects.

How to impress guests: Key factors and strategy configurations for the accommodation memories of homestay guests

Homestay guests' positive memories can improve their repurchase intentions, satisfaction and word of mouth while contributing to the sustainable development of the homestay industry. However, few studies have been conducted on accommodation memories, and the topic requires further discussion. We use fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explore the joint effects and combination relationships of multiple factors on the positive accommodation memories of homestay guests from a holistic perspective. The results show that there are eight antecedent combinations that can achieve positive accommodation memories for homestay guests. These antecedent combinations were divided into the four modes of the “innovation-aesthetic” environmental stimulation mode, the “authentic-aesthetic” environmental stimulation mode, the “environment-interaction” dual drive mode, and the “environment-interaction- psychology” internal and external drive mode. Second, authenticity, innovation, aesthetics, host-guest interaction and pleasure play key roles in the formation of positive accommodation memories. Third, aesthetics is a necessary element in the formation of positive homestay accommodation memories while economic value perception has little effect on the guest's accommodation memories. This study innovated the research perspective of guests' memories, identified key factors and multiple paths of positive memories, and expanded the application of associative network theory. It helped to improve the accommodation experience quality of homestay guests and guide the sustainable development of the homestay industry.

The Moderating Effect of Attachment Styles on the Relationship Between Celebrity Credibility and Brand Attachment

The current study aims to address the triadic relationship among the celebrity endorser, consumer and brand. The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of moderating role of attachment style dimensions on the relationship between the celebrity endorser traits and brand attachment. This study applies associative network theory and attachment theory to build the theoretical framework of the study. Data were gathered using a sample of 484 respondents. AMOS was used to employ structural equation modelling to test the hypotheses of the study. The results of the study reveal that celebrity expertise and trustworthiness are likely to enhance consumer brand attachment, whereas celebrity attractiveness does not lead to building brand attachment. It also discloses that both the dimensions of attachment style, namely anxiety and avoidance, have a moderating impact on the relationship between celebrity endorser traits and brand attachment. This study provides multiple implications for the marketing practitioners and academicians.

Reverse effects of sponsorship: Establishing sport brand equity

ABSTRACT Rationale/Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop and test a parsimonious model of brand equity reverse transfer, where the reputations of sponsoring brands influence the brand of a sponsored sports enterprise. Design/methodology/approach Building on associative network theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model, this paper utilizes an experimental design to examine how the brand equity of a sponsorship roster influences perceived prestige and ultimately the brand equity of the National Hockey League (NHL). Domain involvement acts as a moderator. Findings Sequential path analysis supports the model’s proposed relationships in that sponsoring brands positively influence the perceived prestige of the sponsored property, which directly affects the brand equity of sponsored property. Involvement in hockey amplifies this reverse transfer effect. Practical implications While the numerous brands simultaneously engaged in sports sponsorship can be a source of clutter, these associations offer opportunities for sponsored enterprises to proactively manage their own brand equity. Research contribution Although the predominant sponsorship perspective in the literature has been that of sponsoring brands, the supported model raises the prospect that brand equity transfer is not unidirectional and a reverse effect applies in the wider portfolio context seen in practice.

The association spillover mechanism of CSR crises: evidence from the Uber case

ABSTRACT Drawing on insights from the corporate ability (CA) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) associations framework, the associative network theory (ANT) of memory, and crisis communication literature on the CA-CSR crisis typology, this study examines the impact of CSR crises on stakeholders’ responses via the underlying mechanism of the spillover from CSR onto CA associations. Using the context of Uber’s CSR crisis events in early 2017, results from a survey (N = 510) among participants in the United States showed that in CSR crises, weakened CSR associations had a spillover effect onto CA associations. The effects from both CSR and CA associations then influenced stakeholders’ company and product evaluations, which in turn led to negative word-of-mouth intention. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Restaurant Authenticity: An Analysis of Its Influence on Restaurant Customer Perceptions and Behaviors

ABSTRACT This study developed a conceptual model to test the influence of restaurant authenticity on customer perceptions and behaviors at restaurants serving a destination’s authentic regional cuisine. The framework for the study was grounded in social cognitive theory, the Mehrabian-Russell model, consumer-based model of authenticity, congruence theory, and associative network theory. Overall, 804 surveys were completed at restaurants in the American Southeast serving authentic Southern cuisine. All relationships in the model were significant and restaurant authenticity had the strongest influence on peak experience. Academic contributions from the study added to the literature on restaurant authenticity, which is limited. For restaurant practitioners, the findings suggest that it may be beneficial to develop a loyalty program in authentic regional restaurants which can allow individuals to stay connected with a restaurant on an ongoing basis and help establish a personal connection.

Love spillover from a hotel sub-brand to its corporate brand: An associative network theory perspective

Although it has been a trend for hotel firms to develop sub-brands within their brand portfolios, a knowledge gap exists in explaining how to strengthen the relationships between sub-brands and their corporate brands. Therefore, based on the associative network theory, this study proposes and aims to examine a three-way interaction model of love spillover in a hotel brand portfolio. A total of 214 responses were collected from U.S. frequent travelers who had a membership with one of the five case hotel firms. Results of this study firstly found that hotel sub-brand love exerts positive effects on its corporate brand, demonstrating love spillover in a hotel brand portfolio. Second, involvement of the sub-brand could strengthen the love spillover. Third, membership satisfaction could further strengthen the moderating effect of involvement, thereby proving the proposed three-way interaction model.

Productive partnerships? Driving consumer awareness to action in CSR partnerships

Despite proliferated growth in corporate social responsibility partnerships (CSRPs), there is limited understanding of how consumer groups native to an organization respond to partnership organizations (direct patrons). To redress this, an integrated theoretical framework incorporating consumer behavior, branding and CSR literature was developed focusing on drivers of consumer awareness leading to subsequent responses in a sports team and not-for-profit organization (NPO) partnership context. Systematic comparisons were also made by adopting the perspective of each native consumer group. The proposed conceptual model was tested with data obtained from sports team fans (n = 504) and NPO patrons (n = 355). Results indicate that consumer attributes and engagement with communication channels activate CSRP awareness, although website visitation does not and in line with associative network theory, each consumer group generally go through an awareness-to-action process. Multi-group results demonstrate a stronger intent to act among NPO patrons than fans, indicative of fans’ lower prioritization of CSRPs.

Hybrid Strategy—Interference or Integration? How Corporate Communication Impacts Consumers’ Memory and Company Evaluation

ABSTRACTThis study investigates whether hybrid strategy would be more effective than corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy in boosting CSR information recall and company evaluation. Informed by the corporate ability (CA)-CSR-hybrid communication strategy typology, the associative network theory, and memory interference and integration literature, this study conducted a 2 (prior corporate associations) × 2 (subsequent corporate communication strategies) between-subjects experiment. Findings showed that hybrid (vs. CSR) strategy was more effective in generating CSR information recall when a company had previously established CA associations but did not outperform CSR strategy when the company had no previous CA associations.

Green city branding: perceptions of multiple stakeholders

Purpose With society’s growing environmental concern, developing a green brand identity provides cities with opportunities to enhance their competitiveness. Nevertheless, few studies have explored green city branding and specifically considered the diverse perceptions of multiple stakeholders. Accordingly, this study aims to explore green city branding from the perceptions of multiple stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach Based on associative network theory, the study uses brand concept maps and network analysis approaches to construct and analyze the content and structure of mental models among local residents and foreign tourists for a green city brand. This study further seeks empirical support for the findings via a survey, using the sample case of Yilan County in Taiwan. Findings The results of this study reveal that foreign tourists possess a more diverse and heterogeneous brand perception than local residents. Additionally, the study uncovers significant green city brand associations regarding their influences on the behavioral decisions of local residents and foreign tourists. Originality/value This research is the first attempt to advance the knowledge of green city branding by empirically exploring the green city brand perceptions of multiple stakeholders based on associative network theory. The results provide brand researchers with different analytical perspectives on the existing knowledge about city brand perceptions and offer strategic information for city managers.

Measuring Celebrity Equity: Unearthing the Consumer Knowledge Structure Associations

The qualitative research aims to develop an understanding of how consumers view the celebrity as a brand and also to measure and compare the celebrity equities. This research applies associative network theory to identify the celebrity association networks residing in the minds of the consumers using Brand Concept Maps (BCMs) methodology. It also measures the celebrity equity by measuring the relative strength, favourability and uniqueness of the associations. Three celebrities from different professions are selected for this study. Data for the construction of BCMs have been obtained from 50 respondents. The associations are shown on BCMs, and their structure has been analysed using general and central characteristics. Celebrity equity is measured using Krishnan (1996, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 13(4), 389–405) methodology. The results reveal that consumers link five categories of associations with a celebrity, namely professional associations, public-image-related associations, social responsibility- and ethics-related associations, lifestyle associations and negative associations. Further, the celebrities are found to have strong brand equities, but their relative equities differ from each other. This study reveals that the managers need to consider a wide range of associations for measuring celebrity equity. It also provides academicians and celebrity managers with a new methodology for measuring celebrity equity.

Corporate Apology After Bad Publicity: A Dual-Process Model of CSR Fit and CSR History on Purchase Intention and Negative Word of Mouth

This article proposes and tests a dual-process model of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication. Building on the framing theory and associative network theory, the authors examine how including statements about a company’s CSR fit and CSR history in apology statements can affect purchase intention and negative word of mouth (NWOM). Perceived integrity, attitude toward the apology statement, and attitude toward the company are sequential mediators that will subsequently affect purchase intention and NWOM. The results show that CSR fit will positively affect purchase intention and negatively affect NWOM through increased perceived integrity and attitude toward the apology statement, which will positively affect their attitude toward the company. The findings also show that CSR history will positively affect purchase intention and negatively affect NWOM through increased perceived integrity and attitude toward the apology statement, which will positively affect their attitude toward the company.

Sports Mega-Event Sponsorship: The Impact of FIFA Reputation and World Cup Image on Sponsor Brand Equity

Abstract The present study investigates the influence the organizing body’s reputation has on the image of a sports mega-event and on the mega-event sponsors’ consumer-based brand equities. The study's main theoretical references are Associative Network Theory (Collins & Loftus, 1975) and Schema Theory (Axelrod, 1973), both about the functioning of the human memory. The research was carried out during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilians and foreigners who attended the 2014 FIFA Fan Fest on Copacabana Beach were surveyed through a non-probabilistic sampling, and 1,973 questionnaires were collected. Data analysis was performed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). We verified the reliability, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity of the constructs. In order to test the substantive hypotheses, we applied Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using an Asymptotic Distribution-Free (ADF) technique. The empirical results suggest that FIFA’s reputation influences the image of the FIFA World Cup, but may not directly influence the sponsors’ consumer-based brand equities. We also verified that the perception of fit between the mega-event and the sponsor plays a partial mediating effect on the relationship between the image of the mega-event and the sponsor's brand equity.

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION EFFECTS ON MASS VS. LUXURY FASHION BRANDS’ SUSTAINABLE MARKETING: A CROSS CULTURAL STUDY BETWEEN KOREA AND GERMANY

Introduction The fashion business is known as one of the major industries that is suffering from rising concerns about the consumption of its product, which led to a reorganization of the fashion supply chain to become more sustainable three decades ago. The interest in the concept of sustainability and demand for sustainable marketing activities is gradually growing in the fashion industry due to the negative image and press it receives. Within the luxury fashion segment, the three main themes that are recognized to contribute to sustainability are exclusivity, craftmanship and limited production. However, luxury brands are increasingly shifting their attention and commitment towards environmental and social issues to be incorporated in the concept of sustainability. Yet, the majority of consumers has little understanding or misunderstands the concept of sustainable fashion and marketing, which leads to a gap between attitudes towards sustainability and actual behavior. As a result, fashion brands are trying to leverage their brand by making sustainability a key marketing strategy to raise awareness about social, environmental, economic and cultural issues. Extant research has not explored this recent trend to understand how consumers evaluate fashion brands with a sustainable marketing communication, especially in the context of luxury brands. This study investigates how luxury and mass fashion brands can utilize sustainable marketing contents in social media communication to reach their target group and enhance their equity with sustainability associations. Theoretical Development Associative network models of memory have served as a fundamental framework for a wide range of studies related to the formation and transfer of associations. According to associative network theory, brand knowledge is represented in form of an associative network of memory nodes connected to each other. Nodes are activated when cues, such as advertising, are presented. Mere exposure to cues was shown to be sufficient to active associations and facilitate association transfer. While brands are continuously attempting to make use of associative power to leverage brand equity, extant research has provided compelling reasons to accept that association transfer can also result in brand dilution when a retrieval of conflicting or negative associations occurs. Especially in the context of luxury brands consisting of very unique associations and being different from mass brands in many regards, managing the brand’s associative network is a crucial task in order to send the right signals to consumers and maintain exclusivity. This study investigates how social media communication of different sustainability dimensions affects brand attitude and how it ultimately impacts behavioral outcomes in an attempt to build brand equity for mass and luxury fashion brands. Method and Data The hypotheses are tested with 273 respondents who participated in an online experiment. They were first asked to state their involvement with the category fashion. Subsequently, subjects were presented with a brand post either for the mass or luxury brand including claims related to one of the four sustainability dimensions or no claims for the control group respectively. The experiment consisted of a 2 (brand: mass or luxury) x 5 (sustainability dimensions: none, cultural, economic, environmental, social) factorial design. The measures that followed included attitudinal as well as behavioral constructs related to the brand, sustainability as well as social media use. Analysis of covariance is applied to test for main effects and interaction effects. Summary of Findings This study provides evidence that social media communication of a sustainable brand affects the purchase intention of consumers. The findings indicate a significant difference between the mass and the luxury brand used for this study. The mass brand exhibits the potential to leverage associations with cultural, economic, and environmental sustainability. However, the results only reveal a marginally significant higher purchase intention when cultural sustainability is communicated compared to when the brand does not provide any sustainable associations. In contrast, the luxury brand suffers from significant brand dilution across all four sustainability dimensions resulting in a decline in purchase intention. Key Contributions The findings reveal that sustainability communication exerts a diverging influence depending on the type of brand that is involved. This study suggests that mass brands are able to benefit from sustainability communication in an attempt to leverage brand equity. However, for a luxury brand this type of associations rather presents a liability that might dilute the brand. The findings of this study provide important insights for brand managers. Since mass brands are currently increasing efforts into sustainable communication in the fashion industry, the results suggest that this might be a promising investment. However, luxury brands are advised to carefully manage the communication of salient content related to sustainability as it might harm the invaluable and unique associations inherent in a luxury brand.