Branding Activities Research Articles

How Do Consumers Respond to Brand Activism Campaigns? Exploring the Relationship Between Authenticity, Brand Value Congruence, Brand Identification, and Political Ideology

This research focused on brand activism campaigns in a global marketing context. It explored how consumers judge a brand’s activism authenticity. An online survey was conducted in Italy. Data were analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach. According to the findings authenticity strengthens the relationships between brand value congruence and consumer-brand identification, and the relationship between consumer-brand identification and intention to support an activist brand, respectively. However, it does not moderate the relationship between consumer political ideology and intention to support an activist brand. These findings suggest considering factors beyond authenticity, particularly consumers’ political ideology when designing brand activism campaigns.

Differentiation Strategy and the Performance of Medical Insurance Companies in Kenya

Against a backdrop of escalating global competition, health insurance firms grapple with the need to stand out amidst a saturated market. The study recognizes the imperative for organizations to adopt differentiation strategies, with a focus on product, personnel, distribution, and image differentiation. Acknowledging the current dearth of comprehensive research in the Kenyan context, the research problem centres on the critical need to investigate the extent to which differentiation strategies influence the performance of health insurance companies in the region. The general objective of the study was to investigate the effect of differentiation strategy on performance of Health Insurance Companies in Kenya. Drawing on established theories such as Porter's Competitive Advantage Model, Upper Echelons Theory, Resource-Based View, and Transaction Cost Economics, the study employs a multi-theoretical framework to provide a nuanced understanding of the complex relationships between differentiation strategies and organizational outcomes. Adopting the descriptive research design, the target population comprises 980 employees in the medical insurance firms in the top management and middle level management in Nairobi, drawn from the respective insurance firms’ Human Resources Departments. Employing a multi-stage sampling technique, the established sample size is 101 top and middle level management staff who were reached by stratified random sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire was the main data collection instrument and was distributed through a drop-and- pick- latter approach. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics measures of mean and standard deviation was used, while for inferential statistics, regression equations were employed. The study established that product differentiation strategy, personnel differentiation strategy, product differentiation strategy and image differentiation strategy had a positive significant effect on performance of health insurance companies in Kenya. The study concludes that product differentiation is the key aspect distinguishing one company’s products or services from its competition. Personnel differentiation strategy gives an organization the ability to respond in time to the needs of their members through the skills and knowledge of employees. A differentiated distribution strategy allows insurance companies to expand their sale potential by getting their product in front of more potential customers. An effective image establishes the product's character and value proposition and a person responds differently to company and brand images. The study recommends that the insurance companies should consider opportunities for differentiation in all of its production areas: marketing, product management, engineering, sales, and customer support. Organizations looking to build personnel differentiation strategy will need to produce or design extremely unique or distinctive products or services that create increased value for the consumer. The insurance companies should devote resources to channel management preferably at least one dedicated manager whose sole responsibility is to manage those relationships and build the marketing programs to drive revenue through the channel. The insurance companies should identify their brand gaps, which are the discrepancies between their desired and actual brand performance.

The enterprise activism risk model: How good intentions can jeopardize business success

Companies are increasingly expected to contribute, above and beyond a profit motive, to society. Leaders across industries have addressed the expectation by engaging in activism. While some upper echelons leaders initiate activism efforts in a way that strengthens their firms, others are struggling to do so without risking brand and business performance. This research addresses this important managerial challenge by conceptualizing activism through a risk paradigm. To do this, we first introduce and define a construct called Enterprise Activism. The construct comprises all forms of firm-initiated activism which can impact brand and business performance, such as brand activism, CEO activism, and corporate activism, regardless of who is making the decision (e.g., Chief Marketing Officer or store manager) or whether a portfolio brand or the corporate brand is involved (e.g., Harris Teeter or the corporate brand, Kroger). We then conceptualize the Enterprise Activism Risk Model, providing insight into how different types of actions can pose market share and positional advantage risks. Leveraging insight from C-level leaders, we identify ways that firm leaders can deploy the model to advance business practice. Finally, we provide a research agenda to develop new theory and evidence to help support and improve practice. The new insight provided herein provides a framework that can enable upper echelons leaders to evaluate, discuss, and navigate activism to minimize business risk.

Audience response to brand activism: An alignment evaluation framework

Evolving from emerging expectations of brands to take action on societal issues, a comprehensive framework is introduced for advertising account planners to evaluate how well a brand’s activism initiative aligns with the cultural and social issues of its audience. Contextualised within brand activism alignment literature, the current research investigates audience responses to Bud Light’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Using topic modelling, textual analysis and discussion, the proposed framework is evaluated for its ability to help guide advertisers while also mitigating risk in brand activism endeavours. The findings are discussed in relation to four potential scenarios that advertising strategists may use to navigate brand activism choices. Natural language processing methods are employed as a research strategy to shed light on the potential for a mismatch between Bud Light’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and their audience. This paper describes how framework proposes research questions to understand the main message and benefit of a tactic to a brand’s target audience, as well as how the audience’s response may be seen online using the concept of affordances in social media.

What Is Brand Activism? Explicating Consumers’ Perceptions of Its Characteristics, Authenticity, and Effectiveness

Guided by existing brand-activism literature, this study investigates the rising phenomenon of brands taking a public stance on controversial issues to advocate for societal changes. Based on one-on-one, in-depth interviews, this study delineates the conceptual differences between brand activism and corporate social responsibility (CSR), proposes a new conceptualization of brand activism, and explicates consumers’ responses to brand activism acts. We propose a new conceptualization of brand activism, defined as values-based, controversial, focused on external communications, and driven by public interest. We also unpack factors that potentially shape consumers’ perceptions of authenticity in brand activism activities—measurable action, brand-cause fit, and consistency. Furthermore, we explore consumers’ responses to brand-activism acts and show that consumers generally rate these actions favorably. The study offers a comprehensive conceptualization of brand activism that is empirically substantiated and explicates factors shaping its perceived authenticity and consumer reactions. These findings advance current literature on brand activism and CSR.

The impact of environmental, social and governance performance on brand value: The role of the digitalisation level

Purpose: Studying the role of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in enhancing brand value is strategically important for promoting sustainable development.Design/methodology/approach: Using panel data for 126 different brands over 10 years, we empirically analyse the impact of ESG performance on brand value, considering the moderating role of the digitalisation level.Findings/results: Firstly, the impact of ESG performance on brand value exhibits a U-shaped relationship. Secondly, the digitalisation level negatively moderates the U-shaped relationship. Thirdly, the effect of ESG performance on brand value is mainly on the sub-items of environment and social responsibility, while the effect of governance is not significant.Practical implications: Firstly, firms should recognise the complex relationship between ESG performance and brand value, and strive to find a balance between economic benefits and sustainable development. Secondly, firms can utilise digital technology and platforms to communicate and interact with consumers, integrating ESG principles into their daily brand activities. Thirdly, investments in environmental and social responsibility are more meaningful for improving brand value.Originality/value: Firstly, our study adds value to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ESG literature by investigating the non-linear impact of ESG performance on brand value. Secondly, we replenish the mechanistic study about how ESG performance affects brand value. Thirdly, we open the black box of the effect of single indicators (E/S/G) on brand value, including the specific direction and strength.

When Social Media Gets Political: How Message–Platform Match Affects Consumer Responses to Brand Activism Advertising

Social media has sparked a surge in online activism and sociopolitical movements. Numerous companies have also launched brand activism advertising campaigns to voice their stances on sociopolitical causes. However, it remains unclear how and why consumer reactions to brand activism ads vary across different social media platforms. To bridge this gap, we introduced a novel characteristic of social media—level of politicization—and examined how message–platform congruence in terms of level of politicization affects consumer responses to brand activism ads. In Study 1, we found that on a less politicized platform, a less politicized message (vs. a more politicized message) reduced ad intrusiveness, which in turn positively affected consumers’ ad attitudes and purchase intentions toward the brand. On a more politicized platform, consumers exhibited equivalent levels of responses regardless of the message type. In Study 2, we further identified consumers’ level of issue support as a boundary condition of the message–platform congruence effect, such that the congruence effect was larger when issue support was low.

Solidarity brand activism influences Black-Asian American linked fate: toward a minority-minority advertising paradigm shift

The concurrence of sociopolitical movements concerning multiple marginalized racial groups (e.g. #BlackLivesMatter and #StopAsianHate during the COVID-19 pandemic) has posed challenges in integrating activism advocacy and DEI (diversity, equity & inclusion) in marketing communication. However, the existing intergroup inclusive advertising scholarship has been predominantly guided by the hegemonic majority-minority paradigm. The present study aims to provide an exploratory research framework to shed light on the critical minority-minority relations that has been largely overlooked in advertising research. Through integrating racial triangulation, social identity, framing, and linked fate theories, this study examines how the Black-Asian solidarity activism integration messaging approach—as opposed to Black-centric and Asian-centric approaches—in brand activism advertising influences Black and Asian Americans’ perceived linked fate and group attitudes towards Black and/or Asian Americans as well as their consumer responses. Also, this study proposes a model to explore whether linked fate mediates such joint effects of activism integration approaches and audience identity. The findings demonstrated solidarity activism integration could positively impact consumers’ perceived collective linked fate with both Black and Asian Americans, while Asian-centric activism integration is more effective in increasing positive brand attitude and ad trust. Along with its theoretical, practical, and social implications, this work carves out new directions for brand activism research.

The Influence of Brand Activation and Brand Image Using Tiktok @Kedas Beauty Pusat on Reseller Involvement in Kedas Beauty Products in South Sulawesi

This research aims to determine: (1) The influence of brand activation using TikTok @Kedas Beautycentral on reseller involvement in Kedas Beauty products in South Sulawesi (2) The influence of brand image using TikTok @Kedas Beauty Pusat on reseller involvement in Kedas Beauty products in South Sulawesi. This research uses a quantitative method approach. Data collection in this research used literature studies, observations, interviews, distributing questionnaires via Google From. The population of this research is all resellers in South Sulawesi. Meanwhile, the sample for this study was 67 people. Research instrument testing uses validity and reliability tests with SPSS 2.0. The data analysis technique used in this research is measurement model testing (outer model) and structural model testing (inner model) with Smart PLS 3.0. Based on the research results, it is known that there is a positive and significant influence between the brand activation variable on reseller involvement. This is proven by the original sample value of 0.365 and the t-statistic of 3.871 which is higher than the t-table value of 1.96 and brand image also has a positive and significant effect on reseller involvement because the original sample value is 0.596 and the t-statistic is 6.478 more. The size of the t-table value is 1.96. So the brand activation and brand image variables have a positive and significant effect on reseller involvement of 84.2%.

Willingness to Purchase Co-Branded Products: Gender and Age Differences

This study explores the impact of co-branding on consumers’ purchase intention (PI), focusing on the 2023 trend of joint branding in the milk tea industry. The research adopts a questionnaire to analyze factors influencing PI, with a specific emphasis on gender and age differences. Previous research investigated at how joint branding affected consumption, examining factors such as the connection between perceived risk, perceived value, and popularity. The study reveals a noteworthy positive correlation between the perceived value and the participation of opinion leaders, which can positively influence consumers and lower their perceived risk. The study also looks at age and gender variations in co-brand product willingness to buy. Women participate in joint branding activities at a higher rate than men, which suggests that they are more willing. Age-wise, teens have a greater preference for milk tea, but older people participate in joint branding activities at a higher rate. The results imply that consumer willingness to purchase co-branded goods is strongly influenced by the cultural and logo images of those products. This study suggests that co-branded products' cultural and logo images significantly impact consumers’ PI. The author suggests increasing the number of participants and combining offline and online data collection techniques in order to improve the calibre of the research. As a result, the study clarifies the intricate dynamics influencing consumer decisions in the changing co-branded product market.

Navigating an Intercollegiate Athletes’ Transition Related to the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Interim Policy

On July 1, 2021, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Interim Policy, permitting most student-athletes across the U.S. to monetize their NIL through participation in various branding activities, having a transformative effect throughout intercollegiate athletics. The purpose of this manuscript is to conceptualize NIL as a career change event and share an intervention supporting an intercollegiate student-athlete in navigating this NIL-related transition. This includes the client’s challenges related to the stress of negotiating contracts, decisions about transferring or remaining at an institution, and a lack of clarity around regulations of NIL engagements. Using the Scheme of Change for Sport Psychology Practice (SCSPP; Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011a) as a framework, the authors conceptualize NIL as a change-event and overall career transition in which student-athletes are transitioning to businesspeople, as highlighted through the case study of Jamal (pseudonym). This manuscript offers applied considerations for sport psychology practitioners supporting intercollegiate student-athletes through this unprecedented transition.

Building employee commitment through internal branding – a meta-analytic study

PurposeThis study aims to quantitatively consolidate the research conducted over the past four decades on how internal branding activities drive employee commitment. It summarizes several operationalizations of internal branding and tests the moderating effect of employee’s personal characteristics and job characteristics on the relationship between internal branding and employee commitment.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses meta-analysis as the research methodology. The analysis includes a sample of 65 studies (from 62 published works), yielding 226 effect sizes (coded into 82 composite effect sizes) over an aggregated sample of 21,706 respondents.FindingsThis study finds that brand communication, brand-centered human resource management (HRM), training and development, organizational support and culture, brand-centered leadership and an excellent reward system are the key operationalizations of internal branding. Furthermore, employee’s personal (education, age and gender) and job (tenure, work status and level of customer orientation) characteristics significantly moderate the internal branding–employee commitment relationship.Research limitations/implicationsLimited empirical literature on some of the internal branding operationalizations such as brand-centered HRM and rewards has curbed the scope of moderator analysis.Practical implicationsThis paper proposes some effective ways of implementing internal branding strategies and provides support for boundary conditions that brand managers should consider to strengthen the impact of internal branding activities on employee commitment.Originality/valueAs per the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the few quantitative consolidations of four decades of research on the internal branding–employee commitment relationship.

Physicochemical Properties and Antioxidant Activity of Honey Brands Distributed in Tehran City, Iran

Background: Honey, a naturally sweet food product, exhibits several health beneficial effects. The quality of honey differs by its microbiological, physicochemical, and antioxidant properties, which can significantly vary from brand to brand and country to country. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity of honey brands distributed in Tehran City, Iran, and compare these parameters with national and international standards. Methods: Five brands (Shakelli, Khansar, Golagin, Shafi, and Kral) of honey in Tehran were selected, and 5 samples of each brand were collected from supermarkets and analyzed by standard methods for physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 20. Results: The results depicted significant differences among studied honey brands in all physicochemical properties (except for ash, total reducing sugars, and sucrose content) and antioxidant activity (P<0.05). The moisture, ash, pH, free acidity, total reducing sugars, sucrose, diastase, and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) contents of honey brands ranged within 16.30%-15.34%, 0.24%-0.40%, 4.27-4.39 units, 9.15-10.68 meq/kg, 77.84%-79.74%, 3.66%-4.57%, 2.28-3.28 DN (diastase number), and 6.67-11.84 mg/kg, respectively. Thus, the physicochemical properties of studied honey brands, except for diastase activity, were within national and international legal ranges. Moreover, total phenolic contents (TPC) and radical scavenging activity (RSA) of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) of honey brands ranged within 28.72-39.36 mg GAE/100 g and 63.83%-73.91%, respectively. In addition, a highly significant positive correlation was observed between TPC and RSA of DPPH of honey samples (r=0.798, P<0.01). Conclusion: The studied honey brands were of good quality and met national and international standards.

Impact of Brand Activism on Brand Personality and Brand Loyalty

Objective: This study sets out to deeply explore the way different aspects influence brand loyalty. We're particularly interested in understanding how customers perceive different brands when brands are doing some activities regarding social welfare, and how this participation of brands leads to loyalty. Methodology: We conducted a survey from 251 people using an online questionnaire. The results show that people like to use those brands that actively participate in socio-political activities. This thing increases the trust of customers for a brand as they think it is a good brand and enhances brand loyalty. Findings: This study helps us understand better why people decide to repurchase a brand again and again after they've purchased it once. The findings are useful for marketers who manage brands and different marketing strategies, as they can help them make strategies on how to retain customers. This also shows us that customer satisfaction and brand trust also impact the effect of brand loyalty. Implications: With this information, marketers may tailor their offerings to specific customers' preferences, creating more memorable experiences. The study provides a roadmap for marketing success.

The Effect of AI Agent Gender on Trust and Grounding

Artificial intelligence (AI) agents are widely used in the retail and distribution industry. The primary objective was to investigate whether the gender of AI agents influences trust and grounding. This paper examined the influence of AI agent gender and brand concepts on trust and grounding within virtual brand spaces. For this purpose, it used two independent variables: brand concept (functional vs. experiential) and AI agent gender (male vs. female). The dependent variables included AI agent trust and grounding. The study revealed that in virtual brand spaces centered around a functional concept, male AI agents generated higher levels of trust than female AI agents, whereas, when focused on an experiential concept, female AI agents induced higher levels of grounding than male AI agents. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the association between customers’ identification with AI agents and recommendations for actual brand purchases is mediated by trust and grounding. These findings support the idea that users who strongly identify with AI agents are more inclined to recommend brand products. By presenting alternatives that foster the establishment and sustenance of a meaningful, sustainable relationship between humans and AI, this study contributes to research on human–computer interactions.

Cultural branding: Development of culture-based tourism village towards sustainable tourism

Kamal Village in Arjasa District, Jember Regency, East Java, has cultural and historical tourism potential through the Duplang Site, Klanceng Site, Ta' Butaan folk art, and Kadisah traditional rituals. This great tourism potential can be developed to promote Kamal Village as a culture-based tourism village. Through a participatory rural appraisal approach involving village-owned businesses, the Tourism Appreciation and Tourism Awareness Group, the Youth Organization of Kamal Village, and collaboration with the Jember Regency Tourism and Culture Office, the community service team assisted in the form of organizational assistance (institutional strengthening), event management training, and strengthening the promotion and branding activities. The results of this community service are expected to strengthen the cultural branding of Kamal Village towards sustainable tourism to realize sustainable and positive economic, social, and environmental impacts for related stakeholders.

The influence of branding on tourist interest in Petengoran Mangrove Ecotourism

Products in the form of services, such as ecotourism, rarely create branding for their business. As branding is important to increase tourist interest to visit, this research aims to identify the branding activities carried out by the manager and analyse the branding of Petengoran Mangrove Ecotourism in relation to the interest of tourists visiting. Data collection was through interviews with two key informants and questionnaires distributed to 80 tourists from December 2022-January 2023. The analytical methods used were descriptive qualitative and Structural Equation Modeling with the Partial Least Square methods. Based on research, the ecotourism manager created the brand using a logo and social media to disseminate information about Petengoran Mangrove Ecotourism. The three variables used to explain branding in this study, namely brand personality, brand positioning, and brand relationship, show a positive and significant effect on tourist interests. However, several indicators included in the three variables, such as sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication in brand personality variables, uniqueness in brand positioning, and commitment in brand relationship, have no effect and must be improved to increase tourist interest in Petengoran Mangrove Ecotourism.

‘Not Too Hot, Not Too Cold, Just Right’: Empathetic Communication of Indonesian Big Brands through YouTube during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This article is based on an exploratory study of YouTube videos related to the COVID-19 pandemic released by the official accounts of several big brands in Indonesia. By analyzing the videos released by these companies, a combination of key messages that are professionally conveyed to present the actions taken by the brands, in response to the pandemic, with an empathetic feel was found. While there is ample evidence to map out the creative processes behind these videos, our findings show that the brands aim to cover up the techniques they employ in achieving their goals, such as the sending of excessively sympathetic messages. The findings of this study provide initial empirical evidence of Indonesian companies’ tendency to assimilate the local culture of mutual assistance and the existence of branding activities that continue to be carried out during the pandemic. This article ends with a discussion of the communication processes carried out by commercial entities in challenging times.

Good vs. Bad: An Empirical Analysis of the Brand Names of Coronavirus Vaccines

Brand names are assets in marketing: a good name can help to sell products. Although research has made several recommendations on how “good” brand names should be created, the complex process is not easily adapted to every product category. Little research is done on a particular product category: the brand names of vaccines. This paper contributes to vaccine brand names in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The theoretical part of the paper first describes the characteristics of “good” and “bad” brand names, and then the focus is narrowed down to the characteristics of drug brand names and to the processes that influenced the naming of coronavirus vaccines. In the empirical part of the paper, Hungarian students perform brand recognition, recall, and association tasks connected to vaccine brand names. It will be shown that the vaccines are known by their public brand names (e.g., Pfizer) and not by their actual brand names (e.g., Comirnaty). The rating of the brand names shows that public brand names are considered to be better than the actual brand names, while brand associations collected for the actual brand names show mixed results. In the last part of the paper, theoretical implications are discussed, and recommendations for pharmaceutical companies are formulated to show what steps these companies could take to overcome the impasse between public and actual brand names.

Anti-Brand Activism in the Collectivist Orientation: The Case of Online-Consumers-Run Communities

The paper investigates the impact of negative online word-of-mouth (OWOM) generated from online consumer-run communities on brand hate and brand activism and the moderating role of collectivism in cultural orientation. Specifically, the authors used Stimulus-organization-response and cognitive dissonance theories to develop the research model. Data were collected from 337 valid responses from customers who are members of consumer-run groups to support the constructed hypotheses. Smart-PLS was used to analyze data. Negative OWOM was found to be a driver of psychological discomfort, which, in turn, generates brand hate. The formation of brand hate from negative OWOM can lead to anti-brand activism. The results highlighted that collectivist orientation significantly moderates the relationship between negative OWOM and psychological discomfort in consumers, as well as the relationship between brand hate and anti-brand activism. This study enriches existing literature by further understanding OWOM in virtual communities and emphasizing the role of cultural orientation on behavioral outcomes. Our takeaways provide valuable implications for brand and promotion practitioners to understand users’ mechanisms to select the appropriate tool such as the emphasize on KOC (key-opinion-consumers) and KOL (key-opinion-leaders) interaction to handle the negative consequences within time limits, reducing contradicting affective states before anti-brand activism and negative OWOM escalate.