Branding Activities Research Articles

Reactive brand management in higher education: the case of a teacher training programme in the Netherlands

ABSTRACT Studies of marketing for higher education have widely explored the branding activities of specific entities in higher education such as universities and programmes, but they consistently focus on proactive brand management. Proactive strategies are centred around gaining and maintaining a stronger brand. This also implies that reactive strategies are underexplored. Reactive strategies are rather centred around repairing stakeholder trust in contexts where stakeholders criticise the brand. For instance, in the Netherlands, stakeholders have strongly criticised teacher training programmes, by raising fundamental issues concerning their quality and societal relevance. Based on a case study of a specific teacher training programme in the Netherlands, we investigate processes underlying reactive brand management. We identify several micro-level strategies of brand managers such as acknowledgement, normalisation and denial of responsibility. Our assumption is that these kind of strategies can contribute to the continuity of problematic or even highly controversial entities in higher education.

When brands get real: the role of authenticity and electronic word-of-mouth in shaping consumer response to brands taking a stand

Brand activism, defined as a brand’s act of taking a public stand on sociopolitical issues, has emerged as a new marketing tactic in recent years. Many brands use social media to communicate their ideas and values with their consumers. Guided by the theories of cognitive behavioral, congruity, attribution, and social identity, this study provides an integrative framework that incorporates two brand factors (brand-sociopolitical cause fit and self-serving motive) and two social media factors (attitude and trust) to explain the process of how brand activism influences consumers’ responses toward brands. Results show that brand-sociopolitical cause fit, self-serving motive, attitude toward brand activism in social media, and trust in social media are all antecedents that positively relate to the authenticity of brand activism in social media. Furthermore, brand activism authenticity is positively associated with electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention, which consequently enhances brand image, purchase intent, and brand loyalty. Implications and future directions of research are discussed.

When Love Takes Over: Boosting Love Towards Airbnb Brand

The COVID-19 epidemic affected all industries, but the hospitality sector was hardest hit as governments used social distancing to prevent outbreaks. Based on the insights of relationship theory, before social distancing became an essential behaviour spread globally, this study attempts to understand what factors influence love for Airbnb brand, how they are linked together, and how love for Airbnb brand could be beneficial to local business/market. This research focussed on 9 in-depth interviews with Airbnb hosts and 3 focus groups with 13 experts from short-term rentals companies in Prague (22 participants). The outcome of this study provides insights on love towards Airbnb brand, and based on this, it set a start point for deeper, beneficial connectivity between Airbnb users and local community. This research contributes to the expansion of literature about love towards Airbnb brand, its dimensions, and its main outcome. This study suggests that brand identity, communication and branding activities, service attractiveness, guest experience, perceived cultural value, satisfaction and reputation are dimensions of love towards Airbnb brand and have as main outcome love towards local community.

Hospital Online Branding During the Pandemic: A healthy change in India

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way brands communicate to their potential and current customers. This paper uses a multimethod approach to specifically study nine corporate Indian chain hospital brands and their online social media presence during COVID-19. The authors sought to decipher the implicit information gained from Facebook pages and conducted a qualitative study with NVivo 12.3. to understand online branding activity over a year, which was for six months pre-COVID-19 and the first six months during COVID-19. This study corroborated these findings through qualitative interviews with six marketing managers from these brands and thus triangulated the findings. The objective of this paper is to understand these changes, and this will pave the way for the country's smaller hospitals that are yet to delve into Social Media Marketing.

Opposing brand activism: triggers and strategies of consumers’ antibrand actions

Purpose In brand activism, a brand promotes contested sociopolitical causes to highlight its values. Brand activism also alienates those consumers who disagree with the cause, who might, consequently, target the brand with critical, negative or even aggressive actions. This paper aims to study the triggers and strategies of consumers’ antibrand actions given in response to brand activism. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative content analysis and multiple correspondence analysis were used to study consumer responses directed at a chocolate brand’s campaign that advocated civilized online conversions and opposed hate speech, a politically heated topic. In total, 1,615 messages were collected from social media platforms. Findings Field infringement, political accusations and questioned impact of the campaign triggered consumers to turn against the campaign. Strategies to undermine it included boycotting, discrediting the brand and trapping. Trapping – creatively using technological affordances to create harm to the brand – was typically triggered by political associations. Research limitations/implications Findings relate to the critical responses regarding one campaign only. Practical implications By understanding the political discussion around the chosen cause, including the opponents’ typical triggers and strategies, brand activism can more credibly advocate for contested social causes and communicate brand values. Originality/value Political antibrand actions are distinct from the previously identified functional and ethical antibrand actions, and they are noninstrumental by nature. Practices that are native to social media are central to political antibrand actions, and social media platforms contribute to how such disappointment is articulated and acted upon.

Branding in the eye of the storm: the impact of brand ethical behavior on brand commitment during the COVID-19 crisis in a South American country

The purpose of this study is to determine how consumer perceptions of brand ethical behavior can affect their commitment to brands during turbulent times. A study of the effects of perceived ethical behavior of brands in Colombia during the initial months of the COVID-19 outbreak was conducted in May 2020 in Bogota, Colombia, to ascertain customer perception of brand ethical actions during the first 2 months of the COVID-19 outbreak. A Bayesian model was developed to assess the impact of brands' ethical behavior on brand recognition benefits, brand image, and brand commitment. The selection of the initial months of the outbreak for this project was important because the COVID-19 pandemic had the potential to augment consumer perception of brands' ethical actions at a pivotal moment in consumers' lives. Our findings demonstrate that customers expressed a positive perception of brands' ethical actions during the early months of the pandemic, which resulted in high commitment intention to these brands in the model examined. The findings highlight the critical nature of the perception of ethical behavior in the eyes of customers during a major global health crisis. More than ever, organizations must commit their brands to fully live out their publicly expressed ethical principles and continuously monitor consumer perceptions of brand attributes and behaviors associated with ethical actions regardless of market conditions. Commitment to living the brand's stated ethical principles can be demonstrated via branding activities in ways that can be especially welcomed by customers during turbulent times. The insights mentioned in this article are crucial for brands already present in South America or exploring expansion into these regions. The findings provide compelling evidence of the impact of ethical actions on consumer commitment to brands, suggesting that brands must now, more than ever, stay in touch with their customers and truthfully live the ethical values they transmit to customers.

Strategic B2B brand activism: Building conscientious purpose for social impact

In the business-to-business (B2B) domain, brand activism is growing as a tool for attending to social problems and achieving brand differentiation. In this paper, we introduce B2B brand activism and conceive it as an emerging strategy that is enacted by firms within their supply chains and involves taking actions in relation to channel partners (e.g., firing professional services agencies, ceasing advertising spending with media outlets) based on the firm's avowed social and political purpose and values. We explore the ‘accelerators’ and ‘decelerators’ of B2B brand activism via in-depth interviews with B2B marketers. We find evidence for three main accelerators that expedite adoption of B2B brand activism, including (1) a need to maintain relevance via stakeholder communications, (2) an increased ability to track and use customer data, and (3) a need to respond to the power of end-consumers, B2B partners, competitors, and regulators. These accelerators exist alongside decelerators that restrain participation in purpose-driven practice— from (1) the need to ensure activism aligns with B2B purpose, to (2) the way marketers question their ability to enable long-term strategic change, and (3) a constant pressure to justify spending. We contribute to theory building by defining the conceptual framework for B2B brand activism.

Konstruksi City Branding Kota Pasuruan pada Instagram

Branding is a term commonly used in the realm of marketing and advertising disciplines. Oneof the most common branding activities carried out is city branding activities. Many of each region carry out City Branding, one of which is Pasuruan City. This study aims to find out how Pasuruan City Branding contained in the content of @madinahvanjava Instagram account. The research method used is a qualitative type using Content Analysis and categorizing into 10 categories of city branding on Instagram according to (Choi et al., 2007). Hasil from this study, it can be concluded that the results of city branding construction on instagram account content @madinahvanjava within a period of 5 months, namely January-May 2022, can only be classified into 6 categories out of 10 categories that should be. uploads displayed by Instagram accounts @madinahvanjava less than optimal in membranding cities through Instagram social media. It is evident from the photos and videos uploaded that it favors the personal branding of the Mayor of Pasuruan than the display of the city branding of Pasuruan City. The strategy that should be used on @madinahvanjava Instagram account is to focus on posts related to city branding that provide information about Pasuruan City and not focus on the image of the Mayor. 
 Keywords: City Branding, Branding, Content Analysis, Instagram Content

Konstruksi City Branding Kota Pasuruan pada Instagram

Branding is a term commonly used in the realm of marketing and advertising disciplines. Oneof the most common branding activities carried out is city branding activities. Many of each region carry out City Branding, one of which is Pasuruan City. This study aims to find out how Pasuruan City Branding contained in the content of @madinahvanjava Instagram account. The research method used is a qualitative type using Content Analysis and categorizing into 10 categories of city branding on Instagram according to (Choi et al., 2007). Hasil from this study, it can be concluded that the results of city branding construction on instagram account content @madinahvanjava within a period of 5 months, namely January-May 2022, can only be classified into 6 categories out of 10 categories that should be. uploads displayed by Instagram accounts @madinahvanjava less than optimal in membranding cities through Instagram social media. It is evident from the photos and videos uploaded that it favors the personal branding of the Mayor of Pasuruan than the display of the city branding of Pasuruan City. The strategy that should be used on @madinahvanjava Instagram account is to focus on posts related to city branding that provide information about Pasuruan City and not focus on the image of the Mayor. 
 Keywords: City Branding, Branding, Content Analysis, Instagram Content

Are They Really Different? Instagram Usage Motivations of Generation Z and Millennials in Turkiye

Each generation has a few differences from the previous generation. It might be the language they speak, and that is not necessarily about their native languages, but about how they speak to each other. It might be a popular musical interest. Or it might be their motivations in life. The crucial thing here is to understand the differences and find the middle way to communicate with each generation. Brands and their communication strategies are significantly important because if a brand cannot be relevant to the new generation, it might cause a decrease in their loyalty rates and customer lifecycles. Therefore, it is important to know what the main differences of their target audiences from the generational aspect are for marketers. Does Generation Z still enjoy using Instagram? Do Millennials find branding activities on Instagram relevant? Why are they using Instagram? This study will be covering the main motivational differences between Generation Z and Millennials in Turkiye and their Instagram usage motives, and discuss it based on the results of a conducted survey. Brands might change in time, and there is nothing to be afraid of. Planning the change and finding the expected behaviour is important, but once related data is available, companies might plan the change in the most accurate way possible.

CREATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF BRANDING ACTIVITY OF JV LLC "SIYOB SAKHOVATI"

CREATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF BRANDING ACTIVITY OF JV LLC "SIYOB SAKHOVATI"

The Influence of Social Media Marketing, Product Reviews, and Brand Activation on Online Purchase Decisions at E-Commerce Platforms: (Case Study on Shopee Platform Customers in Denpasar)

The Influence of Social Media Marketing, Product Reviews, and Brand Activation on Online Purchase Decisions at E-Commerce Platforms: (Case Study on Shopee Platform Customers in Denpasar)

The effect of Generation Z's perceptions of brand activism on brand loyalty: evidence from Vietnam

PurposeThe study was conducted to investigate the impact of Generation Z's perceptions of brand activism on brand loyalty through the mediating role of brand attitude and brand trust.Design/methodology/approachThe study first reviewed previous research and developed hypotheses related to the research objectives. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted to test the hypotheses with the survey data of 1,133 individuals from Generation Z in Vietnam.FindingsFirst, the findings indicated that: perceived argument quality, perceived authenticity, and perceived altruistic motives have a significant positive effect on brand attitude and brand trust. In addition, perceived self-interest motives have a significant positive effect on brand attitude. Brand trust has a significant positive effect on brand attitude. Finally, brand attitude and brand trust have a significant positive effect on brand loyalty. The study's empirical analysis carries implications for brand managers when implementing brand activism campaigns.Originality/valueThere is a paucity of research that investigates customers' perceptions of brand activism through perceived argument quality, perceived authenticity, perceived altruistic motives, and perceived self-interest motives and the influences of these on brand loyalty. The main contribution of this study is to fill this gap.

Politics and Social Responsibility in the Bangladesh Ready-Made Garment Supply Chains

Despite the debate on the political activity and social responsibility of transnational corporations, there is little evidence in the PCSR literature on the politics of powerful global and local economic actors and how they can influence the deliberative efforts of MSIs in raising labor standards in production countries. In this article, we take a Gramscian perspective and present a large qualitative study in the Bangladesh RMG supply chain based on the experience of suppliers in the years following the Rana Plaza collapse. While detailing the political activity of the international brands and local industry association as global and local ‘hegemonies’, we show how they use their social responsibility for workers' health and safety to advance market-driven choices and silencing opposition. Hence, we conceptualize ‘glocal contestation’ as the discursive political activity of global and local hegemonies in protecting their capacity to meet their social responsibility while contesting MSI stakeholder groups and each other. This article extends the PCSR literature on MSIs in global supply chains, finally delivering important insights on the future of MSIs and labor standards in global RMG supply chains.

Self-Disclosure as a Form of Personal Branding on Instagram Social Media Platform

This study aims to find out the implementation of self-disclosure on Instagram as a form of personal branding among Radio Broadcasters as well as MCs involved as the members of the "Solo Raya MC" community. To be able to describe a form of self-disclosure in a person, the authors applied the Johari Window self-disclosure theory which classifies self-disclosure into 4 parts. Furthermore, the theory was linked with the concept of personal branding theory by McNally & Speak to be able to understand the aspects of personal branding, namely the forms and assessment of the effectiveness of certain personal branding activity. The study data were collected through direct interviews and document studies, namely by conducting a study on the Instagram accounts of 3 informants involved. Based on the results of the study, it was found that self-disclosure was only focused on sharing information related to the profession. The informants didn't disclose personal issues considered unimportant to convey publicly via Instagram. Their personal branding was formed because they were consistent in making self-disclosures related to their profession that were packaged by highlighting their respective characters to be firmly embedded in the minds of other people or audience.

Effective messaging strategies to increase brand love for sociopolitical activist brands

As brands increasingly engage in activism, it is critical they communicate messages that their target audiences perceive as authentic to reinforce their consumer-brand relationships. This study investigates the effect of type of commitment (financial, non-financial, or rhetorical) and message framing (hope or frustration) on perceived brand authenticity and brand love. It additionally explores how these relationships vary depending on a brand’s level of equity. Through one exploratory and five experimental studies the most effective type of messaging for high and low equity brands is identified. Whereas high equity brands should communicate a financial commitment to gain authenticity and love, low equity brands should emphasize a non-financial commitment. In general, brands must convey hope rather than frustration in their messages. However, brands should convey frustration when communicating a rhetorical commitment to a cause. This study contributes to the brand activism and brand equity literature and provides specific marketing strategy recommendations.

Analisis Branding Hotel Swiss-Belinn Saripetojo Dengan Menggunakan Media Sosial Instagram

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has had a lot of negative effects on various companies. Especially to companies engaged in hospitality services, or to companies that provide services to the community, this of course has a very significant effect on branding and also the number of visitors who come. Branding is very necessary in the conditions we are experiencing, in order to maintain public trust and to always use the services we provide. Carrying out branding activities using Instagram social media is certainly a solution, so that we are able to reach the audience by presenting some content that is conveyed easily, with the existence of social media, and is equipped with various kinds of supporting features, of course making it easier for a number of companies who is engaged in services as the Swiss-Belinn Saripetojo Hotel does.

Ảnh hưởng nhận thức của thế hệ Z đối với thương hiệu theo chủ nghĩa hành động đến lòng trung thành thương hiệu: So sánh sự khác biệt giữa các thành phố

The study aims to analyze the influence of perception among generation Z towards brand activism and to test the influence of the control variables, which are the metropolitan areas on brand loyalty. Structural equation modelling (SEM) and multi-group analysis methods are conducted to test the hypotheses with the survey data of 1133 individuals of generation Z. Research results have shown that (1) Perceived argument quality, (2) Perceived authenticity, (3) Perceived altruistic motives, and (4) Perceived self-interest motives have different levels of impact on brand loyalty among generation Z individuals living in Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City. The study reveals significant suggestions for brand managers in implementing brand activism marketing campaigns.

Brand position in the eyes of customers: assessment of selected airlines by the passengers' online reviews

Motivation: The motivation to write an article on airlines was the desire to rank them based on customer reviews and see how these reviews reflect the actual brand image. The opinions that companies collect about themselves have a very strong power when it comes to building its reputation. Aim: The aim of the study was to use digital transformation and transform raw data into specific information that expressed customer emotions to create a profile of selected airlines. A secondary goal of the article was also to check how the analyzed airlines perform in similar areas. Materials and methods: The data used for the analysis was collected from the eSky.com website and covers the 2019-2020 period. The airlines concerned by the customer reviews were LOT, Ryanair, Wizzair, Czarter, EasyJet, Lufthansa and Laudamotion. Their selection was dictated by the number of opinions necessary to conduct the analysis. The research based on the use of data mining techniques, but it should be noted that most of it uses text mining tools. Topic modelling was used to prepare the data properly and assign each word to groups with similar themes. In order to obtain information whether a given opinion has a positive, negative or neutral tenor, sentiment analysis was used. The final part of the analysis was based on the net sentiment score indicator. The entire analysis was carried out in the R-Studio. Results: The most common subjects of opinions written by customers were "delay", "service", "boarding" and "airline". It was confirmed that the opinions of each airline concern different topics, although some common topics were noticeable. Two topics were repeated among the 7 analyzed airlines: "service" and "delay". Based on the sentiment analysis, for the Ryanair airline the percentage of negative opinions was highest and equal to 35%, almost 40%, of neutral opinions fell on the WizzAir airline and the largest percentage of positive feedback, as much as 46%, was attributed to EasyJet. EasyJet line looks the best in the eyes of customers. The line that evoked uniformly positive, negative and neutral emotions in the opinions was Ryanair.

REPRESENTATION OF GASTRONOMY BRANDING THROUGH “ARUNA AND HER PALATE” FILM

BSTRACT Indonesia is one of the well-known international tourist destinations, one of which is through its culinary diversity. The variety of culinary culture in Indonesia cannot be separated from the historical stories and characteristics of each region. With these peculiarities, Indonesian cuisine must of course receive special attention in the promotion process. In the world of culinary marketing, there is a concept known as gastronomy branding. This concept briefly means doing marketing communication activities about food. Mass media, especially films, can be a channel for mass communication to carry out this gastronomy branding activity. Through its reach, films can convey a gastronomy branding communication message to introduce Indonesian cuisine to a wide audience, both nationally and internationally. One of the Indonesian films that raises the culinary specialties of the archipelago is "Aruna & Her Palate". This research qualitatively, through literature study, will present a representation of gastronomy branding that is shown through the film "Aruna & Her Palate". Keywords: Representation, Gastronomy Branding, Film