Prototypical Brand Research Articles

Visual Elicitation of Brand Perception

Understanding consumers’ associations with brands is at the core of brand management. However, measuring associations is challenging because consumers can associate a brand with many objects, emotions, activities, sceneries, and concepts. This article presents an elicitation platform, analysis methodology, and results on consumer associations of U.S. national brands. The elicitation is direct, unaided, scalable, and quantitative and uses the power of visuals to depict a detailed representation of respondents’ relationships with a brand. The proposed brand visual elicitation platform allows firms to collect online brand collages created by respondents and analyze them quantitatively to elicit brand associations. The authors use the platform to collect 4,743 collages from 1,851 respondents for 303 large U.S. brands. Using unsupervised machine-learning and image-processing approaches, they analyze the collages and obtain a detailed set of associations for each brand, including objects (e.g., animals, food, people), constructs (e.g., abstract art, horror, delicious, famous, fantasy), occupations (e.g., musician, bodybuilder, baker), nature (e.g., beach, misty, snowscape, wildlife), and institutions (e.g., corporate, army, school). The authors demonstrate the following applications for brand management: obtaining prototypical brand visuals, relating associations to brand personality and equity, identifying favorable associations per category, exploring brand uniqueness through differentiating associations, and identifying commonalities between brands across categories for potential collaborations.

The role of Korean prototypical brand image in shaping country image and quality evaluations: a cross-cultural examination

PurposeBuilt on the prototype and cue theories, the purpose of this study is to understand how a country's prototypical brand, a corporate brand that most consumers associate with a country (e.g. Samsung), contributes to forming two dimensions of country image – overall country image (i.e. macro country image) and product-specific country image (i.e. micro country image) – and how country image impacts the product quality evaluations of Korean cosmetics, along with the moderating effect of national culture.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 491 US and Chinese consumers ages 20 and older and analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe findings confirmed the positive influence of prototypical brand image on macro and micro country image. Macro country image also had a positive effect on micro country image. However, only micro country image yielded a positive influence on the quality evaluations of Korean cosmetics. Analyses of the moderating effect of national culture showed that the positive influence of prototypical brand image on macro and micro country image was found to be stronger in China than in the US.Originality/valueThese findings provided new theoretical perspectives for country image studies, and practical insights for companies and governments, especially those in countries whose country image is less distinctive, to help develop effective marketing strategies.

Can brands deviate from their brand aesthetic? Brand luxury status as a moderator

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of brand design consistency (BDC) on consumers’ aesthetic judgment and purchase intention; and whether this effect of BDC is moderated by a brand’s luxury status.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-factorial experimental design that manipulated the BDC of handbags (prototypical/high/low) and brand luxury status (luxury/non-luxury) was conducted among 311 female participants to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsResults obtained from t-tests and repeated measures ANCOVA demonstrate that prototypical brand designs, followed by high, and then low BDC products, evoked the most positive consumer responses. Additionally, brand luxury status moderated the effect of BDC on consumer response, such that the effect was more salient for non-luxury than luxury brands.Practical implicationsLuxury brands are able to leverage the halo effect, as perceived brand design inconsistency has a lesser impact on consumers’ purchase intentions than for non-luxury brands. Non-luxury brands have less latitude to deviate from their brand aesthetic, and maintaining BDC in new products is imperative for these brands.Originality/valueDesigners constantly navigate the thresholds of their brand’s aesthetic in design decisions; however, few studies have investigated consumer responses to deviations from brand aesthetics. To the authors’ knowledge, no studies have examined this phenomenon in relation to a brand’s luxury status, a factor that critically impacts consumers’ design expectations.

Prototypical brands and cultural influences

PurposeTo extend the understanding of country image to the country whose image is less distinctive, the purpose of this paper is to examine two salient factors: one country’s prototypical brand and its cultural influence (i.e. Korean Wave) on shaping the country’s image in the context of Korea and its subsequent impact on product evaluation and purchase intention. Built on the prototype and schema theories, a research framework is proposed and empirically tested on two product categories (cosmetics and tires).Design/methodology/approachData were collected from US consumers ages 20 and older and analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe findings largely supported the proposed framework with two additional paths (Korean Wave to product quality and Korean Wave to purchase intention). In both product categories, the findings confirmed that the image transfers from the prototypical brands (e.g. Samsung) to the country image (i.e., Korea), from Korean Wave to country image, and from the macro country image to the micro country image. The influence of the prototypical brand image was greater than that of the Korean Wave. However, some differences were found across product categories; the positive impact of the macro image on product quality evaluation was supported only for tires, not in the case of the cosmetics. The path from the Korean Wave to product quality evaluation was significant only for the cosmetics, and not for the tires.Originality/valueThese findings provided new theoretical perspectives for country image studies, and practical insights for companies, especially in countries whose image is less distinctive, to help develop effective marketing strategies in different product categories.

Brand verbs: brand synonymity and brand leadership

Brand names have become verbs and entered in the consumer vocabulary, as doing words that are synonymous to consumer actions. Synonymity brands are observed to be prototypical and consumer-perceived brand leaders by planting a word not only in the consumer minds, but also in the lexicon. Corporate attorneys have ignored this fact by labeling such words as potential candidates to brand genericide and projected risk of trademark loss. The 3-part study aims to explore the concept, define brand synonymity, identify the dimensions, and measure the degree of synonymity—in the first part. The second study empirically tests the relationship between brand synonymity and leadership. The study three brings practical use to address the legal concerns by outlining a continuum to plot brands in safe and risk zones, thereby segregating the marketing play (in safe zone) and attorney’s role (in risk zone). The findings show synonymity brands scoring high in four vital brand dimensions and demonstrate positive relationship with brand leadership. The authors explore this new area of brand research that is not adequately covered by extant literature, to benefit marketing scholars, brand managers, and legal attorneys.

Factors influencing generation Y’s purchase intentions of prototypical versus me-too brands

The current study examines self-confidence, perceived quality, extrinsic attributes and perceived risk as drivers and inhibitors of Generation Y’s purchase intentions of prototypical and me-too brands. A survey of 348 respondents demonstrated that self-confidence and perceived quality produced significant positive effects on purchase intentions for the me-too brands. Extrinsic attributes produced a significant positive effect on purchase intentions for the prototypical brand. Perceived financial/performance risk produced a significant negative effect on purchase intentions for both the prototypical and me-too brands, while perceived psychological risk produced a significant negative effect on purchase intentions for the prototypical brand. Understanding the factors underlying Gen Y’s consumer behaviour is crucial, particularly due to their considerable consumption potential and the increasing sophistication of brand marketing in the marketplace.

Brand typicality and distant novel extension acceptance: How risk-reduction counters low category fit

To increase consumer acceptance of novel products, firms often employ extension strategies, that is, launching new products under familiar brand names. Prototypical brands are among the most familiar in any product category, and, therefore, seem attractive candidates for extension efforts. But, by definition, prototypical brands and their product category show a strong association. Starting from a categorization theory perspective, prior research suggests that this association may hinder the extendibility of prototypical brands to products that belong to distant categories. Yet counter-intuitively, results from two studies focusing on novel extensions demonstrate that brand prototypicality increases rather than decreases consumer acceptance of novel extensions, in “close” as well as “distant” product categories. A mediation analysis provides evidence for the underlying mechanism by indicating that the risk-reducing advantage of prototypical brands outweighs their category-anchored rigidity.

Examining Consumer Risk Perceptions of Prototypical Brands Versus Me-Too Brands

This study examines brand familiarity, extrinsic attributes, self-confidence, and perceived quality for their effects on perceived risk between prototypical and me-too brands. Factor analyses and path analysis were used in testing hypotheses. Brand familiarity produced a significant positive effect, while extrinsic attributes produced a significant negative effect on perceived equivalent quality for both the pioneer and me-too brands. Respectively, the perceived equivalent quality of the MP3 players produced significant positive and negative effects on perceived risks for pioneer and me-too brands. Managerial implications include strategic use of me-too brands and management of competitive advantages of pioneer brands with perceived prototypicality.

Do Prototypical Brands Have an Advantage Over Me-Too Brands in the Mature Marketplace?

ABSTRACT This article explores the differential impacts of prototypical and me-too brands on purchase intentions for MP3 players and bank loans. A total of 674 responses were collected from self-administered surveys across two studies. Findings suggest that prototypical brands lose their competitive advantage in a mature marketplace. For both studies, the prototypical brand posed as a stronger financial/performance risk to purchase intention. The prototypical brand also presented as stronger social risk and psychological risk in Study 2 and Study 1 respectively. Quality perceived in the me-too brands had a stronger influence on purchase intention in Study 1. For both studies, the prototypical brand's extrinsic cues exerted stronger influence on purchase intention. Finally, in Study 1, familiarity with the me-too brands had a stronger influence on purchase intention.

Brand leaders and me‐too alternatives: how do consumers choose?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine brand familiarity, extrinsic attributes, self‐confidence, perceived quality and six dimensions of perceived risk for their effects on purchase intentions between the prototypical and me‐too brands of MP3 players.Design/methodology/approachA self‐administered survey was employed to collect data from 348 lead users of MP3 players. Existing scales were selected for their tested reliability in buying situations and adapted to suit the context of the current study. Hypothesized relationships were examined with structural equation modeling.FindingsBrand familiarity had positive effects and extrinsic attributes had negative effects on the perceived equivalent quality of the MP3 players for both the prototypical and me‐too brands. Further, brand familiarity and extrinsic attributes produced direct effects on purchase intentions for the me‐too and prototypical brands respectively. While perceived equivalent quality had a positive mediating effect on the brand familiarity‐purchase intentions relationship for the me‐too brands, it had a negative mediating effect on the extrinsic attributes‐purchase intentions relationship for the prototypical brand. Finally, perceived social/physical, financial/performance, time and psychological risks produced negative mediating effects on the perceived equivalent quality‐purchase intentions relationship for the prototypical brand, while social/physical risk produced a positive mediating effect for the me‐too brands.Originality/valuePrevious empirical research has focused primarily on the individual effects of these antecedents. A research model integrates these antecedents with the dimensions of perceived risk and tests their hypothesized effects on purchase intentions. Comparisons between the prototypical and me‐too brands of MP3 players provide insights for practitioners when managing their brands.

The critical role of congruency in prototypical brand extensions

Drawing on categorization theory, this empirical study focuses on the critical role of congruency in prototypical brand extensions. A survey, measuring reactions to 18 proposed extensions involving six well‐known brands (Xerox, Kleenex, Band‐Aid, Scotch Tape, Coke, Sony Walkman), was administered to a sample of graduate students. For each prototypical brand, there were three proposed extensions: congruent, moderately congruent, and incongruent. Preliminary analyses, using a series of MANOVAs and post hoc pairwise difference tests, revealed robust variations across the six brands with respect to the level of extension congruency. Using multiple‐item indicators for three latent constructs (attitude towards parent brand, extension fit, and extension success) along with two additional variables (prototypicality and manufacturing complexity), we developed and tested three structural equation models linking these aforementioned variables, for congruent, moderately congruent, and incongruent extensions. Results indicate that—irrespective of the level of extension congruency—perceptions of fit had the strongest influence on extension success. However, while parent brand affect directly and indirectly influenced success for congruent brand extensions, these parent‐brand associations played no significant role for moderately congruent and incongruent brand extensions. Implications for brand managers and directions for future research are also discussed.