Dean C.H. Wilkie

The impact of low-price brands on the order of entry advantage

Abstract The objectives of this research are to investigate (1) if a later entrant can reduce an order of entry effect by positioning itself as a low-price brand; and (2) if the type of low-price brand impacts the effectiveness of this strategy. The impact of a low-price strategy on the order of entry effect has been modelled using three categories of over-the-counter medicines. The results indicate that, in a majority of categories and dependent on the type of low-price brand, a low-price strategy can reduce the market share penalty for being a later entrant. In addition, the results provide evidence that leveraging an existing store brand name does not provide a strategic advantage over establishing a new brand name. The implications for managers is that a low-price brand provides a motivating point of difference for consumers, which shifts brand preferences and market share away from the pioneer brand.

The existence of double jeopardy within the order of entry effect

Abstract Order of entry research has stressed the importance of a superior marketing mix effort relative to the pioneer if a late entrant is to overcome the order of entry effect. Several researchers have argued, but have not demonstrated, that a superior marketing mix effort may even help a late entrant avoid the order of entry effect. If this is proven to be the case, a double jeopardy trend may exist in that late entrants that have a superior (inferior) marketing mix effort not only gain (lose) market share through the effects of this superiority, they also avoid (incur) the market share penalty associated with their entry position. Consumer scanner data from 24 categories were used to demonstrate the existence of a double jeopardy trend within the order of entry effect in that a late entrant’s market share benefits twice from a superior marketing mix effort and is punished twice for an inferior effort.

Overcoming late entry: the importance of entry position, inferences and market leadership

Abstract There are two key unresolved questions that need to be addressed in order to understand the challenge of a late entry. Do late entrants that achieve market share leadership actually incur a market share penalty associated with their entry position? Is their specific entry position a contributing factor or irrelevant to their success? To address these questions, this article uses a consumer scanner data-set containing 360 late entrants, 38 of which achieved market share leadership, to inform a regression analysis examining late entrant performance. As a result of our investigation exploring how late entrants can use marketing mix instruments to challenge incumbents, we propose that although late entry generally leads to a market share disadvantage, several opportunities remain for late entrants to excel.

Asymmetric preferences for leaders and implications for followers

Purpose – This study aims to examine leader–follower interdependence from a different perspective to learn whether variations in the market leader (ML)’s level of market strength require followers to pursue different strategies Literature investigating this interdependence largely focuses on the market share consequences for the ML, considering the strategies that followers pursue. Design/methodology/approach – A consumer scanner data set containing 375 followers provided input for a regression model, aimed at explaining the market share performance of followers. Findings – The ML’s products and level of market strength influence whether a follower should be more similar to or different from it, as well as the performance outcomes of distinct product development strategies. Research limitations/implications – This analysis uses unique measures of market strength and product difference; both are significant, but their robustness is limited without further substantiation. Practical implications – Managers m...

Consumer emotional brand attachment with social media brands and social media brand equity

The ever-growing popularity of social media platforms is evidence of consumers engaging emotionally with these brands. Given the prominence of social media in society, the purpose of this paper is to understand social media platforms from a “brand” perspective through examining the effect of consumers’ emotional attachment on social media consumer-based brand equity (CBBE).,This paper develops a model that outlines how emotional brand attachment with social media explains social media CBBE via shaping consumer perceptions of brand credibility and consumer satisfaction. An online survey of 340 Australian social media consumers provided data for empirical testing. The inclusion of multiple context-relevant covariates and use of a method-variance-adjusted data matrix, as well as an examination of an alternative model, adds robustness to the results.,The findings of this paper support the conceptual model, and the authors identify strong relationships between the focal variables. A phantom model analysis explicates specific indirect effects of emotional brand attachment on CBBE. The authors also find support for a fully mediated effect of emotional brand attachment on social media brand equity. Further, they broaden the nomological network of emotional brand attachment, outlining key outcomes.,This paper offers a conceptual mechanism (a chain-of-effects) of how consumer emotional brand attachment with social media brands translates into social media CBBE. It also finds that a brand’s credibility as well as its ability to perform against consumer expectations (i.e. satisfaction) are equally effective in translating emotional brand attachment into social media CBBE.,Social media brands are constantly challenged by rapid change and ongoing criticism over such issues as data privacy. The implications from this paper suggest that managers should make investments in creating (reinforcing) emotional connections with social media consumers, as this will favorably impact CBBE by way of a relational mechanism, that is, via enhancing credibility and consumer satisfaction.,Lately, social media in general has suffered from a crisis of trust in society. The enhanced credibility of social media brands resulting from consumers’ emotional attachments will potentially serve to enhance its acceptance as a credible form of media in society.,Social media platforms are often examined as brand-building platforms. This paper adopts a different perspective, examining social media platforms as brands per se and the effects of emotional attachments that consumers develop towards these. This paper offers valuable insights into how consumers’ emotional attachments drive vital brand judgments such as credibility and satisfaction, ultimately culminating into social media CBBE.

It is not about the Product Having Enhanced or Unique Product Attributes

There is an ongoing discussion across several research streams as to whether consumers prefer new products with enhanced or unique attributes. The objective of this paper is to help resolve the conflicting views through examining the effect of three factors on consumer preferences for line extensions. These factors are 1) whether information about new product attributes need to be similar or different compared to existing knowledge 2) examining whether the number of new attributes influences preferences and 3) whether consumer preferences are instead influenced by the different types of enhanced and unique attributes. The summation of the findings not only provides possible explanations for why there are the conflicting views, it also presents an alternate perspective to this discussion. This is that consumers do not have a higher preference for products with either type of attribute. Instead, consumer preferences are determined through the relationship between their perception of how different the product is to their existing knowledge, how confident they are in the product delivering the benefits promised, and their preference for specific types of enhanced and unique attributes.