Francesca Dall'Olmo Riley

Experts' views about defining services brands and the principles of services branding

Abstract There is a dearth of research into the nature of services brands and the principles of services branding, which we address by interviewing 20 leading-edge brand consultants. The consensus view was that branding principles are common between products and services at the conceptual level. In either sector, brands must be developed as the link mirroring the set of functional and emotional values created by the company and the way these are perceived by consumers. However, at the operation level, there may be differences in the emphasis given to the manifestation of specific elements of services brands. Moreover, the current inconsistency of delivery of services brands was raised as a critical challenge. Suggested ways of resolving this include a consumer-delighting culture that permeates every department, with greater emphasis on internal communication and training.

Added value: its nature, roles and sustainability

Much has been written about the strategic importance of added value as a means for achieving competitive advantage, but little attention has been paid to the meaning of the term “added value”. For the concept to realise its purported advantages, a better understanding of added value is crucial. To gain greater insight into the concept we undertook depth interviews with 20 leading‐edge brand experts to explore their views about the nature, roles and sustainability of added value. We conclude that added value is a multidimensional construct, playing diverse roles, and interpreted in different ways by different people. The more sustainable added values are the emotional values.

Modelling the components of the brand

Models of the components of brands are gaining more attention among practitioners and academics. We review why managers have a tendency to develop mental models and overview the key published models of the components of brands. Among 20 leading edge brand practitioners we found evidence of their using their own mental models to make sense of brand complexity. There were similarities between elements of their models and those of the “atomic brand model”. This particular model was favourably received by experts and from their evaluations we propose the more comprehensive “double vortex model” of the brand.

Luxury branding on the Internet: lost opportunity or impossibility?

The paper addresses the issue of the use of the Internet for the management of luxury brands. We investigate luxury managers’ attitudes towards the use of the Internet to promote their brands and also assess consumers’ opinions and behaviour concerning luxury brands Web sites. Finally, we present the results of a content analysis of a number of luxury brands sites. Any discrepancies between expectations and reality are investigated. Results indicate that reality falls short of the expectations of both managers and customers and that the interactive potential of the Internet is not exploited. Furthermore, there is evidence that the Internet works best as a communication than as a customer acquisition channel for luxury brands.

Dove vs. Dior: Extending the Brand Extension Decision-Making Process from Mass to Luxury

This paper furthers the understanding of the decision process used by managers when extending their brands. In particular, we investigate the extent to which the model of extension decision process outlined by Ambler and Styles (1997) for fast moving consumer goods is relevant to the luxury sector. We find that the broad structure and components of the A & S model extend to the luxury sector. However, some modifications are required to reflect the differences between luxury and fast moving consumer goods. In contrast with fast moving consumer goods, growth, rather than defence, is the main driver for extending luxury brands. The marketing function, rather than R&D, has the strongest influence on brand extension decisions in the luxury sector. Tradition and brand heritage are identified by luxury goods experts both as the first driver and an important decision criterion for brand extensions.

Brand Image and Brand Usage: Is a Forty-Year-Old Empirical Generalization Still Useful?

ABSTRACT In this paper the authors provide evidence of the breadth and longevity of Andrew Ehrenbergs work—a testimony to the quality of his research approach. To demonstrate this vitality, the authors drew on 45 new data sets to test findings about the relative brand image response patterns from customer usage groups (Bird, Channon, and Ehrenberg, 1970). The data cover different categories (among them, services, durables, and retailers), countries (including emerging markets), and newer data collection methods (i.e., online). The authors found the generalization that brand association responses are strongly and systematically linked to past brand usage still holds—both qualitatively and, to a large extent, quantitatively. This has implications for researchers and practitioners.

Investigating the consequences of word of mouth from a WOM sender’s perspective in the services context

Abstract Employing scenario-based experiments, this paper examines the effect of word of mouth (WOM) on the sender’s intention to give future WOM about the focal service provider and the self-enhancement derived from articulating WOM. Extant WOM literature considers self-enhancement as a key driver of positive WOM. This paper provides empirical evidence that a reverse effect exists and that self-enhancement is also an outcome of WOM behaviour. Results indicate that the impact of WOM on self-enhancement has substantive significance and holds for both positive and negative WOM. The effect of WOM on intentions is only partially supported. Finally, tie strength between the WOM participants partially moderates the relationship between the variables. Importantly, the impact of negative WOM is stronger than that of positive WOM.

The role of perceived value in vertical brand extensions of luxury and premium brands

Abstract This study examines the role of perceived value in the relationship between brand attitude, perceived fit, extension attitude and consumers’ purchase intention of downscale vertical extensions of luxury and premium brands in two product categories: cars and shoes. Results from 236 individuals with different income levels show that extension attitude is positively related to purchase intention both directly and indirectly, via the perceived value of the extension; the latter is more strongly correlated than extension attitude to consumers’ purchase intention. Brand attitude is also positively associated with perceived value. Overall, perceived value partially mediates the relationships of brand attitude and of extension attitude with purchase intention. The product category affects the strength of some of the relationships in the model, including the role of fit.

Expert practitioners' views on roles of brands: implications for marketing communications

Depending on whether the economics, strategy, marketing or consumer behaviour literature is consulted, a variety of roles can be identified that brands are expected to play. In view of the increasingly hostile environment brands face, we sought to verify the appropriateness of the roles emerging from the literature by undertaking depth interviews with leading edge brand consultants. Our findings suggest that while brands continue to play important roles for both firms and consumers, it is the way brands are interpreted, managed and communicated that may need rethinking. For each particular brand role to be properly fulfilled, different types of communication programmes are needed. In turn, effective communication strategies can be developed only if the role that the brand is expected to play is accurately specified, both inside the organization and when briefing advertising agencies.

Online and store patronage: a typology of grocery shoppers

Purpose Grounded on approach/avoidance behaviour theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop a typology of grocery shoppers based on the concomitant perceived advantages and disadvantages of shopping online and in store for a single cohort of consumers who buy groceries in both channels. Design/methodology/approach A survey design was employed using a sample of 871 UK shoppers who had purchased groceries online and offline. The survey instrument contained items that measured the perceived advantages and disadvantages of grocery shopping online, and items relating to the perceived advantages and disadvantages of grocery shopping in traditional supermarkets. Items were selected from the extant literature and subjected to content and face validity checks. Cluster analysis was used to develop typologies of online and offline grocery shoppers. The inter-relation between the two typology sets was then examined. Findings The results of the research provide several insights into the characteristics, perceptions and channel patronage preferences of grocery shoppers. In particular, profiling e-grocery shoppers on the basis of their concomitant perceptions of shopping online and in store suggests that the choice of whether to shop online or in store may be driven not by the perceived advantages of one channel vs the other, but by the desire to avoid the greater disadvantages of the alternative. These perceptions differ somewhat between different consumer groups. Originality/value This study makes a noteworthy contribution to the internet and general shopping literature by providing a profile of grocery shoppers based on their concomitant and often conflicting perceived advantages and disadvantages of shopping online and their perceived advantages and disadvantages of shopping in traditional supermarkets. The use of a single cohort of consumers overcomes the bias in previous studies that employ separate cohorts of online and offline shoppers and reveal important insights into the complex perceptions and behaviours of multichannel grocery shoppers.