Hansjoerg Gaus

Does Flow Influence the Brand Image in Event Marketing

ABSTRACT Event marketing is considered a relatively novel marketing tool. In contrast to conventional communication strategies, event marketing features the active participation of target groups in the communication process. This feature in particular has not been subject to sophisticated empirical studies so far. In this article, based on research findings about attitude toward the advertisement, a model for the explanation of the effects of flow experience during marketing events is developed and tested with partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results suggest that the particular advantage of event marketing can be used successfully to influence the brand image.

The Counterfactual Self-Estimation of Program Participants: Impact Assessment without Control Groups or Pretests.

This article proposes an innovative approach to estimating the counterfactual without the necessity of generating information from either a control group or a before-measure. Building on the idea that program participants are capable of estimating the hypothetical state they would be in had they not participated, the basics of the Roy-Rubin model are used to describe how the “counterfactual self-estimation of program participants” (CSEPP) creates a basis for estimating individual and average treatment effects. The problems confronting the approach are discussed as are the preconditions that need to be fulfilled for its use to be recommendable. Moreover, the article reports on the design and results of an empirical study conducted in order to gain first insights into the practicability and viability of the CSEPP. Finally, because there are some ambiguous findings, the strengths and weaknesses of the approach and the implications of the results for further research are discussed.

Evaluating Free-Choice Climate Education Interventions Applying Propensity Score Matching

Background and objectives. The majority of environmental education takes place in informal settings, of which so-called free-choice learning is typical. What is understood by this is a kind of learning which is self-determined and driven by the needs and interests of the learner. The voluntariness of participation in interventions and the fact that they take place in turbulent action settings lead to formidable challenges for impact evaluation, particularly because often no randomized control trials (RCTs) or before-and-after measurements can be carried out. In this article, the evaluation of five different interventions from a large-scale program on consumer climate education provides the empirical background for illustrating the problems confronting quasi-experimental impact analyses in a free-choice context and presenting a possible solution based on propensity score matching (PSM). Method. In a quasi-experimental control-group design, intervention participants and nonparticipants filled out questionnaires featuring the same behavioral intentions. The challenges due to selection processes were met with radius matching on the basis of sociodemographic characteristics as covariates. Sensitivity analyses on the basis of Rosenbaum Bounds and the Hodges-Lehmann point estimator were used for assessing the robustness of treatment effects against unobserved confounding variables. Results. The analyses show that all the interventions under study positively influenced intentions to seek further advice or information on the topics covered. Furthermore, for all the interventions, significant positive effects on the intentions relating directly to climate-friendly behavior could be identified. In this context, PSM and sensitivity analyses proved to be effective methods. However, there were several limitations due to conceptual and methodological issues, and these are discussed below.

Assessing the Performance of the “Counterfactual as Self-Estimated by Program Participants” Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial

In this article, we test an alternative approach to creating a counterfactual basis for estimating individual and average treatment effects. Instead of using control/comparison groups or before-measures, the so-called Counterfactual as Self-Estimated by Program Participants (CSEPP) relies on program participants’ self-estimations of their own counterfactual at the end of an intervention. In an empirical study, a randomized experiment was employed as a benchmark to examine the performance of the CSEPP. The results suggest that the approach is capable of delivering comparatively reliable estimates of short- and midterm effects on behavioral intentions and attitudes. With regard to the estimation of treatment effects on self-reported behavior, however, the findings are more ambiguous.

Delivering Linking Value through Events: Investigating Communal and Experiential Drivers of Loyalty

Music, sport, art and food related events are interesting branded products on their own right. With their potential to bring consumers together surrounding a shared interest, they reveal latent consumption communities. Presented here is a study of a music festival, where a temporal sense of community was developed. Results of a survey of participants show that a positive socioemotional experience and a temporal sense of community while attending the event are strong predictors of repatronage and positive word of mouth and in some instances more explanatory than traditional measures such as overall satisfaction.

Developing a Scale to Measure Brand Values

In modern consumer societies brands are closely tied to cultural context. Therefore, brands contain meanings that go far beyond functional characteristics. Consumers have become more and more culturally competent, being able to ‘read’ even complex brand meaning. Values are frequently named as being a central element of brand meaning. While it has been common for a long time to speak of brand values in the literature on branding, an increasing number of empirical studies underscoring the relevance of a brand values construct have only recently been published. However, this concept is not well-developed. Consequently, a sound instrument to measure brand values does not exist.

Not That Equal: The Impact of Age on Older Consumers’ Brand Relationships

In industrialized Western countries, the population is rapidly aging. Companies took a long time to realize that this fact is relevant for their businesses and often responded with inappropriate marketing activities. Thus, in order to improve strategies aimed at mature consumers, we have to understand their behavior, investigate their consumption needs, and identify whether the older consumer market should be treated as homogeneous or further subdivided. However, the prominent field of consumer-brand relationships has not been addressed so far with regard to the elderly. The aim of this paper is to gain insights into the neglected field of elderly consumers’ brand relationships.