Marianela Fornerino

How good does it taste? Is it the product or the brand? A contribution to brand equity evaluation

Purpose – This experimental research seeks to offer a method for measuring the respective product and brand contributions to the global perceived quality dimension in the case of five brands of orange juices.Design/methodology/approach – The disconfirmation of expectations approach method was used which employs the mismatch between expected and blind evaluation of a product. The assimilation effects (when the perceived quality of the product tends to be congruent with the expected quality attributed to the brand) and the contrast effects (when the perceived quality of the product is influenced negatively by the brand) were measured.Findings – Results indicate an assimilation effect for the national brands, particularly strong with the most preferred brand, and a non‐significant brand effect for the retailers brand, although both products were rated the same in the blind evaluation.Practical implications – From a theoretical and methodological point of view, the research suggests that global measures of p...

Surprise! We changed the logo

– This paper aims to investigate the impact of brand attachment and familiarity on perceived congruence between the logo and the brand. It explores the role of an under-researched factor, surprise, on perceived congruence in the case of a radical logo change. Design/methodology/approach – A study was conducted with 220 students following a university logo change. Perceived congruence between the logos (old and new) and the school brand values was measured for two kinds of students, current and future (i.e. applicants). Findings – Results show the importance of surprise in the acceptance of a logo change. Brand familiarity and brand attachment affect surprise in opposite ways, such that higher familiarity increases negative surprise, whereas higher attachment enhances positive surprise. Research limitations/implications – This research used a school logo. Because schools represent a particular type of company, brand attachment to another type of brand could be different. The current model needs to be tested in different contexts. Practical implications – Companies must pay special attention when communicating with their most attached consumers. In particular, companies that aim to change their logos must prepare for the change by relying on communications that can lead to positive surprise. Originality/value – This study was conducted in a real context of logo change. It is the first study to focus on the link among familiarity, attachment and surprise when a radical logo change takes place within a company.

Are 2 Years Enough for a Successful Radical Logo Change? An Abstract

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to investigate the evolution of perceived congruence between a brand and its new logo in a real context of a logo change and during 2 years following the change and (2) to compare this evolution between current customers (high brand familiarity and attachment) and prospects (low brand familiarity and attachment). The study was longitudinal and made up by three data collections over a period of 2 years following the logo change. 776 students (current, high brand attachment and familiarity; applicants, low attachment and familiarity) participated in the three data collections with a 1-year interval, with 220 in 2014, 284 in 2015, and 272 in 2016. For each data collection, the procedure was similar: each participant had to (1) choose a reward as a polo shirt among the two displaying either the new or the old school logo and (2) answer a questionnaire after having been exposed randomly either to the new or the old logo, including measures of brand attachment and familiarity and perceived congruence of the logo (old or new) with the brand.

Acculturation and Advertising: Evidence from South Korea

To enrich the literature on the links between communication strategies and acculturation, this study first proposes an in-situ research approach as a complement to the widely explored ex-situ acculturation perspective. South Korea provides an exemplary case for the analysis of this phenomenon due to its strongly dominant traditional culture and its recent relative cultural invasion in the context of market globalization. The study then explores the values conveyed by advertisements vs. the values used by consumers in the interpretation of these advertisements, investigating two dimensions: use, as represented by community (food) vs. personal products (cosmetics), and origin, i.e. local vs. global products. Our results primarily suggest that traditional values coexist with non-traditional values in the advertising content rather than in the values used by consumers. Additionally, a large set of non-traditional values are used by consumers, evidencing a high level of in-situ acculturation.

Does a Spoonful of Sugar-Free Make Food Look Healthier? Healthy Implicit Associations for Sugar-Free and Alternative Products: A Structured Abstract

Consumers’ interest in healthy eating is increasing for a variety of reasons. As a result, several sugar-free and alternative products that use substitute ingredients for sugar are becoming pervasive in supermarket shelves. We investigate consumers’ implicit associations between these products and healthiness perception. Drawing on regulatory focus theory, we demonstrate that unhealthy products (e.g., chocolate bar) are associated with healthiness when they rely on labels that highlight the absence (vs. the presence) of a particular ingredient, like sugar-free (vs. milk chocolate). In contrast, healthy products (i.e., orange juice) are associated with healthiness when their labels emphasize the presence (vs. the absence) of a particular ingredient, which is the case of a product with natural juice (vs. sugar-free). We suggest that prevention and promotion focus can explain these effects.