Nicolas Pontes

Framing as status or benefits?: Consumers’ reactions to hierarchical loyalty program communication

Purpose - A fundamental aspect of hierarchical loyalty programs is that some consumers get rewards that others do not. Despite the widespread use of such programs, academics have long debated whether these benefits are outweighed by the potential negative impact of the differential treatment of customers. This study extends our understanding, examining the impact of message framing on consumers’ reactions to hierarchical loyalty structures. Design/methodology/approach - Three online studies were conducted. Study 1 uses advertisements to manipulate the message frame’s emphasis (benefits vs. status). Study 2 manipulates consumers’ frame of thought by directing their attention to either changes in benefits or status. Finally, Study 3 uses the proposed framework to reconcile contradictory findings from past research. Findings - Low-frequency customers who do not expect to qualify for a superior customer tier tend to reject hierarchical programs when thinking about status. In contrast, when these customers think about concrete rewards, loyalty program messages produce no negative reactions. High-frequency customers are positively affected by communication regardless of the type of benefits framed. Research limitations/implications - All studies were done online potentially limiting the external validity of the results. Nevertheless, the impact of message framing on perceptions about the loyalty program seems to be quite robust across different studies and manipulations. Practical implications - When communicating with low-frequency customers managers should avoid promising status; customers should instead be motivated based on concrete rewards. High-frequency customers are indifferent to alternative emphasis of communication frames. Originality/value - Marketing academics have acknowledged the importance of being able to reward top customers without demotivating light and moderate users. Our research is the first to provide a solution to this issue.

The effect of product line endpoint prices on vertical extensions

Purpose Literature in brand extensions has relied greatly on categorization theory and on prototypical models of categorization to explain the affect transfer from a parent brand to its extensions. Drawing on the range theory exemplar models of categorization, this paper aims to show the effects of parent brand endpoint prices on consumer judgments of vertical line extensions. Design/methodology/approach Three experiments have been conducted. Experiment 1 tests the hypothesis that consumers rely on the parent brand price range when making judgments of an upscale extension. Experiment 2 tests the hypothesis that the effect of price range on extension evaluation is mediated by perceived risks for upscale extensions but not downscale extensions. The final experiment shows a boundary condition to the product line range effect on upscale extensions. Findings This research shows that upscale extensions are judged more favorably in the context of a wide versus a narrow product line even when the highest endpoints in both product lines are equally close to the extension and that this effect is mediated by perceived consistency and perceived risk. The range effect disappears, however, when consumers have a broad focus in which attention shifts to category endpoint prices, making parent brand prices less diagnostic of upscale extension judgments. Practical implications Managers may display a wider range of products and/or reduce prices of low-end models to expand product line price width. In consequence, low-end products become more competitive in terms of price and at the same time improve favorability ratings of the new upscale product. Originality/value Vertical line extensions and product line pricing are important topics to both academics and practitioners. Nonetheless, this is the first research to demonstrate how product line price width can influence consumer perceptions of vertical line extensions.

The culinary intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO: a review of journal articles in EBSCO platform

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to identify and codify the scientific studies about intangible cultural heritage related to culinary, which integrates the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO, in tourism industry. For this purpose, a bibliometric research was conducted in EBSCOhost platform, it was found, between 2000 and 2017, 42 journal articles, but only 28 could be used. These were published in 18 journals, developed by 48 authors, linked to 31 institutions from 18 countries. However, only one article addressed the UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage related to culinary. This article contributes to the identification of the nature of research being carried out in the area.