Walter Herzog

Brand-Specific Leadership: Turning Employees into Brand Champions

This article reports two studies on how managers can elicit brand-building behavior from frontline employees. Study 1 examines the mechanisms by which brand-specific transactional and transformational leadership influence employees’ brand-building behavior. The results from a survey of 269 customer-contact employees show that brand-specific transactional leaders influence followers through a process of compliance, leading to an increase in turnover intentions and a decrease in in-role and extra-role brand-building behaviors. In contrast, brand-specific transformational leaders influence followers through a process of internalization, leading to a decrease in turnover intentions and an increase in in-role and extra-role brand-building behaviors. In turn, both processes are mediated by employees’ perceptions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness with regard to their work roles as brand representatives. Moreover, the results show that brand-specific transactional leadership moderates the influence of brand-specific transformational leadership in a nonlinear, inverse U-shaped way, so that a medium level of transactional leadership maximizes the positive effects of transformational leadership. Study 2 addresses whether managers can learn brand-specific transformational leadership. A field experiment shows that brand-specific transformational leadership can indeed be learned through management training.

Small-Sample Robust Estimators of Noncentrality-Based and Incremental Model Fit

Traditional estimators of fit measures based on the noncentral chi–square distribution (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA], Steigers γ, etc.) tend to overreject acceptable models when the sample size is small. To handle this problem, it is proposed to employ Bartletts (1950), Yuans (2005), or Swains (1975) correction of the maximum likelihood chi–square statistic for the estimation of noncentrality–based fit measures. In a Monte Carlo study, it is shown that Swains correction especially produces reliable estimates and confidence intervals for different degrees of model misspecification (RMSEA range: 0.000–0.096) and sample sizes (50, 75, 100, 150, 200). In the second part of the article, the study is extended to incremental fit indexes (Tucker–Lewis Index, Comparative Fit Index, etc.). For their small–sample robust estimation, use of Swains correction is recommended only for the target model, not for the independence model. The Swain–corrected estimators only require a ratio of sample size to estimated parameters of about 2:1 (sometimes even less) and are thus strongly recommended for applied research. R software is provided for convenient use.

The Model-Size Effect on Traditional and Modified Tests of Covariance Structures

According to Kenny and McCoach (2003), chi-square tests of structural equation models produce inflated Type I error rates when the degrees of freedom increase. So far, the amount of this bias in large models has not been quantified. In a Monte Carlo study of confirmatory factor models with a range of 48 to 960 degrees of freedom it was found that the traditional maximum likelihood ratio statistic, T ML , overestimates nominal Type I error rates up to 70% under conditions of multivariate normality. Some alternative statistics for the correction of model-size effects were also investigated: the scaled Satorra–Bentler statistic, T SC ; the adjusted Satorra–Bentler statistic, T AD (Satorra & Bentler, 1988, 1994); corresponding Bartlett corrections, T MLb , T SCb , and T ADb (Bartlett, 1950); and corresponding Swain corrections, T MLs , T SCs , and T ADs (Swain, 1975). The empirical findings indicate that the model test statistic T MLs should be applied when large structural equation models are analyzed and the observed variables have (approximately) a multivariate normal distribution.

Managerial Empathy Facilitates Egocentric Predictions of Consumer Preferences

Common wisdom suggests that managerial empathy (i.e., the mental process of taking a consumer perspective) helps executives separate their personal consumption preferences from those of consumers, thereby preventing egocentric preference predictions. The results of the present investigation, however, show exactly the opposite. First, the authors find that managerial empathy ironically accelerates self-reference in predictions of consumer preferences. Second, managers’ self-referential tendencies increase with empathy because taking a consumer perspective activates managers’ private consumer identity and, thus, their personal consumption preferences. Third, empathic managers’ self-referential preference predictions make them less likely to use market research results. Fourth, the findings imply that when explicitly instructed to do so, managers are capable of suppressing their private consumer identity in the process of perspective taking, which helps them reduce self-referential preference predictions. To support their conclusions, the authors present four empirical studies with 480 experienced marketing managers and show that incautiously taking the perspective of consumers causes self-referential decisions in four contexts: product development, communication management, pricing, and celebrity endorsement.

Collecting Hidden Consumer Data Online: Research on Homosexuals

ABSTRACT Collecting highly private data from consumers with nonapparent or even hidden characteristics, such as homosexuals, is difficult for two reasons: First, the resulting data sets are rather small and nonrepresentative due to reachability and nonresponse problems. Second, data quality is often unsatisfying, for example, due to social desirability problems. To handle these problems, we recommend an online research strategy. We make our case by reporting on a Germany-wide online study on homosexuals where we applied a three-step procedure for recruiting participants. We were successful in generating a sample of considerable size (n = 6,274) and heterogeneity, and in obtaining high-quality responses. Implications for marketing researchers and advertising professionals are provided.

Turning Employees into Brand Champions : Leadership Style Makes a Difference

Abstract How can managers elicit brand-building behaviors on the part of frontline employees? When comparing brand-specific “transactional” and “transformational” leadership styles, the latter clearly outperforms the former. Transactional leaders influence followers through a process of compliance, leading to increased turnover intentions and a decrease in in-role and extra-role brand-building behaviors. In contrast, brand-specific transformational leaders influence followers through a process of internalization, leading to decreased turnover intentions and an increase in in-role and extra-role brand-building behaviors. When combined, however, a medium level of transactional leadership maximizes the positive effects of transformational leadership.

The Effect of Customer Surveys on Nonrespondents’ Attitudes and Behaviors: An Abstract

This research is motivated by the unexplored intersection between surveys participation effects (i.e., the mere-measurement effect; see Dholakia 2010 for a review) and survey nonresponse. Specifically, we investigate whether survey invitations influence attitudes and behaviors of nonrespondents. We define such a “nonmeasurement effect” as a causal effect in the spirit of Rubin’s Causal Model (e.g., Rubin 1974): It is the difference between survey nonrespondents’ loyalty toward the company and their potential loyalty had they not been invited to the survey.