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Abstract:
This chapter examines three key issues in developing and establishing strong brand relationships with its customers. The first issue addresses the concept of attachment as a distinctive higher order construct that bears critical implications for the enhancement of brand equity. The second key issue addresses how a brand may be able to create a meaningful personal connection with its customers in order to create and establish brand attachment. Here, three different brand-self associations are introduced. The third and final issue addresses the importance of the strategic brand exemplar as the most fundamental tool that offers a firm valuable opportunity for the brand's sustainable competitive advantages and growth. The essential requirement for this opportunity to be realized is the firm's strategic choice of a brand's exemplar and the carefully executed strategy to manage the exemplar over time so as to nurture and accumulate its effects.

brand attachment, strategic brand exemplar

Abstract:
Although attachment theorists have examined the attachment concept in diverse relationship contexts (romantic relationship, kinship, and friendship, etc.), the nomological network of the construct has not been fully delineated. The purpose of the present paper is to develop this nomological network. We define brand attachment as the strength of the cognitive and emotional bond connecting the brand with the self. This definition involves two unique and essential elements: (1) connectedness between the brand and the self and (2) a cognitive and emotional bond, the strength of which evokes a readiness to allocate one's processing resources toward a brand. We examined factors that create brand attachment, the effects of brand attachment on higher order relationship-based exchange behaviors, why attachments (and hence relationships) weaken or terminate, and how they may be measured.

brand attachment, nomological network

Abstract:
Most past research has focused on how aggregate advertising works in field settings. However, the information most critical to managers is which ad works, in which medium or vehicle, at what time of the day, at what level of repetition, and for how long. Managers also need to know why a particular ad works in terms of the characteristics (or cues) of its creative. The proposed model addresses these issues. It provides a comprehensive method to evaluate the effect of TV advertising on sales by simultaneously separating the effects of the ad itself from that of the time, placement (channel), creative cues, repetition, age of the ad, and age of the market. It also captures ad decay by hour to avoid problems of data aggregation. No model in the literature provides such an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of advertising effectiveness. Applications of the model have saved millions of dollars in costs of media and design of creatives.

advertising response, wear-in, wear-out, carry-over effect, long-term effect, ad creative, ad cues

Abstract:
The authors introduce the concept of affective misforecasting (AMF) and study its impact on product evaluations. Study one examines whether and when AMF affects evaluations, finding that AMF impacts evaluations when the affective experience is worse (but not when better) than forecasted. Study two tests a process model designed to understand how and why AMF influences evaluations. The extent of elaboration is shown to underlie the observed effects. The studies demonstrate the robustness of the findings by controlling for alternative factors, specifically experienced affect, expectancy-disconfirmation, and actual performance, which might impact these judgments.

affect, forecasting

Abstract:
The authors study how ad cues attect consuMer behavior in new versus well-established markets. The authors use theoretical insights from consumer information processing to argue that the same ad cues can have different ettects on consumer behavior, depending on whether the market is new or old. The authors then test these hypotheses in the context of a toll-free referral service, using a highly disaggregate econometric model of advertising response. The results indicate that argument based appeals, expert sources, and negatively framed messages are particularly effective in new markets. Emotion-based appeals and posítively framed messages are more efFective in older markets than in new markets.

Advertising messages, evolving markets, consumer behavior

Abstract:
While comprehensive in nature, Cohen and Reed's integrative attitude model may benefit from an articulation of the boundaries of the attitude construct. As evidence, the present comment focuses on the extent to which attitudes can or should account for hot affect-based brand relationships and stronger forms of behaviors consumers reveal with their brands. The authors recommend that from the boundary conditions of the attitude construct can be elucidated by differentiating attitudes from a construct termed "emotional attachment". Potential differences between these two constructs are articulated.

attitude, attachment, brand relationship

Abstract:
Three studies find that when hope is threatened consumers engage in motivated reasoning related to products that purport to enable goal attainment. Specifically, they (a) selectively search for information from a product-favorable information source, (b) regard this information as more credible, and (c) are less discriminating of low credibility message arguments. They also (d) require more negative information before they feel that they can evaluate a product's effectiveness, and (e) are more likely to judge the product as effective at helping them attain what they hope for. Motivated reasoning appears to act as a coping mechanism for restoring confidence that what consumers hope for is possible. The implications of this research for theory on motivated reasoning, hope, confidence, self-efficacy, consumer vulnerability to sham products and scams, and public policy are discussed.

motivation, reasoning, hope, confidence

Abstract:
Three studies find that when hope is threatened consumers engage in motivated reasoning related to products that purport to enable goal attainment. Specifically, they (a) selectively search for information from a product-favorable information source, (b) regard this information as more credible, and (c) are less discriminating of low credibility message arguments. They also (d) require more negative information before they feel that they can evaluate a product's effectiveness, and (e) are more likely to judge the product as effective at helping them attain what they hope for. Motivated reasoning appears to act as a coping mechanism for restoring confidence that what consumers hope for is possible. The implications of this research for theory on motivated reasoning, hope, confidence, self-efficacy, consumer vulnerability to sham products and scams, and public policy are discussed.

motivation, reasoning, hope, confidence

Abstract:
Although marketing managers and customers often seek information to make decisions or gain knowledge, we know little about what affects individual judgments of the value of received information. We argue that, in settings where information comes from multiple information providers with whom the information seeker have had no prior interaction (i.e., no face-to-face interaction), aspects of information provider behavior influence seeker judgments of the value of received information. Analysis of a web forum for marketing professionals shows that an information provider's current behavior, that is, how quickly, how frequently, and how elaborately they respond to an information query; and an information provider's past behavior, that is, their reputation as an expert in a given domain and their reputation as a generalist, impact judgments of information value. Importantly, these effects are moderated by the information seeker's goal orientation; in particular, whether they are trying to learn something new (a learning orientation) or whether they are seeking advice about what to do (a decision-making orientation).

value of information

Abstract:
When faced with sequential information, consumers tend to fall prey to one of two well-known heuristics: the hot (or cold) hand and the gambler's fallacy. The authors relate these two traditionally separate heuristics to differences in accepting (buy) versus rejecting (sell) decisions. They identify trend length as a contextual moderating
variable and show an asymmetry between buying and selling frames. When applied to a stock market context, a consistent finding is that consumers prefer to buy past winners and sell past losers even when neither should be preferred. This behavior violates the normative rule of buy low and sell high.

consumer behavior, markets, informational biases

Abstract:
While considerable research has examined information search behavior, little is known about factors that impact how individuals judge the value of the information they receive. We argue that the extent to which an information seeker judges information to be valuable depends on the breadth and depth of the information provider's expertise relative to that of other information providers who respond to that same information seeker. Information value is also impacted by the relative responsiveness the information provider - that is, how quickly, how frequently and how elaborately they respond to the information seeker's query. Importantly though, we find that these effects are moderated by the information seeker's goals - that is, whether they are searching for information so as to learn something new (a learning goal) or whether they are searching for information to decide what to do (a decision making goal).

information value, goals

Abstract:
Marketing managers and consumers who use the web as a source of information often use input from strangers to make decisions or gain knowledge. The authors propose that in such contexts the information provider's current and past behaviors, relative to those of other information providers, influence who the information seeker thinks provides a valuable response and how valuable they judge the provider's information to be. The authors track information queries, information provider responses, and objective valuation of these responses by information seekers in a web forum - where responses to information queries come from multiple information providers with whom the information seeker has not met face-to-face and has had no prior interaction. Among other results, the authors show that a provider's response speed, the extent to which their previous responses within the focal domain have been positively evaluated by others, and the breadth of their previous responses across different domains of knowledge affect objective judgments of information value. Importantly, these effects are moderated by the information seeker's goal orientation; in particular, whether they want to make a decision or learn something new. The information provider's experience in responding to questions in different domains of knowledge increases judgments of information value for those with a decision orientation, whereas the information provider's reputation for providing valuable contributions within the focal domain increases judgments of information value for those with a learning orientation.

Information value, information search, information exchange, goal orientation, learning, decision-making

Abstract:
The authors consider the relationships among two characteristics associated with senior marketing positions (procedural knowledge and performance documentation), four types of management controls, and three jab-related mini pathologies (job tension,dysfunctional behaviors, and information asymmetries between superiors and subordinates). Selected management control theory suggests that the choracteristics of a given marketing position should predict managers' reliance on specific types of management controls. In turn, these controls should directly predict the extent of job-related mini-pathologies. In contrast, contingency theories of control suggest that task characteristics moderate the direct effects of controls on these negative outcomes. In effect, they argue that whether outcomes are positive or negative depends on the extent lo which controls fit a given marketing position. To test these ideas, a national survey of senior morketing personnel was conducted. Three sets of findings emerged. First, the two task characteristics studied generally predict the type af controls-in-use. Second, certain controls-in-use have a modest effect on specific mini-pathologies. Third, the moderating effect of task characteristics is not confirmed, implications for marketing practice and directions for future research in marketing are proposed.

Marketing position, jobs, management

Abstract:
The effects of distance and variation on product-category similarity judgments are examined in two studies. Distance hetween product categories is characterized as the mean difference in the average scores of all brands in one category with all brands in another on a comparison attribute. Variation is characterized as a degree of spread of brands along that comparison attribute. Study 1 finds that both distance and variation influence the perceived similarity of two product categories. An interaction between distance and variation is also observed. Study 2 is designed to replicate and extend these results, determining if distance and variation also affect similarity judgments when brands in the two product categories are not described by the same attribute—but instead where a comparison attribute must be abstracted. The results confirm the main effects of distance and variation. However, the interaction effects between distance and variation disappear, suggesting that subjects lose some information about distribution knowledge in the abstraction process. Both studies support consumers' use of distribution knowledge about brands (distance and variation) in productcategory similarly judgment tasks.

product, distance, variation

Abstract:
Considerable research suggests that advertising executional cues can influence communication effectiveness. Related research indicates that communication effectiveness is in part driven by consumers'motivation, opportunity, and ability (MOA) to process brand information from an ad. However, little research has explicitly linked executional cues to communication effectiveness via their impact on MOA and levels of processing. The authors present a framework that explicitly provides such a linkage. The framework highlights the mediational role of MOA in the relationships among executional cues and communication outcomes, it also provides a theoretical account that links apparently disparate cues to their common effects on motivation, opportunity, or ability. The framework is complemented by a critical review of current measures of MOA and proposed measures based on the review. Research issues raised by the framework and the proposed measures are discussed.

Motivation, Brand Information

Abstract:
This conceptual article uses an appraisal theory perspective to define the construct of hope and describe its relevance to consumer behavior, marketing, and public policy in the domains of product evaluation and choice. Using the appraisal dimensions of hope, the authors identify a set of marketing tactics that are designed to stimulate hope. They posit that hope plays a moderating role in the relationship between well-known antecedent variables(e.g., involvement, expectations) on the one hand and evaluative judgments (e.g., attitudes, satisfaction) and consumer choices on the other hand. The authors advance specific propositions that describe the effects. Furthermore, they argue that the effects have implications for marketing and public policy. The article concludes with a call for additional research relevant to the study of hope.

Hope, consumer behavior

Abstract:
The authors examine whether reputation concerns affect how manufacturers structure their sales organization. Using reputation theory, they examine whether reputation-related perceptions and beliefs affect whether a manufacturer that currently uses an outside selling organization {i.e., a rep) intends to vertically integrate the selling function or switch to a new rep. In particular, they propose that a manufacturer's intentions to replace its current manufacturers' rep with a company sales force or a different rep is a function of its perceptions of the reputation of itself and the rep and its beliefs about how high-reputation manufacturers in the industry typically organize their selling function. Survey data support the plausibility of these reputation-based arguments as factors that influence sales organization structure decisions. These results provide some important extensions to reputation theory. The authors discuss the study's implications for both managerial behavior and the literature on channels and organizational governance.

reputation, sales structure

Abstract:
The authors propose an alternative conceptualization to the Strack, Werth and Deutsch (2006) model. Their conceptualization considers how the forecasting of emotional outcomes linked to controlling or failing to control impulses impacts self-regulatory behavior. A set of future research questions is identified based on this conceptualization. The proposed model differs from that by Strack et al. (2006) by its focus on (a) affect, (b) impulse control (versus buying) and (c) deliberative processing linked to impulse control (or lack thereof).

affect,impulse control, self-regulatory behavior

Abstract:
A prevailing view is that increased media weight for frequently purchased brands in mature product categories usually does not lead to increases in sales. However, the role of advertising executional cues and viewer responses on media weight induced sales has not yet been examined. The authors find that whether weight helps or has no sales impact depends on the creative characteristics of the ads and the responses they evoke in viewers. Study 1 showed that real world ads for frequently purchased brands in mature categories were likely to create greater media weight induced sales when they utilized affectively based executional cues. Study 2 found that greater media weight was related to the sales impact of ads that evoked positive feelings and failed to evoke negative feelings in viewers. Hypotheses related to these results are developed within the context of prior work on consumer persuasion (including the ELM), memory processes, and advertising wearout.

advertising effectiveness, media weight, executional cues, emotions, mature products, elaboration likelihood model