The Effect of Brand Gender Similarity on Brand-Alliance Fit and Purchase Intention (original) (raw)

Brand Gender and Brand Alliances

2018

This chapter analyses the effect of gender congruence in relation to brand alliances, which are useful for strengthening brand images. Gender-congruent brands make more harmonious alliances and are processed more fluently than brands that differ in gender. Moreover, brand fit is more effective if two allying brands have the same gender. This reflects both congruence theory, which suggests that humans prefer harmony among objects, and fluency theory, which suggests that fluently processed objects are associated with positive impressions. Fictitious brands were created, and several pre-tests assessed their genders and the extent to which they were liked by respondents. Strongly gendered brands were more appreciated, which supported findings from previous chapters. Another study revealed that consumers tended to match brands with similar genders. Furthermore, calculating the distances between two brands in a pair resulted in dissimilarities, and comparing several outcomes revealed that...

The impact of brand image fit on attitude towards a brand alliance

Co-branding has become an increasingly popular strategy over recent decades. Studies have found that the pre-existing attitudes to the parent brands, fit between their product categories and perceived fit in the brands themselves as important drivers of a co-brand success. Despite its importance, most studies have treated brand fit as a simple measure of complementarity and consistency. Recently, a few papers have challenged this view, suggesting that a broader range of brand attributes (such as personality, functional and hedonic characteristics, cultural meaning) should also be considered when investigating brand alliances. The current study draws on these findings, exploring the fit between partners' brand images and how they influence perceptions of a brand alliance. We treat brand image as a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of economic, symbolic, sensory, futuristic and utilitarian elements. Using an experimental design with nine hypothetical brand pairings with 221 respondents, we find brand image fit provides greater explanatory power over a traditional unidimensional measure of brand fit, with economic, futuristic and utilitarian dimensions having a significant influence on co-brand perceptions.

Extending the view of brand alliance effects

International Marketing Review, 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to broaden the external validity of the “brand alliance” theory, as it is set up by Simonin and Ruth, by analysing transnational brand alliances. It aims to discuss the significance of country of origin in this context.Design/methodology/approachBased on a broad literature review of the brand alliance and country of origin literature the authors conducted an empirical study that examined consumer attitudes towards cross‐national brand alliances.FindingsThe findings demonstrate the role that the relationship between country of origin fit and brand fit plays in predicting consumer attitude towards cross‐border brand alliances; and that when brand familiarity decreases, the positive influence of country of origin fit on attitudes towards the brand alliance increases, and is greater than that of brand fit.Research limitations/implicationsThe degree of importance that consumers place on each product in the brand alliance was not taken into account. Fut...

Self-Brand Connections: An Exploratory Study Into Construct Validity and Gender Effects

2003

The fundamental premise of the Self-Brand Connection construct is that when brand associations are used to construct one's self or to communicate one's self to others, a strong connection is formed between the brand and the consumer's self identity . The purpose of this study was threefold: first, we test the reliability and the validity of the Self-Brand Connection Scale , designed to measure such types of self-brand associations. The second objective was to examine the extent to which self-brand connections are positively related to brand evaluations as well as the interesting concept of attitude strength (Krosnick and Schuman 1988;. Lastly, we test the impact of the Self-Brand Connections scale within the context of a gendered brand. For this purpose we selected the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), a sub-brand of the parent brand, the NBA. This brand has been strategically crafted to appeal to female consumers and thus provided an ideal opportunity to examine whether females will show stronger self-brand connections for this type of brand than their male counterparts.

Role of affect and cognition in consumer brand relationship: exploring gender differences

Journal of Indian Business Research, 2012

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore gender differences in consumer brand relationships with respect to affect and cognition, also to examine the difference between genders with respect to the impact of variables such as age and influence of peers and family on consumer brand relationships Design/methodology/approach -For this study, a field experiment approach was used, combined with depth interviews. The experiment was a three-step process where respondents were first taken through a Resonant Field Imaging (RFIe) in order to identify the types and function of all bio-energies present in the specific regions of the human brain. In the second step, this was followed by a conversation of about 30 minutes about the respondent's most preferred brand. As the final step, a brain scan was again taken to access the bio-energies in the brain of the respondent subsequent to the conversation about the most preferred brand. Findings -The authors find that while both men and women form relationships with brands, these relationships are more affect based for women and more cognition based for men; this finding holds for respondents at a younger age. As time passes, this difference between men and women narrows. By the age of 35, women's brand relationships tend to become relatively less affect based and more functional. The authors provide insights into the effect of family and peers on brand relationships. Research limitations/implications -This study is conducted in the age group of 18 to 35 years across SEC A and B as they have greater exposure to brands in order to form relationships. Hence, it would be difficult to generalize this study across all the socio-economic classes. Practical implications -The study would help managers devise strategies for both the genders and across different age groups, in order to establish relationships with their brands. Social implications -The study provides insights into the psychological behavior of men and women with respect to their interactions with brands. It throws light on the change in behavior with increasing age and how the basis for relationships formation varies. Originality/value -The paper combines gender differences and the role of affect and cognition in the marketing context.

The Role of Consumer Gender Identity and Brand Concept Consistency in Evaluating Cross-Gender Brand Extensions

2013

Cross-gender brand extensions are a developing and valuable strategy that has quickly grown to become a vital component of strategic communications management. The goal of this study is to gain a greater insight on what makes for a successful cross-gender brand extension. In order to expand upon the Basic Model of Brand Extension Evaluation (Doust & Esfahlan, 2012), this study examines how marketing factors, more specifically product positioning, combined with consumer gender roles and brand concept, affect how consumers evaluate cross-gender brand extensions. In the past gender and brand concept have been studied within cross-gender brand extension research. Yet, the present study focuses on gender roles, conceptualizing gender as levels of masculinity and femininity. The products featured were positioned as having either a symbolic or functional brand concept. The results from this study not only confirm that gender and gender roles are indeed two distinct concepts, but they also ...

Brand Gender and its Dimensions. European Advances in Consumer Research, vol 9 (2010)

This paper investigates consumer perception of brand gender and its dimensions. An exploratory study reveals this concept salience and the existence of its six dimensions: 1) the gender of the typical brand user, 2) gendered brand personality traits, 3) gendered attributes of brand communication, 4) the grammatical gender of the brand name, 5) gendered attributes of the logo, and 6) gendered attributes and benefits of the products. Leaning on gender theories in psychology, we suggest a classification of brand gender in three groups: masculine, feminine, low masculine/feminine, high masculine/ feminine, with no brand in the high masculine/feminine brand gender position

A typology of brand alliances and consumer awareness of brand alliance integration

Marketing Letters, 2018

Brand alliances, which involve intentionally presenting two or more brands together, appear in many different forms. For example, Subway stores placed within Wal-Mart, Airbus A380 airplanes with Rolls-Royce Trent engines, and Nike+iPod co-developed personal trainers are among the more well-known manifestations of this strategy. Our study contributes to the literature on brand alliances by conceptualizing and measuring a typology of brand alliance types based on their degree of integration. We also empirically test and find that consumers are sensitive to varying degrees of brand alliance integration. We then link these findings to the managerial decision of how and with whom a brand should form an alliance. We use extensive examples, conversations with managers, and survey-based experiments to show that brand alliance integration is relevant and impactful to both managers and consumers.

The Impact of Brand Variance on Gender in FMCG Sector

Holistic Approaches to Brand Culture and Communication Across Industries, 2018

With the rapidly changing times and technology, more and more companies are moving towards brand extensions to acquire a competitive advantage. There are various factors enhancing brand equity while extending the brand into new categories like brand awareness, personality, lifestyle, relationship with the consumers, cultural differences among consumers and demographics. Demographic of a brand is the most important personality characteristic which leads to most easily extractable variables like gender, age and class. Gender plays a significant role in shaping the brand personality of a brand and its subsequent variants. (Levy, 1959). This chapter relies on the relationship between gender based brand personality and brand equity drawn from the study titled "The effect of Brand Gender on Brand Equity". (Lieven, 2014). This research paper concludes that brand androgyny(masculinity or feminity of the brand) was negatively related to brand associations i.e., brand equity is not influenced by gender associations related to the brand or the product category.. So, this chapter explores whether there is a relationship between gender and different variants of the brand. Also, should advertisers design gender focused messages for the different brand variants. The methodology chosen for this research is quantitative in nature. The independent variable in this research is gender and the dependent variable is brand variance. This research paper shows that there is no impact of brand variants on gender. Advertisements need to be designed in a manner that target both males and females psychologically rather that demographically especially gender based.