Editorial

Citation

Guzman, F. and Veloutsou, C. (2014), "Editorial", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 23 No. 4/5. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-06-2014-0652

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Product & Brand Management, Volume 23, Issue 4/5

The current double issue of the Journal of Product and Brand Management, Vol. 23 Nos. 4/5 has in total 15 contributions: 7 papers on product and brand management, 2 papers on pricing strategy and practice and 6 book reviews.

Using data collected from two studies and 177 subjects in India, Klink and Athaide examine the brand name–mark sound symbolism relationship and the enhancement of brand meaning through the brand name and the brand mark. The results of their first study suggest that the relationship between higher frequency brand names and brand marks that are angular and smaller in size is higher, with limited support regarding colour. Their second study finds that there is a difference in the effect of brand mark and brand name on the intended brand meaning because the effect of brand mark on conveying an intended meaning is significant, while the effect of brand name is marginally significant.

Amos, Pentina, Hawkins, and Davis use a multi-method approach and three studies to investigate the appeal of “natural” labelling for food and supplement products in the USA. Their results suggest that “natural” labelling evokes positive feelings and sentimental imagery associated with a pastoral view of nature. These perceptions strengthen the belief that products labelled “natural” possess positive instrumental benefits, including health advantages, safety and lack of contamination.

The study from Strutton and Roswinanto examines brand slogans and whether vagueness levels in branding slogans effects recall. In the three studies reported in this paper, the authors' content analyse advertising slogans of 1,441 consumer-oriented brands presented in websites, newspapers and magazines and collect data from consumers in the USA. In addition to vagueness of the slogan, they take into account factors such as the consumers’ need for cognition, brand recall, the length of the brand slogan, brand attitude, persuasiveness and purchase intentions. Their findings suggest that the vagueness level of the slogans does not significantly affect brand recall, but the interactions between the level of vagueness and the length of the slogan has significant effects on evoked thought, brand attitude and persuasiveness, but not on purchase intention.

Using an experimental design for travel-sized painkiller, with a college student sample, Shen examines how the perceived fit between a line/brand extension and the parent brand moderates the evaluation of two economically identical promotions (buy 1 get, 1 free and 50 per cent off). The results suggest that attitude towards the parent brand is more closely associated with the attitude towards the line extension than towards the brand extension. The results also reveal that the perception of a line and brand extension in terms of perceived performance, risk, stockpiling tendency and preference differ for buy 1 get, 1 free and 50 per cent off promotions.

Thomas evaluates rugby fans’ attitudes towards financial sponsorship by analysing 198 responses from fans of the Welsh Rugby Union. The study examines how rugby fans perceive event sponsorship and engage in long-term relationships with the event’s sponsoring brand as well as how does such sponsorship affect consumption choice and their engagement with other international teams and rugby events. The results reveal a distinct lack of brand awareness on the part of the participants and a reluctance to consume the sponsoring brand in either the short or long term.

Al-Kwifi, Ahmed and Yammout examine the factors that underpin brand switching of medical imaging products. The factors investigated include product features, service features, price, relationship and relationship incompatibility and support of top management. From various types of hospitals, private and public clinics and medical laboratories 512 responses were collected. As expected, product features is the most influential factor underpinning brand switching for this market. Their results also reveal that the decision to switch is unique for users of different market segments within the same industry.

Mishra, Dash and Cyr examine the link between user experience and consumer-based brand equity in India. They collect 744 responses from smartphone users recruited from Facebook. The three consumption values used in the study (usability, social value and pleasure in use) are associated with brand equity (brand association, perceived value, brand trust and brand loyalty), and the moderating role of user expertise and lifestyle was examined. Most of their hypothesized relationships are significant.

Using three separate experiments, Lowe, Yee and Yeow explain the way one-time price promotions affect reference prices. They examine the role of sales promotion on the perception of fair price and expected price over time, suggesting that the times that a sales promotion is repeated has an effect on the perception of both fair and expected price.

Tolbert, Kohli and Suri suggest that that consumers’ self-consciousness and the nature of their loyalty towards a firm help resolve the contradiction between the consumers’ willingness to pay premium prices and their rational motivations to seek low prices. Their results show that when past purchases reflect an exclusive relationship with a retailer, participants with high public self-consciousness value relatively low price offers, while those with high private self-consciousness express high value perceptions for higher-priced offers.

In the book review section, Schembri reviews Malone and Fiske's book titled The Human Brand. Green reviews Hoffmann and Coste-Manière's book titled Global Luxury Trends: Innovative Strategies for Emerging Markets. Dingus reviews Kotler and Kotler's book titled Market Your Way to Growth: 8 Ways to Win. Maman Larraufie reviews Belk, Fischer and Kozinets's book titled Qualitative Consumer & Marketing Research. Furlow reviews Conrad and Ellis Thompson's book titled The New Brand Spirit: How communicating sustainability builds brands, reputations and profits. Finally, Bishop reviews Calkins’s Defending Your Brand.

We hope that you find reading this issue enjoyable. We would like to thank the reviewers that were involved in the assessment of the papers in this double issue, for providing guidance to the authors on how to further improve their submissions.

Francisco Guzman and Cleopatra Veloutsou