Editorial

Citation

Leventhal, R.C. (2010), "Editorial", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 19 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/jpbm.2010.09619eaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Product & Brand Management, Volume 19, Issue 5

The global marketplace keeps on growing, even if economic cycles tend to play havoc with the efforts of those companies who are trying to not only establish themselves (in terms of a competitive advantage), but are also trying to maintain a solid position amongst consumers. The consumer is presented with multiple choices from which they have to select what they perceive to be best for them. Corporate performance is also being examined by the consumer, so that if a product is chosen, there is going to be a sense of satisfaction by the consumer that the selected brand/product will most likely provide them with the results that they are seeking from a company that has had a positive image. The fact is that a company cannot make assumptions about its consumers without understanding their consumers.

Liu, Hu and Grimm examine the affect transfer process of the brand extension by developing a conceptual framework that integrates two factors important to this process: the expectancy and relevancy of brand extensions. According to the authors, these two factors enhance the affect transfer process in different ways. Results of this study suggest that a high level of expectancy increases the amount of affect to be transferred to a new product. Also, at the attributes level, a larger amount of affect transfers through high-relevancy attributes than through low-relevancy attributes.

Chaniotakis, Lymperopoulos and Soureli examine the factors affecting consumers’ intentions to buy an own-label premium food product (i.e. an own label occurs when a manufacturer’s name, sign or symbol differ from other products). The authors used structural equation modeling to show that consumers’ purchase intention is directly affected by consumers’ attitudes towards own-label products, which in turn are directly influenced by consumers’ perceived benefits, economic situation, brand loyalty and trust.

The author’s conclude that although olive oil (which was the product that was studied) is traditionally considered to be a premium product, the purchase intention of own-label olive oil is influenced by the same variables that have been found to impact consumers’ attitudes towards, and purchase intention for, other own-label products.

Wang empirically tests the interrelationship between corporate social performance and financial-based brand equity. The author proposes that social performance leads to enhanced brand equity, and, conversely, brand equity positively influences social performance. Managers can increase brand equity by using corporate social responsibility as a strategic tool for positioning differentiation. To maintain competitive parity in social positioning and preserve brand equity, very large firms will likely need to ensure that they achieve comparable social performance as their global peer competitors.

Truong, McColl and Kitchen seek to test the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations on luxury brand preference. The objective is to help luxury marketers better understand and anticipate the psychological needs of their customers. The authors found that luxury marketers should take into consideration the duality of intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations when designing marketing campaigns. Particularly, focusing on advertising campaigns on extrinsic values seems restrictive and discards consumers who are intrinsically motivated.

Bresciani and Eppler examine branding approaches for young companies, as banding is a crucial activity for the survival and continued success of a newly established firm as it facilitates finding and maintaining customers. The authors provide an overview of the current practices and rational of the brand building activities choices and on the emblematic pitfalls regarding branding of new ventures. It is suggested that young companies should not be forced to compare their branding strategies to multinational firms and proposes a framework and key guidelines for start-up branding.

In this issue of the JPBM you will also find our Pricing strategy & practices section as well as our Book review section.

Richard C. Leventhal