Branding week 3

Question 1

Brand connection matrix:

Answer 1

• Functionally invested: satisfied with the brand in terms of performance (functional high connection), but shop around (emotionally not connected).
  o Consumers are not as price sensitive as uninvested consumers.
  o But if there is a better deal in terms of value proposition (price vs. quality) they might switch.
  o Brand = colleague.
• Fully invested: love the brand!
  o Brand loyalty and extreme positive WoM  they might even turn a blind eye after service failure.
  o Brand evangelists: the most valuable customers for a brand, because of their dedication and enthusiasm about the brand.
  o Loyal, less likely to switch, high WTP price premiums, less price sensitive, high brand forgiveness
  o Brand = family/part of themselves
• Un-invested:
  o No brand loyalty,
  o Mostly price sensitive,
  o Most likely to switch to other brands
  o brand = acquaintance
• Emotionally invested: like the brands for affective reason even if the brand does not perform compared with what consumers need/want
  o Or brands perform less good than competitor brands
    brand does not have all the functions/features consumers are looking for or need but the emotional connection compensate these functional shortcomings
   This relationship may only last for a while, and brands need to address these limitations
  o Brand = friend

Question 2

Brand feeling matrix:

Answer 2

• Brand satisfaction: consumers who have a weak or loose but yet positive feeling towards a brand.
  o Brand satisfaction does not necessarily precede brand trust and brand loyalty.
  o Many consumers can be satisfied with a product/service but do not become loyal or love the brand.
• Brand love and brand passion: consumers who have strong and positive feelings for brands.
• Brand avoidance: consumers that deal with negative but weak feelings for a brand
  o Anti-consumption
• Brand hate and brand divorce: consumers who have strong and negative feelings towards a brand

Question 3

Brand love =

Answer 3

long term consumer-brand relationship with cognitive, affective, and behavioral elements rather than a specific, single, love emotion.

Question 4

brand love prototype:

Answer 4

list of attributes that people associate with love.
- The more of these attributes a relationship/emotion has, and the more central the attributes are to the prototype, the more likely a consumer is to consider it some type of love.
- Prototype based definitions are fuzzy:
o Fuzzy boundaries  e.g. a consumer will view some brands as definitely loved, other some as definitely not loved, and others falling into a sort-of-loved middle category.
o Because their features frequently include not only elements of the phenomenon itself (i.e. brand love) but also antecedents and outcomes.

Question 5

10 consumer experienced featureselements/antecedents of the brand love protoype:

Answer 5

• Great quality/qualities
  o Such as exceptional performance, trustworthiness, good- looking design etc.
  o Moreover, in the study, loved brands were praised for being the best available option and knowing that a better brand existed was a reason of not loving a particular brand.
• Strongly held values and existential meaning
  o Next to providing a wide variety of benefits, loved brands were more likely to be loved when they also connected to something the respondent believed was deeper (e.g. self-actualization, close interpersonal relationships, religious or cultural identities).
• Intrinsic rewards
  o A loved band must provide intrinsic rewards (i.e. using a brand because it creates psychological states such as Coca-Cola -> happiness).
  o Loved brands commonly provide also extrinsic rewards (i.e. using the brand to get something else – instrumental function).
• Self-identity
  o Respondents strongly identified with the things they loved.
  o Because talking about a brand with other people is an important part of identity construction, high levels of WoM should be associated with brand love!
• Positive affect
  o Lower-arousal positive emotions such as ‘affection’ and ‘warm- hearted’ feelings with loved brands, which is typical of ‘compassionate love’.
• Passionate desire and a sense of natural fit
  o A strong desire for the brand reflects the higher-arousal, hotter aspects of brand love frequently called “passion”.
• Emotional bonding and anticipated heartbreak
  o Emotional connection with a brand is an important aspect of brand love.
  o A strong desire to maintain proximity with loved objects and would be missed if lost since it is unique and irreplaceable.
• Willingness to invest
  o Investing high levels of time, energy and money into loved brands.
• Frequent thought and use
  o For a brand to become a legitimate ‘relationship partner’, the consumer must engage in frequent, interactive behavior with it > an important aspect of brand love.
• Length of use
  o Having a long history with a brand is a frequently mentioned feature of brand love.

Question 6

using a prototype conceptualization that includes seven distinct elements, the phenomenon of consumer love for a brand can be modeled:

Answer 6

1. Passion-driven behaviors (first order): Reflect strong desires to use it, willingness to invest resources into it, and a history of having done so.
2. Self-brand integration (first order): including a brand’s ability to express consumers’ actual and desired identities, its ability to connect to life’s deeper meanings and provide intrinsic rewards, and frequent thoughts about it.
3. Positive emotional connection: that is broader that just positive feelings, including a sense of positive attachment and having an intuitive feeling of “rightness” - Intuitive fit, emotional attachment, and positive affect.
4. Anticipated separation distress: if the brand were to go away
5. Long-term relationships: which includes predicting extensive future use and a long-term commitment to it
6. Positive attitude valence
7. Attitudes held with high certainty and confidence.

Question 7

5 potential pathways to build brand love:

Answer 7

1. Facilitate passion-driven behaviors (engage consumers, involve them, activate them (customization))
   -reflecting strong desires to use the brand,
   -to invest resources into it,
   -and to interact frequently with it (e.g. customization options).
   2.Build brands that symbolize or facilitate self-brand integration (brand personality)
   -to express the consumers’ actual and desired identities
   -and to connect to deeper meaning and values (e.g. CSR campaigns).
   - focus on intrinsic rather than extrinsic benefits (e.g. Marcom’s focusing on intrinsic benefits such as happiness –> Coca-Cola campaigns).
   3.Create positive emotional connections with the brand (authenticity)
   - which includes a sense of attachment (e.g. brand feeling like an old friend)
   - and intuitive feeling of rightness about the brand. This can be created by brand communities (e.g. Harley D.) or giving a brand authenticity from its origin, history and its founders.
   4.Brands that become valuable and trusted resources
   - sources of expertise and advice (e.g. Kraft’s recipe website) leverage a feeling of anticipated separation distress. Less strong!!
2. A sense of long-term relationship with the brand (sense of community) going forward could be created by loyalty programs
   - Emphasizing on intrinsic motivations and rewards.

Question 8

Antecedents of brand love:

Answer 8

judgement that the loved one provides something the person wants, needs or likes.

Question 9

Core elements of brand love:

Answer 9

• Different cognitions (about self-identity)
• Feelings and sense of connectedness and fit
• Behaviors (frequent interactions, resource investment)
• Attitude valence (like, dislike, positive, negative)
• Attitude strength

Question 10

Brand love is associated with (3):

Answer 10

1. Positive WoM and brand loyalty (attachment)
2. Increased willingness to pay a price premium
3. Forgiveness of brand failures (commitment)

Question 11

Implications article Fetscherin (5)

Answer 11

1. A brand’s perceived level of anthropomorphism is an important precedor of brand love
2. Target consumers with low self brand connection with emphasizing functionally motivations to purchase self-gifts
3. Consumers find it difficult to differentiate among and between brands –> brands are commoditized
4. Brands are susceptible to crises, which can have negative consequences for the brand relationship depending on how the firm responses.
   - Non-response: depreciation of brand equity
   - Brand trust can serve as a buffer –> brand forgiveness
5. Brand experience positively influences brand relationship quality