Beware, an underdog may bite: literature review and brand management framework in the context of underdog brands

Schmidt, Holger J.; Steenkamp, Pieter

doi:10.1057/s41262-021-00259-1

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Extending the underdog effect Our study revolves around a deeper understanding of the commonly known underdog effect (Schmidt and Steenkamp, 2022), which occurs because of an individual preference for less equipped entities or outsiders. A company's positioning based on an underdog brand story is therefore characterized by humbling beginnings and limited resources but equipped with strong determination and passion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who let the dogs out? How underdog biographies told by family firms affect consumers’ brand attitude

Lude

Prügl

Rauschendorfer

2023

JPBM

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Purpose Brand stories are often created around the company’s humble beginnings as an underdog. The authors explore the effects of who is telling the underdog story and thus draw attention to the nature of the brand source by differentiating between family and non-family firms. The authors expect that who is telling the underdog story impacts consumers’ attitude toward the brand in terms of brand authenticity and trustworthiness perceptions. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted an online experiment with a 2 × 2 between-subject design and an overall sample size of 314 respondents. Findings Most importantly, the authors find that the family-firm nature of the brand storyteller significantly impacts the underdog effect. The positive effects of underdog biographies on brand attitude in terms of authenticity and trustworthiness loom significantly larger for family firms compared with non-family firms. Practical implications The authors find that the underdog effect is significantly stronger for family firms that tell the underdog story. Managers of family firms with underdog roots should take advantage of this finding by integrating underdog stories into their marketing concepts. The findings of this study show that the communication of a company’s roots can serve as a valuable tool to build and maintain a positive brand image and help to increase purchase intentions, which is particularly true for firms capitalizing on their family nature when telling the underdog story. Originality/value The authors combine research on brand stories using the underdog effect with research on the consumer’s perception of family firms, further exploring the role of the brand storyteller in underdog narratives, resulting in important theoretical as well as practical implications.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who let the dogs out? How underdog biographies told by family firms affect consumers’ brand attitude

Lude

Prügl

Rauschendorfer

2023

JPBM

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“…Although previous research has examined underdog brand in the context of consumer behavior, as seen in studies conducted by McGinnis and Gentry (2009) and Paharia et al (2011), the extent to which brands can leverage the underdog effect remains limited (Schmidt and Steenkamp, 2022). However, less is known about the psychological mechanisms that drive consumers' positive reactions to a brand positioned as an underdog through advertising (Jun et al, 2015).…”

Section: The Effects Of Brand Positioning 459mentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of brand positioning (underdog vs top dog) and comparative advertising

Lee,

Hsu,

Chen

et al. 2024

MIP

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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to understand the effect of different brand positions (underdog vs top dog) and comparative advertising on consumers’ brand attitudes. Additionally, this study also aims to demonstrate the effects of inspiration, self-relevance and empathy on the relationship between brand positioning and comparative advertising.Design/methodology/approachA two-by-three factorial design was employed with brand positions (underdog vs top dog) and three types of comparative advertising (noncomparative, indirect comparative and direct comparative) as the independent variables. Inspiration serves as the mediator, while self-relevance and empathy act as moderators and brand attitude is the dependent variable.FindingsThe results show that different brand positions significantly affect brand attitudes, with respondents having a better brand attitude toward the underdog brand. Brand attitude is partially mediated by inspiration. Self-relevance moderates the relationship between brand positioning and brand attitude. However, brand positioning, comparative advertising and empathy do not have interaction effects.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to a better understanding of the effect of psychological variables on brand positioning and comparative advertising.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that the underdog setting requires a real and honest story because consumers will spot a fake underdog story, which will damage consumer trust in the brand and harm the brand image.Originality/valueThere is a lack of research using psychological variables to demonstrate the effect of being the underdog brand. This study contributes to the literature by employing psychological variables to illustrate the effect of underdog positioning. These findings can help brands develop branding positioning strategies.

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“…Underdog and top‐dog brands have been well studied in the contexts of brand positioning (He et al, 2020; Li & Zhao, 2018; Schmidt & Steenkamp, 2022; Tang & Tsang, 2020) and communication appeals (Antonetti & Baghi, 2021; Moisio et al, 2021). Tang and Tsang (2020) suggested that many marketers opt to position their brands as underdogs—emphasizing the brand's journey and challenges en route to their current success—because customers can easily identify with the struggles of underdog brands.…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, a competent conversational style aligns with top‐dog positioning, resulting in high perceived fit and a positive consumer evaluation of the brand. Conversely, a warm conversational style, which may be perceived as weak and indecisive, conflicts with the positioning of a top‐dog brand as an industry leader (Schmidt & Steenkamp, 2022; Tang & Tsang, 2020). Thus, when a top‐dog brand adopts a warm conversational style, its consumers perceive low fit and negatively evaluate the brand.…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Underdog brands are usually associated with struggles against adversity, making it easy for low‐power‐state consumers to identify with the brand's narratives (He et al, 2020; Paharia et al, 2014; Tang & Tsang, 2020). Therefore, a warm, gentle, and approachable conversational style (Schmidt & Steenkamp, 2022; Tang & Tsang, 2020) aligns with the positioning of underdog brands. This alignment encourages consumers to perceive high fit and evaluate underdog brands positively.…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Effects of interaction between brand positioning and chatbot conversational style on perceived fit and brand attitudes

Cheng,

Toung

2024

Psychology and Marketing

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Although an underdog brand positioning can elicit positive consumer responses, maintaining a brand's positioning requires maintaining consistent brand associations. If the associations created by the company's service providers do not align with the brand's positioning, this discrepancy can lead to consumer confusion or to a decline in brand attitudes. Chatbots, as customer‐facing representatives, play a crucial role in how consumers perceive and evaluate a brand. However, the role of chatbots in shaping brand attitude has not been extensively studied. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of chatbot conversational styles on consumers' perceptions of the fit between a brand's positioning and its messaging, focusing on both “top‐dog” and “underdog” brands. This study demonstrates that underdog brands using chatbots with warm conversational styles and top‐dog brands using chatbots with competent (i.e., professional) conversational styles foster positive brand evaluations by consumers through perceived fit. Additionally, this study introduces the concept of power state—an individual's degree of perceived control over their surroundings—as a moderator in human–chatbot interactions, demonstrating that high‐power‐state consumers of top‐dog brands favor a competent conversational style, whereas low‐power‐state consumers favor a warm conversational style regardless of the brand's positioning.

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Beware, an underdog may bite: literature review and brand management framework in the context of underdog brands

Cited by 11 publications

References 71 publications

Who let the dogs out? How underdog biographies told by family firms affect consumers’ brand attitude

Who let the dogs out? How underdog biographies told by family firms affect consumers’ brand attitude

The effects of brand positioning (underdog vs top dog) and comparative advertising

Effects of interaction between brand positioning and chatbot conversational style on perceived fit and brand attitudes

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