The impact of brand confusion on sustainable brand satisfaction and private label proneness: A subtle decay of brand equity

Abstract

The escalating competition between fi rms, the surge in brand advertising and the fragmentation of the media epitomize the most recent transformations in the consumer environment. These transformations add to the challenge when brand managers attempt to clearly present their brand ' s core associations. Customers are often unintentionally given indistinct and inconsistent brand messages, resulting in brand confusion (BC). When brands confuse consumers, they develop a negative perception of the brand equity, and the brands become dysfunctional. This occurrence threatens brand strength and is therefore of major importance for marketing managers. Studies exploring BC describe it as comprising three dimensions (that is, brand similarity, brand clarity and brand credibility). This research is the fi rst to include fi ve important components and thus views BC more in its entirety. The two new key dimensions that we introduce are brand continuity and brand diversity. In addition to extending the explanation of BC, this study initially shows this construct ' s strong direct impact on sustainable brand satisfaction (SBS). Our fi ndings reveal that BC affects SBS negatively, leading to a greater proneness to buy private label brands, thereby harming brand equity. confusion (BC) is a state of mind in which consumers have a confused and / or unclear image of a brand stored in their memory. Burmann and Weers (2006) conceptualize BC as a three-dimensional phenomenon that occurs when brands are perceived as (a) similar (brand similarity), (b) inconsistent (brand clarity) and / or (c) inauthentic (brand credibility). In spite of these authors ' major contributions in capturing the dimensions of BC, there are still certain important dimensions that have not as yet been detected. We believe that (d) brand continuity and (e) brand diversity are these additional important dimensions of BC. We thus extend the contents of the BC construct, which will help brand managers grasp this key area of concern more precisely. From a managerial perspective, understanding the factors that affect BC is the main precondition for counteracting brand equity decay. Weers (2008) , who was the fi rst to test BC empirically, focuses on the confusion of brands within a product category and analyzes the moderating effect of BC on the link between satisfaction and loyalty. He fi nds empirical evidence that the higher the BC, the weaker the link between customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. However, the moderator effect is very low. In contrast, our research focuses on a specifi c, single brand, which allows us to analyze the direct effect of BC on sustainable brand satisfaction (SBS); that is, a construct that combines the elements of brand satisfaction and brand loyalty. We replicate and extend Weers ' research by considering brand satisfaction and brand loyalty as well, but more importantly we generate new insights by not only extending BC with two new dimensions, but also by analyzing BC ' s direct effect on brand satisfaction and brand loyalty. Testi...

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