The Influence of Different Kinds of Reference Groups on Self-brand Connections

Du, Weiqiang; Yu, Cheng; Zhao, Ping

doi:10.3724/sp.j.1041.2009.00156

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…However, consumers' response to social 'others' referenced in such marketing strategies depends on whether the social others are a member of the consumer's ingroup, outgroup, or dissociative group. Coca-Cola fell afoul of the dissociative group effect where they saw an unexpected sales drop in China, when male consumers boycotted the brand, following a campaign in which a famous pop singer endorsed the brand (Du et al, 2009). The negative effect arose because young men wished to distance themselves from the androgynous pop singer and her mostly female fanbase.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solving dissociative group effects using construal level theory

McGowan

Hassan

Shiu

2019

EJM

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Purpose Consumers usually respond favourably to ingroups but negatively to dissociative groups and products linked to dissociative groups, termed the dissociative group effect. Despite important implications for branding, advertising and celebrity endorsement, little is known about how to attenuate the effect. This paper aims to introduce a mechanism which attenuates the dissociative group effect by drawing on construal level theory. Design/methodology/approach An experimental approach was used which included two-part between-subjects designs. Findings High identifiers prefer products linked to their ingroup over ones linked to a dissociative group, however, the opposite is true for low identifiers. The difference in preference is attenuated for high and low identifiers when they are placed in an abstract mind-set. The underlying mechanism of this effect is similarity focus. Research limitations/implications The same context was used to ensure that the attenuating effect found was not due to contextual factors. However, further studies should replicate the findings in a wider variety of contexts. Practical implications This research offers practical recommendations on how to manage multiple customer segments in increasingly diverse marketplaces. By inducing an abstract mind-set in customers, for example, via advertising copy, website architecture or contextual factors such as pitch of the music, marketers can increase the effectiveness of identity-linking marketing for consumers’ high/low in identification. Originality/value This is one of the first empirical studies to evidence the applicability of construal level theory within identity marketing and offers a novel mechanism to attenuate the dissociative group effect. The findings shed new light on how low identifiers relate and respond to identity-linked marketing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solving dissociative group effects using construal level theory

McGowan

Hassan

Shiu

2019

EJM

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“…These influences are mainly based on the fact that individuals will take the group as the reference and comparison object in self-evaluation to make their behavior results consistent with the reference group [17]. The reference group's influences on individual behaviors are mainly reflected in two aspects: informative influence and normative influence [18][19][20]. Informative influence entails that the reference group delivers information about themselves or others to the individuals, which works in two ways [6].…”

Section: Reference Group Influencementioning

confidence: 99%

Influences of Reference Group on Users’ Purchase Intentions in Network Communities: From the Perspective of Trial Purchase and Upgrade Purchase

2020

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Reference group is an important factor influencing users’ purchase in the network communities. The reference group’s influences involve informative influence and normative influence, and users’ purchases are divided into the trial purchase and upgrade purchase. In different purchases, users have different product information, consumer experience, and purchase attitudes, making different responses to the reference group. Thus, a research model of reference groups’ influences on users’ purchase intentions from the perspective of trial purchase and upgrade purchase is constructed. The model and hypotheses are tested by analyzing 349 valid questionnaires. The results indicate that both informative and normative influences have significant positive effects on users’ trial purchase intentions. Informative influence has a significant positive effect on users’ upgrade intentions, while the normative influence on users’ upgrade purchase intentions is not significant. Both informative influence and normative influence have significant positive effects on trust in the product. Trust in the product has a significant positive effect on trial purchase intentions, but its effect on upgrade purchase intentions is not significant. Purchase involvement positively regulates the relationship between informative influence and trial purchase intentions and negatively regulates the relationship between informative influence and upgrade purchase intentions. The results further enrich the theoretical system of users’ purchase behaviors in a virtual environment. The research can also have important implications for network communities wishing to improve online marketing.

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“…Therefore, the pursuit of oneself as one of the basic motivations of human social behavior is that people hope to satisfy the needs of attribution and connection through social relations (Yan and Guo, 2012). Self-brand connection is the degree to which consumers use certain brands to construct themselves, strengthen themselves and express themselves (Escalas and Bettman, 2003; Du et al , 2009). When consumers express their inner self and their needs as identified by society, they will purchasing a brand that is consistent with the desire to become a reference group to express themselves, strengthen their self-concept and achieve self (Harmon-kizer et al , 2013).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies have shown that consumers can associate a brand image with personality with the internal self-image of the consumer to form a self-brand connection (Du et al , 2009; Chai et al , 2012). The level of self-brand connection is not only positively correlated with consumers’ evaluation of brand preference, satisfaction and brand loyalty (Yan and Guo, 2012), but also it can promote positive word-of-mouth and brand equity improvement (Escalas and Bettman, 2003).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on the relationship of the weaker enterprises post-merger brand strategy and consumers’ purchase intention

Yao

Wang

2018

JCMARS

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Purpose Nowadays, many weak brands have acquired strong international brands to accelerate their internationalization. However, “the weakers acquire the strongers” model of M&A leads to many consumers’ loss. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between the brand strategy after the M&A, brand authenticity and consumer purchase intention through two experiments. Design/methodology/approach Building on an extensive literature review, the authors identify four hypotheses. Hypotheses were tested on data collected across 190 Chinese consumers. Findings The results show that the decline of consumer purchase intention was mainly caused by the falling consumer assesses on brand authenticity; the different post-merger brand strategies have significant difference on brand authenticity and consumer purchase intention, and self-brand connection played a moderate role between brand authenticity and consumer purchase intention. Originality/value The research reveals the reasons for consumer loss after mergers and acquisitions and provides empirical insights into how post-merger brand strategies can be manifested to convey brand authenticity as well as to build consumers’ purchase intention. In addition, the findings confirm the role of self-brand connection.

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The Influence of Different Kinds of Reference Groups on Self-brand Connections

Cited by 7 publications

References 29 publications

Solving dissociative group effects using construal level theory

Solving dissociative group effects using construal level theory

Influences of Reference Group on Users’ Purchase Intentions in Network Communities: From the Perspective of Trial Purchase and Upgrade Purchase

Research on the relationship of the weaker enterprises post-merger brand strategy and consumers’ purchase intention

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