Masstige model and measure for brand management

The purpose of this article is to reconceptualize the term “masstige” (Mass Prestige) marketing, develop a masstige model for brand management, and extend the use of the Masstige Mean Scale (MMS). The study was conducted based on the data from 600 individuals living in the United States, France, and India using a structured questionnaire consisting of different factors/sources of brand equity, such as mass prestige, brand knowledge, and perceived quality. On the basis of the findings, we establish that the greater the brand's Masstige Mean Index (MMI) value (“MMIV”), the higher the potential customers' top-of-mind brand awareness. Low MMIVs imply that firms have a long way to go to build their brands. We argue that MMI may allow firms to measure brand equity in different regions, within a country or in foreign countries, to derive insights into the popularity of their brands. We posit three theoretical propositions and develop two theoretical models (i) a hexagon model and (ii) a three-stage model for masstige marketing to define, reconceptualize, and explain the phenomenon.     

Exploring the link between human resource practices and turnover in multi-brand companies: The role of brand units’ images

Using exploratory qualitative research undertaken in a multi-brand fashion company, this article investigates the role that brand units’ images play in the link between human resources management (HRM) practices and employee internal and external turnover. Our results suggest that the existence of imbalanced and differently attractive brand units’ images might weaken or remove the effectiveness of corporate HRM practices in keeping internal and external turnover rates low. This because employees may be interested in transferring to the most appealing brand(s) or, if not possible to do so, leaving the company. This article contributes to the debate regarding the use of HRM practices in multi-brand companies, especially in industries where both the brand and the product have a highly-symbolic content. Based on our conclusions, we recommend that brand units with less prestigious images compensate for their lower attractiveness with specific brand unit HRM practices to attract and retain their employees. Theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

Brand management: Unveiling the delusion of control

Mainstream brand management literature views brands as products or organisations carrying brand names and brand managers as being in control of brand-related actions and outcomes. By contrast, recent empirical research shows the substantial influence of stakeholders on brands. Together with brand management, stakeholders shape brands by participating in brand-related interaction. European brand research accordingly treats brands as ongoing and complex processes in constant flux. Nevertheless, literature suffers from a significant lack of theoretical underpinnings for understanding brands as complex processes; in this respect, building on European philosophy is a fruitful avenue. This paper introduces the metaphor of the rhizome and draws on European process philosophy to further develop an integrative processual understanding of brands. Brand management claiming control over brands as processes turns out to be a delusion.     

Benchmarking firm performance from a multiple-stakeholder perspective with an application to Chinese banking

We know very little about how a firm would compare against its peers when evaluated from a multiple-stakeholder perspective where the same variables are interpreted differently. Since most medium-to-large organizations acknowledge the multi-dimensional nature of their operations, finding out the performance evaluations of various stakeholders can inform managerial decision-making. Thus, the main motivation for this study is to capture the interactions among different perceptions on a common set of performance measures. Using data envelopment analysis (DEA), we work with an approach that allows a flexible designation of inputs and outputs based on varying perspectives of five key stakeholders in banking. The versatile approach demonstrates that different views from the stakeholder universe can be summarily captured in DEA scores. A numerical example on Chinese commercial banks identifies the compliant (efficient) banks versus rigid (inefficient) banks, as well as the amenable stakeholders (those evaluating banks as efficient) versus the recalcitrant stakeholders (those evaluating banks as inefficient). The aligned views held by management and shareholders as evidenced by significant correlation among performance rankings imply reduced agency costs. Similarly, shared perceptions between customers and employees may encourage management to examine how this important business interface can be improved.     

Addressing Concerns Raised by Critics of Business Schools by Teaching Multiple Approaches to Management

As part of the larger discussion of the role of business schools in society, increasing concern is being expressed about the materialist–individualist values that underpin mainstream management. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the mechanisms through which these values are taught through the content of management theory. This study examined what happened when students in an introductory management class were deliberately taught two “ideal type” approaches to management: mainstream management, which seeks to maximize productivity and profitability for shareholders; and multistream management, which seeks to achieve a balance among multiple forms of well‐being (including financial, social, ecological, spiritual, physical, aesthetic) for multiple stakeholders (including owners, employees, customers, suppliers, competitors, neighbors, future generations). Results suggest that compared with students who are taught only one approach to management, students who are taught both a mainstream and a multistream approach place lower emphasis on materialism and individualism, differ in their perception of what constitutes effective management, and may manage differently. Implications for business schools, management theory, and instruction are discussed.     

Resolving conflict over salespeople’s brand adoption in franchised channels of distribution

Many franchise-based retail outlets offer both the franchisor-owned brand and brands of competitors or independent suppliers. As salespeople may influence customers’ brand choices considerably, an important concern for franchisors is how to raise salespeople’s selling preferences for the franchisor-owned brand. However, the channel administration literature suggests that salespeople may not automatically favor the franchisor’s brand over other brand lines. While a large body of research examines franchise–channel relationships, previous investigations have conspicuously overlooked this channel conflict. In proposing a conceptual model grounded in the behavioral sciences, this study analyzes how franchisors can induce salespeople to advocate their brand by fostering the intention to promote the franchisor-owned brand (IFOB) in customer interaction. The results of an empirical field study show that individual brand promotion depends on factors such as salespeople’s identification with the franchisor and their tenure with the organization, as well as on the franchisor’s prestige and administration of the franchise. Moreover, we find that franchisees’ IFOB transfers to salespeople, but only if franchisees display a charismatic leadership style. We discuss these findings in light of extant theory and empirical evidence and derive several managerially relevant implications for the administration of franchised retail channels.     

Does umbrella branding really work? Investigating cross-category brand loyalty

Numerous studies on the drivers of brand extension success found evidence that parent-brand characteristics and the fit between parent brand and transfer product are the main and most influential factors driving brand extension success. However, the ability of a brand to transfer its brand loyal customers from the parent to the extension category has been widely neglected. Brand loyalty can be regarded as a consequence of the underlying assumption of customers transferring their quality perceptions, their brand knowledge, and their experience with the brand from one category to the other. We find empirical evidence that consumers who are loyal to the brand in the leading (parent) product category show a higher probability to be loyal to that same brand in another (extension) category compared to those consumers who are not loyal in the leading category. Moreover, as the overall success of the extension includes positive retroactive effects of the extension product on the parent product or brand, the arising question is whether there are differences between extension product categories regarding their attachment to the parent category and their ability to stimulate brand loyal purchases in the parent category, i.e., speaking of ‘leader’ and ‘follower’ categories in terms of brand loyal purchase behavior. This might even hold true for the relationship of any two categories the brand competes.     

多维互动对服务品牌资产的影响——基于灰关联分析的研究

从现有文献和观点中提炼出了服务企业、一线员工与顾客之间的主要互动因素,构建了一个基于多维互动的服务品牌资产分析框架,并基于此框架运用灰关联分析方法进行了探索性的实证研究,验证了服务企业、一线员工与顾客之间的多维互动是服务品牌资产消长的根源,也揭示了处于初级阶段的我国服务企业品牌建设的特征.     

When reputation management is people management: Implications for employee voice

This article explores the relationship between internal reputation management, HRM, and employee voice. Drawing on qualitative data from 25 medium-size and large Norwegian organizations, we find that organizations pursue a desired reputation through a single, official corporate voice by discouraging prohibitive employee voice through technocratic control and coercive HRM practices. The emphasis on technocratic control and coercive HRM occurs despite the widely held belief in reputation and branding literatures that employees should be committed corporate ambassadors who enthusiastically promote their organization's desired reputation and deeply believe in the images they convey to internal and external stakeholders. The findings contribute to studies on reputation management by linking internal reputation management, HRM, and employee voice, pointing out “people management” aspects of reputation management and highlighting important organizational and employee-based consequences.     

Theory of dogmatism,personality traits and shopping behavior

Drawing on the theory of dogmatism and personality traits, this research examines the consumers' shopping behavior and intentions. We propose a model, which incorporates the precepts of stubbornness and retail purchasing conduct. Data were gathered from 446 shoppers in India and analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that consumers' personality, purchaser conduct, narrowing conduct, and dependability influence their buying behavior. Moreover, consumers’ purchasing goals are influenced by assurance, customization, brand value, and social appeal. The study has practical implications for marketing managers who are focusing on customers with dogmatic behavior.     

Servant leadership,employer brand perception,trust in leaders and turnover intentions: a sequential mediation model

The study aimed to examine the impact of the servant leadership style on employee turnover intentions by investigating the sequential mediating effects of employer brand perception and level of trust subordinates have in their leaders. Results of the study were obtained by analysing data collected from 253 employees working in Indian organizations. The results fully support the hypotheses proposed in the study, illustrating that perceived servant leadership style is negatively associated with employee turnover intentions. Further, servant leadership-turnover intentions relationship is sequentially mediated by employer brand perception and the level of trust subordinates have in their leaders. The study also found that only the servant leadership style followed by leaders was not enough to directly influence the level of trust employees placed in their leaders. A positive and strong employer brand perception emerged as an important mechanism that helped servant leaders gain the trust of their followers. The theoretical and managerial implications are further discussed in the light of these findings.     

It takes three to tango: Leadership and hostility in the service encounter

Leadership effectiveness is contingent on the ability to affect followers' emotions. This paper explores a model suggesting that the quality of the relationships between leaders and their followers (LMX) relates negatively to a display of negative emotions by employees during their interactions with customers, and subsequently relates to employees' performance and customers' emotions. The model was tested on a sample of 95 service employees and on 485 interactions between these employees and their customers. The findings show that LMX was negatively related to the display of hostility by employees towards their customers. Employee hostility was negatively related to employees' ability to provide a solution to customers' problems, which was further related to customers' hostility towards employees. We discuss the implications of these findings for both theory and practice.     

CSR and Accounting: Drawing on Weber and Aristotle to Rethink Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

The purpose of this article is to discuss and provide an alternative, less materialist–individualist approach to interpret the four assumptions of generally accepted accounting principles: economic entity, unit measure, periodic reporting, and going concern. The article draws from and builds on arguments first developed by Weber and Aristotle to demonstrate how a materialist–individualist moral point of view influences the conventional interpretation of the four basic assumptions for generally accepted accounting principles. We then propose an ideal‐type conceptual framework upon which to critique mainstream accounting theory and to develop alternative accounting theory that balances multiple forms of well‐being (including financial, but also social, physical, spiritual, and ecological well‐being) for multiple stakeholders (including owners, employees, customers, suppliers, competitors, neighbors, future generations, and so forth).     

Work-related social media use: The mediating role of social media communication self-efficacy

Social media use has become an indispensable part of knowledge work. Employees posting work-related content on social media are considered credible sources of information and have significant importance for how stakeholders, such as potential customers and future employees, perceive the organization. Therefore, employees’ ability to communicate about their work on social media has become a competitive advantage both for individual employees and for their organizations, especially in the professional service sector. Hence, understanding the role of employees’ ability to use these social media professionally is crucial for understanding the communicative behaviors of contemporary knowledge workers. In this study, we draw on social cognitive theory and focus on the antecedents and consequences of self-efficacy in individuals’ work-related communication on social media. The results show that perceived organizational commitment, clarity of communicative role, social media training, and prior experience with social media serve as antecedents of communication self-efficacy and subsequent work-related communication on social media. Thus, organizations and particularly management, have several aspects directly within the scope of their control that may aid employees in engaging in the professional use of social media. The paper contributes to the literature on employees’ communication behavior and provides important and actionable insights for management and the development of human resources.     

民族品牌跨国并购后的品牌战略研究——弱势品牌视角

2009年,中国民族品牌借全球金融危机之机,为加快其全球化的步伐,花费重金并购国外强势品牌。然而,"蛇吞象"式的跨国并购背后却是消费者的认知失调。同时,国内外现有研究针对改善该认知失调的品牌战略研究十分有限。因此,本文基于认知一致性和顾客品牌资产(CBBE)理论,从弱势品牌视角出发,围绕如何有效减轻"蛇吞象"后消费者的认知失调,运用焦点小组、个人访谈、实验和LME模型,最终得到了一些重要的发现:品牌要素战略(名称变化)、营销支持战略(价格维持或降低)以及次级联想杠杆战略(原产地保留或去除)都对并后品牌绩效产生显著影响。此外,本研究还揭示了消费者认知失调的改善机制,即品牌契合度在减轻消费者失调的并后品牌战略交互效应对品牌绩效的影响中起着重要的中介作用。这些成果既可以丰富现有品牌战略管理理论,也为民族品牌国际化提供实践指导。     

服务品牌内化的概念及概念模型:基于跨案例研究的结论

本研究按Eisenhardt在1989年提出的案例研究步骤展开,对国内一个著名保险公司进行纵深案例研究,发现了服务品牌内化的现象。为进一步探索这一现象并验证在此案例中得到的结论,作者又在信息通讯、银行、酒店和保险业里分别选择一个位居行业前列的代表性企业实施跨案例研究。通过对跨案例研究收集的数据进行内容分析,本研究找出服务品牌内化的内生构成因素,构建了服务品牌内化的概念模型。     

Beneficiary participation as an instrument of downward accountability: A multiple case study

In this study, the focus is on nonprofit organizations’ (NPOs’) beneficiary participation mechanisms, a component of downward accountability, and surprisingly seldom studied in the NPO governance literature. We address this gap in a combined stakeholder/contingency framework by investigating, with a multiple case design, the perceived quality of beneficiary participation mechanisms (8 Belgian NPOs in 4 industries, 35 semi-structured interviews, 13 focus groups, organizational documents, and 713 questionnaires).The following conclusions can be drawn. In general, beneficiaries are recognized as very important stakeholders. Several of our observations document the positive image board, (middle) management and (nonpaid) employees have of beneficiary participation mechanisms in place. Also, all board members and managers are open to the idea of beneficiaries’/representatives’ participation in policy making. Other findings however indicate that their perceived value should not be overrated, especially when taking into consideration the perceptions of the beneficiaries themselves. From a theoretical point of view, it has become clear that a stakeholder theory without acknowledging interactions between stakeholder groups and their perceptions can only be partial.From an empirical point of view, we clearly demonstrate that surveying non-beneficiaries on NPOs’ organizational performance and the quality of participation mechanisms frequently results in measurement bias.     

CEO political liberalism,stakeholders, and firms’ support for LGBT employees

We argue that CEO political liberalism, or the extent to which CEOs are more liberal rather than conservative, affects firms’ support for LGBT employees. Specifically, compared to conservative CEOs, liberal CEOs will be more likely to support LGBT employees by implementing LGBT-friendly policies. We furthermore posit that the presence of certain internal and external stakeholders—including boards, top management teams, and employees, as well as transient institutional investors and LGBT advocacy organizations—alter the proposed effect. Results based on a sample of Fortune 500 firms support our arguments. Our findings contribute to the literatures on leadership, stakeholders, and workplace diversity.     

Loyalty-based segmentation and the customer development process

As process management fast becomes recognised as the means by which customer value can be created, it is now equally well understood that the mechanism of value delivery is among the core processes. Without managing Customer Development as a core process, the implementation of strategic plans will lack clear focus. The author argues that the function of the Customer Development process is to build relationships with preferred customers. Working on the premise that all customers are not created equal, the priority for customer development in mature markets is to build these preferred relationships among existing customers. It is now accepted wisdom that these customer relationships deliver superior profits. How customer development management select these customers, or groups of customers, and build specific relationships is directed by the Principles of Loyalty Management.These principles acknowledge that customer loyalty is relative which means that customers as well as product and service brands need to be differentiated. The Diamond of Loyalty© provides a new management tool for this purpose by categorising customer purchasing styles according to their level of involvement (i.e. brand or company relationship) and their purchasing portfolio across suppliers.Finally, it is argued that customer development should discriminate in favour of supporting `high share' customers over `low share' customers in building preferred relationship among existing customers.     

从分散到整合：品牌管理的新阶段

品牌整合是在企业强调核心竞争能力的背景下应运而生的一种新的品牌管理方法。本文分析了品牌整合的含义,阐述了品牌整合管理产生的历史原因,分析了企业实施品牌整合的措施。文章最后探讨了品牌整合对我国企业的借鉴意义。