Author : Cleopatra Veloutsou, Luiz MoutinhoInstructor: KateStudent: Katrina November 16, 2009

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relative influence of the brand reputation and the significant others in the formation of strong consumer–brand relationships, for a fast moving consumer goods product; soft drinks.

The reputation is the aggregate perception of outsiders on the salient characteristics of companies (Fombrun and Rindova, 2000), or brands.

The various audiences recognize brands as independent market organisms. Consumers perceive them as characters, while both managers and the environment sustain them (Jevons et al., 2005) and consumers can perceive brands as characters.

Recent research findings support that the positive brand and personal interaction are central to the building of successful brand relationships (O'Laughlin et al., 2004)

Research suggests that the perceived personality of brands can influence the strength of the relationship consumers form with these brands over time (Aaker et al., 2004).

Clearly, there is an interrelationship between brands and consumers (Jevons et al., 2005).

Tribal brands evolve around products with similar values. They are the emotional result of personalization. The process of creating a tribal brand incorporates thousands of social interactions amongst customers with various facets of their preferred brand, taking an extended link of time to attain a socialized expression that constitutes a tribal brand (Moutinho et al., 2007)

The more positive the brand reputation, the stronger the relationship with the Brand.The stronger the Brand Tribalism the stronger the Brand Relationship.(Figure.1 illustrates the research model)

Brand Brand ReputationReputation

Brand Brand TribalismTribalism

Brand Brand RelationshipRelationship

Brand Brand RelationshipRelationship

The research model

The drafted questionnaire containing the developed statements was pilot tested with a convenience sample of twenty individuals, a mix of undergraduate and part-time MBA students in Scotland. The developed final instrument uses 5 point Likert type scales.

Brand Reputation

• This brand is trustworthy • This brand is reputable• This brand makes honest claims

Sustainable Image • This brand has a long lasting nature • In the past, today and in the future, the values behind this

brand will not change

Long Term Brand Reputation

Brand Tribalism

Degree of fit with lifestyle • This brand is right for me • Using this brand does something good for me• This brand fits my image• This brand is related to the way I perceive life

Passion in Life • This brand makes a contribution in life • There is something about this brand that goes beyond its tangible

characteristics

Reference group acceptance • I would buy this brand because I am sure that my friends

approve of it • I am very loyal to this brand because my friends also use it• My friends buy this brand and I buy it too just because I want to

be like them• I achieve a sense of belonging by buying the same brand my

friends buy• I often discuss with friends about this brand

Social Visibility of Brand • Wherever I go, this brand is present • I know of many people who own/use this brand• I know that people feel good about this brand

Collective Memory • When my friends buy this product they consider this purchase • When my friends buy this product they choose this brand

Two Way Communications • I want to be informed about this brand • I am more willing to learn news about this brand than other

brands• I listen with interest to information about this brand• If leaflets are sent to me from this brand, I get annoyed• I will be willing to be informed about this brand in the future• I am willing to give feedback to the manufacturer of this brand

Brand Relationship

Emotional Exchange • This brand means more to me than other brands • I care about the developments relevant to this brand• This brand and I complement each other• I feel comfortable with this brand • This brand is like a person with whom I am close to• Both this brand of cola and I benefit from our link• Over time this brand becomes more important to me

They were asked to recruit non-student respondents, who would complete the questionnaire independently. This process produced completed questionnaires from 912 consumers.

Given the nature of the product, there is a good mix of men and women and a reasonable representation of different age groups.

The nature and subject of investigation was more prone to be readily accepted by younger people select for the study, because the responders chose either cars or soft drink when completely survey.All the variables of the study were essentially perceptual and therefore subject to a respondent's filtering process. Thus, Cronbach's Alpha was used to test for internal consistency. The average value reported for each of the variables was calculated and used for the various tests.

Results

All the constructs that describe the Brand Tribalism are significant correlation, with the Passion in Life having the strongest link with the remaining constructs. More specifically, the Passion in Life has the strongest relationship with the Degree of fit with lifestyle, while its correlation with the Collective Memory and the Social Visibility of the Brand are also of interest.

Both regression analyses showed respectable explanatory power, since adjusted R2 was .25 and .33 respectively. Given that other constructs can also influence the relationships with brands, the exploratory power of the models cannot be undervalued.

These results suggest that brand tribalism is more important than brand reputation in the formation of relationships.This research highlight the importance of customer groups and the interaction between brand fans. The foreseen trend could mean that in the future the producers will be facing a challenge, as they will be offering brands that will develop their own character, over which the actual producer will have limited control.

This study has certain shortcomings. Although the data was collected in a big city, the geographic area was limited.This research identifies issues that merit further investigation. It would be valuable to additionally examine the role of brand tribalism in the development of brand relationships. The findings of this research could be context specific. Future research should also examine the role brand tribes play in the acceptance of brand decisions or on constructs like brand loyalty.

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