Brand Personality and Consumer Congruity: Implications for Advertising Strategy

-- Bilal Mustafa Khan

Driven by the competitive environment in fashion business, marketers have realized that creating a favorable brand image is a key to win larger market share. This paper examines the influence of brand personality on advertising response in fashion lifestyle branding context. The research was designed to explore the measurement and application of Brand Personality Congruence (BPC) and attempts to establish a relationship between self-congruency and advertising response measures. The study is empirical in nature and involved administering a questionnaire to the respondents, prior to which they were shown print ads of leading fashion and lifestyle brands in India. Results indicate the existence of a strong relationship between self-congruity and advertising response measures which include attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the brand and behavioral intentions.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Analytical Study of Association Between Celebrity Advertising and Brand Recall

-- Meenal P Dhotre and Sarang S Bhola

Today, the use of celebrity endorsement has increased drastically. It has become an integral part of almost every brand's promotional campaign and a big marketing trend. TV channels are flooded with advertisements most of them being celebrity advertisements. Celebrities are seen endorsing almost every product meant for selling. Due to high channel surfing, it is very difficult to keep the viewers' attention for a long time and to focus in a productive way. Perhaps, the advertisement with a celebrity is more likely to keep a TV remote control from changing the channel vis-à-vis a commercial with an unknown artist. While studying the rationale behind the increasing trend of celebrity endorsements across the globe, researchers explore several dimensions of the `celebrity endorsement' technique. They summarize that celebrity endorsements are worthwhile investments in advertising considering their several benefits. Instant and better recall is one of the most important benefits. Celebrities can bring quick memorability, recall and recognition, and direct client connection with the audience. Leading film and sports personalities are the preferred choice of the Indian marketers for a better recall. This paper tries to explore various dimensions of celebrity endorsements.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Employer Branding: A Study of Its Relevance in India

-- Vikram Kapoor

Some quote `employer branding' to be an indispensable strategy; others term it as a mere fad. This paper aims at ascertaining the relevance of employer branding in India and whether it is merely superficial or there is something more innate to it. A descriptive research, this paper, by means of a structured, non-disguised questionnaire, seeks insight into this very niche and occidental concept of employer branding in India. By using both deductive and inductive elements, the paper identifies top three parameters and factors in a myriad of areas related to employer branding like factors pertinent in developing the employer brand, attributes considered most important in attracting new talent to the companies, challenges in managing an employer brand, metrics considered useful for measuring the ROI for a company's employer brand, factors an employee considers important about working with his company, communication media considered important for communicating the employer brand, activities considered important in enhancing the employer brand, and finally benefits arising from implementing employer brand. The dramatic changes in the workforce trends and the immense competition in the labor market has made it imperative for companies to develop strategies to differentiate themselves; the panacea to this problem is employer branding. Employer branding undoubtedly is a significant precept of modern management, one that offers a fine blending of the science of marketing with the art of enlightened human relations management. It is also one of the strongest bulwarks ever against the scourge of unbridled employee attrition.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

A Brand Triangle Model to Avoid Branding Myopia

-- Paulo De Lencastre and Ana Côrte-Real

This paper takes the metaphor of myopia to explain the most limited vision of brand, understood as the identifying sign of a product. As brand is a sign, we turn to semiotics, the science of signs, in order to apply a model which broadens the concept of brand to three dimensions: that of the identity sign itself, the object the sign refers to and the response of the market to the sign.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

A Psycho-Semiotic Research Agenda for Strategic Brand Alliances

-- Henrik Uggla and Per Åsberg

This paper discusses theoretical research challenges for brand alliances in the future. A research agenda with six strategies based on the identification of binary oppositions in brand alliance exploration is suggested. The research dichotomies identified and discussed are modifier versus modified brand; second, points-of-parity versus points-of-difference; third, nesting versus nested concepts; fourth, leader brands versus partner-brands; and finally, symmetric versus asymmetric brand alliance strategies and brand values versus core competencies. For each research area, a reconciling concept is identified and discussed in relation to empirical highlights. These research areas and aligned epistemological strategies can facilitate brand strategy development within the co-branding area in the future.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Accounting for Brands: Contemporary Issues and Alternative Options

-- A D O Otonkue, B E Edu and Echeng Ezak

Contemporary issues and alternative options on accounting for brands are the main thrusts of this paper. Thus, issues associated with accounting for brands and their effects on the financial statements or alternative financial treatments and valuations of brands on the balance sheets of corporate organizations are examined and evaluated. Accordingly, the definition and recognition of brands as assets in the balance sheet are considered. The paper also dwells on areas related to brand accounting: the need for accountants in the valuation and management of brands, reliability of cost measurement of brands, accounting treatment for brands, revaluation of intangible assets and disclosure requirements. Other areas that are equally discussed are the issues of brand regulations in Nigeria and the way forward. The paper concludes that the financial world arrives at a brand valuation by estimating the operating profit attributable to the brand and comparing it to an unbranded product. Also, brand valuation appears to be the most promising technique capable of illustrating the importance of brands to managers while bridging the different orientations between accountants and marketing managers. The paper recommends that the choice treatments of goodwill should be replaced by one standard treatment of purchased goodwill, amortization, while internally generated goodwill should not be recorded on the balance sheet; and the interaction between management accountants and selling and distribution managers' needs should further be strengthened and improved upon to allow for sound managerial decisions.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Factors Influencing Choice of Tourist Destinations: A Study of North India

-- Neeraj Kaushik, Jyoti Kaushik, Priyanka Sharma and Savita Rani

India's share in international tourist arrivals, which was 0.34% in 2002, is expected to reach 1.5% by 2010 and is forecasted to generate $42.8 bn by 2017. Indian government is putting in a lot of effort to revamp the Indian tourism industry. The states of Rajasthan, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh have promoted their tourist spots on a worldwide basis. Other tourist destinations like Amritsar, Kurukshetra, Salasar and Khatushyam ji are also coming up as acclaimed tourist spots. In the present study, an attempt has been made to determine which factors are considered more important by tourists while selecting their destination. Seven factors have been extracted by factor analysis, and ANOVA has been used to check their relationships with the demographic variables. A model has been established to predict customer satisfaction on the basis of the factors obtained.

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.