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Companies increasingly employ environmental compensation claims in their advertisements. This practice, however, has been criticized as being a form of greenwashing. In two studies, we examined associations between the exposure to abstract and concrete compensation claims, consumers' perceived greenwashing, environmental boycotting and buycotting intentions, and brand evaluation as well as purchase intentions. Further, we investigated the moderating role of consumers' environmental knowledge. In Study 1, findings from a two-wave panel survey (NW2 = 511) indicated that exposure to abstract compensation claims was positively related to perceived greenwashing, whereas exposure to concrete compensation claims was not. Environmental knowledge did not influence perceptions of greenwashing in either claim. Using experimental data, Study 2 (N = 423) showed that concrete compensation claims can also lead to perceived greenwashing but to a lesser extent than abstract ones. Furthermore, environmental knowledge helped consumers detect greenwashing in both claims. In both studies, perceived greenwashing positively predicted consumers' intention to join environmental boycotts but not buycotts. In addition, Study 2 showed that perceived greenwashing was negatively associated with purchase intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the current literature emphasizes the importance of country of origin, this article sheds light on the consequences of country branding. Specifically, we examined the implications of applying multidimensional aspects of a country's image to international brand management. This quantitative study is used to examine the relative effects of country image dimensions. Specifically, the spillover effects of descriptions of a country's people, aspirations, and loyalty on customer brand evaluations are found. Also, the impact of brand attitude and image on country's brand equity is identified. However, perceived country brand quality and brand awareness/association are not enough to ensure positive outcomes for an international brand. Moreover, the roles of customers' individual characteristics (gender, age, and income) in the relationship between country effects and international branding are examined. The results of multigroup analyses show that descriptions of people have a large effect on brand image among old male customers. In contrast, the aspirations of a country had a stronger effect on brand image among young women. This study highlights the importance of managing country image to increase the success of international brand management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Given that Chinese brands and products are widespread in the global market, this paper aims to examine the effect of Chinese brand origin salience (vs not) on brand evaluations by increasing global identity perceptions, and figuring out the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance. Design/methodology/approach: Three experiments were conducted in different product categories to test the effect of Chinese brand origin salience. Study 1 and Study 2 collected data from different countries (i.e. Japan and the USA) with varying levels of uncertainty avoidance. In Study 3, the data were collected from the single-country sample, including participants from cultural backgrounds with high (Asian Americans) and low (Caucasian Americans) uncertainty avoidance. Findings: Chinese brand origin salience positively influences brand evaluations via increased global identity perceptions. In addition, uncertainty avoidance plays a moderating role in the process. Specifically, the favorable effect of Chinese brand origin salience on brand evaluations will be attenuated among consumers with high (vs low) uncertainty avoidance. Originality/value: This paper demonstrates that Chinese brand origin salience can enhance brand evaluations beyond prior work focusing on the negative stereotypes of Chinese brands and their imitation of Western brands. Importantly, Chinese brands have become an important part of the global community as Chinese brand origin salience can evoke consumers' global identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationship between brand innovativeness, brand attitude and brand equity within the service industry. Despite the prior literature's acknowledgement of the importance of brand innovativeness, the previous studies on its impact on brand equity have yielded inconsistent results. This study also explores the moderating effect of perceived brand ethicality on the relationship between brand innovativeness, brand attitude and brand equity. Design/methodology/approach: This study collected the self-administered survey data of 402 respondents in the Chinese retail banking sector and employed a moderated mediation analysis to examine the research hypotheses. Findings: Brand innovativeness positively influences brand equity, and brand attitude mediates the effect. Perceived brand ethicality strengthens the positive association between brand innovativeness and brand equity. Originality/value: This study contributes to the extant brand literature by demonstrating how the positive impact of brand innovativeness transcends brand evaluation to impact overall brand equity; it also reveals the mechanism through which brand innovativeness affects brand equity. The findings advance the under-researched issue of whether consumer perceptions of a brand's ethical conduct affect the efficacy of brand innovativeness in brand equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how the scarcity of virtual products in virtual gaming spaces influences brand evaluation in the real world. While previous studies suggest that scarcity in virtual spaces can enhance brand value, the mechanisms and conditions under which this effect occurs (e.g., the characteristics of virtual spaces, consumer traits, and stimulus). Drawing on insights from scarcity research on physical products, we propose that the effects of scarcity may stem from the expectation of impression management. We developed a model that incorporates insights from physical product scarcity research with the unique aspects of virtual spaces and consumer characteristics. Through four studies, we discovered that the effect of supply scarcity in enhancing brand evaluation is pronounced when the space is online and when consumers have a high level of social presence. Furthermore, in cases where social presence is not high, encounters with others wearing scarce products were found to enhance the scarcity effect. Companies can enhance brand evaluation by strategically using virtual product scarcity in online gaming, particularly when targeting consumers with high social presence or creating opportunities for players to interact with others wearing scarce items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing operational transparency offers customers the opportunity to observe the labor and efforts of service staff in the service production and delivery process. This study explores the impact of service design on customers' affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses. This study first investigates the effects of operational transparency on customers' brand evaluation and purchase intention through gratitude (affective) and perceived value (cognitive). This study also explores the moderating role of relationship norms in the proposed relationships. Based on two between-subjects experiments, Study 1 identifies the serial mediating role of customer gratitude and perceived value on the relationship between operational transparency and customers' brand evaluation and their purchase intention. The results of Study 2 demonstrate that the Study 1 discovery only lasts when the exchange relationship norm prevails in a customer-service brand relationship. The theoretical and managerial implications of operational transparency in enhancing customer service experience are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trademark element recogniton is a crucial task in applications such as trademark brand evaluation and trademark infringement identification. In recent years, although modeling technology has made significant progress, small objects, similar objects, and objects with high conditional probability continue to be unable to be solved, due to the limitations of convolutional kernels. Based on semantic-aware region search and label dependency modeling, we propose a multi-input recognition framework for trademark elements (Mi-Tr) based on Transformer, which learns the complex dependencies between visual features and labels them through feature extraction using different convolutional networks and Transformer encoding. The proposed approach includes two visual feature-embedding modules that use modified VGG16 and ResNet101 as feature extractors to obtain feature information of trademark images in different dimensions. Simultaneously, the category labels are input into the transformer by embedding, using the order invariance of the transformer, thus, it is better to learn all types of dependencies between all features and labels. Additionally, the number of layers of the transformer and number of heads of the multiheaded attention were modified to find parameters that better match image features and label information. The experimental results on two datasets, METU and Logotypes of Different Companies, demonstrate that the classifier developed by our model performs significantly better in the multi-input classification of trademark image elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brands often encourage consumers to compare themselves to two types of standards: other people (i.e., social comparisons) and their own past (i.e., temporal comparisons). Although research has drawn many parallels between these two self‐comparisons, relatively little work has examined how they diverge. Moreover, existing research on their differences focuses on individuals engaging in—rather than brands encouraging—different self‐comparisons. The present research identifies moral perceptions as one critical dimension on which brand‐elicited temporal and social comparisons differ. Four studies find that evoking downward social (vs. temporal) comparisons undermines brand morality perceptions and, consequently, brand evaluations and choice. Providing preliminary insight into the mechanism, when brands evoke downward social (vs. temporal) comparisons, consumers perceive them as promoting status‐seeking behavior, which mediates morality judgments. Furthermore, the effects of comparison type are eliminated among consumers with stronger status motives—those who are less prone to condemn status‐seeking behavior. Altogether, these findings reveal a lay belief in the moral superiority of downward temporal (vs. social) comparisons and the downstream consequences for brands that elicit such comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interior design of hospitality settings is crucial for distinguishing a brand from its competitors. Drawing on color marketing and brand personality theories, this paper posits that aligning interior color tones with the brand personality of the hospitality and tourism brand can heighten tourists' perceptual fluency and thus their brand evaluation. Three studies support this proposition. The initial archival data analysis discovered a correlation between cold – warm interior tones and sincere – exciting brand personality in real-world hotel interior designs (Study 1). Study 2 revealed that cold tones evoke brand perceptions of sincerity, whereas warm tones elicit brand perceptions of excitement. Study 3 confirmed the effects of matching cold – warm tones with brand personality on brand evaluations and the mediating role of perceived fluency. The present research holds significant practical implications for hospitality and tourism suppliers in terms of interior design, brand personality identification, online platform promotional design, and brand marketing strategy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Compared to typical brand extension research focusing on functional and symbolic attributes, this paper aims to examine brand extensions based on a brand's primary sensory attributes. Specifically, this paper investigates the interplay between brand equity and primary sensory attributes in shaping consumers' evaluations of brand extensions. Design/methodology/approach: This study investigates the impact of primary or central sensory attributes on brand extension evaluations for brands with differing brand equities. The authors conducted two experiments preceded by seven pretests to develop and validate the stimulus materials. The authors aim to contribute to understanding how sensory and brand-related factors influence consumers' evaluations of brand extensions. Findings: In these experiments, the authors find that a parent brand's central/dominant sensory attribute allows the parent brand to successfully extend into functionally unrelated categories. For example, Dove's central attribute of touch allows it to extend successfully into categories such as towels and shaving razor. However, it does not perform as well as Irish Spring (known for smell) in categories such as cologne and scented fabric softener, where Irish Spring's central attribute of smell is more relevant. Interestingly, Irish Spring, a lower equity brand, outperforms Dove in smell-related extensions, indicating that sensory attributes can counter the impact of lower brand equity if the sensory attribute is relevant to the extension category. Originality/value: This study investigates brand extensions based on sensory attributes such as smell and touch instead of typical brand extensions based on functional and symbolic attributes. In particular, the authors examine whether the perceived fit between the parent brand's dominant sensory attribute and the extended category (i.e. sensory fit) is more important than the parent brand's equity in the evaluation of brand extensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the influence of framing a brand's concept as functional versus symbolic in the advertising of a new vertical line extension. In this research, we carried out two online experiments and collected data from 415 participants recruited from MTurk to investigate the moderating role of believability on the effect of brand concept framing on consumers' purchase intentions of vertical line extensions. The results indicate that (i) consumers evaluate a vertical extension advertising message more positively when it is framed in a consistent manner with the targeted price/quality segment and not with its parent brand or existing product line and that (ii) this effect is moderated by consumer believability such that an advertising framing effect is found for high, but not low, in believability. Perceptions of category fit mediate the relationship between framing brand concept and the evaluation of the extension. This study contributes to the advertising and marketing literature by exploring how consumers can interpret brand concept framing in advertising messages of vertical line extensions differently depending on their level of believability and, in turn, influence their purchase intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effect of self-regulatory messages by brands held accountable for causing public health concerns. With a brand's aim to enhance the brand's public image by countering the negative perception of its products, the question was raised whether an individual brand communicating self-regulatory messages would receive a positive brand attitude. Results revealed that the brand's self-regulatory message was positively evaluated only when consumers favored a brand. Consumers who had a negative attitude toward the brand reacted negatively to the self-regulatory message by the brand. Consumers also exhibited adverse brand evaluations when unfavorable to a product category. Ulterior motives of the brand were more inferred when they viewed a self-regulatory message than a promotional message. Consumer pre-existing attitude toward a brand or a product moderated the causal relationships of a self-regulatory message, ulterior motives, counterarguments, and brand attitude. The study highlights that brand communication of self-regulatory messages may not yield positive responses, especially when targeting the general public as a socially responsible action. Brands should be selective in their target audience, focusing on those who already hold a favorable view of the brand, to mitigate the risk of negative responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media influencers have emerged as effective brand endorsers, yet a gap remains in understanding their followers' cognitive engagement with sponsored posts. To address this issue, we conducted a study guided by parasocial theories and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Follower status (follower/non-follower) and persuasive argument quality (weak/strong) were manipulated among study participants (N = 163) to discern the prevailing processing mode triggered by sponsored influencer content. Based on parasocial theories, we predicted that followers who have established parasocial relationships with influencers should show high situational engagement with their content. Our results demonstrated that argument quality influenced followers' brand evaluation and purchase intention, whereas non-followers were unaffected by it. These findings suggest that followers are more likely to elaborate on influencer content compared with non-followers. Interestingly, some signs of biased processing were evident. These results contribute to our understanding of how followers engage with sponsored content and shed light on the mechanisms underlying the persuasiveness of influencer marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the Louvre Abu Dhabi as a brand extension of the Louvre in France, focusing on factors influencing brand extension attitude and its impact on visit intention. Data from 934 questionnaires are analyzed using partial least squares in a multi-group study. The research aims to enrich discourse on tourist brands by examining brand image, perceived fit, and perceived brand localness within the context of the Louvre Abu Dhabi project. Results suggest a potential correlation between positive brand extension evaluation and increased future visits, highlighting practical implications for brand management in cultural tourism. The study also raises theoretical questions regarding global marketing research, emphasizing the need for an integrative approach to understand brand extension attitude's role in enhancing visit intention. Plain language summary: Unlocking the strength of museum brand expansion: Inspired by the Louvre Abu Dhabi This study looks at how the Louvre Abu Dhabi, an extension of the famous Louvre in France, influences people's willingness to visit. It examines factors that shape attitudes toward this brand extension and how they affect the likelihood of future visits. The research involved analyzing responses from 934 questionnaires in a multi-group study. By investigating aspects like brand image, perceived fit, and perceived localness, the study sheds light on tourist brands. Results indicate that a positive evaluation of the brand extension could lead to more visits in the future, which has practical implications for managing cultural tourism brands. The study also raises theoretical questions about global marketing research, stressing the need for a comprehensive approach to understand how attitudes toward brand extensions impact visit intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The research focuses on esports branding in the era of globalization, with a multimethod analysis of the FIFAe World Cup. Methodology: This research was conducted in two parts: quantitative and qualitative. The statistical population of this study was experts in the field of brand and esports. Twenty people from the research community were interviewed and selected as the statistical sample of the research. This research uses Fuzzy Delphi, the balanced scorecard, and the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchical Process. Finding: The qualitative section identified the most critical challenges in developing the FIFAe World Cup brand using the Fuzzy Delphi method, resulting in 17 concepts. In the quantitative part, the fuzzy analytic hierarchical process determined the priority of each challenge affecting brand development. The study found that Weakness in the management structure was the most critical challenge from the perspective of internal processes, neglect of research was the most significant challenge from the perspective of growth and learning, ignorance of new methods of monetization and sponsorship were the most critical challenges from the standpoint of financial aspects, and Weakness in service quality was the most vital challenge from the perspective of customers. Originality: The implications of this research suggest that using this model can help familiarize managers with priorities for addressing brand development challenges of the FIFAe World Cup and enable the integration of brand performance evaluation. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the challenges and strategies for developing the brand of the FIFAe World Cup and offers a structured approach for addressing these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Consumer perception of corporate brand equity has primarily focused on product brand dimensions, neglecting considerations at the firm analysis level. Assessing corporate brands requires different criteria relevant to the competitiveness of companies, such as their prominence, management and meeting society's demands. In this sense, this study aims to develop and validate a scale of corporate brand equity founded on consumer perceptions, transcending industry boundaries and comparing its relationship with companies' market share. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used an integrative approach to clarify the construct's domain, building on previous measures. They took several steps to select appropriate items, refine the measure, validate it through reliability tests and convergent and discriminant analyses, test the validity of the second-order formative structure of corporate brand equity and assess associations between first-order factors, the second-order factor and market share. Findings: The model identifies three first-order dimensions of corporate brands (presence, outstanding management and responsible) that shape the second-order factor (corporate brand equity). They are directly related, but not proportionally, to market share, contributing to the general and joint assessment of the company's competitive performance considering the consumer. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first attempt to develop a comprehensive measurement model of corporate brand equity that considers the firm level of analysis, combines metrics from previous research on corporate brand evaluation criteria and includes consumer perceptions of the company's competitiveness, unifying branding theory with the theory of the marketing firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The previous studies on brand attachment (BA) are relatively limited to exploring the relation between the customer's BA and loyalty from the enterprise's perspective. This study employs a hybrid fuzzy multicriteria decision‐making model with a quality function deployment (QFD) and a fuzzy association matrix is used to explore customer BA and the corresponding BA management strategies for enhancing brand loyalty. Results indicate the integration strategy, which comprises the personality, expertise, and kindness of the brand's salespersons and the development of intelligent automobile technology, is used to signal brand value and thereby stimulate customer resonance with the brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional approach of single-word brand names faces constraints due to trademarks, prompting a shift towards fusing two or more words to craft unique and memorable brands, exemplified by brands such as SalesForce© or SnapChat©. Furthermore, brands such as Kodak©, Xerox©, Google©, Häagen-Dazs©, and Twitter© have become everyday names although they are not real words, underscoring the importance of brandability in the naming process. However, manual evaluation of the vast number of possible combinations poses challenges. Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly natural language processing (NLP), is emerging as a promising solution to address this complexity. Existing online brand name generators often lack the sophistication to comprehensively analyze meaning, sentiment, and semantics, creating an opportunity for AI-driven models to fill this void. In this context, the present document reviews AI, NLP, and text-to-speech tools that might be useful in innovating the brand name generation and evaluation process. A systematic search on Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, and ScienceDirect was conducted to identify works that could assist in generating and evaluating brand names. This review explores techniques and datasets used to train AI models as well as strategies for leveraging objective data to validate the brandability of generated names. Emotional and semantic aspects of brand names, which are often overlooked in traditional approaches, are discussed as well. A list with more than 75 pivotal datasets is presented. As a result, this review provides an understanding of the potential applications of AI, NLP, and affective computing in brand name generation and evaluation, offering valuable insights for entrepreneurs and researchers alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online platforms aggregating brands, such as Amazon and Alibaba's Tmall, have emerged as powerful intermediaries for brands. Although these platforms offer unprecedented access to consumers, the platform controls this access. Thus, concerns are raised about how these platforms interfere with the brand experience and, ultimately, performance. The question of how brands can govern their platform operations more effectively thus arises. There are essentially two types of governance models: a one-party (1P) marketplace (wholesaling to the platform) and a third-party (3P) marketplace (selling directly to the consumer on the platform). However, it is unclear how 1P or 3P operations affect brand performance. To that extent, the authors study the market share implications of operations on JD.com, a 1P platform, and Tmall, a 3P platform, for almost 2,000 brands. On average, 1P operations decrease shares, whereas 3P operations lift shares. These changes depend on different brand-specific moderators. For 1P operations, share drops are more substantial for brands that are unable to elicit a trustworthy consumer relationship, when alternative brands abound and rogue-seller activities are severe in the product category. The 3P share lifts, in contrast, are more substantial for premium-priced, nonleading brands with prior direct-to-consumer experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research in international markets has yielded two seemly opposing views regarding customer engagement with local/domestic versus foreign-made brands: a preference for foreign brands based largely on country-of-origin effects or a preference for local/domestic brands based primarily on consumer ethnocentrism. In the present research, the authors contextualize the investigation across international markets and propose that, in two national markets with different cultural characteristics, a combination of local and foreign appeals leads to more favorable brand and product evaluations, compared with either local or foreign appeals alone, due to a heightened level of perceived brand globalness, a phenomenon called "the coalescence effect." The authors report results from seven studies conducted in China and the United States and discuss ways to design branding strategies that enhance customer engagement in an era of intensified global competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research conceptually assumes that sponsorships might have a stronger impact on brand attitude than do celebrity endorsements primarily due to the more indirect and less commercial intent to persuade. However, empirical evidence is lacking on why and under what conditions this assumed effect of sponsorships actually occurs. This paper empirically analyses potential mediating and moderating drivers of the effect of sponsorships compared with that of celebrity endorsements. The results reveal that higher level of perceived brand authenticity mediates the effect of sponsorships versus celebrity endorsement on brand attitude. Furthermore, the effect of sponsorships on brand authenticity is superior when (a) relative corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending in the industry is low and (b) the corporate reputation of the firm is good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-fit brand extensions, while often presenting profitable opportunities for existing brands, are known to meet with varying levels of consumer acceptance. This research identifies conditions in which low-fit extensions can succeed. Specifically, the authors show that the extent to which consumers consider the context in forming judgments (i.e., they are context dependent) determines their acceptance of low-fit extensions. Across four studies, the authors examine the combined effects of context (in)dependence and type of information. Context-dependent consumers form their evaluations on the basis of the type of brand extension information provided, such that providing benefit-based information enhances the evaluations of low-fit extensions, whereas providing attribute-based information leads to a reliance on extension fit and subsequent unfavorable evaluations of low fit extensions. In contrast, context-independent consumers are more likely to base their judgments on extension fit regardless of whether they receive attribute- or benefit-based information. Acceptance of high-fit extensions is unaffected by context (in)dependence and type of information. These findings provide a two-step strategy (i.e., sensitize consumers to context and providing benefit-based extension information) to managers for launching low-fit extensions and leveraging existing parent brand equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customers proactively engage with firms' offerings through behavioral manifestations such as brand-related social media posts, influencing other customers in online networks and, consequently, affecting brand value. With the growth of visually oriented social media platforms, interest has increased in understanding customer engagement behavior (CEB) using visual content. In this paper, we build on CEB, image acts, visual content, and communication theories to conceptualize the Visual Modality of Engagement (VME). Using both field and lab studies, we develop a typology of four distinct positive (experiential, evidential) and negative (mocking, dissuasive) forms of VME and offer empirical evidence revealing they induce different brand-related (purchase intentions, brand evaluation) and other customer-related (willingness to imitate, resharing intentions) outcomes. Additional results also reveal outcomes vary by the interplay of social and brand interactions with the various VME forms. The findings of this research offer guidance to content managers for the development of more effective engagement strategies in social media marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research examines the effects of physical proximity (close vs distant) of retailers' private label brands (PLBs) relative to national brands (NBs) and brand display orientation (horizontal [brands occupy the same shelf] vs vertical [brands occupy different shelves]) on consumers' PLB quality perceptions and PLB evaluations. Design/methodology/approach: Two experiments involving real brands in different product categories tested the hypotheses. Findings: A PLB positioned close (vs distant) to a NB is evaluated more favorably and this effect is mediated by increased PLB quality perceptions, but only in a horizontal brand display. In a vertical brand display, a PLB positioned close (vs distant) to a NB is evaluated less favorably and this effect is mediated by decreased PLB quality perceptions. Research limitations/implications: The findings suggest that to enhance consumers' PLB quality perceptions and evaluations, PLBs be positioned next to (rather than on separate shelves) and close to (rather than distant from) NBs in the same product category. Originality/value: Although the literature suggests that the best shelf position for PLBs is close to NBs, there is a lack of empirical research on the effects of relative shelf positioning on consumers' quality perceptions and subsequent PLB evaluations. This research finds that both physical proximity and brand display orientation play an important role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor quality amoxicillin-clavulanate potassium tablets have been recently discovered in generic drugs related to Augmentin-like medicines containing amoxicillin and clavulanic acid, as well as its derivatives containing falsified active ingredients. One of the most important dosage form characteristics are a detailed active pharmaceutical ingredients dissolution release profile evaluation obtained through dissolution testing. The dissolution test is used in the development of both brand-name and generic drugs. Prior to beginning bioequivalence studies, it is critical to compare the dissolution profiles of various pharmaceutical products. As a result, dissolution is a critical quality control parameter for drugs because it has a direct impact on absorption of pharmaceutical products. Dissolution profile evaluation of seven brands of amoxicillin-clavulanate potassium tablets is retailed in Hawassa town, Sidama Regional State, Ethiopia. The seven brands of amoxicillin-clavulanate potassium tablets were collected from Hawassa town, Sidama Regional State, Ethiopia. The dissolution study was conducted as per USP40-NF35. Then, the dissolution profile test results were compared by one-way ANOVA Dunnett's test, model independent, and model dependent method. All of the included brand tablets complied with a single-point dissolution study specification. All brand tablets had similar dissolution profiles (p > 0.05), difference factor (f1) < 15%, and dissolution efficiency (≤ 10 % ). However, the f2 (similarity factor) value justifies that all brand tablets were not within USFDA specification (≥ 50%). The evaluated brands followed the Korsemeyer-Peppas followed by the Weibull curve models. All brand tablets passed the single point USP dissolution specification and the USFDA therapeutic interchangeability guideline. The similarity factor (f2), on the other hand, confirmed that none of the tested brand tablets were interchangeable with the innovator product. Therefore, researchers, national medicine regulatory bodies, and the manufacturer should conduct a properly designed dissolution test as proof of an in vitro bioequivalence study supported by in vivo bioavailability data. Plain language summary: Dissolution profile evaluation of seven brands of amoxicillin-clavulanate potassium tablets retailed in Hawassa town, Sidama Regional State, Ethiopia. Why was the study done? Ever since a medicine must dissolve before it can be absorbed. Because the rate at which a drug dissolves from a dosage form generally influences the rate and amount of absorption. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should recommend that amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium are well absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract after oral administration of Augmentin with no significant difference in absorption after oral administration. When given orally, drugs with slow dissolution rates have intermittent and inadequate absorption, resulting in limited bioavailability. Aside from that, when a significant portion of the medicine fails to dissolve, only a tiny amount of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is available for absorption into the systemic circulation, resulting in the failure to produce the targeted therapeutic effect. The unabsorbed portion of the drug, on the other hand, causes the drug's associated side effects. What did the researchers do? The researchers attempted to evaluate and compare the dissolution profiles of the different brands of amoxicillin-clavulanic acid collected from Hawassa town pharmaceutical market to determine the percentage drug release, the mechanism of drug release from the dosage form, and the bioequivalence status of the various brands included in the study. The researcher also attempts to examine dissolution challenges and provide scientific solutions to avoid them in the pharmaceutical environment in the future. What did the researchers find? The study endeavored to assess the seven brands of amoxicillin-clavulanate potassium tablets collected from the Hawassa town pharmaceutical market. All of the included brand tablets complied with a single-point dissolution study specification. All brand tablets had similar dissolution profiles (p > 0.05), difference factor (f1) < 15%, and dissolution efficiency (≤ 10 % ). However, the f2 (similarity factor) value justify that all brand tablets were not within USFDA specification (≥ 50%). The evaluated brands followed the Korsemeyer-Peppas followed by Weibull curve approaches. Furthermore, dissolution efficiency was considered to ascertain the interchangeability of all products with innovator product. All tested brands were pharmaceutically equivalent to the innovator product (AC001), with a dissolution efficiency value within ± 10%. The mean dissolution time (MDT) determined from accumulative curves of dissolved as a function of time revealed that brand code AC004 (1.3) had the smallest MDT while brand code AC007 (8.8) had the longest MDT from the tested amoxicillin brands, and brand code AC003 (1.02), and AC005 (1.03) had the smallest MDT while brands code AC001 (99.8) had the longest MDT from the tested clavulanate potassium brands. What do the findings mean? The study has identified some important quality control parameters for dissolution profile establishment during manufacturing of the pharmaceuticals for clinical purposes and market authorization. From a bioequivalence point of view, fit factors, mean dissolution time, and dissolution efficiency are not identical for the same dosage form that is produced in different brand forms from different manufacturing companies. Dissolution profile evaluation served as the foundational quality criteria for comprehending the product quality attributes because it was related to the medications' bioavailability. It aims to offer general suggestions for dissolution testing, strategies for establishing dissolution specifications related to the biopharmaceutical's properties of the drug substance, statistical techniques for comparing dissolution profiles, and a procedure to assist in determining when dissolution testing is sufficient to grant a waiver for an in vivo bioequivalence study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most marketplaces, brands face fierce competition. Those that are adopted into consumers' self‐concepts in the form of a strong self‐brand connection reap myriad benefits including more positive evaluations, increased purchase intentions, and greater customer loyalty. This research tests the premise that the processing fluency of two prominent branding elements, brand name and logo, may promote self‐brand connection. A series of three studies indicates that processing fluency, prompted either through repeated exposure to a logo (Study 1) or more easily processed brand names (Studies 2 and 3), is associated with a stronger self‐brand connection. Evidence across the studies supports that the sense of brand familiarity stemming from fluent assessment promotes narrative processes in which the brand is connected to aspects of one's life and that such narrative processing, in turn, leads to the formation of stronger self‐brand connections. Further, such evidence is provided via direct measures of self‐brand connections, investigation of consumers brand narratives, and hemostatic brain response as measured via functional magnetic resonance imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers have grown increasingly skeptical of brands, leaving managers in a dire search for novel ways to connect. The authors suggest that focusing on one's relationships with competitors is a valuable, albeit unexpected, way for brands to do so. More specifically, the present research demonstrates that praising one's competitor—via "brand-to-brand praise"—often heightens preference for the praiser more so than other common forms of communication, such as self-promotion or benevolent information. This is because brand-to-brand praise increases perceptions of brand warmth, which leads to enhanced brand evaluations and choice. The authors support this theory with seven studies conducted in the lab, online, and in the field that feature multiple managerially relevant outcomes, including brand attitudes, social media and advertising engagement, brand choice, and purchase behavior, in a variety of product and service contexts. The authors also identify key boundary conditions and rule out alternative explanations, further elucidating the underlying mechanism and important implementation insights. This work contributes to the understanding of brand perception and warmth, providing a novel way for brands to connect to consumers by connecting with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Do luxury consumers negatively evaluate digital interactions (website and social media) by international luxury brands? The topic has received much debate. The authors argue that luxury brand personality (modern vs. traditional), which encompasses a more stable form of brand identity in global markets, affects evaluations of digital interactions. They further investigate the role of self-brand connection in this process. Design/methodology/approach: Three experiments on Prolific use a European sample and manipulate a single factor between subjects (modernity: less vs. more; traditionality: less vs. more) of French luxury brands and measure evaluations as the dependent variable. Two studies assesses self-brand connection (continuous) as a moderator (studies 2a, 2b). Study 2b rules out some alternative explanations, with culture (independent vs. collectivist) as an independent variable. A fourth study, using a North American sample on CloudResearch, assesses the effect of personality manipulation (more modernity vs. more traditionality) on consumer evaluations of an Italian brand, and assesses ubiquity perceptions as a mediator. Findings: Consumers evaluate digital interactions of international luxury brands less favorably when luxury brand personality exhibits more (vs. less) modernity or less (vs. more) traditionality. Perceptions of ubiquity mediate these relationships. When self-brand connection is high, this effect is attenuated. Originality/value: The research sheds light on the debate on whether luxury brands should create digital interactions in international markets, given that these global brands operate in multiple channels. Findings show that luxury brands can develop strategies based on aspects of their brand identity, a less malleable feature of brand identity within global markets. Additionally, the research contributes to the conversation about a global luxury market. In short, the findings offer evidence in favor of brand identity (personality) influencing the digital channel strategy a brand should undertake in international markets, first, followed by consumer needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that the vast majority of brand extensions fail, it is important to understand how extension failure influences consumer judgments of the parent brand that launched the extension. In the brand extension literature, there is a paucity of research on the role of consumer characteristics in influencing response to such failures. To fill this gap, the present research examines the impact of consumers' implicit theory orientation—their perspective on whether personality traits are malleable versus fixed—on the severity of negative feedback effects following extension failure. Seven studies show that entity theorists, who believe in the fixedness of personality traits, penalize parent brands more than incremental theorists, who endorse trait malleability. This brand penalty effect arises because as compared to incremental theorists, entity theorists are motivated to view brands as a cohesive group and therefore equate extension failure with the diminishment of the overarching parent brand. This effect is more likely when brand cohesiveness is low or ambiguous, but it is less likely when brand cohesiveness is high. Furthermore, while entity theorists are more likely to reduce brand evaluations after extension failure, the two groups do not differ in parent brand evaluations after extension success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores how brand extension evaluation is influenced by two types of brand relationship: an exchange brand relationship focused on product quality and value, versus a communal brand relationship focused on emotional connection with consumers. Through three studies, we demonstrate that there is no significant difference in the effect of brand relationship types on high-fit extension, but communal (vs. exchange) brand relationship leads to a more favorable evaluation of low-fit extension. In addition, we find that a serial mediating effect of self-brand affinity and feeling of trust. Specifically, communal (vs. exchange) brand relationship leads to stronger self-brand affinity and stimulates consumers' feeling of trust, thereby improving the evaluation of low fit extension. The results provide brand managers with insights into the values of brand relationship management in brand extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political parties operate as partisan social groups and partisanship biases the way individuals process political information, form political opinions, and evaluate candidates. Partisans demonstrate favoritism when evaluating fellow party members but discriminate against those in the opposing party. However, the bounds of this partisan intergroup bias are undetermined. Using a constructed political website, an experiment tested the extent of the reach of partisan social identity in biasing evaluations on candidate brand attributes. That limit was not ascertained as partisans evaluated an out-party candidate lower than an in-party candidate on every brand element measured, including personal and nonpolitical attributes. Through a tragic frame, partisans expressed great negative affect toward a candidate from the opposing party and transfer it to his political stances, experience, wife, grandson, and even dog. The results reveal that partisan social identities create divides among social and personal issues and exacerbate affective polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Low-fit brand extensions offer several potential benefits, yet their success is challenging. Building on construal level theory, this study aims to investigate how different advertising appeals can improve the evaluations of low-fit brand extensions through two different processes (cognitive and affective). Design/methodology/approach: Two experiments were conducted with US consumers. Study 1 used a 2 (extension fit: high, low) × 2 (ad appeal: abstract, concrete) between-subjects design. Study 2 applied a 2 (brand associations: promotion, prevention) × 2 (ad appeal: promotion, prevention) between-subjects design. Multivariate analyses and follow-up means comparisons were used to analyse data. Findings: Study 1 found that an abstract ad appeal is more effective for promoting low-fit brand extension because it improves the perception of fit. Study 2 showed promotion vs prevention ad appeals lead to better evaluation of low-fit brand extensions when matched with parent brand associations (promotion vs prevention) in terms of construal level. This matching effect is underpinned by processing fluency. Research limitations/implications: Ad appeals can influence low-fit brand extension evaluation by influencing the perception of fit (cognitive process) or processing fluency (affective process). Future research could consider different ad appeals and other construal related factors to generalise these findings. Practical implications: Marketers can design different ad appeals to effectively advertise low-fit brand extensions. These findings can guide managers in the development of effective advertising strategies. Originality/value: This research offers a new perspective on how ad appeals can enhance low-fit brand extension evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to draw on cue utilization and irradiation theories to: determine the extent to which country-of-origin image and its sub-dimensions exert an aggregate and relative influence on consumer brand evaluations; and identify the contextual and methodological factors that account for between-study variance in the focal relationship. Design/methodology/approach: A random-effects model was used to examine 166 empirical articles encompassing 499,563 observations, and 282 effect sizes from 1984 to 2020 using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Findings: Results show that country-of-origin image has a positive, moderate effect on consumer brand evaluations. Moreover, findings reveal that each dimension of country-of-origin image – general country image, general product country image, specific product country image and partitioned country image – significantly influences consumer brand evaluation, but the effect of general product country image is the largest. What's more, the aggregate impacts of country-of-origin image on consumer brand evaluation – brand commitment, brand-specific associations and general brand impressions – show that the effect on brand commitment is the largest. Finally, findings show that contextual factors (brand source, product sector, culture [individualism vs collectivism], brand origin continents and respondents' continent) and methodological factors (cues, sampling unit, publication year and sample size) significantly account for between-study variance. Originality/value: This study provides the first meta-analytic review of the relationship between country-of-origin image and consumer brand evaluation to help clarify mixed findings and balance out the literature, which has only seen quantitative reviews on product evaluation and purchase decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Communication about sustainability in fashion is complex. While fashion businesses have increasingly sought to manage their sustainability practices, their understanding of how to communicate about sustainability persuasively remains limited. The authors argue that a key problem with a firm's efforts in communicating about sustainability is that it is a psychologically distant issue for both businesses and stakeholders. This paper aims to apply construal level theory to explore managers' construal level in shaping communication about sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: The paper used a two-phase qualitative methodology. Phase one involved undertaking interviews with ten managers in fashion firms to address communications about sustainability in the UK. In phase two, 16 consumers interpreted and reflected on the persuasiveness of communications about sustainability encompassing both concrete and abstract forms of messaging. Findings: The authors identify the factors driving different approaches to communication (concrete and abstract) depending on the construal levels of managers, managers' perceptions of the construal level of target stakeholders and the perceived authenticity of the sustainability claim. The paper highlights the conditions under which the (mis)match with the brands' sustainable practices works in crafting communication. The authors also highlight three main communication strategies in responding to the complexity of sustainability in fashion ecosystems: amplification, quiet activist and populist coupling. Research limitations/implications: As an in-depth qualitative study, the authors seek to expose an under-researched phenomenon, yet generalisations both within the fashion industry and beyond are limited by this focus. Practical implications: Fashion managers need to be flexible and evaluate how their communications about sustainability affect stakeholders' evaluations of their brands. As sustainability in fashion brands grows, concrete and specific sustainability messaging may be necessary to improve sustainable behaviours. Originality/value: The prevailing literature encourages symbiosis between sustainability practices and communications; such relationships are rare, and studies outside the consumer perspective are also rare. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this exploratory study is the first to understand how managers' construal level influences decisions around communications about sustainability in fashion and how these messages are perceived by consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do CEOs, entrepreneurs, managers, celebrity bloggers, and other brand leaders acquire charismatic authority in the marketplace? Grounded in a multi-perspective, in-depth case study of the charismatic CEO of an Austrian shoe manufacturer, this article introduces a sociocultural mechanism called charismatic entrainment. Charismatic entrainment involves brand leaders staging charismatic authority by promoting polarized worldviews and taking personal risks to demonstrate their ability to lead social change. It further involves consumer-followers publicly validating and consumer-critics challenging brand leaders' claims to charismatic authority, encouraging further entrainment via their support, but also their criticism. Brand leaders, consumer-followers, and consumer-critics draw on social media , marketplace sentiments , and brand manifestations as entrainment resources to more effectively endow brand leaders with charismatic authority in the marketplace. The article contributes a market-based, multi-stakeholder—versus an organizational, leader-centric—theory of charisma co-creation to the literature on charismatic authority. It also adds to theories of iconic branding, risk consumption, and societal morality plays, sensitizing readers to the constructive but also destructive potential of market-based charisma co-creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heritage branding is a common marketing strategy that has been shown to increase product appeal. Here, we find that certain forms of heritage branding can also have potentially negative consequences by leading consumers to react negatively to changes made to the brand's original, flagship product—even if those changes objectively improve it. We demonstrate that when firms engage in heritage branding that emphasizes a brand's longevity, consumers evaluate enhanced products less favorably than the original versions of those same products due to decreased perceptions of continuity authenticity. We demonstrate this effect across a variety of product domains (e.g. cosmetics, cookware, and food products), using online experiments as well as in-person product trials. Moreover, we provide a framework that distinguishes between types of heritage branding cues that lead to negative evaluations of enhanced products versus those that do not. Finally, beyond identifying an important boundary condition based on specific aspects of heritage branding, we further show how the negative evaluations of enhanced products can be attenuated if brands reframe product changes as continuous with the brand's origins. Together, these studies contribute to existing theory regarding heritage branding and authenticity, while also providing a number of practical recommendations for heritage brands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research shows that spatial distance between visual representations of a product and consumers may enhance or devalue consumers' perceptions of the brand depending on the brand image (prestigious vs. popular). The authors suggest that spatial distance signals prestige when status and luxury are relevant to the brand image, and decreased distance signals social closeness when popularity and broad appeal are relevant to the brand image. The authors show that for prestigious brands whose brand image is associated with status and luxury, consumers' attitude toward the product becomes more favorable and their willingness to pay a premium for the product grows as the distance between the visual representations of the product and the consumer increases. In contrast, for popular brands whose brand image is associated with broad appeal and social connectedness, the closer the distance, the more favorable is consumers' attitude and the higher their willingness to pay a premium. The findings provide useful guidelines to marketers on the use of visual cues in advertising and product displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of symbolic meanings and brand associations on consumers' buying decisions is an important area of inquiry. In this article, we use symbolic interactionism as the theoretical framework for investigating the impact of the presence of religious signs in print advertisements on consumers' brand evaluation (namely, brand affect and brand trust) and purchase intention. We also study the comparative impact of two different types of religious signs--religious icons versus religious symbols--on brand evaluation and purchase intention. Three experimental studies (N-80, 161, and 452) were conducted to investigate the effect of religious signs in advertisements for secular products and to compare the results for religious icons and religious symbols. Both kinds of religious signs were found to positively impact brand evaluation and purchase intention. However, religious icons were found to have a higher positive impact than religious symbols on brand evaluation and purchase intention. The results also indicate that highly religious consumers respond more favorably to advertisements containing religious cues in comparison to less-religious consumers. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the studies in the domains of advertising, branding, and semiotics are discussed, and research limitations are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A brand is an enterprise's market image and huge intangible assets. A brand is an enterprise's market image and huge intangible assets, and it is also a comprehensive embodiment of an enterprise's core competitiveness. Therefore, continuous improvement of brand competitiveness undoubtedly has far-reaching significance for manufacturing enterprises. Using the brand competitiveness evaluation index system and selected evaluation methods of manufacturing enterprises constructed in this article, the brand competitiveness evaluation index system and selected evaluation methods can not only study the overall brand competitiveness of the participating enterprises, but also understand the advantages and disadvantages of the brand competitiveness of the participating enterprises from different perspectives, To help and guide manufacturing enterprises to strengthen brand building in a targeted manner and continuously improve the brand competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises. The brand competitiveness evaluation of manufacturing enterprises is a classical MAGDM problems. Recently, the TODIM and VIKOR method has been used to cope with MAGDM issues. The interval neutrosophic sets (INSs) are used as a tool for characterizing uncertain information during the brand competitiveness evaluation of manufacturing enterprises. In this manuscript, the interval neutrosophic number TODIM-VIKOR (INN-TODIM-VIKOR) method is built to solve the MAGDM under INSs. In the end, a numerical case study for brand competitiveness evaluation of manufacturing enterprises is given to validate the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Referral reward programs (RRPs) have attracted increasing attention from researchers and practitioners in recent years. Drawing on the analytic–holistic thinking framework, we explore the degree to which styles of thinking affect receiver's responses to the referrals through three studies. We find that rewards in RRPs adversely affect referral responses, resulting in lower purchase intention and brand evaluation. Such an effect of rewards, however, is moderated by styles of thinking. For holistic thinkers, the above effect of rewards on receiver's responses is valid because holistic receivers are more sensitive to contextual factors (e.g., rewards and tie strength). For analytic receivers, however, there is no significant difference in receiver's responses to unrewarded (vs. rewarded) referrals. In addition to styles of thinking, the results also show that tie strength has a moderating effect on the receiver's response to the referrals. However, the moderating effect of tie strength on receiver's responses is also affected by styles of thinking. For holistic receivers, the moderating effect of tie strength is significant. For analytic receivers, however, the moderating effect of tie strength is not significant. Our conclusions complement the existing research on RRP and provide management implications for enterprises to develop more efficient referral reward programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Augmented reality (AR) is gaining recognition among executives as a powerful marketing tool. Unlike virtual reality, AR integrates virtual content into the real world, providing consumers with interactive experiences. AR applications like IKEA Place and Dulux Visualizer allow users to visualize furniture or paint colors in their homes, while AR games like Pokémon Go generate new revenue streams. The increasing availability of AR capabilities in smartphones and the creation of efficient developer tools have contributed to ist breakthrough. AR offers various levels of local presence, ranging from simple overlays to highly immersive mixed-reality experiences. The potential of AR extends beyond virtual reality, as it can create a new form of integrated three-dimensional Internet. AR marketing can enhance brand evaluations and emotional consumer-brand relationships, particularly through inspiration and closeness. Companies should consider AR as a tool for branding, as it has shown positive effects on brand attitudes, product evaluations, purchase intentions and word-of-mouth. Managers are encouraged to experiment with AR to understand ist potential and stay competitive in the evolving digital landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overstock reduction methods offer important marketing signals that may affect consumer brand perceptions. In particular, some overstock reduction methods create disposal-based scarcity, that is, product scarcity resulting from reductions of unsold stock. Three experimental studies reveal distinct effects of incineration, which completely destroys the product, compared with methods that are less destructive, such as recycling, donating, or discounting through factory outlets. Achieving disposal scarcity through destruction ultimately damages consumer brand evaluations. In contrast, recycling, donating, and discounting methods, along with indicating a lack of brand overstock, can enhance brand evaluations. Communicating sold-out stock does not translate into such beneficial effects. These varied effects of different overstock reduction methods are mediated by perceptions of exclusivity, popularity, and wastefulness. Furthermore, the mediating effect of perceived wastefulness in the link between overstock reduction methods and brand evaluations is moderated by self–brand connection but not by perceived brand luxuriousness. This article thus integrates literature on scarcity, branding, wastefulness, and disposal behavior to identify a distinct type of scarcity and the conditions in which it has more positive or negative effects on brand perceptions and evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective - This paper focuses on analyzing the significance of sports footwear brands by processing large text data from the Internet. In a modern environment, the brand distinguishes a company's products or services from those of its competitors. A strong brand can help build trust with customers as they perceive the brand as reliable and trustworthy. Methodology/Technique - The study uses NLP (Natural Language Processing) methods to analyze rich text content on the Internet. The research focus is based on the application of innovative methods to determine the importance and value of a brand using NLP techniques by analyzing the content of a large corpus of text originating from websites dealing with sports footwear brands. The NLP analysis models were programmed using the low-code analysis tool KNIME. Findings - The analysis is carried out for the most well-known sports footwear brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Under Armour, Reebok and Asics. The research object refers to the analysis of brand significance and the evaluation of consumer opinions on sports footwear, based on the processing of large text data from the internet. Novelty - The research results are based on an innovative approach to measuring and evaluating the brand significance in sports footwear using NLP methods to analyze large text content from the Internet. The results obtained show that this new approach to metrics and evaluation can significantly improve existing methods of brand evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large and growing number of brands use music in their marketing communications to influence consumer perceptions. This article offers an answer to how brands can leverage the characteristics of music pieces to convey an innovative image and boost brand evaluations among consumers. The authors bridge prior research in psychology, marketing, and musicology to demonstrate that using music pieces with an irregular contour or unstable tonality in communications can make brands appear more innovative. The difficulty that consumers experience in cognitively processing music pieces with these characteristics (disfluency) mediates these effects. Additionally, this research shows that branding with music that has an irregular contour or unstable tonality can either positively or negatively impact brand evaluations. This is contingent on whether brand communication includes information about brand innovativeness or brand liking. This article identifies the characteristics of music that influence perceived brand innovativeness and brand evaluations and offers a theoretical lens for understanding these effects. It also reveals which brands can benefit from using music pieces with an irregular contour or unstable tonality, as well as when they can benefit from it. Additionally, it provides practical recommendations for music selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the spillover effect of information about a brand's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity on competing brands' evaluations. Two experimental studies show that receiving information about a brand's CSR activity (vs. receiving descriptive information about a brand) has a negative effect on a competing brand's evaluations among consumers with high product category knowledge. Decreased trustworthiness perceptions of other brands in the same product category drive this effect. However, the negative spillover of a brand's CSR information to a competing brand disappears among consumers with low product category knowledge, or if a competing brand has low brand typicality. Together, this research allows a more nuanced understanding of the spillover effect of CSR information and offers managerial implications for the strategic use of CSR activities in brands' marketing communications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]