Blog

  • Too cute to execute?
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context In 2020, several fashion brands were severely berated by the public for failing to take a stand against racism in the Black Lives Matter movement. It is not unusual for consumers to punish brands following this type of transgressions. The punishments and their magnitudes depend on multiple variables such as brand personality or relations between the brand and consumers. In an article published in 2022 in the International Journal of Research in Marketing, Septianto and Kwon investigate how a particular brand trait, cuteness, influences consumers’ intents to punish the brand following a transgression. Research questions In this research, cutenessContinue reading “Too cute to execute?”
  • How brand characteristics impact warranty valuations
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context The global consumers electronics market was estimated at $48.65 billion in 2020. The business disruption during the Covid pandemic encouraged consumers to subscribe to extended warranties, and it is now turning into a durable consumption pattern. As a consequence, the global consumers electronics is expected to hit $198.99 billion by 2030. Though this is certainly good news for product manufacturers, consumers subscribing to warranties against product failures often end up paying a 100% mark up for extended warranties in different product categories that do not prove beneficial from a financial point of view. In an article published in 2022Continue reading “How brand characteristics impact warranty valuations”
  • Consumer traits and failed brand extensions
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context What do Cadbury, Bic and Cosmopolitan have in common? All three brands proceeded to unsuccessful brand extensions.  Let us remember Cadbury’s instant mashed potatoes, Bic’s disposable underwear or Cosmopolitan’s yogurts. Brand extensions occur when a firm introduces products with the same brand name in a new category. They can increase or decrease brand equity and generate positive or negative feedback depending on the success of the extension. Unfortunately, 80% of brand extensions fail. These failures can even be harmful for the parent brand in terms of image. The characteristics of the brand that may lead to negative feedbacks orContinue reading “Consumer traits and failed brand extensions”
  • Financially constrained and happy to spend?
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context In the last couple of years, the morose economic context has led to record low consumer morale. The consumers’ financial constraints may impact how they consume and how they feel about consuming. The financially constrained consumers tend to engage in compensatory consumption, ie consumption that will allow them to offset the unpleasantness caused by the scarcity of their resources. That behavior stems from a desire to reduce the discrepancy between their perception of their state (ie being financially constrained) and their ideal situation (ie being able to afford whatever they like). Therefore, compensatory consumption should make them feel better.Continue reading “Financially constrained and happy to spend?”
  • The coffee fee
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context The global consumption of coffee per second is estimated at 255 kg. In some countries such as Finland, the average consumption reaches 4 cups a day per capita. Since caffeine is known to be a powerful psychostimulant which excites the mind and the body for hours within seconds of the intake, one can wonder how its daily consumption may affect consumer behavior. Particularly, given the ubiquity of establishments that serve caffeinated drinks near stores (for instance within shopping malls), Biswas, Hartmann, Eisend, Joachims, Apaolaza, Hermann, Lopez and Borges discuss the possible effects of caffeine consumption on shopping behavior, inContinue reading “The coffee fee”
  • University heritage, a strategic tool to attract prospective students?
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest” said Benjamin Franklin. And when taking closer look at the tuition fees of the top universities, we can even say that education is a costly investment indeed. Today, as excellent colleges emerge all around the world, the traditional top establishments (usually in the US and the UK) now face increasing competition, which means prospective students have more options. This means that even well-established universities engage in branding to better attract students and their families, to justify expensive tuition fees and to satisfy various stakeholders (such as staff, students, parents orContinue reading “University heritage, a strategic tool to attract prospective students?”
  • Older, better, pricier
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context This year marks Coca Cola’s 135th anniversary. The firm celebrated by awarding grants to support local, environmental and community projects, thereby showing how it can still remain relevant and contribute to today’s world despite its age. Although some may argue that brand antiquity (ie the year a brand was founded) translates into old age and constitutes a sign of vulnerability for brands, others think that brand age is positively valued by consumers because it is a sign of quality and longevity. Baumert and De Obesso are among the latter: in an article published in 2021 in the Journal ofContinue reading “Older, better, pricier”
  • It takes two to tango
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context As shown by this article, money is a bone of contention for many couples, especially when it comes to joint savings. This is because couples make both joint and individual decisions – about finances, and in general. However, the pursuit of individual goals can sometimes affect the pursuit of shared goals: for instance, if one partner decides to indulge in expensive clothing, it may affect his/her capacity to contribute to joint savings, or, if one partner decides to go to the movies one evening, it may affect his/her ability to contribute to house chores on that day. Therefore, itContinue reading “It takes two to tango”
  • Reused goods and the power of connectedness
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context During the Covid pandemic, the NHS became very concerned about mental health and devised guidelines so that people would better cope with loneliness. Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling of social isolation. As the song goes “all by myself, don’t want to be, all by myself anymore” and as suggested by the NHS guidelines, loneliness can be cured by connecting with others. In an article published in 2021 in the Journal of Marketing Research, Huang and Fishbach argue that the lonely may achieve this sense of connectedness with others through the consumption of reused products. Research questions Huang and FishbachContinue reading “Reused goods and the power of connectedness”
  • When luck improves consumption experiences
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context Subscription boxes have been thriving on the market for some years now, and may be found in various sectors such as food, drink, style, beauty, hobbies etc. Thanks to them, consumers can experience the thrill of being surprised each month by products they have not chosen et sometimes have never even heard of. The enjoyment experienced by these consumers derives from serendipity. Serendipity encompasses the feelings that result from an encounter that is positive, unexpected and that involves some degree of chance. This reasoning is quite unusual in the consumption world, where it is usually taken for granted thatContinue reading “When luck improves consumption experiences”
  • Heritage: manager intents VS consumer reactions
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context The retro trend has put products and brands from the past back into the limelight. Some managers try to surf this wave by emphasizing their brand’s heritage. Although all brands have a history, heritage brand managers carefully select information from the brand’s past to generate a marketing advantage. Moreover, as shown by this article, successful heritage marketing is not only about reminding consumers about the brand’s bygone days, it is also about proving that these past elements are still relevant in today’s world and remain in line with consumer concerns. In other words, managers should choose elements from theContinue reading “Heritage: manager intents VS consumer reactions”
  • Can discounts turn frugal consumers into spenders?
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context In the post Covid economy, many consumers feel that their purchasing power has decreased and consequently feel that they should have more control over their spending: indeed, consumers continue buying necessities such as cleaning products, but no longer indulge in luxuries such as cosmetics. Overall, the economic climate seems to favor frugality among consumers. Frugality is a consumer lifestyle in which consumers are restrained in acquiring and resourcefully using economic goods and services to achieve long-term goals. This change in consumer behavior has led firms from M&S to Asos to propose steep discounts, which constitute a conundrum for frugalContinue reading “Can discounts turn frugal consumers into spenders?”
  • Tell me what you wear and I will tell you what you eat
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context “Your are what you wear”, “You are what you eat”: these catchy titles both suggest that clothes and food may expressions of one’s self. Therefore, Wang, Wang, Lei and Chao investigate a potential connection between clothing style and food choices – through self-perceptions – in an article published in 2020 in the Journal of Business Research. Research questions Wang, Wang, Lei and Chao’s intuition about the potential impact of clothing style on food choices lies in the combination of enclothed cognition theory and self-congruity theory. Enclothed cognition theory is the fact that wearing certain clothes can trigger an associatedContinue reading “Tell me what you wear and I will tell you what you eat”
  • When funeral spending means caring
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context This De Gusipe funeral home commercial stages a family talking about their loved one’s funeral, that they have just attended. While one of the characters compliments the funeral planning stating it showed “how much we cared”, another character objects that the deceased had actually planned his own funeral, which showed “how much he cared”. Finally, the commercial ends on De Gusipe’s slogan: “because we care”. This slogan about sums up the findings reported by Whitley, Garcia‐Rada, Bardhi, Ariely and Morewedge in an article published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology in 2021. This paper shows that caring for lovedContinue reading “When funeral spending means caring”
  • When sharing is fattening
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context In 2019, KFC advertised in this video that its Bucket Kongsi was “always better to share” and allowed to “share love, happiness and special moments with loved ones”. But food sharing is not just about congenial moments, it is also about sharing bacteria or calories… and facing the consequences of this caloric intake! In a paper published in 2020 in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Taylor and Noseworthy explain that from a caloric intake point of view, food sharing is not necessarily the better option. Research questions The authors aim at explaining why food sharing may increase caloric intakeContinue reading “When sharing is fattening”
  • Gender pay gaps and consumer pay-backs
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context In 1970, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Equal Pay Act that prohibits inequal treatment between men and women in terms of employment (among which pay). Unfortunately, about 50 years later, men and women are not on an equal footing when it comes to pay: for instance in 2019 in Europe, women earned 14,1% less than men. To tackle this issue, since 2017, the United Kingdom compels employers with 250 or more employees to publicly disclose information about gender pay gaps. Rendering this information public may entice stakeholders (among them consumers) to put pressure on the firm toContinue reading “Gender pay gaps and consumer pay-backs”
  • Never judge a fruit by its cover
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context “Never judge a book by its cover”, “what counts is on the inside”. While we may try to apply these sayings to our everyday relationships with family, friends and colleagues… do we still have the same attitude when it comes to our food? Apparently not. As several studies have shown, too many fruits and vegetables go to waste because of aesthetic flaws in spite of their being completely edible. In the battle against food waste, such initiatives as “Imperfect foods” propose to provide consumers with unattractive or imperfect produce that was discarded by grocery stores at a discounted price.Continue reading “Never judge a fruit by its cover”
  • “Small” does rhyme with “natural”
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context Would you rather buy your carrots from a farmers’ market or a supermarket? While some consumers argue that there are pros and cons to buying from both businesses, they usually agree that fresher products are available at a farmers’ market and cheaper products are available at a supermarket. Although the argument about different food quality may have been founded, supermarkets have made tremendous efforts to provide consumers with healthier, fresher and organic produce and sometimes even buy from local farmers. In this case, why does supermarket produce seem less natural than produce from the farmers’ market? In an articleContinue reading ““Small” does rhyme with “natural””
  • Does luxury make you selfish?
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context Following the fire of Notre-Dame in Paris, billionaires pledged important donations to help rebuild the mythic monument. When William Plummer announced on Twitter that the Pinault family pledged a 100 million euro donation for the reconstruction, he was either congratulated on the “incredible generous gesture” or accused of pursuing tax savings or criticized because he could afford to give more. On the whole, the billionaires’ gesture was viewed as tactical and mostly serving reputation purposes. Living in a world of luxury, where everything they wish for is at their fingertips, rich people are usually expected to behave in aContinue reading “Does luxury make you selfish?”
  • Life for rent
    by Johanna Volpert
    Context Today, many platforms allow private owners to rent their possessions to other consumers (peer-to-peer rental). Such platforms concern a wide variety of products: housing, cars, bikes, campervans, boats, music instruments… and even pets! On this highly competitive and thriving market, owners try to distinguish themselves, so that renters will pick them over competitors. One popular differentiation strategy is the use of attachment cues (indications that the owner feels attached to the product) in the product’s description. For instance, this owner proves he is very attached to his guitar, by using the phrase “she’s my baby”, while this owner putsContinue reading “Life for rent”

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