The effects of uncertainty avoidance on brand performance: Marketing creativity, product innovation and the brand duration

This paper investigates the link between brand performance and cultural primes in high-risk,innovation-based sectors. In theory section, we propose that the level of cultural uncertaintyavoidance embedded in a firm determine its marketing creativity by increasing the complexityand the broadness of a brand. It determines also the rate of firm product innovations.Marketing creativity and product innovation influence finally the firm marketingperformance. Empirically, we study trademarked promotion in the Software Security Industry(SSI). Our sample consists of 87 firms that are active in SSI from 11 countries in the period1993-2000. We use the data coming from SSI-related trademarks registered by these firms,ending up with 2,911 SSI-related trademarks and a panel of 18,213 observations. We estimatea two stage model in which first we predict the complexity and the broadness of a trademarkas a measure of marketing creativity and the rate of product innovations. Among severalcontrol variables, our variable of theoretical interest is the Hofstede s uncertainty avoidancecultural index. Then, we estimate the trademark duration with a hazard model using thepredicted complexity and broadness as well as the rate of product innovations, along with thesame control variables. Our evidence confirms that the cultural avoidance affects the durationof the trademarks through the firm marketing creativity and product innovation.

Campaign rhetoric: A model of reputation

We analyze conditions under which a candidate's campaignrhetoric may affect the beliefs of the voters over whatpolicy the candidate will implement in case he wins theelection. We develop a model of repeated elections withcomplete information in which candidates are purely ideological. Voter's strategies involve a credible threat to punish candidates that renege of their campaignpromises, and in equilibrium all campaign promises arebelieved by voters, and honored by candidates. We obtainthat the degree to which promises are credible in equilibriumis an increasing function of the value of a candidate'sreputation.

Measuring asymmetries in brand associations using correspondence analysis

Correspondence analysis is introduced in the brand associationliterature as an alternative tool to measure dominance, for theparticular case of free choice data. The method is also used to analysedifferences, or asymmetries, between brand-attribute associations whereattributes are associated with evoked brands, and brand-attributeassociations where brands are associated with the attributes. Anapplication to a sample of deodorants is used to illustrate the proposedmethodology.

A leverage theory of reputation building with co-branding: Complementarity in reputation building

We present a leverage theory of reputation building with co-branding. We showthat under certain conditions, co-branding that links unknown firms in a new sectorwith established firms in a mature sector allows the unknown firms to signal a highproduct quality and establish their own reputation. We compare this situationwith a benchmark in which both sectors are new and firms signal their qualityonly with prices. We investigate how this comparison is affected by the nature ofthe technology linking the two sectors and a cross-sector inference problem thatconsumers might face in identifying the true cause of product failure. We find thatco-branding facilitates the process in which a Þrm in the new sector to signal itsproduct quality only if the co-branding sectors produce complementary inputs andconsumers face a cross-sector inference problem. We apply our insight to economicsof superstars, multinational firms and co-authorship.

Downsizing, job insecurity and firm reputation

This paper studies how firms make layoff decisions in the presence of adverse shocks. In this uncertain environment, workers' expectations about their job security affect their on-the-job performance. This productivity effect on job insecurity forces firms to strike a balance between laying off redundant workers and maintaining survivors' commitment when deciding on the amount and timing of downsizing. This framework offers an explanation of conservative employment practices (such as zero or reduced layoffs) based on firms having private information about their future profits. High retention rates and wages can signal that the firm has a bright future, boosting workers' confidence. Moreover, the model provides clear predictions about when waves of downsizing will occur as opposed to one-time massive cuts.

Reputation and honesty in a market for information

Previous works on asymmetric information in asset markets tendto focus on the potential gains in the asset market itself. We focus on the market for information and conduct an experimental study to explore, in a game of finite but uncertain duration, whether reputation can be an effective constraint on deliberate misinformation. At the beginning of each period, an uninformed potential asset buyer can purchase information, at a fixed price and from a fully-informed source, about the value of the asset in that period. The informational insiders cannot purchase the asset and are given short-term incentives to provide false information when the asset value is low. Our model predicts that, in accordance with the Folk Theorem, Pareto-superior outcomes featuring truthful revelation should be sustainable. However, this depends critically on beliefs about rationality and behavior. We find that, overall, sellers are truthful 89% of the time. More significantly, the observed frequency of truthfulness is 81% when the asset value is low. Our result is consistent with both mixed-strategy and trigger strategy interpretations and provides evidence that most subjects correctly anticipate rational behavior. We discuss applications to financial markets, media regulation, and the stability of cartels.

Ownership structure, customer satisfaction and brand equity

This paper studies the interaction between ownership structure, taken as a proxy for shareholders commitment, and customer satisfaction - the main driver of consumer loyalty - and their impact on a firm s brand equity. The results show that customer satisfaction has a positive direct effect on brand equity but an indirect negative one because of reductions in ownership concentration. This latter effect emerges when managers are mainly customer-oriented. Such result gives out a warning signal that highlights the perverse effect of implementing policies, focused excessively on satisfying customers at the expense of shareholders, on a firm s brand equity. The empirical analysis uses an incomplete panel data comprising 69 firms from 11 nations, for the period 2002-2005.

Generating global brand equity through corporate social responsibility to key stakeholders

In this paper we argue that corporate social responsibility (CSR) to various stakeholders(customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, and community) has a positive effect on globalbrand equity (BE). In addition, policies aimed at satisfying community interests help reinforcecredibility to social responsible polices with other stakeholders. We test these theoreticalcontentions using panel data comprised of 57 global brands originating from 10 countries (USA,Japan, South Korea, France, UK, Italy, Germany, Finland, Switzerland and the Netherlands) forthe period 2002 to 2008. Our findings show that CSR to each of the stakeholder groups has apositive impact on global BE. In addition, global brands that follow local social responsibilitypolicies over communities obtain strong positive benefits in terms of the generation of BE, as itenhances the positive effects of CSR to other stakeholders, particularly to customers. Therefore,for managers of global brands it is particularly productive for generating brand value to combineglobal strategies with the satisfaction of the interests of local communities.

L'Impuls de la marca-ciutat Barcelona com a mecanisme de reactivació econòmica

La recerca tracta sobre els diferents mecanismes que les ciutats i les regions utilitzen per millorar la seva imatge. En aquest sentit, el treball se centra en la marca-ciutat, el màrqueting de ciutats i els diferents models de comunicació emprats per exaltar la reputació dels territoris. Pel que fa la segona part de la recerca, consisteix en l’estudi de la marca-ciutat Barcelona en els àmbits dels negocis, la societat del coneixement, el turisme, la sostenibilitat i la qualitat de vida i la cultura. Per tant, el propòsit d’aquesta recerca és comprendre quines accions desenvolupen els principals actors per incentivar els negocis a Barcelona, descobrir quines iniciatives s’han pres per potenciar l’economia del coneixement, el turisme, la sostenibilitat i la qualitat de vida i la indústria cultural a la ciutat de Barcelona

The evolution of punishment through reputation.

Punishment of non-cooperators has been observed to promote cooperation. Such punishment is an evolutionary puzzle because it is costly to the punisher while beneficial to others, for example, through increased social cohesion. Recent studies have concluded that punishing strategies usually pay less than some non-punishing strategies. These findings suggest that punishment could not have directly evolved to promote cooperation. However, while it is well established that reputation plays a key role in human cooperation, the simple threat from a reputation of being a punisher may not have been sufficiently explored yet in order to explain the evolution of costly punishment. Here, we first show analytically that punishment can lead to long-term benefits if it influences one's reputation and thereby makes the punisher more likely to receive help in future interactions. Then, in computer simulations, we incorporate up to 40 more complex strategies that use different kinds of reputations (e.g. from generous actions), or strategies that not only include punitive behaviours directed towards defectors but also towards cooperators for example. Our findings demonstrate that punishment can directly evolve through a simple reputation system. We conclude that reputation is crucial for the evolution of punishment by making a punisher more likely to receive help in future interactions, and that experiments investigating the beneficial effects of punishment in humans should include reputation as an explicit feature.

Citizens' preferences for brand name drugs for treating acute and chronic conditions: a pilot study.

Background: Generic drugs have been advocated to decrease the proportion of healthcare costs devoted to drugs, but are still underused. Objective: To assess citizens' preferences for brand name drugs (BNDs) compared with generic drugs for treating acute and chronic conditions. Methods: A questionnaire with eight hypothetical scenarios describing four acute and four chronic conditions was developed, with willingness to pay (WTP) determined using a payment card system randomized to ascending (AO) or descending order (DO) of prices. The questionnaire was distributed with an explanation sheet, an informed consent form and a pre-stamped envelope over a period of 3 weeks in 19 community pharmacies in Lausanne, Switzerland. The questionnaire was distributed to every third customer who also had health insurance, understood French and was aged =16 years (up to a maximum of ten customers per day and 100 per pharmacy). The main outcome measure was preferences assessed by WTP for BNDs as compared with generics, and impact of participants' characteristics on WTP. Results: Of the 1800 questionnaires, 991 were distributed and 393 returned (pharmacy participation rate?=?55%, subject participation rate?=?40%, overall response rate?=?22%); 51.7% were AO and 48.3% DO. Participants were predominantly women (62.6%) and of median age 62 years (range 16-90). The majority (70%) declared no WTP for BNDs as compared with generics. WTP was higher in people with an acute disease than in those with a chronic disease, did not depend on the type of chronic disease, and was higher in people from countries other than Switzerland. Conclusions: Most citizens visiting pharmacies attribute no added value to BNDs as compared with generics, although some citizen characteristics affected WTP. These results could be of interest to several categories of decision makers within the healthcare system.