Brands, love and family
| Date | 21 March 2016 |
| Published date | 21 March 2016 |
| Pages | 69-83 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-08-2014-0695 |
| Author | Pramod P. Iyer,Audhesh K Paswan,Arezoo Davari |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
Brands, love and family
Pramod P. Iyer, Audhesh K. Paswan and Arezoo Davari
Department of Marketing and Logistics, College of Business, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the extent to which love cues are used by brands targeted at multiple decision-makers in a family,
specifically the mother and child.
Design/methodology/approach – First, secondary database (SmartyPants, 2013) is used to identify clusters of brands with similar benefit groups
(i.e. health and nutrition food, indulgence food, entertainment and technology for entertainment and learning) that are most loved by mothers and/or
children. Next, a content analysis of the ads for brands in these clusters is used to identify the common positioning cues across these clusters. The
data from the content analysis are used to explore the extent to which love cues (along with functional and hedonic) are used by these brands loved
by mothers and children.
Findings – The results of this study indicate that functional cues dominate the ads for the brands in functional product categories, as well as hedonic
product categories. Love cues dominate the ads for functional brands preferred by only either moms or kids, whereas for hedonic brands, love cues
dominate the ads targeted at both moms and kids.
Research limitations/implications – The authors hope that this study provides an impetus for more empirical work toward understanding the role
of love in positioning brands aimed at multiple family members.
Practical implications – Love, the underlying thread that connects a family, can be used by brand managers to appeal to multiple family members.
Social implications – Families are fundamental to the society. The authors hope that this study helps marketers appreciate that and do a better
job of marketing to the families, as families also form the fundamental units of purchase and consumption.
Originality/value – This study uses value congruency framework to look at the notion of love as a positioning theme for brands targeted at multiple
decision-makers. Hence, the study contributes to the development of family decision-making behavior.
Keywords Family, Brand, Children, Mothers, Love
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Literature on brand and branding suggests that brands mean
different things to and serve different functions for different
people (Keller and Lehmann, 2006). Firms rely extensively on
brand management processes and spend a lot of resources to
position their brands correctly in the minds of target
consumers to gain customer loyalty. However, consistent with
literature on brand community (Brakus et al., 2009;Cova and
Pace, 2006;Fournier and Lee, 2009;Muniz and O’guinn,
2001), we argue that brand loyalty is also influenced by the
interactions among brand and multiple stakeholders of the
brand decision-making unit. This is especially pertinent when
these stakeholders are part of pre-existing decision-making
unit such as a family. This study focuses on mother and child,
as two members of a family decision-making unit, and
explores the extent to which brand positioning themes used by
brands aimed at mother and/or child include love, hedonic
(including fun) and functional benefits.
We focus on family as a decision-making unit because
family is a fundamental buying and consumption unit.
However, apart from few exceptions such as Szybillo and
Sosanie (1977);Sheth (1974) and Spiro (1983), very few
researchers have explored the finer nuances of family
decision-making. More recently, Commuri and Gentry
(2000) urge more research attention toward family as a
decision-making unit. To get a better understanding of
decision-making by multiple stakeholders, we rely on the
business-to-business purchasing literature, especially from the
relationship perspective (Morgan and Hunt, 1994;Sheth and
Parvatiyar, 1995;Webster and Wind, 1972). These studies
suggest that business purchase decisions are complex and are
built on higher-order abstract bonds. We argue that family
decision-making is also complex, sometimes a drawn-out
process, and is bound together by higher-order abstract
bonds. Hence, marketers must address the concerns of various
individuals involved in the decision-making process, not just
individually but also collectively. Using a common bond (i.e.
the feeling of love within family members) that binds various
family members together and links family members and
brands can be the key to brand success.
Existing literature on consumer–brand relationship has
used terms such as brand sensitivity, brand attachment, brand
commitment, brand trust, brand loyalty and, more recently,
brand love (Albert et al., 2008;Batra et al., 2012;Carroll and
Ahuvia, 2006;Fetscherin et al., 2014;Keller and Lehmann,
2006;Hwang and Kandampully, 2012;Sarkar and Sreejesh,
2014;Wallace et al., 2014). These studies suggest that
consumers develop a strong emotional attachment with
brands and may even have a feeling, akin to love, toward
brands. However, most have looked at the notion of brand
love as a dyadic relationship – one consumer and one brand.
In this study, we focus on multiple family members and
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
25/1 (2016) 69–83
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-08-2014-0695]
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