Cognitive, affective attributes and conative, behavioural responses in retail corporate branding
| Published date | 01 August 2006 |
| Date | 01 August 2006 |
| Pages | 293-305 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610420610685703 |
| Author | Rui Vinhas Da Silva,Sharifah Faridah Syed Alwi |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
Cognitive, affective attributes and conative,
behavioural responses in retail corporate
branding
Rui Vinhas Da Silva
Manchester Business School (West), University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, and
Sharifah Faridah Syed Alwi
Faculty of Business & Accountancy, University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Abstract
Purpose – The main aim of the present study is to empirically test a model of antecedents and consequences of corporate brand image (CBI) in two
book retailers, one selling exclusively online, and the other selling exclusively offline in a British context.
Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a survey to investigate the relationships of the antecedents and consequences of the CBI. The
sample (
n
¼511) comprised experienced customers of these two bookstores (visitors and shoppers of the site or bookstore). The antecedents of CBI
which were the functional aspects of brand attributes (such as ease of use, secured web site, interactivity/building relationship, customer care and
reliability) were combined with the CBI itself (emotional aspects of the corporate brand or personality traits of the company) and, further, the
consequences of these emotional aspects such as customer satisfaction and loyalty were tested using a cross-sectional study.
Findings – Using two separate structural equation models, the study found an empirical relationship between the brand attributes and the corporate
brand image (the emotional values). This relationship in turn influences the customer’s responses (loyalty).
Research limitations/implications – By combining two methodological approaches of brand image evaluation: cognition (assessed through tangible
and intangible brand attributes) and affect/emotion (assessed through brand personality scale) this study intends to add to the current understanding of
consumer brand knowledge, in particular when the consumer is assessing a company’sbrand image (the CBI) and also learn how important the effect of
cognitive attributes (such as brand attributes of a store and web site) is in explaining the subsequent CBI, and the integration effect on consumer
responses such as brand loyalty. Do cognitive evaluations drive conative, behavioural actions in retail buying decision making? Are cognitive
evaluations directly related with satisfaction with the retailer and consumer loyalty?
Practical implications – Explicitly, the present study offers practitioners a research framework, aimed at guiding them as to how they could
understand their defined or desired brand values (the corporate core values) among their consumers.
Originality/value – In general, the present study adds to the existing literature in cognitive and affective attributes in consumer judgement and
corresponding conative or behavioural attitudes in branding and reputation management. It brings together the concept of functional brand attributes,
emotional brand attributes (the CBI), and the dependent variables such as customer satisfaction and loyalty in a unique context (internet), and
compares this with the bricks and mortar context.
Keywords Retailing, Corporate branding, Cognition, Product attributes, Consumer behaviour, Brand management
Paper type Research paper
An executive summary for managers and executive
readers can be found at the end of this article.
Literature review and hypotheses development
To combine two methodological approaches (brand
attributes-tangible/intangible with metaphor of human
personality traits)
Keller (2003, p. 596) points out that although the more
abstract and intangible aspects of branding (such as affect or
emotion) help to illuminate consumer aspects of brand
knowledge, other aspects of brand knowledge (such as the
cognitive element of brands) may also be important.
“Integrating these different dimensions of brand knowledge
could improve the ability of researchers to model consumer
responses and of marketers to focus their marketing program”
(Keller, 2003, p. 597).
In fact, Keller (2003, p. 596) pointed out that although the
cognitive evaluation is suggested to be the common approach
in evaluating brand image in the past, the recent brand image
studies have been centred on more affective or emotional
attributes (specifically using metaphor of personality traits to
portray brand image). Moreover, Malhotra (2005) explains
that, for decades, consumer decision-making research was
mostly cognitive in nature (the use of brand attributes or
tangibles). However, in the last two decades, and more
recently, not only have an increasing number of scholars
acknowledged the importance of the affective and emotional
aspects in consumer behaviour (Burk and Edell, 1989;
Holbrook and Westwood, 1989), but this has also been the
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
15/5 (2006) 293–305
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/10610420610685703]
293
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