Shanker Krishnan

This research uses a memory network model to identify various association characteristics underlying consumer-based brand equity. An empirical study measures association characteristics, such as set size, valence, uniqueness, and origin, and examines differences between high and low equity brands on these measures. The results show that consumer association differences are consistent with external equity indicators and provide insights on strong and weak areas for each brand that could be used to strengthen the brand. The discussion addresses implications of the association patterns for managing brand equity, compares the association measures with other equity measurement approaches, and broadens the set of association concepts used in this research.

The topic of management control systems has received limited attention in the marketing literature. Though previous research has tended to view each organizational control in isolation, the authors argue that research should examine the simultaneous use of multiple controls. On the basis of previous work, a conceptual framework for combinations of controls is constructed with associated research hypotheses. Four alternative combinations or “systems” of controls are identified: (1) a traditional bureaucratic management control system with a primary emphasis on formal controls, (2) a clan system with a primary emphasis on informal controls, (3) a low control system, and (4) a high control system. The findings indicate that SBU characteristics and task complexity variables predict the type of system that is likely to be emphasized. In turn, the results indicate that the high control system is associated with highest job …

Prior marketing studies investigating memory for advertisements have relied almost exclusively on examining effects contingent on explicit memory retrieval. This process involves a deliberate effort on the part of the consumer to think back to an advertisement in an attempt to recall the ad information. Studies in this area have shown that a lengthy delay between ad exposure and test, as well as divided attention during the ad exposure episode, hinder or even eliminate successful explicit memory retrieval. The premise of this paper is that an alternative retrieval process, implicit memory, may function differently. This form of memory retrieval is automatic in nature and does not rely on consumers deliberately searching their memory for a previously viewed advertisement. Comparisons with explicit memory retrieval suggest that implicit memory is preserved even in conditions of delay and divided attention …

In this article, the authors investigate the effectiveness of advertising alliances (in which two brands from different product categories are featured together in an advertisement) for introducing new brands. The authors identify degree of complementarity between the featured products, type of differentiation strategy (common versus unique advertised attributes), and type of ad processing strategy (top-down or bottom-up) as important factors in determining ad effectiveness. The conceptualization captures the effects of these factors on brand awareness, brand accessibility, brand beliefs, belief accessibility, and brand attitudes. The theory was tested in an experiment using print advertisements to manipulate the three factors in conditions of high consumer involvement. The results show an interesting pattern of interactions among the factors, which has important implications for managers of new and established brands.

Previous research has shown that the monetary value of a promotion (promotion depth) affects choice during the promotion period. However, as promotion depth increases, consumers might lower their expectations of future price, which in turn may threaten future choice when prices return to normal levels. This research examines how promotion frame (percentage off versus cents off) moderates the effect of promotion depth on postpromotion price expectations and choice. The findings indicate that compared with cents-off promotions, high-depth percentage-off promotions lead to higher postpromotion price expectations. Likewise, postpromotion choice is higher when high-depth promotions are framed in percentage-off than cents-off terms. The authors examine the process underlying the effect of promotion frame on price expectations and find that frame affects (1) consumers' perceptions of the promoted price and …

Reducing the risks believed to be associated with product availability can be critical to increasing consumer retention rates. This study considers the role that perceptions of channel integration have on such beliefs and their impact on purchasing decisions. Surveys distributed to purchasers of specific goods both online and in-store provide data used in the analysis of these effects. The findings suggest that firms simultaneously managing both online and in-store channels should not only reassess the repercussions of availability failures but also consider efforts that encourage the transparency of channel integration.

This article develops a conceptual framework for interpreting performance patterns on a battery of memory tests and presents a diagnostic template for ad testing based on this framework. We first review concepts and empirical findings on direct (recognition and recall) and indirect memory tests. Then we discuss the processes by which these tests may tap the memory traces induced by ad exposure. Next, we outline how relevant stimulus, processing, retrieval, and individual difference factors produce parallel or dissociated performance on these memory tests. Finally, we enumerate likely test performance patterns and propose how these may be used as a diagnostic template to identify (a) the deficient aspects of an ad,(b) facilitation or interference among ad components, and (c) whether ad memory deficits stem from encoding or retrieval problems. We highlight how indirect tests tap ad-induced memory traces that …

We report 2 studies that examined how the strength of humorous advertising executions and their relevance to the brand claims in the advertisement influence consumer memory for the claims. We infer the underlying memory processes by testing claims memory using recall, recognition, and indirect tests following incidental exposure to advertisements manipulating humor strength and claims relevance. Memory for the humor component was checked as corroborating evidence. We also validated these inferences by contrasting these effects on claims and humor memory with those under instructed elaboration. Study 1 shows that for humor of low claims relevance, brand claims memory is an inverted U‐shaped function of humor strength. Compared to both nonhumor and high‐strength humor, moderate humor facilitates both encoding and retrieval of the claims. The patterns of humor memory and instructed …

The brand extension literature suggests that consumers will favorably evaluate a brand extension when (a) it has high fit with the brand and (b) the brand has positive evaluations. We suggest that when a brand operates in multiple product domains, extension evaluations are more complex than have been conceptualized, and favorable consumer responses may result even in the absence of the above two conditions. Our two-process contingency model proposes two dimensions of fit (brand prototype fit and product exemplar fit) and two evaluative processes (top-down and parallel attitude transfer) that drive extension evaluations in different ways, depending on the level of cognitive resources. Three empirical studies found consistent support for the model.

If one took'a time machine back to the grocery and drug stores of 1923 and asked for the leading brands of soap, canned fruit, and chewing gum, the answers would be the same as they are today—Ivory, Del Monte, and Wrigley's. The Campbell and Nabisco names would hold sway in soup and crackers; Kodak and Gillette would still be the most popular cameras and razors; and, of course, the leading soft-drink brand would be no surprise—Coca-Cola! The Boston Consulting Group study (1991), on which the above is based, also reported that of over 6,000 new products placed on the shelves in the first five months of 1991, only 5% had new brand names. The rest, presumably, were extended brand names through which firms were attempting to capitalize on an existing consumer franchise. Consistent with research findings showing that brand extensions have higher sales growth rates and lower advertising costs (Smith, 1991), firms recognize that durable brand names are a tangible part of their equity base. There is interest in brand valuation methods (Barwise, Higson, Likierman, & Marsh, 1989) and discussion of moving beyond historical cost to using a brand's future benefits as formal, supplemental data in valuation (Farquhar, Han, & Ijiri, 1991).

Memory for information in an ad can be detrimentally affected by exposure to another ad if the pictures in the two ads are similar. This has been termed contextual interference and has been shown to affect unfamiliar brands featured in an ad. Two studies were conducted to replicate the interference effect on unfamiliar brands and to examine whether familiar brands will be affected. The results replicate the interference effect on unfamiliar brands, demonstrating the robustness of the phenomenon. The results also show that claims about familiar brands are affected, qualifying previous research that shows that familiar brands are relatively impervious to competitive interference.

Researchers examined the implicit-explicit memory distinction in the domain of brand-name memory from advertisements. The distinctions were tested in 2 experiments that assessed effects of word frequency of the brand name, type of processing, and repetition on tasks reflecting implicit and explicit memory. Results showed that high-frequency brand names perform better on indirect tests. Moreover, priming effects emerged only when the brand names were the focus of attention at advertising exposure. Repetition led to parallel facilitation effects on indirect and direct tasks, whereas elaboration results dissociated these memory tasks. Implications of these findings for brand-name selection and advertising testing are discussed.(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

This article integrates attitude and memory perspectives by examining how brand attitudes and attitude confidence decline over time. A review of the literature identifies 2 independent variables that may cause a decline in attitudes: (a) source of information (exposure to advertising or product trial) and (b) time of measurement (immediate or 1-week delay). Hypotheses are developed that (a) attitude confidence will decline over time for participants exposed to advertising but not trial, (b) brand attitudes will decline over time for trial-based attitudes but not those based on advertising, (c) a consequence of confidence decline is lowered attitude-behavior consistency, and (d) reactivating attitudes will prevent declines in attitude and attitude confidence. Results generally confirm the hypotheses but also reveal some interesting and unexpected findings. Implications for current attitude and advertising models and future …

Success of many products depends on how consumers learn to use them. This research suggests that initial product trial may lead to jumps in consumer learning. Such discontinuities in learning co-occur with the experience of insight—namely, a better conceptual understanding of how to use the product. Notably, such learning also positively affects downstream outcomes such as affect and usage intentions. Whereas exploration during initial trial facilitates insight-based learning, usage instructions seem to limit this type of learning. The implication for marketing managers is to structure initial trials in a manner conducive to exploration, thus leading to insight-driven learning and the associated positive outcomes.

Consumer exposure to new brand names can occur in contexts with or without brand information being present. Whereas previous research has examined the effects of brand name characteristics (association set size and word frequency) on memory in the presence of brand information, this paper also assesses brand name effects in contexts without brand related information and extends it to brand consideration and choice. Two different processes are found to be operating as consumers retrieve brands and make a choice. Recall seems to benefit from a distinctiveness based route, which also guides consideration and choice. In contrast, implicit memory is influenced by familiarity, with corresponding consideration and choice effects. The implications are that firms’ choice of brand names and media needs to consider the combination of brand name characteristics that will lead to desired outcomes vis-à …