Journal
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING REVIEW
Volume 32, Issue 6, Pages 713-731Publisher
EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1108/IMR-09-2013-0175
Keywords
Brand image; Analogical learning theory; Brand origin; Meaning transfer
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Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore how brand origin (BO) cues affect the consumer's association of a new brand with BO learning and the subsequent effects on brand image (BO semiotics). An integrative theoretical framework is proposed that includes both processes. Design/methodology/approach - The proposed model is based on analogical learning theory and triadic semiotic theory. Findings - Two types of BO knowledge form BO meanings in consumer minds: country-related categories and exemplar brands, which have a classification and/or inferential role. The brand cues (indexes or icons) used by consumers to identify BO generate one or the other type of BO knowledge. Indexes trigger the classification function of country-related categories while icons trigger the inferential role of country-related categories and exemplar brands. BO knowledge informs the meaning transfer when consumers interpret the meaning of a new brand, leading to either a transfer of relations or a transfer of attributes to the new brand. Practical implications - Marketers should monitor BO exemplar brands that consumers use as meaning sources and carefully select the signs used in their communications to evoke BO. Originality/value - The proposed framework contrasts with dominant categorisation perspectives, re-establishing the dual role of categories and emphasising the relevance of brand cues in BO identification and BO exemplar brands in the BO meaning transfer process. A meaning-centred perspective is adopted to integrate BO identification and the related transfer mechanisms.
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