This study examines the effect of brand morality and brand competence on explicit and implicit brand attitude and whether identification mediates this effect. The study has a two (morality: low x...Show moreThis study examines the effect of brand morality and brand competence on explicit and implicit brand attitude and whether identification mediates this effect. The study has a two (morality: low x high) by two (competence: low x high) factorial experimental between-subjects design. The experiment was conducted with the Qualtrics Domain of Leiden University. The results of four ANOVA’s showed that both brand morality and brand competence affect consumers’ explicit and implicit brand attitude, with a larger effect of brand morality. The first regression analysis showed that identification influences the effect of both brand morality and brand competence on explicit brand attitude, with a slightly larger effect of brand morality. The second regression analysis showed that identification influences the effect of brand competence on implicit brand attitude but does not influence the effect of brand morality on implicit brand attitude. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and suggestions for further research are discussed.Show less
Knowing how perceived brand traits influence consumers could give companies essential insights to improve their strategies and campaigns. Previous research has shown perceived brand personality...Show moreKnowing how perceived brand traits influence consumers could give companies essential insights to improve their strategies and campaigns. Previous research has shown perceived brand personality traits to affect consumer behavior. This study aims to determine the relation between perceived competence and perceived morality on consumer purchase intention and brand evaluation, including a possible moderating role of perceived brand gender cues. An online survey was conducted with 178 participants. The results showed that morality predicted consumer purchase intention as well as brand evaluation. Competence only positively influenced consumer purchase intention. Surprisingly, a contradicting negative interaction was found between competence and morality on consumer purchase intention. Furthermore, competent perceived companies have more purchase intention when they are perceived as masculine. The findings of this study confirm the importance of perceived brand traits and introduce perceived morality, consumer brand evaluation and perceived brand gender cues as new valuable variables in these relations.Show less
