If This Brand Were a Person, or Anthropomorphism of Brands Through Packaging Stories

Kniazeva, Maria,Belk, Russell W. Korean Academy of Marketing Science 2010 마케팅과학연구 Vol.20 No.3

The anthropomorphism of brands, defined as seeing human beings in brands (Puzakova, Kwak, and Rosereto, 2008) is the focus of this study. Specifically, the research objective is to understand the ways in which brands are rendered humanlike. By analyzing consumer readings of stories found on food product packages we intend to show how marketers and consumers humanize a spectrum of brands and create meanings. Our research question considers the possibility that a single brand may host multiple or single meanings, associations, and personalities for different consumers. We start by highlighting the theoretical and practical significance of our research, explain why we turn our attention to packages as vehicles of brand meaning transfer, then describe our qualitative methodology, discuss findings, and conclude with a discussion of managerial implications and directions for future studies. The study was designed to directly expose consumers to potential vehicles of brand meaning transfer and then engage these consumers in free verbal reflections on their perceived meanings. Specifically, we asked participants to read non-nutritional stories on selected branded food packages, in order to elicit data about received meanings. Packaging has yet to receive due attention in consumer research (Hine, 1995). Until now, attention has focused solely on its utilitarian function and has generated a body of research that has explored the impact of nutritional information and claims on consumer perceptions of products (e.g., Loureiro, McCluskey and Mittelhammer, 2002; Mazis and Raymond, 1997; Nayga, Lipinski and Savur, 1998; Wansik, 2003). An exception is a recent study that turns its attention to non-nutritional packaging narratives and treats them as cultural productions and vehicles for mythologizing the brand (Kniazeva and Belk, 2007). The next step in this stream of research is to explore how such mythologizing activity affects brand personality perception and how these perceptions relate to consumers. These are the questions that our study aimed to address. We used in-depth interviews to help overcome the limitations of quantitative studies. Our convenience sample was formed with the objective of providing demographic and psychographic diversity in order to elicit variations in consumer reflections to food packaging stories. Our informants represent middle-class residents of the US and do not exhibit extreme alternative lifestyles described by Thompson as "cultural creatives" (2004). Nine people were individually interviewed on their food consumption preferences and behavior. Participants were asked to have a look at the twelve displayed food product packages and read all the textual information on the package, after which we continued with questions that focused on the consumer interpretations of the reading material (Scott and Batra, 2003). On average, each participant reflected on 4-5 packages. Our in-depth interviews lasted one to one and a half hours each. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed, providing 140 pages of text. The products came from local grocery stores on the West Coast of the US and represented a basic range of food product categories, including snacks, canned foods, cereals, baby foods, and tea. The data were analyzed using procedures for developing grounded theory delineated by Strauss and Corbin (1998). As a result, our study does not support the notion of one brand/one personality as assumed by prior work. Thus, we reveal multiple brand personalities peacefully cohabiting in the same brand as seen by different consumers, despite marketer attempts to create more singular brand personalities. We extend Fournier's (1998) proposition, that one's life projects shape the intensity and nature of brand relationships. We find that these life projects also affect perceived brand personifications and meanings. While Fournier provides a conceptual framework that links together consumers’ life themes (Mick and Buhl, 本?究的焦点是品牌的?人化. 品牌?人化被定???品牌看作是人?. 具???, 本?究的目?是理解如何?品牌?人化的方法. 通?分析消?者?食品包?上的故事的??, 我???展示行?者和消?者如何?一系列品牌?人化??造意?. 我?的?究??是一?品牌?不同的消?者具有多?或?一意?, ?想, ?性的可能性. 我?首先强?了本?究在理?和??方面的重要性, 解?了?什?我??注作?品牌意???工具的包?. 然后我??述了我?量性?究方法, ??了?果. 最后??了管理方面的?示和?未??究的建?. 本?究先?消?者直接??品牌意???的工具然后??些消?者口?自由表?他?所感受到的意?. 具???, ?了?得有?感知意?的?据, 我?要求??者去????的品牌食品包?上的非??的故事. 包?在消?者?究方面??有得到足?的?注(Hine, 1995). 直到?在, ?究?是??注包?的?用功能?形成了探索??信息的影?的?究主?. (例如Lourei ro, McCluskey and Mittelhammer, 2002; Mazis and Raymond, 1997; Nayga, Lipinski and Savur, 1998; Wansik, 2003). 一?例外是最近的?究, ?注意力?向非??信息的包??明, ??其?文化?品和?品牌神?的工具(Kniazeva and Belk, 2007). 下一步就是探索?些神?活?如何影?品牌?性感知以及?些感知如何?消?者相?. ?些都是本?究所要强?的. 我?用深度????助消除量性?究的局限性. 我?的便利?本的?成具有人口??和消?心??的多?化以?到?得消?者?包?故事的不同的感知. 我?的??者是美?的中?居民, ??有表?出Thompson(2004)所描述的 "文化?造者" 的?端生活方式. 九名??者被采??于他?食品消?偏好和行?的??. 他?被要求看看12?展示的食品?品包????包?上的文字信息. 之后, 我????行?注消?者???材料的解?的??. (Scott and Batra, 2003). 平均?看, 每???者感知4-5?包?. 我?的深度??是一?一的???半?小?. 采??容被?音下????, 最后有140?的文字. ?品?在位于美?西海岸的?地食品??店, ?些?品代表了食品?品??的基本范?, 包括零食, 罐?食品, ?片, ??食品和茶. 我?使用Strauss和Corbin (1998)提出的?展?根理?的步??分析?据. ?果表明, 我?的?究不支持先前的?究所假?的一?品牌/一??性的?念. 因此我?展示了在消?者看?多?品牌?性可以在同一品牌身上?好的共存, ?管行?者???造更多?一的品牌?性. 我?延伸了Fournier's (1998) 的假?, 某人的人生??可以形成?品牌?系的强度和本?. 我????些人生??也影?感知的品牌?人化和意?. Fournier提出了把消?者人生主?(Mick和Buhl, 1992)和?人化?品的相?作用?系在一起的?念?架. 我???消?者人生??形成了把品牌?人化和品牌?消?者?有的?注相??的方式. 我?通???者??了??品牌?人化的方法. 第一?, 品牌?性通?感知的人口??, 消?心??和社??性所?造. 第二, 第二, 在我?的?究?涉及到品牌的消?者所存在的???消?者的?性被混合, 以?接到他?(品牌?朋友, 家庭成?, 隔壁?居)或??自己的品牌?性和疏?他?(品牌作?二手?推??, "一群高管".) 通??注食品?品包?, 我??明了非常具?的, 被?泛使用, 但?少深入?究的???播工具: 品牌故事. 近期的?究已??包??神?制造者. ?行?者??要?作出和?品及消???的消?者相?的文字

If This Brand Were a Person, or Anthropomorphism of Brands Through Packaging Stories

Maria Kniazeva,Russell W. Belk 한국마케팅과학회 2010 마케팅과학연구 Vol.20 No.3

The anthropomorphism of brands, defined as seeing human beings in brands (Puzakova, Kwak, and Rosereto, 2008) is the focus of this study. Specifically, the research objective is to understand the ways in which brands are rendered humanlike. By analyzing consumer readings of stories found on food product packages we intend to show how marketers and consumers humanize a spectrum of brands and create meanings. Our research question considers the possibility that a single brand may host multiple or single meanings, associations, and personalities for different consumers. We start by highlighting the theoretical and practical significance of our research, explain why we turn our attention to packages as vehicles of brand meaning transfer, then describe our qualitative methodology, discuss findings, and conclude with a discussion of managerial implications and directions for future studies. The study was designed to directly expose consumers to potential vehicles of brand meaning transfer and then engage these consumers in free verbal reflections on their perceived meanings. Specifically, we asked participants to read non-nutritional stories on selected branded food packages, in order to elicit data about received meanings. Packaging has yet to receive due attention in consumer research (Hine, 1995). Until now, attention has focused solely on its utilitarian function and has generated a body of research that has explored the impact of nutritional information and claims on consumer perceptions of products (e.g., Loureiro, McCluskey and Mittelhammer, 2002; Mazis and Raymond, 1997; Nayga, Lipinski and Savur, 1998; Wansik, 2003). An exception is a recent study that turns its attention to non-nutritional packaging narratives and treats them as cultural productions and vehicles for mythologizing the brand (Kniazeva and Belk, 2007). The next step in this stream of research is to explore how such mythologizing activity affects brand personality perception and how these perceptions relate to consumers. These are the questions that our study aimed to address. We used in-depth interviews to help overcome the limitations of quantitative studies. Our convenience sample was formed with the objective of providing demographic and psychographic diversity in order to elicit variations in consumer reflections to food packaging stories. Our informants represent middle-class residents of the US and do not exhibit extreme alternative lifestyles described by Thompson as “cultural creatives” (2004). Nine people were individually interviewed on their food consumption preferences and behavior. Participants were asked to have a look at the twelve displayed food product packages and read all the textual information on the package, after which we continued with questions that focused on the consumer interpretations of the reading material (Scott and Batra, 2003). On average, each participant reflected on 4-5 packages. Our in-depth interviews lasted one to one and a half hours each. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed, providing 140 pages of text. The products came from local grocery stores on the West Coast of the US and represented a basic range of food product categories, including snacks, canned foods, cereals, baby foods, and tea. The data were analyzed using procedures for developing grounded theory delineated by Strauss and Corbin (1998). As a result, our study does not support the notion of one brand/one personality as assumed by prior work. Thus, we reveal multiple brand personalities peacefully cohabiting in the same brand as seen by different consumers, despite marketer attempts to create more singular brand personalities. We extend Fournier’s (1998) proposition, that one’s life projects shape the intensity and nature of brand relationships. We find that these life projects also affect perceived brand personifications and meanings.

Why fashion brands enter the metaverse: Exploring the motivations of fast fashion and luxury fashion brands

Kniazeva Maria,Aiello Gaetano,Dasmi Costanza,Mazzoli Valentina,Nechaeva Olga,Syed Faheem Uddin 한국마케팅과학회 2024 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Vol.15 No.1

Why do fashion brands enter the metaverse when the benefits of using this virtual reality space are not yet clear to the industry? What motivates them to venture into the complex world of digital platforms and ecosystems? Do luxury and fast fashion companies share the same motivations for entering the metaverse? These research questions guide the study which seeks to understand the motivational factors driving fashion brands to establish a presence in the metaverse. To achieve our research objective, we employ qualitative research methods and follow a grounded theory approach. Through a content analysis of publicly available website publications containing insights from fashion industry leaders, we identify commonalities and distinctions in the motivational factors leading luxury and fast fashion brands into the metaverse. The study contributes to the theoretical comprehension of the metaverse as a new strategic platform for the fashion industry and highlights practical implications intended to assist industry managers contemplating entry into this virtual reality space.

TURMERIC LATTE BATTLE: THE COMMODIFICATION AND PROTECTION OF AUTHENTICITY IN WELLNESS TOURISM

Maria Kniazeva 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2023 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2023 No.07

The wellness travel industry faces a curious challenge: it experiences high consumer demand for indigenous experiences while also facing growing accusations of cultural appropriation of authentic practices. According to the Global Wellness Summit (2023), “hyper-indigenous” wellness travel is a global trend for 2023, as travelers seek the source of ancient healing knowledge. However, many of these cultural practices have already spread across national borders like the turmeric latte served in Western retreats or yoga that is practiced globally, leading to an established yoga tourism market (Market Research, 2022). How can these conflicting realities, rooted in the concept of authenticity, be reconciled? This study aims to explore this research question by analyzing two wellness narratives: one that commodifies ingenious practices outside their original borders and another that safeguards them within national and cultural boundaries.

WHY YOU SHOULD (OR NOT) MAKE FILMS FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Maria Kniazeva 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2014 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2014 No.7

The author invites attendees of the Special Session on Film Making for Marketing Research and Communication to have a critical look at the short history of film making in the marketing discipline and foresee its future. There are two perspectives for this discussion: one is a broad overview of film making for consumer behavior research, and the second is the personal reflection of the author who first engaged in film making nine years ago. Film making as a research approach in the academic areas of marketing and consumer behavior is just beginning its early “teenage” years. It counts its formal age from the time it obtained legitimacy when the first Film Festival took place at the Association for Consumer Research Conference in Atlanta, USA, in 2002. Since then, the Film Festival has become an integral part of this major conference that draws together a global academic audience of consumer researchers. In fact, film festivals are now included in the European, Asia-Pacific, and Latin American ACR conferences, and as of 2012, there were more than 125 films accepted into the various ACR Film Festivals (Belk and Kozinets 2012). The current number of accepted films probably exceeds 150, which demonstrates growing interest in film making in the academic discipline of marketing. Russell W. Belk and Robert V. Kozinets,“founding fathers” of the ACR Film Festivals have become instrumental in developing guidance and academic criteria for the novel research approach of videography. Films are expected to be topical, theatrical, theoretical, and technical. That means that 1) the topic under visual investigation should relate to consumer research; 2) the film should flow in a dramatic and engaging way; 3) a theoretical perspective and contribution should be evident; and 4) the film should have good production values (Belk and Kozinets 2012). The author, who started making films without prior expertise after attending a workshop, has since produced four videographies of various lengths and levels of mastery. They have been presented at conferences globally, one was published in a special multi-media issue of an academic journal, two have earned academic awards, and all of them have found use in the classroom. Topic-wise, the films related to consumer research by exploring happiness (“Finding Harmony in the Jungle”), the role of narratives on food product packaging (“It All Began with a Kiss, or When Packaging Sells a Country”), the transformational power of street language (“Red Bull on the Roof of the World or From Landscape into Servicescape”), and the Easternization of the West (“Yoga and Fashion”). The videographies were filmed in Belize, Italy, England, Indonesia (Bali) and China (Tibet). The film making process for the author has been rewarding because of the creative potential that comes with videography and the use of visual channels of communication for academic purposes. Challenges include making sure the films have the necessary rigor to qualify as academic work.

RESTORING AUTHENTICITY OF A COUNTRY

Maria Kniazeva 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2014 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2014 No.7

This work aims to explore how authenticity of a newly independent country is being restored in the face of legacy left by invaders. To surface crucial elements of geopolitical authenticity, I turn to Estonia as a country representative of many nations that went through the tumultuous changes of the last century. The end of the twentieth century left a powerful mark on the geopolitical scenery of the planet. Countries’ borders were changed or restored, and new formal maps were redrawn. Only the break up of the former Soviet Union has resulted in 15 independent countries, with Estonia being one of them. The joy of freedom came up with economic, political, and cultural challenges including the challenge of restoring authenticity of a country.

WHEN A POINTY NOSE IS IN VOGUE: OR (UN) SAVING FACE IN KOREA

Maria Kniazeva,Eva Babicheva 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2015 Global Fashion Management Conference Vol.2015 No.06

While borrowing from the theory of lookism, defined as “prejudice toward people because of their appearance” (Tietje and Cresap 2005, p, 31), this paper ventures into an emerging pattern of consumer behavior—designing one’s own body with the help of a surgical blade. The “designer body” idea has gradually moved from futuristic fiction to the exclusive domain of celebrity personalities and has lately arrived in the more mainstream marketplace (Kim, 2015). Available statistics indicate a growing number of plastic surgeries and clinic locations, the booming popularity of the aesthetics surgery specialty in medical schools, and burgeoning medical tourism with the goal of aesthetically reinventing one’s body (Akam 2014). Consumer vocabulary has embraced “rhinoplasty” and “liposuction” and lovingly transformed the dry medical jargon into the softer slang terms “rhino” and ‘lipo.” While breast augmentation is the most popular surgical procedure, in this work we purposely focus on the face. Unless veiled, the face is the body part that is always on display. In addition, we intentionally perform this study in the specific cultural domain that places strong metaphorical value on the face and has historically developed the dignity-centered concept of “saving face” as a major guiding principle of life. The choice of South Korea within this vast cultural realm seems the most logical given the fact that twenty percent of women in the country have something surgically done on their faces, which is arguably the highest known proportion in the world (Willett 2013). Finally, South Korea’s emphasis on Confucian values is part of our approach. Our research objective is to understand the interplay of major cultural forces that define the embrace of a novel mass marketed product (plastic surgery) designed to correct one’s genetic make-up. Considering marketing to be one such cultural force (Fedorenko 2014), we specifically aim to conceptualize its role in an ongoing interaction with Confucian values. What makes a culture rooted in conservative beliefs and respect for the elderly so openly question and surgically correct the “quality” of the body received from one’s parents? Does it happen because of or in opposition to Confucianism? Does fashion simply extend its province by converting desirable pointy noses and v-shaped chins into “in” items similar to pointy shoes? These research questions have shaped our qualitative methodological approach (Strauss and Corbin 1998) that relies on the juxtaposition of norms and values dictated by Confucian beliefs and those manifested through marketing channels. To uncover the normative messages and consumer directions coming from marketers, we turn to the so-called language of the street and perform close analysis of fifty advertising billboards and street signs promoting plastic procedures and located in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. We read both visual and textual data against the traditional Confucian literature. This methodological direction for our study was developed with the purpose to fill in the gap in the existing research, as detailed in the literature review, followed by the analysis of data, discussion of our findings, and the final section outlining a potential course for future research.

(UN)SAVING FACE, OR THE DESIGNER FACE AS A NEW CONSUMER COMMODITY

Maria Kniazeva,Eva Babicheva 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2016 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2016 No.7

We develop a concept of the face in the consumer behavior discipline and contribute to the theory of lookism defined as bias toward people because of their perceived physical appearance (Tietje & Cresap,, 2005). “What is the face?” –is our fundamental research question. What makes the face become the site of voluntary alteration? How do marketing forces drive the mainstream embrace of surgical correction of facial features as a commercial commodity, similar to shoes? While the latest medical advances have handed some control over appearance to consumers and provided them with a product (plastic surgery) designed to correct one’s genetic make-up, the designer face as a new consumer commodity hasn’t been addressed academically yet. Presumably, the face is the most distinctive human body element that sets a person apart from others, but academic studies that incorporate the phenomenon of treating people in a way biased by their perceived physical attractiveness have largely focused on the entire physique. To fill the academic gap, we specifically study the normative function of advertising as it presents itself in the format of street billboards. Examining this advertising language in the context of an emerging pattern of consumer behavior—designing one’s face through surgery—we theorize how the marketing channel normalizes this novel pattern, fitting it into historical, philosophical, social, and cultural contexts; how it legitimizes plastic surgery as a mainstream consumer commodity; and how it makes the face an object of alteration. Moreover, we perform the study in the specific cultural domain of Asia that places a strong metaphorical value on the face and has historically developed the honor-centered concept of “saving face” as a guiding principle of life (Lee, 1999). Driven by the fundamental question “What is the face?” and its examination in the context of the face-saving culture of South Korea, we developed a working research question to guide our inquiry: what makes a culture rooted in conservative beliefs and respect for the elderly so openly question and surgically correct the “quality” of the body received from one’s parents?

RESTORING AUTHENTICITY OF A COUNTRY

Maria Kniazeva 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2014 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2014 No.6

This work aims to explore how authenticity of a newly independent country is being restored in the face of legacy left by invaders. To surface crucial elements of geopolitical authenticity, I turn to Estonia as a country representative of many nations that went through the tumultuous changes of the last century. The end of the twentieth century left a powerful mark on the geopolitical scenery of the planet. Countries’ borders were changed or restored, and new formal maps were redrawn. Only the break up of the former Soviet Union has resulted in 15 independent countries, with Estonia being one of them. The joy of freedom came up with economic, political, and cultural challenges including the challenge of restoring authenticity of a country.

WHY YOU SHOULD (OR NOT) MAKE FILMS FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Maria Kniazeva 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2014 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2014 No.2

The author invites attendees of the Special Session on Film Making for Marketing Research and Communication to have a critical look at the short history of film making in the marketing discipline and foresee its future. There are two perspectives for this discussion: one is a broad overview of film making for consumer behavior research, and the second is the personal reflection of the author who first engaged in film making nine years ago. Film making as a research approach in the academic areas of marketing and consumer behavior is just beginning its early “teenage” years. It counts its formal age from the time it obtained legitimacy when the first Film Festival took place at the Association for Consumer Research Conference in Atlanta, USA, in 2002. Since then, the Film Festival has become an integral part of this major conference that draws together a global academic audience of consumer researchers. In fact, film festivals are now included in the European, Asia-Pacific, and Latin American ACR conferences, and as of 2012, there were more than 125 films accepted into the various ACR Film Festivals (Belk and Kozinets 2012). The current number of accepted films probably exceeds 150, which demonstrates growing interest in film making in the academic discipline of marketing. Russell W. Belk and Robert V. Kozinets,“founding fathers” of the ACR Film Festivals have become instrumental in developing guidance and academic criteria for the novel research approach of videography. Films are expected to be topical, theatrical, theoretical, and technical. That means that 1) the topic under visual investigation should relate to consumer research; 2) the film should flow in a dramatic and engaging way; 3) a theoretical perspective and contribution should be evident; and 4) the film should have good production values (Belk and Kozinets 2012). The author, who started making films without prior expertise after attending a workshop, has since produced four videographies of various lengths and levels of mastery. They have been presented at conferences globally, one was published in a special multi-media issue of an academic journal, two have earned academic awards, and all of them have found use in the classroom. Topic-wise, the films related to consumer research by exploring happiness (“Finding Harmony in the Jungle”), the role of narratives on food product packaging (“It All Began with a Kiss, or When Packaging Sells a Country”), the transformational power of street language (“Red Bull on the Roof of the World or From Landscape into Servicescape”), and the Easternization of the West (“Yoga and Fashion”). The videographies were filmed in Belize, Italy, England, Indonesia (Bali) and China (Tibet). The film making process for the author has been rewarding because of the creative potential that comes with videography and the use of visual channels of communication for academic purposes. Challenges include making sure the films have the necessary rigor to qualify as academic work.