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ABSTRACTThis research investigates the formation of consumer attachments to brands contingent upon their attachment anxiety and security. An experiment utilizes a consumer sample and real brands across four product categories (apparel, body care, consumer electronics, and soft drinks) to test the relations between consumer–brand identification and brand attachment dependent on attachment anxiety and attachment security. Consistent with previous research, the findings initially confirm that consumer–brand identification relates positively to brand attachment. Prior work is extended, however, by demonstrating that attachment anxiety has a strong influence on this relationship by moderating the effect of consumer–brand identification on brand attachment but only under low attachment security and with women. Implications relate to attachment research and brand management. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The proliferation of social media resulted in less control over who shares brand content. While brand content sharing by micro-influencers is sought by many firms, the effects of such an activity on brands' personality remains unknown. This study combined context effects and schema theories to demonstrate that assimilation occurs for novice brands, while contrast and ceiling effects take place for established brands due to micro-influencer-brand (in)congruence against the existing brand schemas. Currently, managers target consumers under an assumption that a match between a brand and an influencer is beneficial. We demonstrate that such targeting is advantageous only for novice brands. Established brands paired with congruent micro-influencers experienced no boost in brand personality (ceiling) with a boost occurring only when micro-influencers and brands were incongruent (contrast). Our results raise questions about the effectiveness of current branding strategies and caution about novice brands assimilating undesirable personalities.

PurposeThis study aims to fill in the above-mentioned gap by looking at both children's understanding of advertising and product cues during decision-making. Currently, it is assumed that understanding of advertisements' persuasive intent represents the sole factor that children consider during decision-making, which overlooks the role of intrinsic product cues (taste or healthiness) and more complex interaction between the latter and the perceived persuasive intent.Design/methodology/approachAn experiment with children (of ages 7-13 years) and a survey of their parents were carried out.FindingsWhen exposed to an advertisement, children exhibited less favorable food preferences when they grasped the advertisement's intended persuasive intent and evaluated the product as less healthy. Participants who did not believe that the advertisement aimed to influence them and rated the product as healthy, exhibited more favorable intention to consume the advertised snack.Research limitations/implicationsThis study shows that persuasive intent and healthiness product cues are used simultaneously by young consumers and need to be considered in future research to provide more in-depth understanding of children's decision-making.Originality/valueThe findings highlight the importance of previously overlooked intrinsic product cues and the need to consider both persuasive intent and product cue evaluations to better understand why children may exhibit less healthy food choices.