公司形象和产品属性超越的协同效应:基于刻板印象内容模型

The synergistic effect between corporate image and product's superior benefits: A stereotype content model approach

由于消费者和品牌之间的关系与人际关系存在许多相似之处,反映人际感知的刻板印象内容模型为品牌感知研究提供了全新的视角。然而,以往研究多关注品牌感知两大维度——"感知能力"和"感知温情"二者之间的作用关系,鲜有研究同时基于公司层面和产品层面考察品牌感知不同维度的前因变量及其交互作用机理。鉴于此,本文实验1考察了公司形象/产品属性超越的不同维度与"感知能力"和"感知温情"的对应关系,在此基础上进一步发现公司形象和产品属性超越对购买意愿的协同效应。具体而言,当公司形象为能力型时,产品享乐性(相对于功能性)属性超越下消费者的购买意愿更高;当公司形象为诚信型时,产品功能性(相对于享乐性)属性超越下消费者的购买意愿更高。而且,品牌赞赏感在上述协同效应中发挥中介作用。实验2探究感知风险调节公司形象和产品属性超越对购买意愿的协同影响。文章最后讨论了本文的理论贡献,对企业如何实现公司形象策略和产品属性策略的协同促进等方面的营销启示,以及未来研究方向。

Models of social perception in social psychology can help our understanding of consumers＇ perception and relation with brands. Consumers＇ relationships with brands sometimes resemble people＇s relationships among themselves. It is thus speculated that the Stereotype Content Model（SCM） on how social perception works would possibly apply to brand perception. Few studies, however, have investigated the antecedent variables of the different dimensions of brand perception at the corporate and product levels, as well as their interaction mechanism. This research explored the possible antecedent roles of corporate image and product＇s superior benefits in brand perception. We further hypothesized a synergistic effect of corporate image and product＇s superior benefits on purchase intention, with brand admiration playing a mediating role. In Experiment 1, participants were randomly assigned to a 2（Corporate image： ability vs. trustworthiness） × 2（Product＇s superior benefits： utilitarian vs. hedonic） design, with brand perception and purchase intention as dependent variables, and brand admiration as the mediating variable. A total of 120（112 valid） MBA students participated in this experiment. Following the methods in previous research, we manipulated corporate image and product＇s superior benefits. Participants were then asked to complete the ratings of brand perception, brand admiration, and purchase intention. In Experiment 2, participants were randomly assigned to a 2（Perceived risk： low vs. high） × 2（Corporate image： ability vs. trustworthiness） × 2（Product＇s superior benefits： utilitarian vs. hedonic） design with identical dependent variables in Experiment 1. The 200（117 valid） undergraduates were told that they were in one of two beverages purchase scenarios. In the low-risk scenario, participants imagined themselves purchasing beverages for home consumption. In the high-risk scenario, participants imagined themselves purchasing beverages to take to dinner at good friends＇ parties. The results of Experiment 1 showed an interaction between corporate image and product＇s superior benefits on the purchase intention. Specifically, when corporate image was ability-based, product＇s superior hedonic（vs. utilitarian） benefits led to higher purchase intention. When corporate image was trustworthiness-based, product＇s superior utilitarian（vs. hedonic） benefits led to higher purchase intention. Moreover, this synergistic effect was mediated by brand admiration. Experiment 2 investigated the moderating role of perceived risk in the synergistic effect between corporate image and product＇s superior benefits. Results showed that perceived risk moderated the interaction effect between corporate image and product＇s superior benefits on purchase intention. More specifically, when perceived risk was low, there was a synergistic effect between corporate image and product＇s superior benefits on purchase intention. However, when perceived risk was high, there was a congruency effect of corporate image and product＇s superior benefits on purchase intention. This paper provides a new perspective by probing into the antecedent variables of brand perception with the Stereotype Content Model（SCM）. Moreover, this research investigates the mechanism causing the synergistic effect by adopting ＂the complementarity of competence-warmth perception＂ as theory framework. Finally, our research provides insightful implications on how to achieve a synergistic promoting effect of corporate image strategy and product benefits strategy, and beyond.