The EU as Superordinate Brand Origin: An Entitativity Perspective
- Author(s)
- Adamantios Diamantopoulos, Marc Herz, Nicole Koschate-Fischer
- Abstract
Purpose
Drawing from the entitativity theory, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the European Union (EU) as a superordinate entity and investigate the extent to which a “Made-in-EU” designation leads to superior/inferior brand evaluations and through them to higher/lower purchase intentions than different country-specific designations.
Design/methodology/approach
Prior literature and qualitative interviews with consumers are used to generate several propositions regarding the role of the EU as a brand origin. These are subsequently tested in a series of four experimental studies using a common design but different country-specific origins as stimuli.
Findings
While a “Made-in-EU” designation is interpreted as a quality signal, linking a brand to the EU fails to generate positive affective associations. Furthermore, the exact impact of a “Made-in-EU” brand designation very much depends on the standard of comparison, that is, the specific country against which the EU is evaluated.
Research limitations/implications
Superordinate designations such as the EU can indeed represent distinct entities in consumers’ minds which strongly impact their perceptions and intended behavior.
Practical implications
Moving from a “home country” label to a “Made-in-EU” label is not advisable for owners of domestic brands. For foreign brands from EU countries with an unfavorable country image, adopting a “Made-in-EU” label is worth considering since it can strengthen quality perceptions. However, any quality advantage might be offset by weaker brand affect perceptions.
Originality/value
The concept of entitativity introduces a new conceptual lens in the context of origin research which – almost exclusively – has previously focused on the individual country as the unit of analysis.- Organisation(s)
- Department of Accounting, Innovation and Strategy
- External organisation(s)
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), kleinundpläcking
- Journal
- International Marketing Review
- Volume
- 34
- Pages
- 183-205
- No. of pages
- 23
- ISSN
- 0265-1335
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1108/IMR-03-2015-0097
- Publication date
- 2015
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 502052 Business administration
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Marketing, Business and International Management
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/the-eu-as-superordinate-brand-origin-an-entitativity-perspective(d5bff564-76a6-4c40-bf74-c4e952db158c).html