IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/jobman/v29y2022i6d10.1057_s41262-022-00280-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The influence of brand sustainability on purchase intentions: the mediating role of brand impressions and brand attitudes

Author

Listed:
  • Petar Gidaković

    (University of Ljubljana)

  • Mateja Kos Koklič

    (University of Ljubljana)

  • Mila Zečević

    (University of Ljubljana)

  • Vesna Žabkar

    (University of Ljubljana)

Abstract

Consumers increasingly expect corporate brands to be sustainable and uphold their ethical values. To explore this topic, we draw on the impression formation literature from social psychology to investigate how perceptions of corporate sustainability activities influence the formation of corporate brand impressions (regarding the dimensions of brand warmth, competence, and morality), which in turn translate into favourable brand attitudes and purchase intentions. In collaboration with a market research company, we conducted an online survey of 441 respondents who evaluated a range of real-world corporate brands from different industries. The results show that brand sustainability has a positive indirect effect on purchase intentions mediated by brand impressions and attitudes towards a brand. We show that brand impressions and attitudes function as complementary mediators, meaning that consumers’ beliefs about a company’s sustainability activities directly affect the consumers’ behavioural intentions. Moreover, we demonstrate that brand warmth, competence, and morality are fundamental dimensions of consumers’ brand impressions. We discuss the implications of the findings and future research directions in the field of corporate brand impressions and sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Petar Gidaković & Mateja Kos Koklič & Mila Zečević & Vesna Žabkar, 2022. "The influence of brand sustainability on purchase intentions: the mediating role of brand impressions and brand attitudes," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(6), pages 556-568, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jobman:v:29:y:2022:i:6:d:10.1057_s41262-022-00280-y
    DOI: 10.1057/s41262-022-00280-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41262-022-00280-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41262-022-00280-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rai, Tage S. & Diermeier, Daniel, 2015. "Corporations are Cyborgs: Organizations elicit anger but not sympathy when they can think but cannot feel," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 18-26.
    2. Bolton, Lisa E. & Mattila, Anna S., 2015. "How Does Corporate Social Responsibility Affect Consumer Response to Service Failure in Buyer–Seller Relationships?," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 140-153.
    3. C. Vallester & A. Lindgreen & F. Maon, 2012. "Strategically leveraging corporate social responsibility to the benefit of company and society : a corporate branding perspective," Post-Print hal-00800282, HAL.
    4. Jae-Bin Cha & Mi-Na Jo, 2019. "The Effect of the Corporate Social Responsibility of Franchise Coffee Shops on Corporate Image and Behavioral Intention," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Urša Golob & Klement Podnar, 2019. "Researching CSR and brands in the here and now: an integrative perspective," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(1), pages 1-8, January.
    6. Salzmann, Oliver & Ionescu-somers, Aileen & Steger, Ulrich, 2005. "The Business Case for Corporate Sustainability:: Literature Review and Research Options," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 27-36, February.
    7. Ralf van der Lans & Bram Van den Bergh & Evelien Dieleman, 2014. "Partner Selection in Brand Alliances: An Empirical Investigation of the Drivers of Brand Fit," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(4), pages 551-566, July.
    8. Halkias, Georgios & Davvetas, Vasileios & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios, 2016. "The interplay between country stereotypes and perceived brand globalness/localness as drivers of brand preference," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 3621-3628.
    9. Seo Young Kim & Bernd H. Schmitt & Nadia M. Thalmann, 2019. "Eliza in the uncanny valley: anthropomorphizing consumer robots increases their perceived warmth but decreases liking," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 1-12, March.
    10. Katie Kelting & Adam Duhachek & Kimberly Whitler, 2017. "Can copycat private labels improve the consumer’s shopping experience? A fluency explanation," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 569-585, July.
    11. Kumar Ramesh & Raiswa Saha & Susoban Goswami & Sekar & Richa Dahiya, 2019. "Consumer's response to CSR activities: Mediating role of brand image and brand attitude," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(2), pages 377-387, March.
    12. Lynes, Jennifer K. & Andrachuk, Mark, 2008. "Motivations for corporate social and environmental responsibility: A case study of Scandinavian Airlines," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 377-390, December.
    13. Won‐Moo Hur & Yeonshin Kim, 2017. "How Does Culture Improve Consumer Engagement in CSR Initiatives? the Mediating Role of Motivational Attributions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(6), pages 620-633, November.
    14. Kübler, Raoul V. & Colicev, Anatoli & Pauwels, Koen H., 2020. "Social Media's Impact on the Consumer Mindset: When to Use Which Sentiment Extraction Tool?," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 136-155.
    15. Xinshu Zhao & John G. Lynch & Qimei Chen, 2010. "Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 197-206, August.
    16. Ryan M. Stolier & Eric Hehman & Jonathan B. Freeman, 2020. "Trait knowledge forms a common structure across social cognition," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(4), pages 361-371, April.
    17. Grewal, Dhruv & Kroschke, Mirja & Mende, Martin & Roggeveen, Anne L. & Scott, Maura L., 2020. "Frontline Cyborgs at Your Service: How Human Enhancement Technologies Affect Customer Experiences in Retail, Sales, and Service Settings," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 9-25.
    18. C. Christopher Baughn & Nancy L. (Dusty) Bodie & John C. McIntosh, 2007. "Corporate social and environmental responsibility in Asian countries and other geographical regions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 189-205, September.
    19. Mansur Khamitov & Xin (Shane) Wang & Matthew Thomson & Vicki G MorwitzEditor & J Jeffrey InmanEditor & JoAndrea Hoegg, 2019. "How Well Do Consumer-Brand Relationships Drive Customer Brand Loyalty? Generalizations from a Meta-Analysis of Brand Relationship Elasticities," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 46(3), pages 435-459.
    20. Smith, Robert W. & Keller, Kevin Lane, 2021. "If all their products seem the same, all the parts within a product seem the same too: How brand homogeneity polarizes product experiences," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 698-714.
    21. Walsh, Gianfranco & Beatty, Sharon E. & Shiu, Edward M.K., 2009. "The customer-based corporate reputation scale: Replication and short form," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(10), pages 924-930, October.
    22. Zachary S. Johnson & Yun Jung Lee & Minoo Talebi Ashoori, 2018. "Brand associations: the value of ability versus social responsibility depends on consumer goals," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(1), pages 27-37, January.
    23. Henri Kuokkanen & William Sun, 2020. "Companies, Meet Ethical Consumers: Strategic CSR Management to Impact Consumer Choice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(2), pages 403-423, October.
    24. Stefan Markovic & Oriol Iglesias & Jatinder Jit Singh & Vicenta Sierra, 2018. "How does the Perceived Ethicality of Corporate Services Brands Influence Loyalty and Positive Word-of-Mouth? Analyzing the Roles of Empathy, Affective Commitment, and Perceived Quality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(4), pages 721-740, April.
    25. Kolbl, Živa & Arslanagic-Kalajdzic, Maja & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios, 2019. "Stereotyping global brands: Is warmth more important than competence?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 614-621.
    26. Jan-Benedict E M Steenkamp & Rajeev Batra & Dana L Alden, 2003. "How perceived brand globalness creates brand value," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(1), pages 53-65, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tarcia Camily Cavalcante Quezado & Nuno Fortes & William Quezado Figueiredo Cavalcante, 2022. "The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics on Brand Fidelity: The Importance of Brand Love and Brand Attitude," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Akram, Muhammad S. & Malhotra, Neeru & Goraya, M. Awais Shakir & Shareef, Mahmud A. & Malik, Aneela & Lal, Banita, 2022. "User engagement on global social networks: Examining the roles of perceived brand globalness, identification and global identity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    3. Bernhard Swoboda & Carolina Sinning, 2021. "Endorsement of Global Product Brands by Global Corporate Brands – A Consumer Perspective Across Nations," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 563-598, August.
    4. Sichtmann, Christina & Davvetas, Vasileios & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios, 2019. "The relational value of perceived brand globalness and localness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 597-613.
    5. Qamar Farooq & Yunhong Hao & Xuan Liu, 2019. "Understanding corporate social responsibility with cross‐cultural differences: A deeper look at religiosity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 965-971, July.
    6. Kolbl, Živa & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios & Arslanagic-Kalajdzic, Maja & Zabkar, Vesna, 2020. "Do brand warmth and brand competence add value to consumers? A stereotyping perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 346-362.
    7. Jacobs, Nele & Swoboda, Bernhard, 2023. "The role of national institutions in the effects of consumers’ perceived customer orientation and firm innovativeness," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5).
    8. Zimmer, Lukas & Swoboda, Bernhard, 2023. "Perceived corporate social responsibility effects across nations – The role of national institutions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3).
    9. Pilar Fernández‐Ferrín & Sandra Castro‐González & Belén Bande, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility, emotions, and consumer loyalty in the food retail context: Exploring the moderating effect of regional identity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 648-666, March.
    10. Bruno F. Abrantes & Rana Basit Ali, 2023. "Perception of brand globalness and localness: the role of brand competence in stereotype-building and value consciousness," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(4), pages 722-737, December.
    11. Bourdin, David & Halkias, Georgios & Makri, Katerina, 2021. "The compensatory influences of country stereotypes and the global/local nature of brands: An extended framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 28-38.
    12. Tarek Abid & Marie‐Aude Abid‐Dupont & Jean‐Louis Moulins, 2020. "What corporate social responsibility brings to brand management? The two pathways from social responsibility to brand commitment," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 925-936, March.
    13. Jesús J. Cambra‐Fierro & J. Alfredo Flores‐Hernández & Lourdes Pérez & Guadalupe Valera‐Blanes, 2020. "CSR and branding in emerging economies: The effect of incomes and education," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2765-2776, November.
    14. Riefler, Petra, 2012. "Why consumers do (not) like global brands: The role of globalization attitude, GCO and global brand origin," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 25-34.
    15. Janina SÜRKEN & Sören SUNDERMANN, 2021. ""Online Touchpoints Matter!" - An Empirical Analysis of Consumer-Brand Relationships in Retail Settings," Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 77-87, August.
    16. Camila Kolling & José Luis Duarte Ribeiro & Donato Morea & Gianpaolo Iazzolino, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and circular economy from the perspective of consumers: A cross‐cultural analysis in the cosmetic industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1226-1243, May.
    17. Athanasios Krystallis & Vlad Zaharia & Antonis Zairis, 2021. "“When” Does It Pay to Be Good? Attributions Mediate the Way CSR Elements Impact on Consumer Responses, and Are Controllable," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, May.
    18. Leonidas Hatzithomas & Christina Boutsouki & Fotini Theodorakioglou & Evanthia Papadopoulou, 2021. "The Link between Sustainable Destination Image, Brand Globalness and Consumers’ Purchase Intention: A Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-16, August.
    19. Nils Christian Hoffmann & Juelin Yin & Stefan Hoffmann, 2020. "Chain of Blame: A Multi-country Study of Consumer Reactions Towards Supplier Hypocrisy in Global Supply Chains," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 247-286, April.
    20. Jajja, Muhammad Shakeel Sadiq & Asif, Muhammad & Montabon, Frank & Chatha, Kamran Ali, 2020. "The indirect effect of social responsibility standards on organizational performance in apparel supply chains: A developing country perspective," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:jobman:v:29:y:2022:i:6:d:10.1057_s41262-022-00280-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.