Involvement in Consumer-Generated Advertising: Effects of Organizational Transparency and Brand Authenticity on Loyalty and Trust

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-18-2018

Publication Title

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

First page number:

1

Last page number:

23

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer involvement with a popular US-based coffee-shop brand consumer-generated advertising (CGA) and its effect on brand loyalty and trust, to test the influence of antecedents: organizational transparency and brand authenticity on CGA involvement, and to analyze differences among customers and non-customers of the brand. Design/methodology/approach: Grounded in the service-dominant logic and signaling theory, a scenario-based survey describing a contest to co-create a video commercial, as CGA, for a prominent US-based coffee-shop brand, yielded 492 responses from recent restaurant patrons. Structural equation modeling was used to test the effects of involvement in CGA on loyalty and trust. Multi-group comparison examined the differences between customers and non-customers of the brand. Findings: Involvement in CGA had positive effects on loyalty and trust for both brand customers and non-customers. Transparency builds perceptions of brand authenticity; both authenticity and transparency significantly and positively affected trust, but only authenticity influenced loyalty. There was a stronger impact of involvement with CGA on loyalty for non-customers than brand customers. Non-customer perceptions of the brand’s authenticity influenced brand trust more significantly than customer perceptions. Practical implications: Coffee-shop brand marketers should leverage online and physical brand exposure to involve both customers and non-customers in company-driven CGA, as a relationship management and marketing tool. Marketers should enhance transparency, which builds perceptions of brand authenticity, leading to greater CGA involvement. Originality/value: This study contributes to hospitality research and literature, revealing that non-customers can be converted to brand customers through authenticity and indirect involvement with CGA, leading to long-term relational outcomes. The results identified consumers’ perception of organizational transparency is an antecedent of brand authenticity and established CGA contests as a relational marketing tool for hospitality brands. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Keywords

Brand authenticity; Consumer-generated advertising; Loyalty; Transparency; Trust

Disciplines

Hospitality Administration and Management

Language

English

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