Subjects: Psychology >> Applied Psychology submitted time 2023-04-21
Abstract： Culture has important social attributes. Previous studies have shown that adding traditional cultural attributes to a product, i.e., increasing the product’s cultural load, can improve consumers’ evaluations of the product. However, it is unclear how this affects brand evaluations. We infer that adding traditional cultural attributes to a product may increase the perceived social value of the product and, in turn, improve consumers’ evaluations of the status of the brand to which the product belongs. Furthermore, this positive effect may be stronger for utilitarian than for hedonic products.
Four behavioral studies and one brain-imaging study were conducted. Study 1 used a one-factor design with traditional cultural load (low vs. high) as the between-participant factor to examine the main effect of the traditional cultural load on brand status evaluations. Study 2 used a 2 (traditional cultural load: low vs. high) × 2 (product type: utilitarian vs. hedonic) between-participant design to assess the boundary of the main effect. Study 3a and 3b adopted a one-factor between-participant design to confirm the uniqueness of traditional culture by comparing it with modern culture (high-modern culture vs. low-traditional culture vs. high-traditional culture) and traditional Western culture (high-traditional Western culture vs. low-traditional culture vs. high-traditional Chinese culture), respectively, and also to reveal a mediating role of perceived social value. Finally, Study 4 used a one-factor within-participant design (low traditional culture load vs. high traditional culture load) to confirm the main effect and the mediating role of perceived social value again in an offline experiment. In addition, brain activations of a subset of participants in Study 4 were also measured throughout the experiment using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.
The results of Study 1 showed that increasing the traditional cultural load of a product can improve the perceived status of the brand. Study 2 found the boundary of this effect. Compared to hedonic product brands, utilitarian product brands are more likely to be affected by the traditional cultural load of products. Increasing the traditional cultural load helps to increase the status of utilitarian product brands. Furthermore, the results of Study 3 and Study 4 suggested that the positive effect of product traditional cultural load on brand status is mainly due to the increase in perceived social value. Study 4b found that only in the multi-person social scenario did brain regions associated with social and reward processing show higher levels of activation.
Our theoretical contribution is threefold. First, this research deepens the understanding of the traditional cultural load of products and establishes the link between the traditional cultural load of products and brand status. Second, it unravels the influence of the social attributes of traditional culture on the social value of the product, making it a key mediator in explaining the increase in brand status. Third, we reveal the limitations of using traditional culture in brand management. In addition, our research findings have important practical implications for guiding domestic brands to enhance their brand status.
Hits
YES
Hits
Downloads
Comment