Purpose -This paper aims to analyse the antecedents of brand love in online network-based communities and to develop an integrative conceptual model in which social-interactive engagement influences brand love via the mediating effects of social identity. Design/methodology/approach -A survey was conducted on the Facebook fan pages of 20 leading international brands. A total of 387 responses were collected from consumers living primarily in Europe and the USA. Structural equation modelling was performed to test the hypothesised linkages. Findings -The results confirmed that the positive influence of social-interactive engagement on brand love is mediated by the psychological effects related to how members perceive their self-concept based on belonging to the social group of the brand fan page. Research limitations/implications -This study considered Facebook, the favourite social network used by customers to connect with brands. Future research is invited to consider other social media to increase the external validity of the model. Practical implications -To strengthen the emotional bond with a brand in online network-based communities, managers should stimulate consumers' social identity by leveraging on the experiences which influence social-interactive engagement. Originality/value -This study is the first to investigate the effects of social-interactive engagement on social identity to enhance the understanding of brand love's antecedents in specific online social environments.

The aim of this study is to identify and interpret the main emerging strategic approaches in communicating a corporate brand through social media (SM). A quantitative content analysis of the SM platforms of 60 major international corporate brands yielded data that were processed by hierarchical cluster analysis. The study identified four clusters, characterized by distinctive approaches in terms of interactivity and openness toward corporate brand building via SM. The findings highlighted that despite encouraging signs of effective use of SM for this purpose, the online corporate communication initiatives of more than a third of all companies are characterized as cautious. Corporate branding strategists are advised to adopt conversational forms of corporate communication, to expand the range of SM used and to involve a broad range of stakeholders in the dialogue. This study adds to the limited body of academic research into the use of SM as part of corporate communication and corporate brand-building strategy.

Purpose -Packaging is a strategic tool that merits holistic management. Three managerial disciplines have the potential to significantly influence packaging strategy: marketing, logistics, and ethics. Despite the multidimensional nature of packaging, the academic literature tends to analyse these three dimensions separately. To address this shortcoming of a more integrated approach, the aim of this paper is to identify the main integration areas among marketing, logistics, and ethics in packaging innovation projects, in the retail grocery sector. Design/methodology/approach -In total, 186 cases of packaging design were selected and the data collected were analysed by quantitative content analysis (cross-tabulation). Findings -The results show that simultaneous integration among marketing, logistics and ethics recurs in only one third of the cases. The main area of integration is between marketing and ethics. To a lesser extent, there is a significant degree of integration between marketing and logistics as well as between logistics and ethics. Nevertheless, the findings of this initial analysis suggest that the potential in terms of integration has yet to be exploited. Practical implications -Taking a holistic view of innovation in packaging, the study can assist managers participating in packaging management by providing a conceptual instrument for the integrated evaluation of the multidimensional relationships among the three perspectives. Originality/value -The paper provides the first empirical exploration in this field and an original conceptual framework that could serve as a theoretical reference point for future research and as a managerial tool, recognising the urgent need for a careful understanding of how marketing, logistics and ethics may be integrated in innovation projects.

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Purpose By adopting a managerial perspective, this study aims to deepen how the strategic role of brand voice is conceived in the design of in-car name-brand voice assistants (NBVAs), how the brand experience based on NBVAs is designed and how the NBVA brand experience might influence customer brand engagement (CBE). The ultimate aim is to develop an interpretative theoretical framework for developing voice-based branding through NBVAs. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research approach with the analysis of a single in-depth case study is followed: the NBVA developed in-house by Mercedes, which was the first NBVA launched in the automotive market. Findings In the design of the NBVA, a key role was assigned to the brand voice in developing the brand’s anthropomorphic profile. Driving safety, consistency with the corporate identity, human-like interaction, dynamic personalisation and connectivity emerged as the strategic criteria for designing the NBVA brand experience, which was oriented towards the pursuit of multiple CBE dimensions. Research limitations/implications Although the qualitative empirical contribution of this study differs from statistical generalisations, the research insights are analytically generalisable. The insights emerging from the study could guide future research on voice-based branding. Practical implications The results may be a useful conceptual reference for managers involved in designing brand voice and brand experience based on NBVAs. Originality/value This study is the first empirical contribution to the marketing literature about voice-based branding in an innovative experiential field, a topic that, thus, far has been poorly analysed.

Consumers' increasing use of voice‐activated artificial intelligence technologies is stimulating the development of a new line of research in the field of marketing aiming to analyse the branding implications in this innovative experiential context. The spread of so‐called name‐brand voice assistants (NBVAs) is creating interesting opportunities in terms of brand anthropomorphism. The brand anthropomorphisation strategies adopted by companies are poorly studied in the academic literature, and only one contribution has been made in the experiential field of NBVAs. Therefore, the objective of our work is to begin to fill this gap by investigating the pillars of brand anthropomorphisation strategies (i.e., activities and branding outcomes) in the specific NBVA context by adopting a managerial perspective. Therefore, we followed an exploratory qualitative approach based on in‐depth personal interviews with practitioners engaged in these strategies in the automotive sector. The resulting cognitive map reveals the following three levels of strategic pillars: drivers (i.e., designing a human‐like brand voice and human‐like consumer‐brand dialogue), intermediate outcomes (i.e., brand personality and the strength of consumer‐brand relationships), and final outcomes (i.e., multidimensional brand loyalty). Our study enriches both the literature concerning brand anthropomorphisation strategies and the nascent stream on NBVAs and provides managerial guidelines in the new in‐car NBVA context.

Digitization and the growing importance of online environments require specific approaches for analyzing and managing e-brands. With a focus on pure players websites, the aim of our study is to analyze the main determinants of users e-brand attitudes. In doing so, our study considers three key variables relating to e-brand attitudes: interactivity, personalization and e-trust. A quantitative empirical study was conducted, and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that the key determinants of user attitudes toward e-brands are interactivity (indirect) and personalization (direct). To a lesser extent, e-trust is a factor that has a significant effect on e-brand attitudes. Furthermore, it is the interrelationships among these constructs that are of particular interest. This study could serve both as a theoretical reference point for future research and as a managerial tool for the integrated evaluation of the multidimensional relationships among e-brand attitude key drivers. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd