The impact of envy on brand preference: brand storytelling and psychological distance as moderators

Abstract

Purpose While envy has been widely explored in psychology literature, theoretical understanding of the effects of envy on consumers’ emotional responses to brands is promising but under explored. Therefore, this study aims to apply cases of envy and psychological distance to consumers to examine whether the style of brand storytelling can moderate brand preference. Design/methodology/approach Three experimental studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. Experiment 1 investigated the effect of envy on consumer evaluations of an advocated brand, through viewing a series of advertisements that varied in brand storytelling styles. A total of 104 working students were randomly assigned to a 2 (brand storytelling: underdog vs top dog) single factorial design. Experiment 2 investigates the effect of envy on consumer evaluations of the advocated brand through viewing advertisements that varied in psychological distance. A total of 108 working students were randomly assigned to a 2 (psychological distance: proximal vs distant) single factorial design. Experiment 3 investigated the effect of envy on evaluations of the brand through viewing advertisements that varied in brand storytelling style and psychological distance. A total of 208 working students were randomly assigned to a 2 (underdog vs top dog) × 2 (proximal vs distant psychological distance) between-subject factorial design. Findings Results demonstrate that for consumers experiencing benign and malicious envy, advertisements characterized by brand storytelling (underdog vs top dog) and psychological distance (proximal vs distant) will elicit differential brand preferences. Originality/value This research takes up the call to address the limited attention given to envy in the context of brand advertising. Specifically, this research aims to explore how consumer envy influences brand preference and the role of moderating effects such as brand storytelling and psychological distance in this context.

When brands take a stand: the nature of consumers’ polarized reactions to social narrative videos

“…Stories are universal and appeal to how people naturally think, making them useful for persuasion (Dessart, 2018; Gabriel, 2000; Woodside et al , 2008). Brand storytelling aims to cultivate brand preference (Kao, 2019) and connect to product consumption or use (Ching et al , 2013). Brand stories have traditionally taken the form of product-related simulation (Escalas, 2004), firm-originated stories (Lundqvist et al , 2013) or brand biographies (Tezer et al , 2019).…”

Storytelling Advertising Investment Profits in Marketing: From the Perspective of Consumers’ Purchase Intention

“…Because people generally integrate themselves into stories to explain the meaning of their experiences. Even people project their own experiencing feelings, such as desire or jealousy, into the brand story, which elicit their differential brand preferences [3].…”

Word of mouth: How upward social comparisons influence the sharing of consumption experiences

“…Following previous studies on feelings that arise from upward social comparisons, we distinguish between benign envy, admiration and malicious envy (Van de Ven et al, 2011b). By studying the effect of these feelings on word of mouth intention, our research complements the literature on the effect of upward social comparisons in different facets of consumption, such as product evaluation (Van de Ven et al, 2011a), consumption of services (Anaya et al, 2016), brand preference (Kao, 2019) or attitude towards social media influencers (Lee & Eastin, 2020).…”

“…The literature about how envy that follows upward social comparisons affects consumption is scarce, especially compared to the level of attention paid to other emotions (Anaya, Miao, Mattila, & Almanza, 2016; Kao, 2019). In the particular case of benign envy, empirical evidence is even more scant (Zeng, Chi, Xiao, & Dong, 2020).…”

“…Both the one‐ and two‐construct perspectives are compatible with the recognition of the diversity of affective, cognitive and motivational consequences (Parrott & Smith, 1993) that can level the difference between the subjects involved in an upward social comparison (Van de Ven et al, 2009). For example, in the field of brand marketing, the distinction between benign and malicious envy has been signalled as helpful to explain the effect of storytelling styles and brand‐consumer psychological distance on brand preference (Kao, 2019). We are also interested in the diversity of consequences of benign and malicious envy, in particular in the use of word of mouth as a strategy to deal with self‐discomfort that follows an upward social comparison.…”