Agostino VOLLERO | Projects

EXPLORING THE ROLE OF ¿NEGOTIATED BRANDS¿ IN A DIGITALLY-EMPOWERING WORLD

To meet the objective of the research, i.e. to provide an analysis of the ontological foundations of negotiated brands and their value for IMC evolution in the light of a consumer-dominant logic, the research will follow these steps: 1)a review of extant literature that illustrate the different level of consumer power that entail different brand structure/representation (Streatfield, 2001; Pitt et al., 2006; Boyle, 2007; Gregory, 2007; Bonabeu, 2009; Merz et al., 2009; Payne et al., 2009; Hatch and Schultz, 2010; Kerr et al., 2012; Vollero and Siano, 2013; Labrecque et al., 2013; Iglesias et al., 2013; Quinton, 2013);2)the development of the argument that leads to the urgency to re-conceptualize brand structure in the direction of “negotiated brand”;3)the individuation of the pre-requisites and conditions of viability of negotiated brands (e.g. high-involvement - often keen affection - of customers; consumers’ voluntary investment of energy and time; existence of a community of consumers - or at least of a group of consumers that attribute similar meanings to brands, also different from firm’s perspective - Pitt et al., 2006; Muniz and Schau, 2011; Boysen et al. 2015).The research aims at demonstrating the value of the notion of “negotiated brand”, described as an ongoing negotiation of multiple representations that derives from interactions and narratives, resulting from mediations between firm and customers (often organized in communities). In the continuum of brand negotiation level in a consumer-dominance logic, each different point (from a firm-controlled brand to an open-source perspective) presents different characteristics and will be enhanced by different examples taken from real brands (Ferrero, Burberry, Mozilla Firefox, etc.). Negotiated brand may facilitate integration of customer’s view of marketer’s brand. The progressive alignment between company’s communications and consumer’s perception of brand may be stimulated by the negotiated-brand perspective. Further original aspects are the following: negotiated brands can help to re-focus outside-in perspective in IMC; negotiated brands may help to establish a type of brand knowledge structure that nurtures not only brand equity but also establish the “integration” on the consumer part; negotiated brands may lead to create a new type of brand value of which both firms and customers (often in communities) can take advantage. Lastly, the study is expected to propose the foundations of a new paradigm of IMC in which multiple voices may find an equilibrium in negotiated brands, reinforcing objectives of developing synergy and coordination in marketing communications activities.