University of Twente Student Theses
To what extent do the elements character and conflict in brand stories influence brand perception and contribute to purchase intention?
Roos, M.C.J. (2020) To what extent do the elements character and conflict in brand stories influence brand perception and contribute to purchase intention?
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| Abstract: | These days brand stories are getting more important. Companies are not only judged on their product or services, but also on their underlying story of their brand. Without a special story, there is little distinctive about brands. Marketeers are developing brand stories in order to influence the perception of their consumers. Not many studies have tested the effects of brand stories on perception of consumers. This study tries to give answers on how brand stories should be applied in practice. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of story elements in brand stories on the perception of the brand. In this study the story elements conflict and character are used to investigate their effect on brand perception and purchase intention. Literature shows that these elements are crucial for a good story. In this research the two story elements character and conflict are investigated for their effect on the four pillars of brand perception: authenticity, quality, value, trust. Next to that purchase intention is measured. A 2x2 design, with character and conflict as independent variables, was used in an online experiment among 207 participants (N=207) to measure the effects of the story elements. Participants were randomly assigned to read a brand story about a fictional coffee brand. Afterwards participants were requested to give their opinion about several statements regarding the perception of the brand and their purchase intention based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. It was expected that including a character and/or conflict in a brand story would positively increase brand perception and purchase intention of the specific brand. Also, an interaction effect was expected between conflict and character on brand perception and purchase intention. The results of this research indicated that there is an effect of conflict on brand perception. However, the study could not trace the exact effect of conflict on brand perception. Statistical tests only showed a significant effect on brand perception as a whole, but could not indicate which part of perception resulted in the overall significance. Next to that, no effect of character was found within this study on brand perception or purchase intention. Also, no interaction effect was found. Based on the current study it would be recommended to apply a conflict in a brand story to increase the positive effects on brand perception. Despite the fact that the effect of character was not found in this study, it cannot be assumed that the element character does not have an effect on other issues not measured within this study. Future research should focus on different types of conflict to investigate the factors within conflicts which could possibly influence brand perception and purchase intention the most. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies |
| Programme: | Communication Studies MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/80917 |
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