Termed corporate associations, consumer corporate brand perceptions influence evaluations of new products made by consumers. Corporate associations are conceptualized as falling within two categories (Brown and Dacin 1997): a corporation may develop a reputation for Corporate Ability (CA) by developing quality products or for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through its corporate commitment to societal obligations. Past research suggests that product-related CA associations lead to more favorable product evaluations than CSR, which is a contextual association that is less product-related. However, past research has been limited to line extensions, which are evaluated in a piecemeal cognitive process. Unlike line extensions, evaluations of brand extensions include an intervening categorization process that determines consumers' evaluative strategies. This research merges the corporate association and brand extension literature streams and, in four studies, contributes to the literature by establishing that brand extension fit moderates the influence of corporate associations on product evaluations. This finding is developed further by demonstrating that both individual differences (self-construal) and brand-related attributes moderate this interaction.

Companies are increasingly drawing on their user communities to generate promising ideas for new products, which are then marketed as "user-designed" products to the broader consumer market. We demonstrate that nonparticipating, observing consumers prefer to buy from user-rather than designer-driven firms because of an enhanced identification with the firm that has adopted this user-driven philosophy. Three experimental studies validate a newly proposed social identification account underlying this effect. Because consumers are also users, their social identities connect to the user-designers, and they feel empowerment by vicariously being involved in the design process. This formed connection leads to preference for the firm's products. Importantly, this social identification account also effectively predicts when the effect does not materialize. First, we find that if consumers feel dissimilar to participating users, the effects are attenuated. We demonstrate that this happens when the community differs from consumers along important demographics (i.e., gender) or when consumers are nonexperts in the focal domain (i.e., they feel that they do not belong to the social group of participating users). Second, the effects are attenuated if the user-driven firm is only selectively rather than fully open to participation from all users (observing consumers do not feel socially included). These findings advance the emerging theory on user involvement and offer practical implications for firms interested in pursuing a user-driven philosophy. Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1999. (authors' abstract)

Este trabalho visa investigar as demandas do setor empresarial voltadas às políticas de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação no Brasil a partir de 1990. São o foco central deste estudo entender como se processa a relação entre os principais atores do Sistema Nacional de Inovação (SNI) brasileiro e evidenciar como a Anpei, Anprotec e Abipti articulam às demandas empresariais e às políticas públicas para inovação. Questiona-se neste trabalho se as demandas do setor empresarial privado brasileiro têm sido contempladas pelas políticas de CT&I a partir dos anos 1990. Em um primeiro momento foram coletados dados e informações da Anpei, Anprotec e Abipti acerca do tema inovação tecnológica e das demandas empresariais em CT&I. Na seqüência, foram realizadas entrevistas com representantes de cada uma das três instituições. Além disso, foram reunidos dados e informações de outras associações como CNI, Fiesp, Firjan e IEDI. Da investigação realizada pode-se concluir que a partir dos anos 1990 tem aumentado a participação do setor empresarial na discussão de temas ligados à inovação. Todavia, os resultados dessa interface com o governo ainda mostram-se pouco efetivos em termos de atendimento de suas demandas. Verifica-se que falta uma cultura de inovação do setor empresarial bem como planejamento estratégico tanto por parte de governo e empresas para a formulação e implementação de políticas de inovação eficazes no país. / This study seeks to investigate the Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) demands of the private sector in Brazil since the 1990s by advancing understanding on how the relationship between the key National Systems of Innovation (NSI) actors operates. It also outlines how the Anpei, Anprotec and Abipti articulate private sector demands and public polices for innovation. The dissertation seeks to explore the extent to which the demands of the Brazilian private sector have been contemplated in the formulation of ST&I policies since the 1990s. In a first stage, data and information related to technology innovation and the ST&I demands of the private sector were collected from the Anpei, Anprotec and Abipti. Following these efforts, interviews with representatives of each institution were carried out. In addition, data from other business associations like CNI, Fiesp, Firjan and IEDI were also collected. Based on the analysis of this data, I conclude that there has been an increase in the participation of the private sector with respect to discussions on topics related to innovation. However, the results from the interface of this sector with the public sector have had limited effectiveness as the demands of private firms remain unmet. I also find that there is a lack of culture of innovation in the private sector, as well as strategic planning on the part of both the public and private sectors, and that these factors impede the formulation and implementation of more effective innovation policies.

Este trabalho visa investigar as demandas do setor empresarial voltadas às políticas de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação no Brasil a partir de 1990. São o foco central deste estudo entender como se processa a relação entre os principais atores do Sistema Nacional de Inovação (SNI) brasileiro e evidenciar como a Anpei, Anprotec e Abipti articulam às demandas empresariais e às políticas públicas para inovação. Questiona-se neste trabalho se as demandas do setor empresarial privado brasileiro têm sido contempladas pelas políticas de CT&I a partir dos anos 1990. Em um primeiro momento foram coletados dados e informações da Anpei, Anprotec e Abipti acerca do tema inovação tecnológica e das demandas empresariais em CT&I. Na seqüência, foram realizadas entrevistas com representantes de cada uma das três instituições. Além disso, foram reunidos dados e informações de outras associações como CNI, Fiesp, Firjan e IEDI. Da investigação realizada pode-se concluir que a partir dos anos 1990 tem aumentado a participação do setor empresarial na discussão de temas ligados à inovação. Todavia, os resultados dessa interface com o governo ainda mostram-se pouco efetivos em termos de atendimento de suas demandas. Verifica-se que falta uma cultura de inovação do setor empresarial bem como planejamento estratégico tanto por parte de governo e empresas para a formulação e implementação de políticas de inovação eficazes no país. / This study seeks to investigate the Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) demands of the private sector in Brazil since the 1990s by advancing understanding on how the relationship between the key National Systems of Innovation (NSI) actors operates. It also outlines how the Anpei, Anprotec and Abipti articulate private sector demands and public polices for innovation. The dissertation seeks to explore the extent to which the demands of the Brazilian private sector have been contemplated in the formulation of ST&I policies since the 1990s. In a first stage, data and information related to technology innovation and the ST&I demands of the private sector were collected from the Anpei, Anprotec and Abipti. Following these efforts, interviews with representatives of each institution were carried out. In addition, data from other business associations like CNI, Fiesp, Firjan and IEDI were also collected. Based on the analysis of this data, I conclude that there has been an increase in the participation of the private sector with respect to discussions on topics related to innovation. However, the results from the interface of this sector with the public sector have had limited effectiveness as the demands of private firms remain unmet. I also find that there is a lack of culture of innovation in the private sector, as well as strategic planning on the part of both the public and private sectors, and that these factors impede the formulation and implementation of more effective innovation policies.