A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management,
University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
degree of Master of Management in Strategic Marketing.
Johannesburg, March 2017 / Brand trust has been in decline for a number of years (Eggers, O’Dwyer, Kraus, Vallaster, & Güldenberg,
2013; Gerzema, 2009; Gilmore & Pine, 2007; Schallehn, Burmann, & Riley, 2014). According to Eggers et
al., (2013), this has been attributed to many possible causes; the most prevalent being a breakdown
between the promises made by brands and what they actually deliver. As a result, consumers are growing
increasingly sceptical and they find themselves unable to believe brand claims (Eggers et al.,, 2013). Brand
authenticity has been referred to as the perfect antidote to this problem (Gerzema, 2009). It is synonymous
with honesty (Morhart, Malär, Guèvremont, Girardin, & Grohmann, 2015), sincerity (Beverland, 2005a; Fine,
2003; Napoli, Dickinson, Beverland, & Farrelly, 2014; Pace, 2015), and trust (Eggers et al.,, 2013); and is a
key success factor for brands today (Brown, Kozinets, & Sherry, 2003; Gilmore & Pine, 2007).
Authentic brands are deeply committed to their values and to delivering on their promises (Eggers et al.,,
2013; Morhart et al.,, 2015). Morhart et al., (2015) state that to enhance the perception of authenticity,
brands should come across as more “human”, as doing so makes it easier for consumers to recognise the
inherent values of the brand. Due to a rebirth in traditional, wholesome values, consumers are growing
increasingly fond of humanised brands and they now even relate to brands in the same way they relate to
people (Brown, 2010; Fournier, 1998; Kervyn, Fiske, & Malone, 2012; Malone & Fiske, 2013). It has been
said that brands that are succeeding in a time when brand trust is at an all-time low, are those that are
fostering meaningful relationships with their customers by coming across as “human” (Kervyn et al.,, 2012;
Malone & Fiske, 2013; Marshall & Ritchie, 2013).
This research set out to examine the humanisation of brands, particularly in a world where authenticity is
becoming increasingly popular and brand trust, increasingly rare. It was hoped that an empirical
investigation would help to define the implications of this growing trend in brand management. The study
was conducted in South Africa, where historically there has been a major breakdown of trust between its
citizens and the institutions that have been entrusted to lead them (Lekalake, 2015; Marais, 2011; Moeng,
2015; Steenkamp, 2009). The study was grounded in theory that has roots in the field of social psychology.
In interpersonal relationships, Cuddy, Fiske, and Glick (2007) found that people make judgements about
others based on the evaluation of two dimensions: warmth and competence. The Brands as Intentional
Agents Framework (BIAF) (Kervyn et al.,, 2012) theorises that this is consistent with people and brands.
Consumers evaluate brands on the same basis of warmth and competence: where warmth is the belief that
the brand has good intentions, and competence, the belief that the brand has the ability to carry out those
intentions. (Kervyn et al.,, 2012). Expressions of warmth and competence enhance the perception that a
brand is humanlike (J. Aaker, Vohs, & Mogilner, 2010; Kervyn et al.,, 2012; Malone & Fiske, 2013).
An extensive literature review was conducted on brand authenticity, perceived warmth, perceived
competence and brand trust - revealing strong connections between these four constructs. The research
problem was three-fold. First, the intention was to establish and evaluate the dimensions of brand
authenticity in South Africa, postulated as originality, continuity, credibility and integrity (according to recent
studies in the literature). Second, the intention was to then determine whether brand authenticity has a
positive impact on brand trust. Brand trust was postulated as having two dimensions, brand intentions and
brand reliability, as per Delgado-Ballester (2004). Third, the intention was to resolve whether perceptions of
warmth and competence then mediate the relationship between brand authenticity and brand trust.
This study adopted a quantitative methodology whereby a self-completion questionnaire was distributed
using face-to-face data collection procedures. The sampling frame consisted of frequent flyers of one of
seven domestic airlines that fly within South Africa’s borders, namely: South African Airways (SAA), Mango,
British Airways (BA), Kulula, Safair, Blue Crane and Cemair. The study used a convenience sample of
passengers at Bidvest airport lounges in four major cities, and at Lanseria, a smaller airport in
Johannesburg. The questionnaire design included a construct measurement section where respondents
were asked to rate their perception of the selected brand’s authenticity, warmth, competence and trust. The
data collection returned an impressive 355 usable responses, made up predominantly of business travellers.
Partial least squares (PLS) was used to examine the data and factor analysis revealed four important
findings. First, the analysis showed three new factors, different to the four postulated dimensions of brand
authenticity. They were Original, Ethical and Genuine. Second, brand trust was found to be one-dimensional,
and not two-dimensional as postulated. Third, although a revised model of six constructs (original, ethical,
genuine, warmth, competence and brand trust) displayed both internal reliability and convergent validity,
discriminant validity could not be proven due to critically high correlations between the constructs. The high
levels of similarity rendered the constructs indistinguishable in a causal model and as a result, the
hypotheses could not be tested using the data that was collected. Finally, an additional analysis showed
significant differences between the results of South African Airways (SAA) and some or all of the other
airlines on all the constructs. As SAA was not viewed in a positive light, this study identified SAA as an
outlier brand. The findings of this research proved to be very interesting, and have major theoretical and
managerial implications.
As brand authenticity was measured as a second-order construct, it could not be said with certainty that
original, ethical and genuine are dimensions thereof. However, the literature certainly suggested that they
might be. Authenticity has been linked to any semblance of originality (Vann, 2006); an honourable set of
values (Beverland, Lindgreen, & Vink, 2008); and that which is genuine, real and true (Arnould & Price,
2000; Beverland & Farrelly, 2010; Grayson & Martinec, 2004; Molleda & Jain, 2013). Moreover, a recent
study by Akbar and Wymer (2016) proved originality and genuineness to be dimensions of brand authenticity
and their findings strongly support those of this study. The unexpected results of this research also confirm
that brand authenticity is highly contextual and subjective – its meaning is dependent on the consumer’s
personal experiences and their unique understanding of what is authentic (Beverland & Farrelly, 2010;
Bruhn, Schoenmüller, Schäfer, & Heinrich, 2012; Fritz, Schoenmueller, & Bruhn, 2017; Leigh, Peters, &
Shelton, 2006; Molleda & Jain, 2013). This study reiterates that brand managers wishing to enhance
perceptions of authenticity, must adapt their approach for their specific brand in specific contexts and be very
cognisant of their customers unique interpretation of authenticity.
The lack of discriminant validity between the six constructs in the revised path model (original, ethical,
genuine, warmth, competence and brand trust) was the most noteworthy finding of this research, as it has
serious theoretical and managerial implications. This finding indicates that consumers view these constructs
as one and the same, and they are deeply interconnected. This could be attributed to the strong literary
overlaps between them, as many of these constructs have almost identical definitions and key traits (for
example: honesty, sincerity, benevolence, capability, and reliability). As a result, this research makes an
important contribution to advancing the Brands as Intentional Agents Framework (BIAF) (Kervyn et al.,,
2012). It suggests that the BIAF should be expanded to include constructs beyond warmth and competence,
as expressions of all six constructs contribute equally to the perception that a brand is human.
This research concludes with the Human Brand Model (HBM); a model that provides practical guidelines as
to how managers can use the insights from this study to build human brands. To enhance the perception
that a brand is more human, managers must use expressions not only of warmth and competence, but of
originality, ethicality, genuineness and trust as well. The six dimensions work along a continuum: if one is
elevated, so too are the others; but if one is tarnished, the others are negatively impacted too. The result is
that no single dimension can be ignored in this process. Brand managers must understand that efforts to
build a human brand far surpass the marketing team. This process requires the mobilisation of every
department in the organisation and the commitment of the highest levels of leadership.
This research set out to establish whether the human brand is simply a buzzword in marketing, or an idea
that has both academic and managerial value. The idea that brands have evolved into animate entities is not
yet widely accepted in academic literature. However, this research makes an important contribution to
advancing the existing theory on brand perception and current views on brand anthropomorphism. It also
provides some guidance as to the exact mechanisms that can be used to build human brands. The findings
demonstrated that the human brand is an idea that is real, and one with value for both academics and
practitioners, leaving room for much further research. / MT2017
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/23049 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Portal, Sivan-Rachel |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (xii, 122 leaves), application/pdf |
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