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Killing brands softly — Redux
Journal of Brand Strategy,
6
(1),
87-102
(2017)
Abstract
In 2013, Schultz and Block published a paper in this journal titled ‘Killing Brands. . . . Softly’ (2013). In that paper, they presented findings that suggested social media was responsible for a measurable decline in consumer brand preference for a large number of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in the USA. That was followed by an additional study (2014) using data from two other major research organisations, which confirmed their findings. This paper is an update of the original, which adds three additional years of data to the base (2013–2015) and uses the same research approaches. In this paper, it was found that declining consumer no brand preference was levelling out. A new factor, however, Amazon.com, was found to be having a major impact on store and manufacturer brand preference. Results of this extended study are reported and implications discussed.
Keywords: Amazon.com; brand loyalty; consumer no brand preference; consumer no store brand preference; fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG); social media
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Don Schultz is professor (Emeritus-in-Service) of Integrated Marketing Communications at the Medill School, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. He holds a BBA from the University of Oklahoma and MA and PhD from Michigan State University. He is President of Agora, Inc., a global marketing, communication and branding consulting firm. Don is author/co-author of 28 books and 150 trade, academic and professional articles. He is also a featured columnist in Marketing News and Marketing Insights.
Martin Block is a Professor in the Integrated Marketing Communications Division of the Medill School at Northwestern University. Martin is co-author of ‘Understanding China’s Digital Generation’, ‘Media Generations: Media Allocation in a Consumer-Controlled Marketplace’, ‘Retail Communities: Customer Driven Retailing’, ‘Analyzing Sales Promotion’, ‘Business-to-Business Market Research’ (both in their 2nd edition) and ‘Cable Advertising: New Ways to New Business’. He has published in many academic research journals and trade publications and has written several book chapters.
Vijay Viswanathan is Assistant Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications, The Medill School, Northwestern University. Prior to obtaining his PhD from Emory University in 2010, Vijay worked with multinational firms managing brands and supply chains. Vijay’s research focuses broadly on consumer decision making in the fast-changing worlds of branding and media, and has been published in various marketing communication journals. He has shared his work at numerous conferences with academics and practitioners.
