The Underdog Effect: The Marketing of Disadvantage and Determination through Brand Biography
Citation: Neeru Paharia, Anat Keinan, JillAvery, Juliet B. Schor (2011) The Underdog Effect: The Marketing of Disadvantage and Determination through Brand Biography. Journal of Consumer Research (Volume 37) (RSS)
DOI (original publisher): 10.1086/656219
Semantic Scholar (metadata): 10.1086/656219
Sci-Hub (fulltext): 10.1086/656219
Internet Archive Scholar (search for fulltext): The Underdog Effect: The Marketing of Disadvantage and Determination through Brand Biography
Download: http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.georgetown.edu/stable/10.1086/656219
Tagged:
Summary
Today, underdog brand biographies are being used by both large and small companies and across categories, including food and beverages, technology, airlines, and automobiles. The authors argue that underdog brand biographies are effective because consumers can relate these stories to their own lives. The authors conduct four studies to examine the effect of using an underdog brand biography on purchase intentions, real choice, and brand loyalty.
The first study illuminates an underdog main effect and provides support for a mediating process of identification and a moderating effect for consumers’ self-reported underdog disposition. The results suggest that identification is a strong contributor to the underdog effect.
In the second study, the authors decompose the underdog brand biography into two components (external disadvantage, and passion and determination) and show the two components’ individual and joint effects on consumers. The results indicate that it is the interactions between these two components that inspire greater self-brand connection and higher purchase intention for the company with an underdog brand biography.
The third study investigates whether the underdog effect crosses cultural boundaries. The results indicated that the underdog effect differs with country-level cultural values that partially determine the identities of the residents of that culture. The last study, the authors test the underdog effect in a real choice context while also demonstrating two other moderators: underdog self-concept salience and the identity relevance of the purchasing situation. The results indicate that the significant interaction between the two moderators suggests that priming an underdog identity drives real choice of underdog brands, but only when the purchase is being made for oneself.
