The Effect of Brand Rejuvenation on Attitudinal Loyalty in a Declining Market with a Moderating Role of Consumer Involvement

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Tanguy Lemeilleur

Student No: 170170699 (NUBS) / s3238342 (RUG) December 3, 2017

The Effect of Brand Rejuvenation on Attitudinal Loyalty in a

Declining Market with a Moderating Role of Consumer Involvement

Dissertation

Newcastle University Business School Faculty of Economics and Business Groningen

Academic Year 2017/2018 – Semester 1

M1617-NBS8199: NBS8199: Dissertation (Dual Award) Dr. Eleftherios Alamanos

Dr. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of brand rejuvenation on attitudinal brand loyalty, considering the moderating role of consumer involvement. Data for this study was derived from 138 respondents. They completed a questionnaire about 8 brands to measure several dimensions of brands which are supposedly affected by a rejuvenation process, namely brand perceived modernity, brand perception and brand personality. The same questionnaire was used to assess whether respondents were likely to be more loyal to the rejuvenated brands, while taking into account their level of involvement. An analysis based on T-statistic suggests that some cases of brand rejuvenation were successful at increasing attitudinal loyalty, as well as improving the three mediating variables, i.e. brand perceived modernity, perception and personality. However, in cases where the mediators were negatively impacted, attitudinal loyalty has decreased. It puts forward the assumption that the three mediators possess a predictive power concerning the outcome of a brand rejuvenation. Theoretical implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Keywords

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Acknowledgements

Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my dissertation supervisors, Dr. Beugelsdijk Sjoerd of the Faculty of Economics and Business at University of Groningen and Dr. Alamanos Eleftherios of Newcastle University Business School. They were always available to provide me with supportive guidance when I faced issues. They consistently allowed this dissertation to be my own work, while pointing me in a right direction thanks to their valuable knowledge and research experience.

Besides, I would like to thank Mr. Shane B., research services consultant at Qualtrics, for his understanding of my data requirement and his support in launching the survey used in this study.

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Brands aim to settle a differentiated presence in the industry to attract and retain customers. Retention has proven to be more profitable than acquisition due to lower costs. However, evidence suggests that economics of customer retention and customer acquisition are poorly understood by companies and widely under-exploited (Payne and Frow, 2013). Thus, there is a need to further analyze how brands achieve an efficient retention of customers.

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feature large firms. Yet, large firms are more likely to have strong brands. They should therefore focus more on rejuvenating their brands rather than creating an entirely new brand.

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involvement on that relationship. The model aims to serve as a basis for firms performing in a declining market to make strategic decisions concerning their position in the market and their brand strategy.

The paper starts with a discussion of the conceptual framework comprising a review of literature on brand loyalty, brand rejuvenation, consumer involvement and declining markets, leading to hypotheses development. The analysis and findings are then presented. The paper concludes with the limitations of the study.

2. Conceptual framework

This study is based on a critical review of literature, with a focus on how attitudinal loyalty has been defined, as well as how it is impacted by brand rejuvenation, consumer involvement and the decline of the market.

2.1. Attitudinal loyalty

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This repurchase behavior is not governed by any psychological consideration or attitude toward the brand (Bandyopadhyay and Martell, 2007).

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Fiorito, 2002; Lada et al., 2014). Yet it has been suggested that buyers displaying more involvement in products of a certain brand are likely to be more committed and therefore loyal to that brand (Quester and Lim, 2003). This assumption leads this study to use attitudinal measures as well to analyze loyalty to fashion brands.

2.2. The role of brand rejuvenation

The concept of brand rejuvenation is gaining momentum with the increase of the number of brands failing quickly after launch. The term brand revitalization appears to be used interchangeably with brand rejuvenation. The process is usually about refreshing the features of the brand which are visible to the outside community. Although the definitions of brand rejuvenation used in research are inconsistent (Kolbl, Ruzzier and Kolar, 2015), literature seems to identify four perspectives, varying in terms of scope and impact, to define which elements of a brand are modified by a brand rejuvenation process: visual aspects of the brand, brand image, social psychology and positioning strategy.

First, the narrowest view on brand rejuvenation includes only a change of visual features of a brand. These are product attributes consumers are exposed to, and which are part of a brand’s design and identity (Brakus, Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2009). Kolbl, Ruzzier and Kolar (2015, p.5) describe brand rejuvenation as the “idea of refreshing the visual aspects of a specific brand”. This narrow approach can be detailed as the renaming and reshaping of the brand logo and the use of different color schemes (Muzellec et al., 2003; Muzellec and Lambkin 2006) and graphic design (Kapferer, 2008). The purpose of rejuvenating a brand appears as being mainly to revitalize a brand perceived as outdated through an evolution of brand logos (Keller, 2003).

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psychology, suggesting brand rejuvenation emanates from two sources: brand awareness and brand image. Brand awareness has been defined as the capacity of a brand to be remembered and to effectively occupy the mind of consumers relative to rival brands (Bilgili and Ozkul, 2015). Since brand image corresponds to the impression of a brand in the consumers’ mind, a strong, positive brand image should increase brand awareness by supporting a brand’s position and help differentiating from competitors (Park, Jaworski, and MacInnis 1986). Hence, brand image is viewed as the main element to be modified to successfully rejuvenate a brand. According to this view, rejuvenation orientates consumer’s perceptions of the brand, perceptions being impressions customers have of the brand and emanating from the brand’s features and benefits (Kervyn, Fiske and Malone, 2012). This drives this study to investigate brand perception as a mediating variable affected by brand rejuvenation. Brand perception studies (Fournier, 1998; 2009) advance that consumers relate to brands in a comparable manner as they relate to people, suggesting a relational dimension of brand perception (Aaker, Fournier and Brasel, 2004). This relational dimension seems to give rise to specific associations from consumers, associations being defined as attributes coming to consumers’ mind when they think about the brand (Keller, 1993). These associations include brand personality, defined as the human characteristics consumers attribute to a brand (Aaker, 1997; Brakus, Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2009). The rejuvenation process should hence be a strategic evolution of a brand aiming at eliminating negative brand associations from consumers and emphasizing positives ones (Aaker and Shansby, 1982) in order to display the right brand personality. This leads to brand personality being analyzed in this study as a mediating variable, as it is assumed to be impacted by brand rejuvenation.

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considers nostalgia from consumers for old products as a motive to re-launch renewed versions of these products and incite nostalgic consumers to purchase them (Zhang and Sun, 2009). In order to conserve a famous brand on a global scale in its original design and form, the brand can be revived and reinvented for new and younger consumers (Kapferer, 2008). The goal is to avoid the brand to be considered old. A brand is seen to be of age when it starts being neglected or avoided by consumers (Aaker, 1991). Rejuvenation is advanced as a way to counter a brand’s aging process (Kolbl, Ruzzier and Kolar, 2015). Chronological age is not an insurmountable issue here. A brand may be very aged, but still be perceived as modern and up-to-date by consumers (Lehu, 2004). Perceived modernity will therefore be used in this study as another mediating variable affected by brand rejuvenation.

The fourth view on brand rejuvenation is broader and describes it as a means for strategic positioning. The goal is to overcome structural changes impacting brands. For example, it is assumed that mergers and acquisitions drive brand rejuvenation since brands need to fit to the positioning of the newly created entity (Muzellec et al., 2003; Muzellec and Lambkin 2006). Following this perspective, the revitalization process aims at achieving brand repositioning, innovative advertising and expansion of the brand’s portfolio of products (Shetty, 2011).

On the whole, one view is common to all authors: the need to study the general state of a brand before planning the rejuvenation process. It suggests some core elements of the pre-revitalization situation have to be kept since they serve as a basis to create a revitalized brand.

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company’s name, logo and color enhances customer loyalty, and where service quality as well as the overall perception of the company improved according to customers (Nyambane and Ezekiel, 2013). Hence, brand rejuvenation seems to impact customer loyalty positively.

However, this relationship seems to differ according to the state of the market. Studies (Ghemawat and Nalebuff, 1990; Koponen and Arbelius, 2009) suggest that customer loyalty dynamics are affected when the market is in decline.

2.3. Declining markets and attitudinal loyalty

This section presents situations impacting customer attitudinal loyalty when a market is in decline. It led this study to analyze the concept of attitudinal loyalty in the context of a declining market.

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the decline of a market can be perceived as emanating from a loss of legitimacy. For instance, after the launch of a disruptive technological innovation or a change in customers' preferences, customers may become unsatisfied with their relationship with an old brand. The result will be a decreasing legitimacy of the focal brand, with an eventual brand shift from consumers due to dissatisfaction (Koponen and Arbelius, 2009), which makes attitudinal loyalty harder to accomplish. An assumed solution to avoid brand shift and dissatisfaction is to rejuvenate a brand. Thus, the following hypothesis is made:

H1: Brand rejuvenation positively impacts customer attitudinal loyalty in a declining market.

As seen previously, the three mediator variables selected in this study to measure the effect of brand rejuvenation are brand perceived modernity, brand perception and brand personality. They correspond to the main objectives of a brand rejuvenation strategy: making a brand look more modern (Dev and Keller, 2014), improving the perception of the brand by customers (Lehu, 2004) and giving personality to the brand (Aaker and Shansby, 1982). These objectives aim at avoiding the expected brand shift from consumers when a market is declining. Consequently, it is hypothesized that:

H2a: Brand rejuvenation improves the perceived modernity of a brand in a declining market.

H2b: Brand rejuvenation improves brand perception in a declining market. H2c: Brand rejuvenation improves brand personality in a declining market.

2.4. The role of consumer involvement

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and decision-making in the buying phase. Involvement occurs when the buyer’s self-image is engaged (Pritchard, 1992), or when the product is perceived as cost or high-decisional risk (Petty & Cacioppo, 1981).

It has been advanced that the level of involvement has an impact on customers’ behavior in the purchasing process (Peter & Olson, 1987) and that highly involved customers are likely to display attitudinal loyalty (Knox & Walker, 2003). Involvement with products is associated with consumers searching for information on products to optimize their purchase (Celsi & Olson, 1988; Greenwald & Leavitt, 1984; Lada et al., 2014). Product information can be heavily advertised by brands at strategic times, such as right after a brand rejuvenation process. The goal is to inform consumers of the new features of the rejuvenated brand. Yet, involvement has been considered as playing a moderating role on advertising-loyalty as well as corporate image-loyalty relationships (Lada et al. 2014). Thus, this study assumes consumer involvement is likely to affect the rejuvenation-loyalty relationship by increasing or decreasing the impact of brand rejuvenation on attitudinal loyalty. Hence, the level of involvement is investigated as a moderator. On this basis, the following hypothesis is derived:

H3: Consumer involvement increases brand rejuvenation’s ability to impact customer attitudinal loyalty in a declining market.

2.5. Brand rejuvenation, consumer involvement and attitudinal loyalty

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market has been explained. Then, the assumed effect of the moderator “consumer involvement” has been investigated. The present section introduces the overarching theory behind the conceptual model of this study.

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Basing on this theory, a relationship can be identified between the three main variables of this study: brand rejuvenation, attitudinal loyalty and consumer involvement. Since brand rejuvenation aims at improving brand features such as brand perception, personality and perceived modernity, if the rejuvenated features are communicated to highly involved consumers, then the brand will obtain a strong presence in consumers’ mind. Therefore, these consumers will be more likely to promote the new features of the rejuvenated brand to peers through social interaction and hence, display attitudinal loyalty. On the whole, basing on the buyer behavior theory, in the case of a high involvement from consumers, brand rejuvenation is assumed to positively impact brand perception, personality and perceived modernity, and therefore, attitudinal loyalty. Figure 1 below shows the conceptual model of the study.

Figure 1. Conceptual model to be applied in the context of a declining market

Perceived H2a modernity

Brand Brand Attitudinal

rejuvenation H2b perception H1 loyalty

Brand H3

H2c personality

Consumer involvement

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This research aims at adding evidence to the literature about the effect of brand rejuvenation on attitudinal loyalty. The brand rejuvenation concept is hard to study and measure, since research must analyze variables before and after the rejuvenation process in order to observe possible changes. This leaves opportunities for this study to fill gaps of the literature in several ways. First, variables impacted by brand rejuvenation will be analyzed which have not been covered by literature or not extensively, such as brand perception and brand personality. Second, most studies analyze how brand rejuvenation is achieved in practice by existing brands (Munthree, Bick and Abratt, 2006; Lehu, 2004; Kolbl, Ruzzier & Kolar, 2015). Also, case studies are conducted to collect qualitative data about marketing executives’ opinions on the ability of brand rejuvenation to conserve loyalty (Lehu, 2004). However, little research has been conducted to analyze the actual results of a rejuvenation process on attitudinal loyalty. Finally, the concept of brand rejuvenation has been studied for different types of companies in diverse countries. An overview of the customer loyalty and brand rejuvenation studies can be found in Appendix A. Basing on these studies, the focus on the general state of markets in which brands achieve rejuvenation is yet to be taken into account in research. This study investigates the ability of brands operating in a declining market to preserve customer loyalty through a brand rejuvenation process.

3. Analysis and findings

3.1. Research design and data collection

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the French automobile market in which factories are stopping production, employment rate is sinking (Sancerre, 2016), and the aggregate added-value of the sector has decreased by 29% between 2008 and 2014 (Capital, 2016).

Then, qualitative secondary data have been used to analyze the brand rejuvenation process undertaken by French fashion and automobile firms in their declining market. The criteria considered to assess whether or not a brand has been rejuvenated correspond to those described in the literature review. Thus, a brand is considered to be rejuvenated if one or more of the following elements have been modified: visual aspects of the brand, brand image, customer social psychology tools and positioning. The selected French fashion firms which rejuvenated their brand are: Jacadi, Givenchy, Le Coq Sportif, and Lacoste. The selected automobile firms which rejuvenated their brand are: Groupe PSA, Peugeot, Citroën and Renault. These firms all implemented a rejuvenation of one or more of their brands according to the criteria defined in the literature review. The extent of their brand rejuvenation has been assessed to be sufficient in order to be significant for this study. Relatively stronger evolutions of brands are expected to have a greater impact on customer attitudinal loyalty.

Data has been collected from 138 consumers through a survey, in an applied, cross-sectional study. All selected brands modified their logo. Perceived modernity has been measured with consumers comparing the newest and the former logo of each brand, based on the study of Müller et al. (2013). Respondents were asked to rate the modernity of each logo with a single Likert-type answer.

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from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”, balanced around a neutral option. The values of each selected option has been converted into a mean value. This mean value is the score attributed to the respondent. Each respondent received a mean value. Then, a mean of each mean values has been calculated to assess the overall effect of brand rejuvenation on brand perception.

Brand personality has been measured using the brand personality scale of Aaker (1997). Respondents have been provided with pictures of the pre- and post-rejuvenation logos of each brand. They were asked to assess to what extent each trait of the brand personality scale has increased, using a five-point Likert scale with values ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”.

The same way, the “attitudinal loyalty” dependent variable has been measured using a Likert scale. Basing on literature (Day, 1976; Rauyruen and Miller, 2007; Jaiswal and Niraj, 2007), the three questionnaire items which appeared to be most interesting to include are consumers’ commitment, attachment and likelihood of recommending the brand, since those correspond to the dimensions used the most to define attitudinal brand loyalty. Respondents were asked if they are more likely to recommend the rejuvenated brand than the old one, and if they feel more committed and attached to it. The overall attitudinal loyalty score is the average of the responses to the three items. A higher score reflects a higher level of attitudinal loyalty.

The moderator, consumer involvement, has been measured in the survey using the 10-item version of the Personal Involvement Inventory (PII) scale of Zaichkowsky (1994). It is a scale commonly used to measure the moderating role of involvement in research, resulting in satisfactory construct validity and reliability (Chen and Tsai, 2008; Bennett et al., 2005; Martin, 1998). The PII scale features 10 Likert-type, seven-point statements from

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ranging between 1, if they strongly disagree on every item, and 7, if they strongly agree on all.

The survey has been designed using the Qualtrics Survey software via Newcastle University. Qualtrics allows to select respondents’ demographic groups, geographic criteria, the size of the panel as well as other requirements specific to the survey. Once all criteria were selected, Qualtrics sent a quotation to the applicant to decide of a pricing. The survey has been administered via Qualtrics. The company has access to a wide selection of panels worldwide. In order to ensure an optimal quality of respondents, quality checks have been operated to screen out responses which were completed too quickly or with excessively repeated answers. Also, partial responses were not allowed.

Hypotheses were tested using a series of one-sample T tests. For hypothesis H2a, testing perceived modernity, the test consisted in comparing the mean score given to the old logo of each brand to the mean score of the rejuvenated logo. This allowed to see if the assumed increase in logo modernity is existent, and if so, if it is significant. The other variables of this study also required a T test. The survey asked respondents to rate on a five-point Likert scale the evolution of brand perception, brand personality and attitudinal loyalty. A mean value has been calculated for each variable. For example, if respondents on average indicated that they “neither agree nor disagree” that brand perception has improved, then the mean value is close to 3. The T test has been run with 3 as a test value.

3.2. Profile characteristics

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38.13% of the total, followed by the 18-24 and 35-44 years groups with 17.99% both. Overall, about 26% of respondents are 45 years of age or older.

All respondents are American. 36.69% indicate secondary school as their highest educational level, while almost a quarter (23.74%) obtained a bachelor’s degree and 19.42% stopped after primary school.

3.3. Reliability analysis

A construct reliability test has been performed with Cronbach’s alpha to evaluate the level of reliability of all variables. It is a method commonly used to assess the reliability of Likert scales. The use of Cronbach’s alpha implies that a relatively large number of survey responses is required. In this study, 138 respondents answered the survey, giving their observation about 8 brands each. Hence, the results represent a report of 1,104 observations. The results are presented in Table 1below.

Table 1. Reliability analysis

Constructs/Variables No of items Cronbach's alpha

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All dimensions constituting the variables of this study obtained Cronbach’s alpha values that are significantly over 0.7. The five variables, namely perceived modernity, brand perception, brand personality, attitudinal loyalty and consumer involvement are characterized by critical ratio values greater than 0.9. This suggests that all items are positively contributing to the overall reliability. If we consider the widely used Cronbach’s alpha rule of thumb of 0.7, this study has a high construct reliability.

3.4. Hypothesis testing

The main objectives of this study are to test whether brand rejuvenation has an impact on attitudinal loyalty, and whether consumer involvement moderates that relationship. All hypotheses are to be considered in the context of a declining market. Results of this analysis are detailed below.

Hypothesis H1: Brand rejuvenation positively impacts customer attitudinal loyalty in a declining market.

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Table 2. Effect of Brand Rejuvenation on Attitudinal Loyalty t p Mean Brand 1 0.822 .417 3.09 Brand 2 _2.835 _.016 _3.26 Brand 3 -2.117 .039 2.80 Brand 4 3.382 .003 3.31 Brand 5 -3.558 .001 2.60 Brand 6 4.427 .000 3.44 Brand 7 3.545 .001 3.35 Brand 8 2.255 .071 3.22 Average 1.449 .070 3.13

A mean value close to 3 indicates that no significant difference exists between respondents’ attitude toward the old brand and their attitude toward the new one. A mean value far from 3, however, suggests that brand rejuvenation has a greater effect on attitudinal loyalty. This effect is considered to be significant for p < .05. Hence, the attitudinal loyalty level of four brands (brands 2, 4, 6 and 7) appears to have significantly increased during the rejuvenation process. Two substantial decreases have to be noticed (brands 3 and 5), while for brands 1 and 8, hypothesis H1 cannot be verified due to insufficient significance levels.

Hypotheses H2a, H2b and H2c: Brand rejuvenation improves the perceived modernity of a brand, brand perception and brand personality in a declining market.

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brand strategy (Aaker and Shansby, 1982). These objectives aim at avoiding the expected brand shift from consumers when a market is in decline. The relationship between brand rejuvenation and the three mediators has been tested using one-sample T tests.

As of hypothesis H2a about perceived modernity, the T test consisted in comparing the mean scores attributed by respondents to the pre-rejuvenation set of logos with the mean score of the new logos. The results in Table 3a below indicate that no significant relationship can be identified except for brand 5 which reflects a significant decrease in perceived modernity during the rejuvenation process (t = -6.514, p < .001). On average, a small decrease (t = -0.727) in perceived modernity is suggested, but no conclusion can be derived from it due to a lack of evidence. Hence, hypothesis H2a cannot be verified.

Table 3a. Effect of Brand Rejuvenation on

Perceived Modernity t p Mean Brand 1 0.460 .646 3.20 Brand 2 0.982 .328 2.83 Brand 3 -0.815 .417 3.12 Brand 4 1.501 .136 2.85 Brand 5 -6.514 .000 2.75 Brand 6 0.383 .702 3.17 Brand 7 1.093 .276 3.07 Brand 8 -0.744 .458 2.77 Average -0.727 .491 2.97

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however supported for brands 4, 6, 7 and 8 with p < .05. On average, brand perception has improved but brand rejuvenation is found to have no statistically significant effect on it (t = 1.490, p = .08). Plus, the mean probability value p = .08 emanates from both positive and negative evolutions of brand perception. Hypothesis H2b is therefore partially supported.

Table 3b. Effect of Brand Rejuvenation on

Brand Perception t p Mean Brand 1 1.554 .263 3.16 Brand 2 1.764 .321 3.18 Brand 3 -2.434 .026 2.76 Brand 4 4.166 .000 3.37 Brand 5 -3.330 .012 2.62 Brand 6 4.254 .000 3.43 Brand 7 3.877 .004 3.39 Brand 8 2.101 .039 3.21 Average 1.490 .080 3.14

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Table 3c. Effect of Brand Rejuvenation on

Brand Personality t p Mean Brand 1 _1.343 _.366 _3.14 Brand 2 2.708 .072 3.28 Brand 3 -2.204 .126 2.78 Brand 4 4.212 .033 3.39 Brand 5 _-3.561 _.051 _2.59 Brand 6 4.057 .029 3.42 Brand 7 3.479 .019 3.37 Brand 8 _2.649 _.016 _3.27 Average 1.590 .009 3.15

Hypothesis H3: Consumer involvement increases brand rejuvenation’s ability to impact customer attitudinal loyalty in a declining market.

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and 8), the size of the effect of brand rejuvenation on attitudinal loyalty is enhanced by consumer involvement. Positive t values of the mediators are associated with more deeply positive t values of attitudinal loyalty. The same way, negative t values of the mediators result in more negative values of attitudinal loyalty. On average, the size of the effect of brand rejuvenation on mediators is t = 0.874, while mediators have an effect on attitudinal loyalty reaching t = 1.449. Therefore, hypothesis H3 appears to be supported. However, it would require further analysis to prove that the correlation between mediator’s t values and attitudinal loyalty t values are following a causality rule and are not due to chance.

Table 4. Moderating Effect of Involvement on the Brand Rejuvenation-Attitudinal Loyalty Relationship

Mediators average t Involvement t Attitudinal

loyalty t Brand 1 1.119 9.742 0.822 Brand 2 _1.818 _8.963 _2.835 Brand 3 -1.818 8.963 -2.117 Brand 4 3.293 9.742 3.382 Brand 5 -4.468 9.742 -3.558 Brand 6 2.898 8.963 4.427 Brand 7 2.816 9.742 3.545 Brand 8 1.335 8.963 2.255 Average 0.874 9.353 1.449

4. Discussions

4.1. Relationship between perceived modernity, perception and personality

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4.2. Relationship between involvement and attitudinal loyalty

This study found evidence for a moderation effect of involvement on the relationship between brand rejuvenation and attitudinal loyalty. While the results add to previous research by putting this relationship in the context of declining markets, different approaches and reasonings should be taken into account in order to further understand the origin of the intercorrelation effects identified between the constructs of this paper.

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However, although the hypothesis of a causal relationship between involvement and attitudinal loyalty has been evoked in literature (Iwasaki and Havitz, 1998; Quester and Lim, 2003), analyzing involvement as a proxy for attitudinal loyalty would not give insights about consumer behavior. Two reasons fuel the argument that involvement is not a precondition to loyalty. First, the relationship between involvement and loyalty might be influenced by other forces, such as product category. Second, not all dimensions of involvement are considered to have an effect on loyalty. Quester and Lim (2003) found that some facets of involvement possess no significant relationship with loyalty, such as risk probability.

5. Conclusion

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brand in the same direction. Although the direction of the effect is often the same, its strength varies depending on the brand. This observation may suggest that dimensions of brand rejuvenation create contingencies in consumers’ relationship with the brand that might affect consumer attitude and behavior. For example, following a rejuvenation process, consumers might become dissatisfied with the brand if the changes do not meet their expectations, or in contrast, consumers might become more satisfied if the rejuvenation is in line with their demand. In these two situations, consumer attitude and behavior are likely to evolve concerning involvement with the products or services offered by the focal brand. This raises the question as to whether involvement can be purposefully controlled or at least influenced by brands in the context of a rejuvenation strategy. In consumer research, external stimuli represent a prevalent means brand managers can use to govern the level of involvement experimentally (Lada et al., 2014; Suh and Youjae, 2006). When personally relevant information is identified by consumers and reaches their memory, a specific motivational state is created. It is a propitious mindset for cognitive behavior, in particular for searching information (Celsi and Olson, 1988; Lada et al., 2014). Thus, external stimuli drive involvement to a sufficient extent for involvement to be considered as emanating from consumers rather than being inherent within the product itself.

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likely to have more power on customers from that market. Attitudinal loyalty would therefore be influenced. The same way, internal factors may moderate the effect of brand rejuvenation. It is likely that advertising expenses play a positive role in facilitating brand rejuvenation’s impact on attitudinal loyalty. A company seeking to promote its revitalized brand can invest in advertisement and hence make more customers aware of it in order to retain them. Following these assumptions, the effect of consumer involvement may play only a minor moderating role, giving rise to opportunities for further studies to investigate different factors to consider in the context of brand rejuvenation. Besides, the present study uses a cross-sectional design. Yet, the duration of a brand rejuvenation process varies according to the nature of the business and the elements of the brand to revitalize. In order to best capture the effect of brand rejuvenation on the focal brand and its consumers, longitudinal studies would be more appropriate. It would help the concept of brand rejuvenation to affirm its potential to sustain the life of brands, and reinforce the importance of branding as a key tool to achieve customer loyalty in a declining market.

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Appendix A

The following table presents an overview of customer loyalty and brand rejuvenation studies on which this research based to fill gaps in the literature.

Authors and year of publication

Type of research

Key research questions Key findings

Munthree, Bick & Abratt, 2006

Qualitative – Case study

Can brand rejuvenation be achieved through an upscale line extension? Does it help customers to stay loyal in a changing market environment?

A line extension into premium categories helps achieve brand rejuvenation. Rejuvenation enhances loyalty if the new product lines are differentiated enough from the old ones, but still related to them in terms of brand image.

Lehu, 2004 Qualitative – Case study

Does rejuvenation help old brands retain customers? How is brand rejuvenation achieved?

Brand rejuvenation is successful if the perceived differentiation of the rejuvenated brand is strong enough according to the consumer.

It is achieved through identifying the brand’s aging process, auditing the brand and making strategic choices with regard to the brand’s

specificities. Kolbl, Ruzzier &

Kolar, 2015

Qualitative – Case study – Three brands studied

How is brand rejuvenation achieved in practice? Does it help to reverse a brand’s aging process?

The steps of the brand revitalization process are to recognize signs of aging, implement revitalizing elements and conceive of revitalization strategies. Nassimi et al., 2015 Qualitative – Case study – Survey – One brand studied

Does brand rejuvenation affect customer behavioral and attitudinal loyalty, and if so, to what extent?

Rejuvenation positively affects behavioral loyalty with a ratio of 0.407 and attitudinal loyalty with a ratio of 0.803.

Müller et al., 2013 Qualitative – Case study – Survey – Fifteen brands studied

Does rejuvenation of a brand logo improve the perceived modernity of the brand, and hence, brand loyalty?

Rejuvenated logos increase brand modernity.

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39 Nyambane & Ezekiel, 2013 Qualitative – Case study – Survey – One brand studied

Does brand rejuvenation affect service quality, and therefore, customer loyalty?

Brand rejuvenation increases service quality and brand image. Brand image is used as a proxy for brand loyalty. Therefore, rejuvenation improves customer loyalty. Verhoef, 2003 Quantitative –

Longitudinal

Does customer affective commitment, satisfaction and loyalty affect customer retention?

Affective commitment and loyalty positively affect customer retention. No evidence for customer

The Effect of Brand Rejuvenation on Attitudinal Loyalty in a Declining Market with a Moderating Role of Consumer Involvement