Various brand conceptualizations have been developed and integrated into
networks of inter-connected models. The current paper focuses on brand
experience concept that characterizes the immediate effects of brand
stimuli on consumers' responses. A previously developed scale of brand
experience was investigated to discover its antecedents and
consequences. Brand experience was conceptualized as subjective,
internal consumer responses (sensations, feelings, cognitions) and
behavioral responses evoked by brand-related stimuli that are part of a
brand's design and identity, packaging, communications, and environment
(Brakus et al. 2009). An exploratory research started from the nearest
potential phenomena affecting consumers' brand experiences as well as
the most direct effects of such experiences in which they were exposed
to brand stimuli. Advertising was used as the context to represent brand
stimuli. Four antecedents of brand experience were recognized: attitude
toward brand name, connectedness to celebrity endorser, message fit,
and visual imaging. Attitude toward brand name represents the degree to
which a person considers a brand name acceptable (Schmitt et al. 1994).
Conceptualization of connectedness to celebrity was adapted from Russel
et al. (2004) as the level of intensity of the relationship that a
viewer develops with a celebrity (that later endorses a brand in
advertising). Message fit was conceptualized as the extent to which the
meaning developed in a consumer's cognition from the advertisement
message fits with the value of the advertised product as expected by the
consumer. Visual imaging represents the extent to which an
advertisement has stimulated a person to form mental images of what was
described verbally in the ad copy (Unnava and Burnkrant 1991). Two
consequences of brand experience were analyzed in this study; brand
attitude and brand distinctiveness. Brand attitude represents a
relatively enduring, uni-dimensional summary evaluation of the brand
that presumably energizes behavior (Spears and Singh 2004). Brand
distinctiveness was conceptualized as brand associations which result in
high brand awareness and the extent to which the associated brand
stands out in consumer's mind (Yoo et al. 2000). Drawing on extant
literature, six hypotheses were developed in relation to brand
experience. The first four hypotheses were focusing on the positive
effects of the four antecedents on brand experience. The last two
hypotheses were focusing on the positive effect of brand experience on
its two consequences. The results of the survey signified factors that
preceded and followed the brand experience phenomenon and demonstrated
the substance of brand experience as potential mediator for various
brand phenomena. Methodology The sample was collected from a Southern
public state university. There were 297 responses in total. The
connectedness to celebrity endorser was modified from a developed
construct connectedness to television program and character. One out of
twelve dimensions of connectedness was removed due to low factor
loading. Message fit construct is developmental in this study. Other
five constructs were adopted from previously validated scales. The
factor analysis showed well separated loadings for each construct's
dimensions in the range of .76 to .91, and Cronbach's alpha of the
constructs were in the range of .84 to .93. Multiple regressions were
used to test three sets of positive relationships of: (1) the four
antecedents to predict brand experience, (2) brand experience to predict
brand attitude, and (3) brand experience to predict brand
distinctiveness. Sobel test (Aroian version) was used to test brand
experience as mediating variable between the antecedents and the
consequences. Conclusions Three out of four antecedents that
significantly predicted brand experience (R² = 35.5%, F(4, 264) = 37.1, p
value < .001) were the attitude toward brand name ( β = .33, t(264) =
6.1, p value < .001), connectedness to celebrity endorser (β = .31, t
(264) = 4.6, p value < .001); and visual imaging (β = .27, t(264) =
4.9, p value < .001). The last antecedent, message fit, was not
significantly predicting brand experience (p value = .97). Brand
experience was found as significant predictor for brand attitude (β =
.47, R ² = 24.4%, t(267) = 17.5, p value < .01) and for brand
distinctiveness (β = .14, R ² = 5.5%, t(267) = 37.2, p value < .001).
The results of Sobel tests indicated that brand experience
significantly mediated the antecedents and consequences in the study.
Brand experience was found significantly mediating the relationships
between the three antecedents and: (1) brand attitude, p value < .01,
and (2) brand distinctiveness, p value < .01. An interesting finding
also came from the relationship of brand experience with brand
attitude, that notwithstanding the absence of positive or negative
direction of brand experience scale, a higher brand experience produced a
higher brand attitude. Theoretical contribution of the study was the
ability of brand experience concept to explain variation in responses of
the consumer upon receiving brand stimuli, such as to explain attitude,
brand awareness, and further to explain other potential variations such
as in consumer learning, purchase intention. Practical contribution was
mostly drawn from the antecedents that are mostly controllable factors
in marketing managers' advertising decisions. References are available
upon request. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]