Intern. J. of Research in Marketing 22 (2005) 277 291 www.elsevier.

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Utility, cultural symbolism and emotion: A comprehensive model of brand purchase value
Shu-pei Tsai *
Public Relations and Advertising Department, Shih Hsin University in Taiwan, (116) No. 1, Lane 17, Sec. 1, Mu Cha Road, ROC, Taiwan

Abstract The current study, incorporating three theoretical approaches of economic utilitarianism, socio-cultural symbolism and emotional/affective marketing, establishes and tests the SAT-BV (Symbolic/Affective/Tradeoff Brand Purchase Value) model. As a result, empirical support is provided to the model, in which repurchase intention of the brand is directly affected by the brand purchase value with the three dimensionalities of symbolic value, affective value and tradeoff value, anteceded by perceived image, emotional experience, perceived quality and price acceptability of the brand. A holistic approach, featuring the synergistic unison of total quality management, integrated marketing communications and multiple brand representation, is recommended by the current study in pursuing comprehensive brand purchase value management that generates the holistic impact to enhance the possibility of repurchase behavior. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Brand purchase value; Repurchase intention; Economic utilitarianism; Socio-cultural symbolism; Emotional/affective marketing

1. Introduction 1.1. Research background Repurchase intention, understood as an apparent motivational state of consumers to repeat a buying behavior, is theoretically designated a consequence of perceived value of the product brand (Chang & Wildt, 1994; Petrick, Backman, & Bixler, 1999; Woodruff,

* Tel.: +886 2 2236 8225#3221. E-mail address: tsaisp@cc.shu.edu.tw. 0167-8116/$ - see front matter D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2004.11.002

1997). Thus, considerable brand marketing and communication efforts have been geared around enhancing perceptions of brand purchase value, in order to elicit favorable repurchase behavior (Curasi & Kennedy, 2002; Munger & Grewal, 2001; Petrick, 2002). Traditionally, an economic definition of perceived brand purchase value was prevalent among marketers, confining the value perception to the scope that relates to nothing more than functionality and substitutability of a particular product brand (Hirschey & Pappas, 1993; Reddy, 1991). This type of value-for-money conceptualization is linked to economic utilitarianism, on which tradeoff purchase value theories such as a

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model proposed by Dodds, Monroe and Grewal (1991) were developed, postulating that consumers decide whether to purchase a branded product mainly with considerations for its monetary worthiness. Underlying the economic utilitarian approach is the premise that rational choice and mental calculus characterize consumer decision-making process, and that utilitarian product-attributes along with the perceived price fairness of the product constitute the key criteria for purchase value assessment. On the other hand, many marketing researchers, including Fournier (1991, 1998), Belk (1995), Kleine, Kleine, and Kernan (1993), Firat and Venkatesh (1995), Brown (1995, 1997), Holt (1997), Echtner (1999), Fischer (2000), Hogg, Cox, and Keeling (2000), and Voase (2002), argue that contemporary consumer behavior should be closely associated with post-modernism as a socio-cultural phenomenon, revolving around the notion of individuals engaging in consumption not to fulfill basic needs but much more in a pursuit of identities of self, social groups, and culture/subculture. The exploration of consumer purchase behavior is assumed to be mainly through the view of socio-cultural symbolism that focuses on symbolic meanings of products, in relation to self, social and cultural contexts in which individual consumers exist. Consequently, there emerges an approach of socio-cultural symbolism, emphasizing post-modernity has arrived to make it necessary for many consumer-related theories and practices to be looked at from an essentially symbolic perspective, that deems products in the post-modern consumer culture as highly related to generating symbolic meanings in the process of self-definition which constructs both self-identity and social-identity of consumers. Basically, this approach is based on the premise that products influence how consumers see themselves as well as how others see them, and that consumers tend to choose products providing symbolic meanings desirable for themselves as well as for those who they believe to be significant to them in their social and cultural contexts. As far as the socio-cultural symbolists are concerned, consumption results from highly symbolized relationships between objects, between objects and humans, and between humans individually and collectively. Thus, in the socio-cultural contexts consumers develop strategies to communicate abstract identities through the symbolic

meanings derived from product brands they purchase and use. Another stream of consumer behavior research, represented by such scholars as Shiv, Edell and Payne (1997), Elliott (1997), Siemer and Reisenzein (1998), and Shawarz (2000) and Pham, Cohen, Pracejus, and Hughes (2001) among others, places stress on the role emotion/affect plays on the purchase behavior of consumers. This stream, usually putting emotion/affect ahead of cognition as the primary factor for impacting consumer behavior, contend that consumers have a general propensity, more or less, to seek out affective situations, enjoy emotional stimuli, and exhibit a preference to use emotion/affect in interacting with the life world. Besides affective inputs in the consumer evaluation system is said to wield significant clout in the overall evaluation toward a product through a controlled inferential process and guides inference and judgment of consumers. Most noteworthy, emotion/affect is deemed more than something transient; rather, the substantive experience of affective state and emotional response result in a somatic-visceral effect that takes root in the depth of the consumers consciousness or/and unconsciousness, turning into a force greater than purely cognitive information in the formation of the behavioral outcomes of consumers. In contrast to placing predominant emphasis on either of economic utilitarianism, socio-cultural symbolism, and emotional/affective marketing as three basically exclusive approaches to study consumer decision-making, a holistic perspective has recently been developed for the investigation of brand purchase value. Such consumer scholars as Mano and Oliver (1993), McEnally and de Chernatony (1999), Keller (2003), and Schmitt (1999, 2003) put forward holistic conceptualizations of consumer behavior. Furthermore, marketing researchers, including Sweeney, Soutar, and Lester (1996), Sweeney, Soutar, Whiteley and Lester (1996), Kantamneni and Coulson (1996), Hall, Robertson, and Shaw (2001), Bhat and Reddy (1998), Sirgy and Johar (1999) and Petrick (2002) among others, preliminarily verified with empirical findings that brand purchase value is supposed to be treated as a multi-dimensional construct, affected by symbolic, emotional and cognitive factors. However, there still lacks a rigorously examined empirical model that specifies the factors affecting the

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dimensionalities of brand purchase value with generalizability covering a full range of utilitarian, affective and expressive product categories. Henceforth, establishment of such a model is both academically and practically necessary for brand management. 1.2. Research purpose The purpose of the current study is to investigate the consumers perceptions of brand purchase value, incorporating relevant theories and empirical findings reflecting concepts that are rooted in the approaches of economic utilitarianism, socio-cultural symbolism and emotional/affective marketing. In the proposed model, repurchase intention of the brand is designated as the outcome construct, and the brand purchase value with the three dimensionalities of symbolic value, affective value and tradeoff value are treated as the mediators, which are anteceded by the juxtaposing constructs of perceived image, emotional experience, perceived quality and price acceptability of the brand. Besides, in a bid to elevate its generalizability, the model is to be tested by data collected from sample pools based on a pretest to ensure their appropriateness for representing each of the utilitarian, affective and expressive product categories.

2. Theoretical background The research of brand marketing, as McEnally and de Chernatony (1999) advocate, is advisable to incorporate various theories derived from the relevant literature of psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists, thus grasping the multiple facets of branding effectiveness that has to be analyzed through individual, social and cultural aspects of the consumers perceptions. Similarly, Mano and Oliver (1993) integrate the views of cognitive psychology, social psychology and cultural semiotics and conceptualize brand management effectiveness as construed through the tangibility, emotionality and commonality of the brand that generate aggregate impacts on the consumers perceptions. Tangibility is the objective attributes of products, the meaning of which is resident in the product itself and perceived by consumers; emotion-

ality includes aspects of arousal and felt experience as well as degree of emotional attachment to products, the meaning of which is borne by the affective evaluation of consumers; commonality refers to shared personalities of products, the meaning of which is manifested in the social structures in which consumers exist. The three dimensions, rather than being completely separate from each other, may have substantial combined influences on the brandconsumer relationship. In other words, in terms of the consumers perceptions of brand, subjectivity and objectivity are intertwined, so attending to either of them while neglecting the other may lead brand marketing research to result in a fragmented picture. Schmitt (1999, 2003), putting the holistic consumer experience management concept into brand marketing, proposes that the five experiential components of consumerssense, feeling, thinking, acting, and relatingform the base for the holistic consumer experience. These experiences, existing at various dimensions of the benefits that the product brand provides, construct the holistic consumer experience of the brand, the effective management of which enables brand marketers to: (1) gain original insight into the consumer world, (2) develop an experiential strategy platform, (3) create a unique and vivid brand experience, (4) to provide dynamic interactions at the consumer interface, and (5) to innovate continuously to improve the consumer lives. Moreover, Kellers branding synthesis theory is also especially emphatic on a holistic perspective for brand marketing research. Keller (2003) argues, personal values, meanings, cognitive and emotional responses of consumers antecede the functional, symbolic, and experiential consequences from the brands purchase or consumption and affect consumer response to marketing activities. On the other hand, these factors are likely to interact and may jointly determine the outcome of brand marketing and communication. According to these conceptualizations, investigating the topic of brand marketing effectiveness is to be conducted through a holistic approach that facilitates the deciphering of cognitive, emotional and symbolic meanings embedded in the tangible and intangible attributes of the brand. Besides, such an approach allows the researcher to explore the consumers perceptions of brand at individual, social and cultural dimensions.

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In line with the conceptualizations discussed above, a number of marketing researchers also avoid the polarized extremities of economic utilitarianism, socio-cultural symbolism and emotional/affective marketing, conducting the investigation of brand purchase values with a more holistic approach. An exploratory project conducted by Sheth, Newman and Gross (1991a,b) suggests that there are five factors that may influence consumers at the point of purchase, and they are termed functional, social, emotional, epistemic and conditional. Later, Sweeney, Soutar, and Lester (1996), and Sweeney, Sou-

tar, Whitely et al. (1996), based on the findings of Sheth et al., ;discover that the said five factors do not appear to be independent as some overlap is apparent between the social and emotional value items. Later, Hall et al. (2001), through a quantitative research approach to reinvestigate the findings of Sweeney, Soutar, and Lester (1996), Sweeney, Soutar, Whitely et al. (1996) verifies that the social and emotional values are intrinsically intertwined in consumption, with all of the variables loading on one factor. Thus, four factorsemotional/social, perceived risk,

Perceived image Symbolic value

Emotional experience

Affective value

Repurchase intention

Perceived quality

Tradeoff value Price acceptability

Fig. 1. Conceptual SAT-BV (Symbolic/Affective/Tradeoff Brand Purchase Value) model.

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quality, and priceare identified as influential on the perceptions of brand purchase values. The findings of an empirical study conducted by Bhat and Reddy (1998) demonstrate that functionality and symbolism affect rather similarly on consumer evaluation of either utilitarian or expressive branded products, with the mean ratings of expressive brands on the functional scale generally around the mid-point whereas the ratings of the utilitarian brands on the symbolic scales also close to the mid-point; thus a dual brand positioning theory is presented for brand marketing. Besides, Sirgy and Johar (1999) also verify that the perceived purchase value of product brands is usually affected simultaneously by both image and functional variables, which are not necessarily excluding each other. To explicate the antecedents of brand purchase value, Kantamneni and Coulson (1996), in an exploratory project, specify that social, affective and functional dimensions have distinctive and interactive impacts on how brand purchase value is judged by consumers. More recently, Petrick (2002) empirically verifies that perceived purchase value is significantly affected by five partially interrelated but unique factors: quality, emotional response, monetary price, behavioral price and reputation. These factors can be regrouped into three categories of construct: utilitarian (quality and monetary price), affective (emotional response and behavioral price), and symbolic (reputation).

Third, the four antecedents are possibly interrelated to one another. However, these propositions are derived from conceptualizations and empirical findings of research projects mostly focusing on the branded products of either utilitarian (such as desk computers), or affective (such as wine), or expressive (such as precious stones) categories, but not on all of them simultaneously. Besides, the said research projects are more or less exploratory in nature, thus strictly speaking, the propositions derived from them lack in generalizability covering a broad range of product categories. On the other hand, all the indicators of the latent constructs need to be further checked for their validities and reliabilities. The current study, based on the theoretical frameworks and empirical findings discussed previously, propose a conceptual SAT-BV (Symbolic/Affective/ Tradeoff Brand Purchase Value) model as shown in Fig. 1. In the model, repurchase intention of the brand is designated as the outcome construct and brand purchase value with the three dimensionalities of symbolic value, affective value and tradeoff value are treated as mediators, anteceded by the juxtaposing constructs of perceived image, emotional experience, perceived quality and price acceptability of the brand. In details, the conceptual definitions of all the constructs are as follows: Antecedents ! perceived image is the consumers perceptions of the social approval and identifiableness with the brand image; ! emotional experience is the consumers emotional reactions derived from the consumers direct experience with the branded product; ! perceived quality is the consumers perceptions of the functional benefits and performance of the branded product; ! price acceptability is the consumers judgment of the fairness of the branded products price and his/ her affordability for the price. Mediators ! symbolic value is related to how the consumer evaluates the products brandname in terms of the valence assigned to the brands reputation and its capability for self-expression;

3. Proposed conceptual model According to the afore-discussed theoretical background, there emerge at least three possible propositions that are worth further exploring for specifying the antecedents and consequence of brand purchase value. First, brand purchase value is a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of three types of valuessymbolic, affective, and tradeoff, which are directly related to the repurchase intention of consumers. Second, perceived image, emotional experience, perceived quality, and price acceptability can be treated as juxtaposing antecedents of the three types of brand purchase value.

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! affective value refers to how the consumer evaluates the branded product according to the overall feelings towards it; ! tradeoff value is related to how the consumer evaluates the branded products value with economic and monetary considerations. Outcome ! repurchase intention is an apparent motivational state of consumers to repeat a buying behavior of a branded product. Four research hypotheses, according to a comprehensive review of the previously discussed literature and the propositions derived from them, are presented for the conceptual model: H1a. Perceived image is positively related to symbolic value, affective value and tradeoff value; H1b. Emotional experience is positively related to symbolic value, affective value and tradeoff value; H1c. Perceived product quality is positively related to tradeoff value; H1d. Price acceptability is positively related to tradeoff value; H2. Perceived image, emotional experience, perceived product quality and price acceptability are interrelated; H3. Symbolic value, affective value and tradeoff value are positively related to repurchase intention. H4. Symbolic value, affective value and tradeoff value in interaction are positively related to repurchase intention.

4. Research methods 4.1. Procedure A pluralistic approach of methodology was adopted for the current study, which was divided into exploratory stage and pretest stage of grounded theory development, and empirical examination stage of consumer survey. The objectives of the exploratory and pretest stages of research were to generate an initial pool of mea-

surement instrumentation through Self-Q technique, semi-structured in-depth interview and focus group discussion along with a careful review of relevant literature and then to modify it through a survey pretest on representative samples. Firstly, participants were asked to note what questions they have when they think about brand purchase values, thus generating question items for further investigation. The second step began with the researcher transferring the generated question items into declarative sentences on a series of cards which retained the exact terminology and phrases used by the participants, then the participants were asked to reconfirm that the declarative sentences reflected what they were thinking and feeling; all the cards were sorted by the participants according to the importance of each item. The third step was matrix analysis, which elicited the relationships among the concept items identified by the participants; both the degree and the direction of these relationships were captured. Besides, in-depth interviews enabled the participants to elaborate their concepts identified in Self-Q and provided additional emotional and cognitive data regarding their interpretational rationales. In addition, four rounds of focus group discussion were conducted to further inform the process of measurement modification. The next stage of the exploratory study is a quasisurvey, checking validities and reliabilities of measuring scales. Then, in the empirical stage, a formal survey was conducted with the finalized measurement instrumentation on consumers of computers (utilitarian product category), coffee (affective product category), and denim wear (expressive product category), the selection rationale of which was based on a pretest on the perceptions of 650 consumers. Out of each product category, three branded products that the surveyed users have had either purchase or usage experiences were selected for examination. Both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were administered on the collected data, in order to double check the validity and reliability of the multi-item scales. After that, the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) statistical technique of LISREL 8.54 version was employed to specify the path parameters among the anteceding, mediating endogenous and terminal endogenous constructs in the proposed conceptual model of the current study.

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4.2. Measurement instrumentation and data collection Measuring responses of the participants from three product categories with three brands in each category allows a set of multiple tests that is more capable of assuring the generalizability of an empirical study by using the survey method. First, Cronbachs measure reliability coefficient was calculated for the items of each construct and, with the cutoff level of 0.7, helped to eliminate the items of insignificant contribution for parsimony purpose. Then, exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine whether the items produce proposed factors and the individual items and loaded on their appropriate factors as intended, confirming discriminant and convergent validity of measures. Consequential to the modification of the developed measurement instrumentation according to the exploratory research and pretest findings as well as a careful review of relevant literature, thirty-three question items were used to measure the responses of the survey participants for examining the eight latent variables in the proposed conceptual model. In the exploratory research stage, 75 consumers were recruited for representing the three product categories of computers, coffee and demin wear, with 25 consumers in each category. The demographic profile of the recruited consumers was: aged 2845, males and females evenly split, college-level education, and with annual income no less than US$25,000. After that, the initially developed measurement instrumentation was put in comparison with the construct definitions of the proposed conceptual model for full development of the survey scales, an exploratory factor analysis of which was conducted by the result of a pretest using the scales on 120 consumers. In the empirical research stage, 960 consumers with identical demographic profile of those in the exploratory research stage were recruited for the three product categories of computers, coffee and denim wear, with 320 consumers in each category. All of them have had purchase and usage experiences with the three product brands to be studied in each product category. They were asked to fill the survey scales composed of 33 question items; a series of statistical analysis was administered on the collected data, and an empirical structural equation model was established as a result.

5. Findings 5.1. Confirmatory factor analysis As shown in Table 1, confirmatory factor analysis further proves that the thirty-three measure items used in the survey for examining the eight latent variables are loaded highly on their corresponding construct, and the clean factor patterns in the exploratory factor analysis are also found. Specifically, overall fit statistics of the measurement model are quite acceptable indicated by the standardized indices of v 2[471] = 593.2 with p b 0.001, GFI (goodness of fit) = 0.939, AGFI (adjusted goodness of fit) = 0.927, NFI (normed fit index) = 0.911, PFI (parsimonious fit index) = 0.886, and RMSR (root mean square residual) = 0.038. All the standardized loadings are of a reasonable magnitude with significance levels at p b 0.01, while the composite construct reliabilities all exceed 0.7. In addition, the average variance extracted for each construct is also satisfactory. Besides, the item reliabilities meet or exceed the arbitrary benchmark. Furthermore, an additional series of confirmatory factor analysis on the construct correlations also show that none of the correlations is sufficiently high to jeopardize discriminant validity. Cumulatively, these results confirm unidimensionality, internal consistency, and adequate reliability for the measurement. 5.2. Structural equation modeling analysis After confirmatory factor analysis, a series of structural equation modeling was run to estimate construct parameters, identifying the fittest explication of relationships among the exogenous constructs, the endogenous mediating constructs, and the terminal endogenous construct. A careful comparison for twelve structural equation model estimates, one model emerged with GFI = 0.943, AGFI = 0.931, NFI = 0.916, PFI = 0.894, and RMSR = 0.031. Besides, chi-square value falls within the acceptable range (v 2[482] = 598.6, p b0.001). Generally speaking, this emerged structural equation model provides a good fit to the data as shown in Fig. 2. Especially noteworthy, the emerged model of the current study specifies that the exogenous constructs of perceived image, emotional experience, perceived product quality, and price acceptability only exert indirect

284 Table 1 Confirmatory factor analysis results Constructs/items

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Construct reliability/variance extracted

Standardized loadings 0.81 0.78 0.74 0.68 0.71 0.74

Items reliability 0.77 0.73 0.68 0.65 0.66 0.71

Perceived image 0.75 / 0.46 ! The brandname of this product is well known ! This branded product is highly regarded ! This branded product has a good reputation ! People appealing to me have endorsed this branded product ! I have been recommended for this branded product by those persuasive to me ! Users of this branded product include those I identify with Emotional experience 0.84 / 0.56 ! This branded product is pleasant to senses ! This branded product looks delightful ! This branded product feels comfortable ! There is no distress elicited by this branded product ! There is no boredom caused by this branded product Perceived quality 0.88 / 0.59 ! This branded product functions as it has promised ! This branded product is low in defective rate ! The design of this branded product makes it perform well ! The components of this branded product conform to their specifications ! A speedy and competent service is provided for this branded product Price acceptability 0.79 / 0.51 ! This branded product is priced at a fair level ! This branded product does not seem to be overpriced compared to its competitors ! The price I have to pay for this branded product is within my spending capability ! I will not be overburdened for paying the price of this branded product Symbolic value 0.72 / 0.43 ! Usage of this branded product will indicate that I am a person with taste ! Usage of this branded product will prevent me from looking cheap ! This branded product enhances the perception that I have a desirable life style ! This product will help me to better fit into my social setting Affective value 0.81 / 0.58 ! This branded product is enjoyable to me ! This branded product puts me in good mood ! I may see this branded product like a friend to me ! I can get happy feelings out of this branded product Tradeoff value 0.89 / 0.63 ! This branded product is worth the money payable ! This branded product can be seen a bargain to me ! I do not believe I will lose money on this branded product ! I do not anticipate a risk of paying over the line for this branded product Repurchase intention ! I will seriously consider buying this branded product again in the future

0.88 0.75 0.73 0.85 0.86

0.81 0.72 0.69 0.74 0.78

0.85 0.87 0.79 0.73 0.78

0.76 0.79 0.74 0.66 0.71

0.85 0.68 0.81 0.74

0.77 0.65 0.75 0.69

0.81 0.72 0.84

0.73 0.67 0.78

0.86 0.77 0.71 0.81

0.78 0.72 0.66 0.75

0.88 0.83 0.78 0.75

0.82 0.76 0.73 0.68

(Parameter fixed in the measurement model)

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0.373***

Perceived image
Symbolic value
0.194*

Emotional experience
0.397***

0.249**

Affective value
0.176*

0.386***

Repurchase intention
0.467***

Perceived quality
0.239** 0.418*** 0.301*** 0.248** 0.226**

Tradeoff value

Price acceptability

0.235**

Fig. 2. Structural SAT-BV model.

effects on repurchase intention through the three dimensions of purchase value. This discovery is validated in particular by comparison with an alternative model, hypothesizing there are also direct effects of the said exogenous constructs on repurchase intention. Since the alternative model produced poor fit with GFI =0.872, AGFI = 0.814, NFI = 0.796, PFI = 0.745, and RMSR = 0.142, the current study has to drop it and instead adopts the bindirect-effectQ model as the fittest. In terms of testing the research Hypothesis 1ad, perceived image is positively related to symbolic value (parameter = 0.373, p b 0.001) and to tradeoff

value (parameter = 0.226, p b 0.01) but not to affective value, which suggests H1a is partially supported (this finding is to be further discussed later in Discussion section); emotional experience is positively related to all the three types of brand purchase value, with path parameters of 0.194 ( p b 0.05), 0.397 ( p b 0.001), and 0.248 ( p b 0.01) respectively for symbolic value, affective value, and tradeoff value, indicating H1b is fully supported; perceived product quality is positively related to tradeoff value (parameter = 0.418, p b 0.001), so is price acceptability to tradeoff value (parameter = 0.235, p b 0.01), providing full support to H1c and H1d.

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Hypothesis 2 states that perceived image, emotional experience, perceived product quality, and price acceptability are interrelated; a check of their causal path relationships shows: perceived image is positively related to perceived product quality (parameter = 0.239, p b 0.01), emotional experience is positively related to perceived product quality (parameter = 0.176, p b 0.05), and perceived product quality is positively related to price acceptability (parameter = 0.301, p b 0.001). These results give partial support to H2. As for Hypothesis 3, symbolic value, affective value, and tradeoff value are all positively related to repurchase intention, respectively with path parameters of 0.249 ( p b 0.05), 0.384 ( p b 0.001), and 0.467 ( p b 0.001). Therefore, this hypothesis is also fully supported. In order to test Hypothesis 4, stating that symbolic value, affective value and tradeoff value in interaction are positively related to repurchase intention, a multiple hierarchical regression analysis was run and it indicated that this hypothesis was fully supported. According to the result, the aggregate interactive effects (Rsq) explained 31% variance in the regression model, and the separate interactive effects were: symbolic value affective value with moderately significant positive effect (b = 0.218, p b 0.01), symbolic value tradeoff value with highly significant positive effect (b = 0.284, p b 0001), affective value tradeoff value with highly significant positive effect (b = 0.325, p b 0001), and the three constructs in simultaneous interaction with highly significant positive effect (b = 0.413, p b 0001).

6. Discussion 6.1. Mediated and lived experience In the findings of the current study Hypothesis 1a only receives partial support, which means that perceived image is not significantly related to affective value. This result, different from some other assumptions and empirical findings, requires a more detailed discussion, especially about its strategic implications. To do this, we may resort to a research project of Petrick (2002) mentioned briefly earlier in Literature review section for some inspiration. Besides, the mediated/lived experience theory proposed by

Thompson (1990, 1995) and Mooy and Robben (2002) along with the related PEM theory proposed by Hall (2002) are particularly useful for shedding more light on the issue. In an empirical study, Petrick (2002) discovers five partially interrelated but unique factorsquality, emotional response, monetary price, behavioral price, and reputationsignificantly impact perceived purchase value. Emotional response is defined as a subjective judgment regarding the actually experienced pleasure that a product or service gives the purchaser, and reputation is understood as the prestige or status of a product or service perceived by the purchaser, based on the image of the brand. As the result shows, reputation is not significantly related to emotional response. Looking back at the measurement scale for the SAT-BV model of the current study, we can see that the question items of perceived image and affective value basically reflect the conceptual as well as operational definitions given by Petrick to reputation and emotional response. Thus, the un-relatedness found between these two constructs by both Petricks project and the current study is understandable. However, it has to be noted that the said un-relatedness should not be viewed as having the same implications for both studies. In Petricks project, purchase value is treated as the outcome construct, and reputation and emotional response are treated as the two of the juxtaposing factors affecting purchase value. In the SAT-BV model of the current study, the three dimensionalities of purchase value are designated as the mediators of the outcome construct repurchase intention. Furthermore, perceived image is designated as one of the antecedents of the three dimensionalities of purchase value, and affective value is one of the three dimensionalities. In other words, the said un-relatedness for Petrick is a lack of linear relationship between two antecedents of purchase value, while for the current study it is a lack of linear relationship between one antecedent and one mediator, but that particular mediator still exerts juxtaposing and interactive influence along with the other two mediatorsaffective value, and tradeoff value directly on the outcome construct of repurchase intention. That is, the said un-relatedness does not delete the holistic impact of the three dimensionalities of purchase value on repurchase intention.

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Moreover, the un-relatedness between perceived image and affective value displayed by the current study is also explainable by the nuances between different types of consumer experience. In articles related to the experience of consumers, Thompson (1990, 1995) as well as Mooy and Robben (2002) distinguish between two types of consumer experience-mediated and lived. Conceptually, mediated experience is resulted from media-generated and word-of-mouth information involving narratives and events spatially and temporally distant from the practical context of daily life, while lived experience is the practical activities and direct encounters in our everyday lives and is situated, immediate, and largely nonreflexive. Going back to the SAT-BV model, perceived image is an indirect experience provided by advertising, publicity or/and words of mouth, it is comparable to bmediated experienceQ that becomes an antecedent of symbolic value. As for emotional experience, it is based on the immediate experience of the contact with and usage of the product, so it can be compared to blived experienceQ that antecedes affective value. The un-relatedness between perceived image and affective value is, as far as managing affective value is concerned, indicative of mediated experience not being in juxtaposition with lived experience as an antecedent. Even more noteworthy, the current study points to a phenomenon that mediated experience is less influential than lived experience in that emotional experience (lived experience) is positively related not only to affective value but also to the other two dimensionalities of purchase value, while perceived image (mediated experience) is only positively related to symbolic value and tradeoff value. This discovery, showing comparatively unequal extents of influence generated by these two constructs, is quite in accordance with the PEM (Perception/Experience/Memory) theory proposed by Hall (2002), who contends that perception and memory of media message (mediated experience) is secondary to corporeal experience of a product brand (lived experience) in eliciting favorable consumer behavior, because corporeal experience can reframe the evaluation of media message much more than the vice versa. This notion has also received empirical support by Mooy and Robben (2002), who verify that lived experience has greater impact than mediated experience in terms of motivating con-

sumers. Besides, similar result is reported in an earlier empirical study conducted by Park, Feick, and Mothersbaugh (1992). The strategic implication is that, while perceived image is a factor that many brand managers have been trying hard to manipulate by such ways as investing handsomely on advertisements and PR campaigns, precaution should be taken against confusing perceived image with emotional experience in managing affective value and in sequence repurchase intention. Although mediated experience is identified one of the main antecedents in the SAT-BV model, it is by no means substitutable with lived experience for improving affective value. Most importantly, in view of the fact that emotional experience impacts all the three dimensionalities of purchase value either theoretically or practically, brand managers may have to prioritize the aesthetic appeal, user-friendly design and efficient service during pre-sale and post-sale phases of a product brand, which are usually the things leading to favorable emotional experience. With measures adopted to ensure that in the stages of product management and service management lived experience is to be in accordance with what consumers anticipate, mediated experience has better chances in the marketing communication stage to function as an effective catalyst along with other factors in producing holistic impact of the three dimensionalities of brand purchase value on repurchase intention. 6.2. Model applicability/role of perceived quality In addition to the above discussion, there are another two points that may deserve special attention in terms of brand marketing research and practice. The first point is, since the surveyed consumers include those who have already purchased the researched product brands or have had some usage experience of them, it is reasonable to infer that the SAT-BV model is also applicable to the management of purchase intention along with that of repurchase intention. Nevertheless, the current study, on the ground that eliciting favorable repurchase behavior is even more important for creating brand loyalty in order to sustain the momentum of brand competitiveness, chooses to focus on repurchase intention. But

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exploring the applicability of the SAT-BV model to the management of purchase intention would be an interesting and meaningful topic for future studies, in view of its potential contribution to marketing brands in the introduction stage of brand life cycle. The second noteworthy point lies in the specific role played by perceived quality, which is proven to be the most influential antecedent (parameter = 0.418, p b 0.001) of tradeoff value. Due to the fact that tradeoff value is found most strongly related to repurchase intention (parameter = 0.467, p b 0.001) comparing to the other two dimensions of purchase value, perceived quality pops up as an area that calls for intensive endeavors to ensure ongoing improvement. After all, consumers are very unlikely to continue the repurchase behavior of a product brand that falls far below their quality standards and in turn significantly diminishes its tradeoff value. Just as Johnson and Nillson (2003) say, the core mission of a brand, among other things, is none less than the prioritization of satisfying the consumers need for substantive product quality and performance, thus laying the primary foundation on which the brand engenders sufficient force to keep loyal consumers. 6.3. Comprehensive brand purchase value management The most significant contribution of the current study, both for researchers and practitioners, is the verification that brand purchase value is dividable into three dimensionalities, which in juxtaposition and in interaction exert direct influences on repurchase intention. Such a discovery provides support to the premise that the traditional economic utilitarian view of purchase value is not adequate, and that socio-cultural symbolism and emotional/affective marketing approaches should also be incorporated into the understanding of purchase value. As a matter of fact, going beyond the constraint of monetary worthiness to a broader scope also covering symbolic and affective values to constitute a holistic approach to brand purchase value management has gradually become a major task for brand marketing. Earlier, Haynes, Lackman, and Guskey (1999) put forth a comprehensive brand management model, in which total quality management principles and integrated marketing communication efforts are aligned,

thus creating synergistic execution of the manufacturing and marketing processes via a comprehensive way of managing the needs, perception, and satisfaction of consumers. According to this model, comprehensive brand management starts from the down-to-the-earth quality management then to the management of suppliers, employees, distributors, marketing communication agencies and the media, taking into account the factors reflecting economic utilitarianism, socio-cultural symbolism, and emotional-affective marketing perspective. More recently, Timmerman (2001), applying the conceptual representation framework of Barsalou and Hale (1993), develops the Inventory of Brand Representation Attributes (IBRA) theory underscoring the importance of multiple brand representation lends further support of a holistic approach to brand purchase value management. According to the IBRA theory, brand representation is the brands specific configuration of product-related, brand-related, and consumer-related attributes, containing all aware and unaware knowledge of, feelings and attitudes towards a brand, that form a comprehensible and meaningful imagery of the brand in the consumers mind. From empirical examinations of various product categories, it is discovered that most probably underlying the representation of brands is an inventory of ten main types of attributes: product characteristics, product usage, price and quality, brand identifiers, brand personification, market, origin, advertisement, attitudes and purchase behavior and last, personal reference. Notably, the representation of any brand configures some or all of the attributes listed in the IBRA, which usually are intertwined and interrelated no matter whether the brand product is in utilitarian, affective or expressive category. Hence, a brand does not necessarily include each particular attribute per se, nor does it exclude at forehand an attribute as building block of its representation (Timmerman, 2001). Putting the SAT-BV model together with the comprehensive brand management theory and the IBRA theory, we may at least have three strategic implications to articulate. First, it is necessary to construe a comprehensive brand purchase value management philosophy, which explicitly highlights the coordination and cooperation between the departments of product management and marketing management as crucial elements in pursuing

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the synergy in consumer-oriented managerial policies and strategies, bringing the greatest possible potentials out of the utilitarian, affective and symbolic resources to facilitate the creation of multiplicity for the brand purchase value. Second, in the light of comprehensive brand purchase value management, all the undertakings relevant to product research and development, product manufacturing, price formulation, brand imagebuilding, distribution planning and construction and delivery of marketing messages are not supposed to be separately operating; rather, they must be integrated into a holistic system like a neuron-based network that proactively deciphers the consumers needs in utilitarian, affective and symbolic dimensions, moving the consumers specification, perception and experience of brand purchase value up to the expected standards. Finally, the guiding principle for comprehensive brand purchase value management is to make sure that perceived image, emotional experience, perceived product quality and price acceptability of the branded product are all considered and integrated according to the profiles of consumer segments into the strategic planning framework. In short, total quality management, integrated marketing communications and multiple brand representation should be so planned and executed that they in synergistic unison maximize the holistic impact of brand purchase value, thus enhancing the possibility of repurchase behavior. 6.4. Holistic approach Generally, the current study validates the notion that consumers should not be seen as not more than calculating accountants who are concerned only about the monetary value of the brand, nor are they to be regarded merely as symbolism seekers or affective romanticists who focus themselves on the symbolic meanings or pleasures provided by product brands. The rationalchoice and mental-calculus premises about consumer behavior, as Allen (2002) accentuates, are required to posit in incorporation into other premises relative to the emotionally engaged and socio-culturally structured qualities of individual consumers. The fact is, consumers perceive brand purchase value through a complex process, and a holistic approach is indispensable to steering such a process toward favorable repurchase behavior. In short, comprehensive brand purchase

value management is not a convenient mixture consisting of an array of factors that are bundled together but lack in synergy. Instead, it calls for the recognition that the strategic management, featuring the synergistic alignment of utilitarian, affective and symbolic resources, entails a three-dimensional driver of brand purchase value, prompting the repurchase intention of consumers across a broad range of product categories. In essence, the current study does not intend to repudiate the wisdoms of researchers advocating either of economic utilitarianism, socio-cultural symbolism and emotional/affective marketing for formulating brand value management strategies. Rather, its gist is to incorporate these approaches, holistically investigating brand purchase value and repurchase intention. This stance is also in line with that of Ringberg (1999), who criticizes that separating the three approaches may result in overemphasizing either of cognition, socio-cultural structure and personal emotions while neglecting their combined effects. As he argues, each of the approaches may be relevant in certain circumscribed situations, but has less bearing when applied singularly to the real marketplace in which consumer needs and aspirations are complex, volatile, and difficult to predict. To conclude, it is recommended that researchers and practitioners look upon each of economic utilitarianism, socio-cultural symbolism and emotional/affective marketing approaches with a balanced attitude and take precaution against getting too immersed in or alienating from any single one. Either adhering to or disregarding a particular approach is unadvisable; wisdoms gleaned from these schools of thoughts do not have to turn out be exclusive of one another.

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