2015
Chapter
Strong Brands, Strong Relationships

Framing the Game: How Brands' Relationships with Their Competitors Affect Consumer Preference

By: Neeru Paharia, Jill Avery and Anat Keinan

Format:Print

Abstract

In this chapter, we explore how brands' relationships with their competitors affect consumers' preferences. Through a series of experiments, we show that the competitive context in which a brand operates can affect consumers' purchase interest and purchase frequency. We show that brand positioning statements that communicate that brands are in direct competition with each other elicit size effects: consumers like small brands more when they compete with big brands and like big brands less when they compete with small brands. We further explore the relationships between brand size and competition and show that while large brands are punished for being a competitive aggressor, small brands are rewarded when they compete aggressively. Our findings illuminate how small brands can benefit from the presence of a large competitor and provide a process understanding of how consumers assess and relate to brands not in isolation, but as part of a competitive system.

Keywords

Brand Management; CRM; Customer Relationship Management; Marketing Strategy; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Customer Focus and Relationships; Competition; Consumer Products Industry

Citation

Paharia, Neeru, Jill Avery, and Anat Keinan. "Framing the Game: How Brands' Relationships with Their Competitors Affect Consumer Preference." Chap. 2 in Strong Brands, Strong Relationships, edited by Susan Fournier, Michael Breazeale, and Jill Avery. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2015.