مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد سلاست نام برند و خالص بودن و طعم آب – الزویر 2018

Extending the logic of processing fluency into the domain of food and beverage perceptions, this study explores whether the fluency of brand names can influence consumer perceptions of bottled-water attributes such as purity, taste, and mineral contents. Forty-four participants, who were presented with twelve unknown foreign brand names of bottled water, indicated their perceptions of water based solely on the brand names. The results revealed that perceptions of water purity and taste changed depending on whether the brand name was easy or difficult to process. Bottled water was more frequently perceived to be very pure when the foreign brand name was short and easy to pronounce. Bottled water was also more frequently perceived to taste “better-than-average” when the brand name was more fluent. Perceptions of mineral contents in the water were not influenced by the brand name fluency. This study expands our knowledge about various extrinsic cue effects on product perceptions by demonstrating the significant role of brand name fluency in forming consumer perceptions of bottled-water attributes.

Introduction

Bottled water is one of the fastest growing beverages in many countries around the world. The global bottled water market is forecast to have a volume of 311.3 billion liters and a value of $199 billion in 2019, with an annual growth rate of 6% between 2014 and 2019 (MarketLine, 2015). Also, the Asia-Pacific market volumes are predicted to have doubled between 2010 and 2019. In the United States, bottled water surpassed carbonated soft drinks and became the largest packaged type of beverage by sales volume in 2016 (BMC, 2017). The consistent growth in the bottled-water industry can be attributed to various factors across countries and regions, but the primary contributing factors are known to be convenience, health concerns, risk perceptions, and hedonic qualities like taste and odor (e.g., Doria, 2006; Saylor, Prokopy, & Amberg, 2011; Viscusi, Huber, & Bell, 2015). Also, water quality-related factors are associated with the choice of bottled-water brands as well. For instance, Geissler and Gamble (2002) reported that the most important product characteristics, apart from price, for U.S. consumers’ bottled-water selection were purity and taste. Similarly, Heo and Ko (2012) found that Korean consumers consider taste and water source to be very important when they choose between premium brands of bottled water. Consumers’ attitudes and preferences toward water products seem to be strongly affected by their subjective beliefs and perceptions (e.g., Dolnicar, Hurlimann, & Grün, 2014). This is probably why so many brands of bottled water try to construct a “pure and pristine” image via, for example, the use of a brand name, a term written on the label, or a picture that conveys such a desirable image. In fact, there is abundant evidence in the food marketing literature to indicate that various product-extrinsic factors including branding, packaging, labeling, and auditory cues influence consumer perceptions, expectations, and even actual sensory experiences (for a review, see Piqueras-Fiszman & Spence, 2015). For instance, the color of a container influences consumer expectations about mineral-water attributes such as freshness and level of carbonation (Risso, Maggioni, Olivero, & Gallace, 2015), and glass shapes affect perceptions of beer intensity and fruitiness (Mirabito, Oliphant, Van Doorn, Watson, & Spence, 2017).