1. ARE BRAND PARODIES HARMFUL FOR THE BRAND RELATIONSHIP? Géraldine Michel Professor – Sorbonne Business School– France Ouidade Sabri Associate Professor - Sorbonne Business School– France Pierre-Yves Lagroue Associate Professor, Sorbonne Business School– France Consumer Brand Relationship Colloquium – March 2011

2. 2 1. Why is it so important to study parody effects? Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

3. Parody : phenomen increasing Parody is a creative art that transforms a serious copyrighted work by using irony, humor or satire (Bush, Bush & Boller, 1994; Johnson 1 Spilger 2000) Brand parodies can be either positive or negative Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

4. … At the same time  Maintaining or creating a good reputation for companies is a main challenge and in all sectors.  So the analysis of negative parody effects is especially important. What changes in the brand perception ? What changes in the brand relationship ? Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

5. Little previous research  Little literature about parody Little conceptualization to analyze parody effects (Johnson and Spilger 2000; Bush, Bush, and Boller, 1994; Zinkhan,1994). Few empirical results (Jean 2011; Ahluwalia, Burnkrant and Unhava, 2000). Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

6. 6 2. What are the research objectives ? Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

7. Research purposes  Analyse the impact of negative brand parody on brand Analyse ad attention and brand recall Impact on brand relationship Impact on word-of-mouth Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

8. The hypothesis of negative brand parody impact on brand Brand commitment Behavior toward Brand Logo attitude Attention Brand Recall Brand relationship Brand Affect Brand trust Brand word-of-mouth Brand Reputation H1 + H2 = H4 + H3c - H3b - H3a - H5 - Negative logo parody versus real logo Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

9. 9 3. Which methodology did we use ? Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

10. EXPERIMENT METHODOLOGY  Specific focus on negative parody of 2 brands : Evian (bottled mineral water) and Fnac (Cultural and technological product retailer)  4 groups (experimental and control groups * 2 brands)  Online questionnaire, exposure to the logo on blog page  Sample  172 respondents  53% men  Age average : 31 years old Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

11. Experimental groups / Control groups Sink, natural tap water Money, profit maker Evian, natural spring water Fnac, idea shaker Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

12. 12 4. What are the survey results ? Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

13. Do you recognize what you see ?  In the experimental group 31% saw « evian » even though we showed « evier » logo.  In the experimental group 48% saw « fnac.com » even though we showed « fric.com » logo. EVIAN FNAC Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011 Gestalt theory

14. ANOVA to compare experimental and control group Real logoParodied logo FP Attention3.363.733.25.06 % Recall.83.69.10 Brand trust3.803.76.089.76 Brand reputation3.973.911.79.67 Brand Affect3.873.93.153.69 Word-of- Mouth3.483.271.38.22 Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

15. ANCOVA to test the commitment moderating role Commitment * cas F P Brand trust1.05.40 Brand reputation.95.47 Brand Affect1.48.18 Word-of- Mouth.77.61 Brand commitment doesn’t moderate the logo parody effects Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

16. ANOVA to compare the logo characteristic Real logoParodied Logo FP Credibility3.182.903.50.00 Humor2.393.6544.58.00 Parodied logo is perceived as less credible and more humorous than real logo Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

17. 17 5. Conclusion Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

18. Conclusion  Theoretical contributions  No effect of negative logo parody on brand relationship  Reasons why  The parody claims are perceived to be less credible than real brand claims but the credible content is important in convincing.  The brand awareness dismisses the impact of negative claims, now in this research Evian and Fnac Brands have a high awareness. Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

19. Conclusion  Managerial contributions  Negative logo parody has no impact to the original brand if not founded on specific issues(s) related to the brand  Logo parody could increase the brand visiblity even the parody could be perceived negative (ex: Logorama) Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

20. Limitations and further research  Survey on negative parody advertising (brand parody more explicite)  Survey on past or present brand issues (brand which showed some issues on the past)  Before and after brand parody exposure (with control group) Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

21. Thank you

22. Global results Behavior towards Brand Cognitive impact Attention Brand Recall Brand relationship Brand Affect Brand trust Brand word-of-mouth Brand Reputation H1 + H2 = H4 H3c H3b H3a Negative logo parody / real brand logo Brand commitment H5 Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011

23. Outline 1. Why is it so important to study parody effects ? 2. What are the research objectives ? 3. Which methodology did we use ? 4. What are the study results ? Michel, Sabri, Lagroue CBR 2011